Quintus Petreia

"Grandmaster Quintus is the head of the Blades Order. That man's the gold standard. Pure class." ― commentary on Quintus Petreia A friend and mentor of Dalacard Rethwode, Quintus Petreia was a male Imperial Blade who served the Cyrodiilic Empire as the Grandmaster of the Order of the Blades and the Count of Bruma during the first year of the Covenant Wars. A lycanthrope, Petreia was trained in the School of Mysticism and rose in the ranks of the Order of the Blades; attaining the rank of Master and being known by his prowess in horseriding and long-ranged combat. Gaining a seat on the Elder Council even before the Retreat to Cyrodiil, Petreia was appointed Grandmaster of the Order of the Blades sometime before the outbreak of the Covenant Wars. When the Covenant first attacked the Empire, Petreia led the Blades in agreeing to fight on behalf of the Cyrodiilic Empire against the insurgents, even though he attempted in many ways to prevent all-out war. As the war came to a shocking climax with the Covenant's request to sign a non-aggression pact, Petreia advised the Elder Council favorably, unbeknownst to be falling in a faux peace with the Covenant. He did so following the protocols of war he had so honorably learned and teached in his Order. However willing he was to create peace, at least enough peace so the Legions could rebuild with enough efficiency to fight back without difficulties, his plans were thwarted by the Prince of Anvil, Kydonius Therin, who proved to have a thirst for war that Petreia didn't share. Against his recommendations, Therin and his own apprentice, Dalacard Rethwode, launched a defensive attack in Bal Oyra to stop the Covenant forces from destroying a communications outpost. That marked the end of the peace talks and the first interprovincial conflict in the wars to come. Accepting his role in the war thereafter, Quintus remained with his duties in the Order of the Blades, commanding the war mostly from the war rooms of the Empire, directly ordering assignments and even crucial attacks or blockades. Quintus was very wary of the conflict itself, being the first to notice that there may have been organs within the heart of the Empire that were working favorably to the advances of the Covenant, such as the Mages Guild. Quintus made many important and questionable decisions in the early stages of the war that would prove to be correct, showing immense foresight. Such example was his choice to train Makarov Zendai in an unfashionable way for the Blades, which led to his betrayal and fall, which, in turn, were essential to the late Imperial victory in the war. Near the end of 4E 226, while Petreia stayed behind in Tel Ahrun to coordinate the remaining forces of the Blades, he was contacted by Dalacard Rethwode with a plan to wipe out the Covenant fleet in the Zafirbel Bay. Unfortunately for them, the towers of command in Tel Ahrun were destroyed by Mariber Sicarius, and the Covenant deployed most of their fleet to Zafirbel, having successfully received a signal from the Commander of the Free Armies. While ordering Rethwode to send out the Blade forces, the Fist of Bal II fired its cannons at Tel Ahrun, killing Petreia. At his state funeral, thousands of Imperial-supporters gathered in the streets of Bruma to pay their respects to the respected Count and former Grandmaster.