Tempus

Tempus
Fan art of Tempus, by Dian Huynh.
Type	NPC
Actor	Brennan Lee Mulligan
Character Information
Name	Tempus
Pronouns	he/him
Creature type	Celestial
Race	Griffon
Languages	Understands Common
Places	Avalir (formerly) Astral Plane
Connections	Zerxus Ilerez (summoner and rider) Elias (rider)
Profession	Mount
Status
Status	Unknown
Stats
HP	59
AC	12
DC
Str	18
Dex	15
Con	16
Int	6
Wis	13
Cha	8
Reference(s)
Appearances
First seen	"Excelsior" (E3x01)
Last seen	"Fire and Ruin" (E3x04)
Stream	"Exandria Unlimited: Calamity (2 episodes)"

Tempus was the griffon mount of Zerxus Ilerez, the First Knight of Avalir. As an NPC, he is played by Brennan Lee Mulligan.

Description

Appearance

Tempus is a beautiful griffon (thus looking like a mix of eagle and lion) whose body is made of purple, liquid-like magical energy, the same color as amethysts, with stars and constellations floating inside of him. His physical behavior and mannerisms are very reminiscent of those of a cat.

Biography

Tempus was summoned for the first time at some point during the last decades of the Age of Arcanum, after the paladin Zerxus Ilerez learned how to cast Find Greater Steed. The starry griffon answered the call and revealed his name to the human, forming a bond with him. When Zerxus' husband, Evandrin Alterra, died, the paladin succeeded him in the position of First Knight of Avalir, moving into the tower in which the bearer of the title traditionally resided. Tempus used to sleep there too, having a large window through which to enter and exit when necessary.

During the night preceding the last day before the Calamity Zerxus had a nightmare in which his son disappeared into a star pool while Asmodeus and Pelor crashed into the City of Crowns during a fight; in that dream, Tempus appeared alongside his rider as a reassuring presence, and Elias interacted with the griffon without fear. After the paladin woke up he found his mount there, just as usual.

Tempus and his companion flew together while the First Knight tried not to think about the dream and the lack of contact between him and his son after several years. However, at nightfall Zerxus attended the event held by his friend Patia Por'co at her home, so he left Tempus to watch over Avalir on his own. However, not long after Zerxus would summon the griffon again to go find his friend, Nydas Okiro, and go together to the Hall of Prophecy to investigate the oracles that resided there. Later, when Lacrytia Hollow and her allies attacked the Ring of Brass Tempus joined the fight, attacking the enemies of the group.

That night the Lord of the Nine Hells was able to trick Zerxus into help him return to Exandria through the Tree of Names, and after a tense conversation (during which Zerxus was telepathically informing his mount about everything) in which he offered the paladin to become his champion, the Betrayer God killed him, severing his connection with Tempus. However, after a conversation with Evandrin in the Astral Plane Zerxus accepted Asmodeus' deal and he took the Mace of the Black Crown, returning with a more fiendish appearance. However, this also restored his connection with the starry griffon, who took him to Cathmoíra to alert the people there about the approaching danger; they took the chance to visit Elias one last time and before they left Tempus flapped his wings, dropping a feather that the teen picked up. Just before dawn the Ring of Brass had one last fight against Vespin Chloras and his sabotaged taxmen while Laerryn Coramar-Seelie activated her Astral Leywright; during the fight, a dying Zerxus tried to command Tempus to flee, and the griffon, in a last act before complying, opened a portal through which he flung a taxman (dropping it a mile high), while Evandrin's voice comforted his husband in his mind.

Fan art of Elias and Tempus, by Jenny Dolfen.

After that, Tempus flew looking for the feather that he had left with Elias, and when he found the young man, holding the journal that Zerxus had given him, he climbed on the back of the griffon, which was gaining height until it opened a new portal, this time to the Astral Plane, allowing Evandrin and his son to be together again.

Character information

Abilities

As a spirit summoned by the Find Greater Steed spell Tempus has the traditional abilities of a griffon, but is more intelligent and its creature type is Celestial; furthermore, he is able to telepathically communicate with his rider if he is less than a mile away.

In addition, Tempus has a curious additional ability, being able to open portals between two points on the Material Plane or between two different planes. Since Zerxus had never witnessed said ability and heard Evandrin's voice when it happened, it is highly likely that the previous First Knight of Avalir granted the griffon this ability.

Appearances and mentions

• Exandria Unlimited: Calamity
  • "Excelsior" (E3x01) (first appearance)
  • "Bitterness and Dread" (E3x02)
  • "Blood and Shadow" (E3x03)
  • "Fire and Ruin" (E3x04)

Trivia

Fan art of Tempus the griffin, by Clara.

• His name means "time" in Latin. Luis Carazo explained that initially he had thought about naming his mount Chronos ("time" in Greek, a name often associated with the titan that fathered Zeus and his siblings), but he discarded it, as well as its Latin equivalent, until he found the expression "tempus fugit", which means "time flies", referring to the fact that time inevitably passes and should not be wasted. Interestingly, the meaning in the most literal sense also applied to the starry griffon at the end of his rider's life, since he ordered him to get out, and Tempus flew away, but to find Elias and take him to Evandrin. Brennan Lee Mulligan even described the celestial spirit in his last moments in Exandria as "racing against the dawn", keeping his connection with time until the very end.
  • Tempus is also the name of a war god worshiped in Toril.
• Zerxus learned to fly using the Exandrian stars as a reference. Since the night sky can change depending on the part of the planet you're on, it's quite possible that Zerxus and Tempus learned to fly together in Cathmoíra or somewhere in Exandria where Avalir had stopped for more than a day.
• Evandrin told Zerxus that sometimes he was able to see through Tempus' eyes, suggesting a connection between the starry griffon and the former eldritch knight, now an astral being himself.
  • It is possible that through this connection he was able to grant Tempus additional powers and allow him to reach the Astral Plane with Elias.
• Tempus' appearance is very similar to that of an adranach, a type of construct used by the League of Miracles that has a body made of arcane energy combined with elements of mithral, including a personalized mask.
  • Clara Daly, one of the artists that worked in Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting Reborn, also noted this similarity, describing the griffon as a "proto adranach". So far it is unknown if these creatures share a connection.

References

Art: