Regulus Sardecus Regulus Sardecus , also known as General Sardecus or Sardecus the Rock , was an Imperial general , who led the Fourth Legion during the Blackwater War , after their first campaign , led by Augurius Bucco , had failed . Sardecus was a near - legendary figure , having fought in countless campaigns , and had distinguished himself as both a soldier as well as a general . He was everything that Bucco was not . He was stout , humorless , had hawk - like features , and walked with a limp ( a lingering injury from the Battle of Argonia ) . He spoke in short , gravely sentences that commanded obedience . He deliberately avoided using all formal dress and regalia , preferring to wear a simple centurion ' s panoply with a white crest , to signify his station . The Blackwater War . By 1E 2823 , Sardecus and his Legion had regained all the territory that Bucco had lost when he had retreated . His success is attributed to his adaptability and tactical creativity . For instance , Sardecus ordered that all legionnaires abandon their metal armor , in favor of padded leather jackets . Imperial Quartermaster s coordinated with Argonian irregulars and scouts , and learned how to subsist on food procured from the swamp alone . Centurion s and legate s were also given additional authority , such that they could fight independently when the legion became fractured . Sardecus ' greatest success , however , was in the diplomatic arena . Early in the conflict , he reached out to disenfranchised Argonian tribes , and offered them rewards for joining the war effort and fighting for the Empire . He secured solid alliances with several influential tribes , including the treacherous Archein s and Shoss - kaleel . Suddenly , his forces nearly tripled . The war for Black Marsh was finally swinging in the Empire ' s favor . Sardecus ' command strategy hinged on one fundamental principle - the swamp was the true enemy , not the Argonians . New war doctrine and " The Great Burn " . Disease accounted for roughly half of all fatalities in the first campaign , followed closely by mysterious disappearances . By Sardecus ' estimation , Argonian raids had taken a distant third . With these facts in mind , he created a new war doctrine and disseminated it to all of his officers . The crux of the strategy was simple : the only way to conquer Black Marsh was to destroy it . Sardecus deployed entire cohorts of engineers and sappers to the front lines . While legionnaires launched raids on border villages , the supporting troops drained swamps , salted rice paddies , and felled hundreds of trees . The most well - known event of this portion of the war was the " Great Burn " of 1E 2828 . Records indicate that in early Rain ' s Hand 1E 2828 , Elissia Mallicius ( one of Sardecus ' most - trusted legates ) ordered a unit of sappers to set fire to a peat bog outside of Stormhold . The sappers followed the orders , not knowing that the bog was just one part of a massive underground network . Months passed before legionnaires started reporting random fires , some as far away as Soulrest and Gideon . It took several more months before the Legion realized that the entire region was on fire . An inferno of burning peat and detritus raged underfoot for more than three years . The already deadly Marsh became so dangerous that the Legion was forced to give ground for the first time in the better part of a decade . Hundreds of soldiers were lost to " swamp lung " and gas explosions before they escaped the scalding heat of the fire . It was a devastating blow to both the Legion and the Argonians . This marked the end of the second campaign , and the end of Sardecus ' tenure as general . Death . Soon after the legion ' s retreat , Sardecus fell ill and died before reaching the Imperial City . The official diagnosis was a severe infection from a wound he had sustained on the way out of the Marsh . However , the true circumstances of Sardecus ' death are still a matter of historical debate . The author of the book " The Blackwater War " believes that the Shadowscales played some role in his death , as Sardecus was a high - ranking general , and had died shortly after the Great Burn .