Sabra Tiderunner
Mentor Sabra Tiderunner
Sabra Tiderunner was a priestess of the Essene Templar in the city-state of Maganti who lived in the second century DoM. She was the first Elemental Monk and founder of both the Orders of the Elements and the Tiderunners of Essena.
Physical Description
General Physical Condition
Sabra was said to be a tall but slim woman with an athletic form. She was also said to have raven black hair cut in a bob, dark olive skin and brilliant blue eyes.
Special abilities
Sabra's training under Calinani shamen allowed her to use her spiritual energy to augment her physical abilities. Her most common abilities were running over water and heightened agility and acrobatic ability. In later years she was said to be able to control small amounts of water by creating plumes or trickles.
Apparel & Accessories
Sabra was said to be the first to wear the characteristic clothing of the Elemental Monks; a long aquamarine linen shirt and royal blue silk pants. As Mentor, she also wore a white sash around her waist.
Mental characteristics
Personal history
Sabra was born to a middle-class family in the city-state of Maganti in 224 DoM, of mixed Avadian and Calinani ancestry. Her parents were artisans serving some of the wealthier patrons of Maganti, and had taken up a contract for the Essene Templar, carrying out sculpting work for some of the statues and emblems at their temples. It was through this exposure to the Temple that she had found an interest in understanding the mysteries of the Elemental Gods, and led to her undertaking a novitiate in the Temple.
The late third century DoM was a time of great religious turmoil in the city-state, with the Elemental Temples frequently clashing with the population of the city who chafed under the orders of a far away city on another continent who did not seem to understand their personal needs. It was in this background that Sabra along with a number of her other priests sought common ground with the other prevalent faith in Maganti, the still-prominent shamanism that had been prominent among the Calinani prior to the arrival of the original Avadian settlers in Maganti. Their intend was to understand what was driving the people of Maganti to hold to this strange, arcane belief and not embrace the Elements.
This led Sabra not only to the city and outskirts, but deep into the jungles and wetlands of their neighbours. During this time, Sabra spend time among the shamen of the original Calinani, and witnessed something the Temple had not been able to show her before; tangible evidence of these people using spiritual energies to carry out a number of feats and miracles that had not been witnessed before; hunters with speed and accuracy unlike ever seen before, dreamers with an apparent second sight, and in some cases even people mastering the elements themselves, a domain believed exclusive to the Elemental Gods. This intrigued Sabra, and she came to believe that there could be some aspect of the gods themselves in these feats. During her time studying among the shamen, Sabra sought to both remain true to her Elemental faith, but also sought to understand the nature of the beliefs of the shamen. In time, with training, she learned to tap into the energies of her own spirit and the world around her and was able to herself carry out similar feats. She believed this to be a new form of her own faith in Essena, and on her return to Maganti, she spread the knowledge of this to her faithful and to her fellow clergy. When news of this was reported to the First Temple of Essena in the Arikandan city-state of Ormond, however, they deemed such use of beliefs and practices outside of the faith to be heretical and immediately ordered Sabra to cease such activity. She refused to do so, and continued to teach these syncretic beliefs. In the year that followed, Sabra's faithful grew, not just from local ethnic Avadians but also from many of the Calinani natives who had come to learn about the Elemental gods, believing them to be aspects of the spirits that they had worshipped. The Essene Templar's next step was to attempt to disavow Sabra completely, ordering her to return to the First Temple to face judgement. She spurred a crisis and a key moment for the history of Elementalism by refusing, a direct rejection to follow an order from the Exarch. A conference between the Exarch and Kolotors was called in Ormond, and the decision was made to have Sabra assassinated. An Arbiter was dispatched to carry out the assassination, but using her spiritual energy to enhance her strength and speed, she was able to overpower the Arbiter. She fended off two more Arbiters in the coming weeks, and in the interest of protecting her new followers, she began training them to use their spiritual energy to protect themselves and augment their fighting abilities. Priests from other Temples, disillusioned by the isolation of their own Exarchs and their apparently lack of interest in the faithful of Maganti, approached her and she began training them as well, and they began to express their spiritual energy in harmony with the aspects of their own elemental gods; Balarans who could cloak themselves in fire, Shokai whose strikes were deafening thunder, Shiereleyans who could run through the air, Delthines who could smash rocks with a blow and many more.
Soon, these groups of Elementalists met in the jungles of Kalor-Gai south of Maganti, where they began to build their first temples independent of the Templars. They began to form monastic orders; the Thundercallers of Shokai, the Firedancers of Balaros, the Windsoarers of Shiereleya, the Earthbreakers of Delthur and finally, the Tiderunners of Essena. Together they formed the Orders of the Elements. Sabra was elected to lead the Tiderunners as the first Mentor, and adopted the surname Tiderunner. For the rest of Sabra's life, she led the Tiderunners in providing for the people of Maganti directly, working in concert with the other orders to enact the will of their deities. In time, they worked to help the poor, teach the art of reading and writing to the people, advise the leaders of Maganti and even provided a rudimentary law enforcement in the city to protect those who needed it. She led the Tiderunners as Mentor for life. When she died of old age in 131 DoM, she was returned to Essena, floated out to sea in a rudimentary raft.
This led Sabra not only to the city and outskirts, but deep into the jungles and wetlands of their neighbours. During this time, Sabra spend time among the shamen of the original Calinani, and witnessed something the Temple had not been able to show her before; tangible evidence of these people using spiritual energies to carry out a number of feats and miracles that had not been witnessed before; hunters with speed and accuracy unlike ever seen before, dreamers with an apparent second sight, and in some cases even people mastering the elements themselves, a domain believed exclusive to the Elemental Gods. This intrigued Sabra, and she came to believe that there could be some aspect of the gods themselves in these feats. During her time studying among the shamen, Sabra sought to both remain true to her Elemental faith, but also sought to understand the nature of the beliefs of the shamen. In time, with training, she learned to tap into the energies of her own spirit and the world around her and was able to herself carry out similar feats. She believed this to be a new form of her own faith in Essena, and on her return to Maganti, she spread the knowledge of this to her faithful and to her fellow clergy. When news of this was reported to the First Temple of Essena in the Arikandan city-state of Ormond, however, they deemed such use of beliefs and practices outside of the faith to be heretical and immediately ordered Sabra to cease such activity. She refused to do so, and continued to teach these syncretic beliefs. In the year that followed, Sabra's faithful grew, not just from local ethnic Avadians but also from many of the Calinani natives who had come to learn about the Elemental gods, believing them to be aspects of the spirits that they had worshipped. The Essene Templar's next step was to attempt to disavow Sabra completely, ordering her to return to the First Temple to face judgement. She spurred a crisis and a key moment for the history of Elementalism by refusing, a direct rejection to follow an order from the Exarch. A conference between the Exarch and Kolotors was called in Ormond, and the decision was made to have Sabra assassinated. An Arbiter was dispatched to carry out the assassination, but using her spiritual energy to enhance her strength and speed, she was able to overpower the Arbiter. She fended off two more Arbiters in the coming weeks, and in the interest of protecting her new followers, she began training them to use their spiritual energy to protect themselves and augment their fighting abilities. Priests from other Temples, disillusioned by the isolation of their own Exarchs and their apparently lack of interest in the faithful of Maganti, approached her and she began training them as well, and they began to express their spiritual energy in harmony with the aspects of their own elemental gods; Balarans who could cloak themselves in fire, Shokai whose strikes were deafening thunder, Shiereleyans who could run through the air, Delthines who could smash rocks with a blow and many more.
Soon, these groups of Elementalists met in the jungles of Kalor-Gai south of Maganti, where they began to build their first temples independent of the Templars. They began to form monastic orders; the Thundercallers of Shokai, the Firedancers of Balaros, the Windsoarers of Shiereleya, the Earthbreakers of Delthur and finally, the Tiderunners of Essena. Together they formed the Orders of the Elements. Sabra was elected to lead the Tiderunners as the first Mentor, and adopted the surname Tiderunner. For the rest of Sabra's life, she led the Tiderunners in providing for the people of Maganti directly, working in concert with the other orders to enact the will of their deities. In time, they worked to help the poor, teach the art of reading and writing to the people, advise the leaders of Maganti and even provided a rudimentary law enforcement in the city to protect those who needed it. She led the Tiderunners as Mentor for life. When she died of old age in 131 DoM, she was returned to Essena, floated out to sea in a rudimentary raft.
Morality & Philosophy
Sabra's beliefs were always somewhat on the rebellious side as far as the Temple was concerned. She was greatly concerned with the isolation of the main priesthood in Ormond from the people of Maganti, and was concerned with their apparent inability to do much for anybody outside of their faithful. As she grew older and spent time with the Calinani shamen, her distrust strengthened, and she came to believe that the people of Maganti needed a different path to follow the Elements than what the Temples provided. She believed strongly in the importance of a personal belief and understanding of the Elemental gods, not simply following instructions relayed by an arbitrarily-selected Exarch.
Alignment
Chaotic Good
Honorary & Occupational Titles
Mentor of the Tiderunners (181 DoM - 131 DoM)
Priest of the Essene Temple (204 DoM - 181 DoM)
Priest of the Essene Temple (204 DoM - 181 DoM)
Life
224 DoM
131 DoM
93 years old
Birthplace
Children
Gender
Female
Other Affiliations
Comments