ya but thats just a minor side issue, the fact he or she is a blade does not make all blades uber pwners

Yes, he probably was. But what I meant was that the Nerevarines might not have been acting on behalf of the Blades when he ventured to the Red Mountain. And besides, whatever the Nerevarines reasons were, it was still Vivec who gave the "order".

But...you still could have killed Vivec for the gloves, or right after, and it would not affect the prophecy one bit.

Caius makes you Operative, but that's not the top ranking Blade on the island, despite what he says.

Part of what I loved about Morrowind was that it gave incredible depth to a lot of things. Like that Caius had all the personality traits and flaws that Jauffre didn't.

Jauffre is squeaky clean, so that the PS3 players know he's a goodie.

hmm...and weren't they a sort of secret Imperial Army or group of assasins in Arena?

They weren't in Arena. But people often overlook that in Daggerfall, apart from being a secret knightly order, they were touted as the greatest fighters in Tamriel:

Many orders have their mysteries, but everything about the Blades is shrouded in myth. They are rumored to be the finest warriors in Tamriel, trained for generation after generation, all within the same families. What their goals are is completely unknown.

They may not even exist, but if they do, and the legends have a basis in truth, they're the finest warriors in all Tamriel. They're a knightly order alright, but unlike any other order, which defines itself by its allegiance, the Blades' master is unknown. They are a completely enigmatic group.

You shouldn't be asking about the Blades so openly. Everyone knows that they're made up of the best fighters in Tamriel, but no one knows the purpose for their existence. That makes them dangerous.

It's implied in Daggerfall that their only goal was collecting the pieces of the Numidium. Morrowind gave them a new role as the emperor's secret service.

I swear I've seen them in arena during some "fetching" quests...

"All within the same families."

Morrowind's Blades seemed more slapdash and cosmopolitan. Maybe they're the new order, and Cloud Ruler Temple is the place where the Old Soldiers Fade Away now that they've lost their primary mission.

Morrowind's Blades were more like 70s CIA. Snort a little coke, sell weapons to insurgents to take care of foreign affairs, indulge in foreign prosttutes, repeat. More streetsmart and able to infiltrate networks than the ceremonial idjits of Oblivion.

Don't forget the aparent succes followed by the blowback. Booya.

That's what I was thinking of when I said the Blades were like the CIA. Though it may have also had something to do with my just seeing The Good Shepherd for the first time. I had forgotten just how much they'd changed when transplanted to Oblivion.

Anyway, I'm a much bigger fan of the mysterious Imperial Knights faction that showed up in the Morrowind Construction Set. They sound like the perfect elite personal guard to the Emperor.

I liked Ken Rolston's posts on his character Caius Cosades after the Blade had returned from Vvardenfell. Although Cosades seems to be living as a monk in the first link below, I figure it's probably his cover, just as being a junkie was his cover in "Morrowind":

http://www.imperial-library.info/obscure_text/cosades_letter.shtml


The second post shows again Cosades' level head and loyalty to the deceased Emperor:

http://www.imperial-library.info/obscure_text/cosades_visit.shtml

You could. But that doesn't really change anything, does it?


Well, according to the UESP at least, there are no higher ranked members on Vvardenfell. It is not the highest rank, but it's the highest around. Which makes sense, since there's no way they would make someone who's only been in a Blade for about some weeks/months the one responsible for all the intelligence gathered in Morrowind. If not, as the title "Grand Spymaster" implied, Caius was actually the highest ranking member in all of Tamriell. It would be nothing else than dumb if you had gotten that title.

Caius was in charge of the Blades' spy operations, not all blades operations.

Just the spy operations in the Vvardenfell district though, not all operations everywhere, but i'm sure you meant that.

Unless that is the difference from other "spymasters" that the "grand" does in Caius title "grand spymaster."

He quite clearly states he is the Spymaster for the Vvardenfell district though.

That's true, except it being Morrowind instead of Vvardenfell. He says (taken from the CS):

But he does not say "I am the Grand Spymaster for Morrowind". While this is completely unbased on anything, it might still be possible that he is the Grand Spymaster of all of Cyrodiil as well, but just not saying it to you.
Only speculation, though.

The first link in my post #64 above seems to indicate that Caius Cosades had Blades above him, including during his stint as a monk; I get the feeling that while he's a spymaster for Morrowind (or could it be only for Vvardenfell, and the devs misspoke?), Caius is far from the head of the Blades spying apparatus.

While playing "Morrowind" I got the impression that Caius was like a European or American expatriate who had "gone native", showing a greater interest in Dunmer history and prophecies than most Imperials would. That's only my opinion though.

I don't really think he was the top ranking blade either, just speculating. But he was, probably the 'Grand Spymaster' of Morrowind, as he himself says. Unless he was lying.

And, just out of curiosity, can you tell me where the first text indicates that he has superordinates? I couldn't find it myself.
Also, just to make things clear to me, what do you mean with the 'devs misspeaking' part?
I feel so stupid today.

For the devs, I meant maybe they were thinking of Vvardenfell instead of all Morrowind -- it seems more likely to me that Caius Cosades was a spymaster for the island of Vvardenfell instead of the whole province.

When you read Cosades' letter to Olana (http://www.imperial-library.info/obscure_text/cosades_letter.shtml), he writes that he was a novice at the Kvatch temple a few years before the town was destroyed: "Has Father Ilav shown any signs of recovery? He was ever so patient with me when first I came to Kvatch. I know I was not an obedient or diligent novice."

I'm not sure how much to read between the lines. I don't think Cosades has become the humble monk that he presents himself as in the letter. But was he brought back from Vvardenfell in disgrace with the Blades and exiled to Kvatch, then Kragenmoor; or is he still an active agent who only uses the priesthood as a cover (which I suspect is more likely)? At any rate, we are shown that he was sent to Kvatch after his Vvardenfell assignment.

Well, Cosades was kind of a drug addict.

Maybe, or more likely it was his cover while in Balmora. It's possible the Blades recalled him to Cyrodiil because of a drug dependency, but also possible that he never really used sugar and was only recalled for another assignment.