Archenida

The clan Archenida was one of the old warrior clans of Vulcan prior to the Reformation. Around the Vulcan year 1433, the Archenida war-leader Sorrd obtained the gem that would become known as "Vulcan's Glory" fighting against the Kawarda at the Battle of Deen T'zal. The Archenida kept the stone for generations in war, and would remain its stewards as Surak's message of peace and logic united all of Vulcan. The very nature of the gem itself changed along with the Vulcan people, from a prize of war to a symbol of peace. The Archenida would remain as guardians of the Glory as it was taken into space to tour the Vulcan colonies, until it was lost onboard the vessel He-shii. The disappearance of the Glory greatly shamed the Archenida.

No word of the gem was heard until 2253, when the theorists T'Clar and Spens extrapolated the course of the He-shii to the planet GS2391. The USS Enterprise (NCC-1701), commanded at that time by Captain Christopher Pike, was dispatched to GS2391 to investigate. A landing party made up of the ship's Vulcan crewmembers, led by Lieutenant Spock, located the remains of the He-shii and recovered its message beacon. According to a log entry made by Stepn, captain of the He-shii, the Glory had been taken onboard a life shell - a shuttlecraft of sorts - with a member of clan Archenida as its steward, as per custom. The life shell's remnants were found crashed on the planet Areta, the Enterprise's original destination, and the Glory recovered.

Despite the Archenida's well-known role as guardians of the Glory and the shame they felt at its disappearance, there were some who believed that the Archenida were in fact carrying on a grand deception - that the gem that had been taken onboard the He-shii was a fake, and that the Archenida had hidden away the real Glory. This began as the bitter rantings of an exile named T'Dess, who had been disowned by her father - a member of clan Archenida - after she was raped by a human adventurer. Settling on Earth and having children with a human, T'Dess had taught her descendants about the Archenida's "deception". Daniel Reed, a member of the Enterprise crew, was one of T'Dess' great-grandchildren and had grown up with this twisted version of the facts. When the He-shii was rediscovered, Reed had hoped to expose the "deception" and avenge his great-grandmother's exile, but this effort was foiled by Spock, who apprehended Reed and informed him that the crew had recovered the Glory and confirmed it was indeed real.

The Glory at last returned to Vulcan shortly thereafter; it is unknown whether the Archenida once more took up their traditional role as its custodians.