White-Masked Man

You'll know, my dearest sweetling
When the fauns stop in their stride
When you see the great old silver bear
With his thick and glim'ring hide

You'll know, my dearest sweetling
When the rats hide in their toes
And the birds, they mute their singing
While the trees, they fill with crows

You'll know, my dearest sweetling
That then, he'll come for you
He'll come to take your youthful light
And then, your fam'ly too

Di'Lylvaterë Teýma, the "white-masked man" in Tretalleri is a folkloric figure that features prominently in the stories that tretalleri parents use to scare their children into good behavior. Most popular in the border regions of Dominion territory in Di'Termalttë, particulary in the western and southwestern regions, the white-masked man is also used to encourage children to work hard in their training as the story emphasizes that the only way to drive the white-masked man away is with the bite of cold steel.

Summary

As far as folklore goes, the story that surrounds the white-masked man is rather uniform across the Dominion. The white-masked man's description is also quite uniform. The white-masked man is said to be a somewhat short man, wearing a beautiful porcelain white mask with intricate designs like leaves and vines. He rides on the back of a bear with silver hide that is carrying two large saddlebags that rattle with the sound of porcelain whenever they move. Notably, the white-masked man never speaks.
At the core of the myth of the white-faced man is the idea that he is constantly stalking at the fringes of civilization, waiting for an opportune moment to slip in through the cracks undetected so as to seize children from their families. The white-faced man likes to go for easy prey, so children who are acting unruly or are otherwise misbehaving are the perfect targets because they usually go where they're told not to, or they make too much noise, making them easier for the white-masked man to find. Parents of unruly, misbehaving children have to avert their attention from their children to stay level-headed, and that is when the white-masked man strikes, seizing the children before their parents even notice.
In most tellings of the story, the last sound children taken away by the white-masked man hear is the sound of porcelain rattling in leather saddlebags. The white-masked man makes sure that the children never find their parents again by placing one of the many porcelain masks that he carries with him on their face, which is said to completely devour the child's mind and personality, turning the child into a puppet for the white-masked man who will then use the child to capture the rest of the child's family one by one.

Historical Basis

The white-masked man as presented by the story doesn't actually exist, but is rather an amalgamation of characteristics common to the elledyn'ni raiders that have, historically, made living in the frontier regions of Dominion territory in Di'Termalttë difficult. The white mask comes from the white porcelain masks that are worn by the slave caste of elledyn'ni society, who are used for manual labor as well as cheap infantry and cannon fodder in combat. The silver bear, on the other hand, comes from the commanders of these raiding parties who ride on bears clad in myth-steel armor which glimmers like silver. The notion that only the bite of cold steel can turn the white-masked man away comes from the fact that arcane magic loses its potency when it comes into direct contact with iron, one of the only ways that the border settlements of the Dominion are able to maintain their sovereignty despite the constant slaving raids.