Emil Rebreanu

Emil Rebreanu was the Arch-Cardinal of the Veldin Sector during the 2nd century of the 41st Millennium. He was known for his humanitarian work and later for raising forces to defend the Shrine World of Haakon VII during the 12th Black Crusade. Later canonized as an Imperial Saint, Rebreanu was most famous for being the founder of the Ordo Templariis, an unofficial military order of chivalry that served the Imperial Faith. By the later centuries of the millennium, it grew to become among the most influential religious-martial orders that existed across the Imperium. Since then the cardinal has come to be considered the patron-saint of the Templars.

He has thus gained a controversial legacy among those few that are aware of his existence in the Imperium. Some members of the Inquisition and Ecclesiarchy consider him to be borderline treasonous for violating the spirit of the Decree Passive, while others praise him for establishing the Templars, which proved themselves to be among the most skilled fighting forces unofficially serving the Ecclesiarchy. To many residents of the Veldin Sector, and especially Haakon VII, he is remembered as a generous and kind man who genuinely cared for his people.

Early life and career
Most of Emil Rebreanu's early life is essentially unknown, despite the best efforts of Inquisitors to uncover the Templar founder's past. He was thought to have been born somewhere in the Veldin Sector and had been ordained as a preacher sometime during the early years of the 2nd century of the 41st Millennium. Rebreanu also gained a professional education as a medical doctor and quickly rose through the ranks of the Ecclesiarchy, serving in its special hospitals throughout the sector. Within a few decades he had ascended to the rank of cardinal of the Shrine World of Haakon VII, where Rebreanu spent much time and essentially served as the head of its medical facilities. As his rank in the Ecclesiarchy increased, he also reported corrupt officials to the Arch-Cardinal of the sector, earning praise from both the common believers and other preachers.

In 137.M41 he was promoted again to replace the deceased Arch-Cardinal of the Veldin Sector. It was around that time that the man began to form his own conclave and group of retainers, consisting of nine veteran Crusaders.

The Black Crusade
When a Warp storm occurred in the Segmentum Obscurus in 143.M41, and the Forces of Chaos launched a massive surprise attack on various Imperial worlds, among the targeted planets was Haakon VII. Although the invasion was contained to the Gothic Sector for the most part, some other planets in neighboring regions were also attacked by smaller expeditionary forces. Among those was the world of Arch-Cardinal Rebreanu in the Veldin Sector. A group of Chaos Space Marines of an unknown chapter, accompanied by an army of corrupted Human and Ork pirates, descended upon the Shrine World. The PDF was able to put up a fight for several days before it was overwhelmed, as the population centers fell and thousands died. The Cardinal led his people to retreat into the countryside to hide in the planet's dense forests, swamps, plains, and mountains.

As the PDF was annihilated, he rallied the more dedicated believers into a Frateris Militia, a military force that consisted of Imperial Cult followers. Millions were drawn in by Rebreanu's charismatic figure and enthusiastic speeches about driving Chaos off of their world, taking up arms from abandoned PDF arsenals. They numbered in the millions but were poorly armed and had little or no training. However, overseen by Rebreanu's Crusaders took command of them and oversaw some brief training and drills, turning them at least into passable fighters. The Chaos Space Marines and their slave-soldiers, meanwhile, scoured the main cities and then tried to search the countryside. The patrols of Ork and Human pirates they sent out were found dead, their heads stuck on spikes. For months the Chaos forces waged a campaign against Rebreanu's Frateris Militia as they fought a guerrilla war against the occupiers. However, although large numbers of believers were killed, Rebreanu and his Crusaders continued to evade their pursuit and led the rebellion.

The Imperial Guard would later arrive in force and repel the Chaos invaders, taking them by surprise and overwhelming them with numbers after combining with the Frateris Militia. This way Haakon VII was freed, largely thanks to the efforts of Emil Rebreanu.

Founding the Templars
He himself was reportedly surprised at the effectiveness of his Crusaders and their Frateris Militia in fighting off the invaders, and believed that the Ecclesiarchy could benefit from an organized military force. Rebreanu considered the Decree Passive, which banned them from possessing "men at arms", to be outdated and unnecessary. Thus he began raising a small force of Crusaders that answered to him, experimenting with a small military force, eventually coming to number a few hundred men. The best leader among them, Mario Zenari, was appointed as their Knight Commander. They fought successfully under him during the Siege of Arabanth, at which point he organized them into a formal organization, the Ordo Templariis, naming Zenari their first Grand Master.

Appearance
Physically strong, Emil Rebreanu stood at a tall height and was considered by some to be an imposing figure. As a member of the Ecclesiarchy he dressed modestly and wore simply robes, even after becoming the Arch-Cardinal. At that point he did begin to carry around a large ceremonial staff with him which some later speculated could have been a disguised weapon.

Personality
Not many documents have survived the Templars' purge of the information of his existence, but from what is available Rebreanu was viewed as being a modest and kind man by those believer that he served. However, during the Crusade he demonstrated a good strategic ability and that he possessed a keen mind. The event also showed that the cardinal could display a certain ruthlessness when necessary. Beyond those facts not much is known about the man and he has come to have a cult-like status among the dedicated followers of the Imperial Creed in the Obsucurus Segmentum.