Avu Med 'Telcam

"A god who creates tools is still a god. It is not for us to impose qualifications upon the divine or presume to guess its intentions."

- Avu Med 'Telcam concerning modern views on the Forerunners

Avu Med 'Telcam, commonly known as "The Bishop," is a Sangheili fundamentalist and a representative of the Servants of the Abiding Truth (Neru Pe 'Odosima).

Early career
'Telcam once served in the Covenant military as an interpreter of several human languages for his former shipmaster; he was promoted to the rank of Field Master before his resignation. He viewed the Arbiter Thel 'Vadam and his followers as "infidels"—traitors to their faith, as they renounced the Great Journey and destroyed the Covenant at the Ark.

Post-war
Following the end of the Human-Covenant War, 'Telcam and his order attempted to begin an insurrection against 'Vadam's forces. In January 2553, the United Nations Space Command's Office of Naval Intelligence organized a meeting between 'Telcam and Captain Serin Osman, along with Professor Evan Phillips on the glassed New Llanelli. The purpose of the meeting was to negotiate terms of cooperation between ONI and the Servants of the Abiding Truth, as ONI wished to create unrest amongst the Sangheili and thereby remove them as a threat to the UNSC and humanity. 'Telcam agreed to accept ONI's assistance on the condition that the UNSC ceased to "blaspheme" the divinity of the Forerunners, and that humanity would remain uninvolved with Sangheili affairs following the Servants' successful takeover of Sangheili society—terms to which Osman agreed.

'Telcam met with ONI operatives again on New Llanelli, where he received a shipment of human and Sangheili weaponry to support his forces. However, he was questioning what Osman's real plan was. Meeting with Forze 'Mdama and Jul 'Mdama in the state of Ontom, 'Telcam took them on a tour of the Temple of the Abiding Truth, pointing out the symbols that may lead to the Halo Array. 'Telcam worked with Forze, Jul, and Buran 'Utaral to retrieve the latter's ship he once commanded during the war from the Aanrar Shipyard. After stealing the frigate, the Sangheili group hid it in the Bekan quarry in the state of Mdama. 'Telcam later had Manus, a Jiralhanae loyal to Buran, transport weapons to him aboard the Piety. However, the Piety was intercepted by the and the Jiralhanae crew were killed by Kilo-Five. The Huragok stationed on the Piety, Requires Adjustment, was taken aboard Port Stanley, the navigational records were altered, and the bodies of Kig-Yar were placed on the ship; no evidence of human involvement remained. Upon recovering the Piety in Mdama, 'Telcam was tricked into believing Kig-Yar pirates were responsible for the attack. He searched the navigational records and discovered Venezia had radio contact with the Kig-Yar. Angered at losing a valuable Huragok, 'Telcam swore he would get his revenge against the planet. After leaving Mdama, 'Telcam met with Kilo-Five on New Llanelli again. He refused to name of the location or the names of the individuals he was meeting to others. During this meeting, Jul 'Mdama covertly observed from a distance but was captured by Naomi-010, a SPARTAN-II and a member of Kilo-Five.

'Telcam later met with Professor Evan Phillips in Ontom. Phillips was on Sanghelios allegedly to study Sangheili culture; in addition, however, he was on a covert ONI mission to gather intelligence on the Abiding Truth's temple. Suddenly, two explosions, rigged by Jiralhanae terrorists, detonated nearby them. This caused Phillips to lose contact with the rest of Kilo-Five, sending the team to Sanghelios to recover him. 'Telcam was outraged by the Jiralhanae insurrection and aided the state's militia in killing them.

Sangheili civil war
After the attempted Jiralhanae uprising in the state of Ontom, 'Telcam decided to launch an attack on the state of Vadam. After picking up more loyal troops and gaining a fleet of nine vessels, 'Telcam led the assault from the frigate Unflinching Resolve, joined by Forze and Jul 'Mdama's wife, Raia. He ordered Buran and the other shipmasters to avoid damaging any Forerunner relics in the state, much to their disbelief. During the assault, Unflinching Resolve was damaged. Buran warned 'Telcam that the frigate needed to retreat, but 'Telcam ordered him to continue the attack. Ultimately, the frigate was shot down and the ship crash-landed on the Vadam shoreline, although 'Telcam, Raia, Forze, and Buran survived. 'Telcam and the other survivors ran from the wreckage, avoiding 'Vadam's forces, and joined the rest of the attacking force on the coast.

At first the attack seemed to be failing, as few Sangheili keeps backed up his invasion. Soon after however, news spread across the planet that Thel 'Vadam was allowing humans to fight for him and land on Sanghelios. After this word reached indecisive keeps, 'Telcam gained supporters and had Vadam keep surrounded. As 'Telcam's troops moved in on Vadam keep, the arrived at Sanghelios and aided the Arbiter by destroying several of 'Telcam's ships. Avu was then deemed valuable by the Office of Naval Intelligence and necessary to maintain the imposed stalemate between the two Sangheili factions. As such, he was abducted by Kilo-Five and taken aboard to make an agreement to retreat. During this time, Infinity destroyed the Defender of Faith and some of the Sangheili raiding Vadam keep. Kilo-Five's AI, Black-Box, impersonated a Kig-Yar pirate shipmistress as a cover, allowing Port Stanley to attack Thel 'Vadam's ships to impose a stalemate between the Abiding Truth and 'Vadam. 'Telcam, truly believing Port Stanley was a Kig-Yar vessel, asked the "shipmistress" of Sav Fel, a T'vaoan pirate that stole the Pious Inquisitor from him. This alerted the UNSC of the battlecruiser's disappearance. Most of 'Telcam's ground forces were killed and Cleansing Truth was destroyed with Forze and Raia aboard, resulting in their deaths. After retreating from the system, 'Telcam ordered Kilo-Five to drop him off at New Llanelli.

Due to a lack of ships, 'Telcam put out a reward to the Kig-Yar to find the ship Pious Inquisitor. Shipmistress Chol Von soon took his offer, although she secretly planned to take the ship for herself and use it as a means to defend the Kig-Yar from external threats. Meanwhile, on New Llanelli, 'Telcam established a military base for the Abiding Truth and met with several of his commanders to discuss the current situations. Some time later, 'Telcam once again met members of Kilo-Five on New Llanelli, this time receiving Professor Evan Phillips' notes on the Forerunner temple at Ontom for the religious significance they held. In return, 'Telcam provided information on the status of his civil war, the disappearance of Jul 'Mdama, and Pious Inquisitor. Believing he was responsible for the death of Raia and the disappearance of Jul, 'Telcam took Dural 'Mdama on as an apprentice.

Personality and traits
"There's a fine line between reckless and bold. Acting alone may be noble, but acting together with an agreed plan is effective."

- 'Telcam after Jul 'Mdama revealed that he could have killed Thel 'Vadam

Avu Med 'Telcam was very calm, patient, and definite. So much so that upon seeing him agitated, it was unsettling for Jul 'Mdama. He was very religious and still worshipped the Forerunners, but he believed it was heresy to damage a Forerunner structure. During the Assault on Vadam, he refused to allow Buran 'Utaral to damage the Forerunner structures throughout the state of Vadam, making it very difficult for the shipmaster to engage ground targets. 'Telcam was slightly jealous of Professor Evan Phillips, confused at how a "inferior" human was able to get a better understanding of the Forerunner writing in the Temple of the Abiding Truth in Ontom than he could. He believed that to successfully overthrow Thel 'Vadam, his ideas and allies had to be destroyed to ensure that his legacy and ideals did not live on. 'Telcam felt guilty for the deaths of those under his command, including Raia 'Mdama, the wife of Jul.

'Telcam wished for the Sangheili to live independently from the other species. He believed that if the Sangheili worked together, the species could effectively achieve any goal. Despite being very religious and spiritual, 'Telcam was a rather pragmatic individual. He had little regard for other species and considered them to be inferior, including the Jiralhanae, Kig-Yar, Unggoy, and humans. Though he did come to respect the Kig-Yar and humans to some degree. Although he hated both species, he was willing to work with them to achieve his goals.

Trivia
'Telcam is featured on the cover of Halo: Glasslands. Although he is shown in silver armor akin to that of an Ultra on the cover, he wears the golden armor of a Field Master throughout the novel.

List of appearances

 * Halo: Glasslands
 * Halo: The Thursday War
 * Halo: Mortal Dictata