Vema 'Togad

"Led by a mighty Arbiter, the Sangheili resisted our entreatment with ruthless force, leading to decades of war."

- A San'Shyuum scribe describes the Arbiter and the events leading up to the War of Beginnings

Vema 'Togad, the Prophet's Bane, was an Arbiter who led the Sangheili in their war against the Reformist San'Shyuum.

War of Beginnings
In 938 BCE, the Reformist San'Shyuum landed on the Sangheili frontier world of Ulgethon and sent a delegation to meet with Arbiter Vema 'Togad. Due to the Reformists' view that Forerunner technology should be used and studied, a notion that was considered blasphemous by the Sangheili, 'Togad used his sword to behead the members of the delegation. He sent the severed heads of the delegation back to the rest of the San'Shyuum on their Dreadnought. When the San'Shyuum found the delegation's mangled remains, they took the Dreadnought into the skies over Ulgethon only to be met by a fleet of Sangheili warships. However, the Dreadnought proved impervious to their weapons and the fleet was destroyed, though the fighting continued on the surface of the world for a year. Arbiter Vema 'Togad valiantly led the Sangheili in this bloody terrestrial conflict, but the San'Shyuum ultimately succeeded in razing Ulgethon. The war would eventually lead to the signing of the Writ of Union by Pelahsar the Strident and the creation of the Covenant.

Legacy in the Covenant
Vema 'Togad's intimidating presence and ferocity on the battlefield during the war led the San'Shyuum to preserve the title of Arbiter as a highly honored warrior position in the newly formed Covenant.

In 2552, millennia after the war, a San'Shyuum scribe mentioned Arbiter Vema 'Togad and his role in instigating the War of Beginnings as part of The Punished Deeds, a Covenant document detailing the history of the empire and its member species.

List of appearances

 * Halo 2: Anniversary
 * Terminals