Quinteia Arterius

Quinteia Arterius was the infamous rebel biotic who led the Thracian Separatist Resistance against the legions of Aurelion *Imperator* during the Unification War. She became the first *kabalim* of the newly created Cabals, Aurelion choosing to imprison her and her followers for life rather than have them all executed. What was initially framed as an act of mercy would set the turian precedent of incarcerating all biotics for the protection of the general populace, which inevitably facilitated over two millennia of state-endorsed prejudice and abuse.

Quinteia was the mother of the twins Pallix and Castus Arterius, whom Aurelion took as his wards after he imprisoned her. He raised them as his own sons, granting them the same life of luxury and level of education enjoyed by his biological children. While they were never truly his, Aurelion loved Pallix and Castus deeply and considered it his moral obligation to care for them, in light of what he had done to their mother.

## Biography

### Children

While Castus would take after his mother by attempting to kill Aurelion - an act of treason which cost him his life - Pallix remained loyal to his adoptive father and eventually succeeded Aurelion as the first *Primarch* of Palaven.

#### Death of Castus

Following Castus' death, Pallix went to visit his mother for the first and final time since her incarnation, bitterly informing her of how her poisonous hatred of Aurelion had corrupted his brother and caused his death. He also told her that he had married Aurelion's daughter, Rea, and that they had a child together. When Quinteia attempted to express her love for him, which naturally manifested as anger towards Aurelion's indoctrination of him, Pallix angrily retorted with these words:

> *"For years, you tried to fill me with your poison - the same poison that you drowned my brother in - but, unlike him, I see you for what you really are. You are a self-serving, malicious, vindictive woman, one who would rather send her sons to die in her name than help to build them a better future. Castus is dead because of you. My nephew, Quintus, has to grow up without a father because of you. I have to live the rest of my life without my twin, with whom I shared a Spirit, because of you.*
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> *"You are no mother; a mother does not use her children as tools - things! - for her own ambition. The only family I need is the one that Aurelion gave me. For as long as you shall live, you will never see my daughter. She will never know your name, or your face, or your voice. You will not exist to her. And when you die, I hope that your Spirit will fade from all living memory, cursed to wither in the Void, alone, as befits the monster that you are. You are no longer my mother. You will never see me again."*
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True to his word, Pallix never saw his mother again, nor did he ever tell his children about her. When Quinteia died, she was unceremoniously buried within the grounds of the cabal fortress where she had been imprisoned for the majority of her life; neither Pallix nor his family attended her funeral.

### Legacy

#### Venom gauntlets

Quinteia is widely credited as the creator of the venom gauntlet - now a staple of every turian cabal's armoury - which she and her fellow biotic separatists utilised against Aurelion *Imperator* and his legions. While her original design has been greatly refined over the millennia, it was still a lethal and highly unorthodox weapon during her lifetime. These retractable, venom-infused blades were her weapon of choice for her duel to first blood against Aurelion, who narrowly avoided becoming skewered upon them several times. She also used them to kill Barca, the father of Markus Abrudas, by slicing his throat open while mid-biotic charge.