Plots for Philotas

[Philotas]

Hey all,

You know how these things go, if you have any ideas for threads or plots (big or small) with Philotas please feel free to post them here.

You can find his biography here: remnantsofanempire.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=applications&action=display&thread=89. The cliff notes version is that Philotas is an aristocratic general in Archaean forces of great skill but little renown. He did serve in the Amoraean Imperial before the death of Emperor Gaios IV and the breakup of the Empire.

In terms of plot ideas I am open to anything as long as it makes sense. These include friends - though Philotas is aloof and hard to become friends with, although once you earn his loyalty it is for life - or enemies - he is likely to have plenty of these both within Archaea, as a result of his elitist appearances, and outside, perhaps a spiteful opponent from a campaign. And any other number of plots, threads and relationships you can think of. I want it all.

So yeah throw your ideas out here or shoot us a PM.

Cheers!
Phil

[Wolfezth Severus Deraine]

Hm, well, in preparation for the diplomacy thread and beyond, since Philotas served in an auxillary legion before he defected to Archaea, he would definitely know of Wolfy even before the fall, or that he existed anyway. His father, Fenrir Deraine was the Phoenix-Commander at the time, and often brought his sons along with him to the different castras he stayed.

He was only 10 at the time of the Empire's fall, but from heresay and general knowledge of the goings-on of major events in the Empire, which would be common knowledge - Wolfy could very well represent everything that Philotas hates about the Empire. His rise was meteoric, and one could say that he had everything handed to him from the time he was born due to his bloodline - the son of the Phoenix-Commander, essentially given the world on a silver platter. While Philotas worked for every ounce of his status, every minute to secure and maintain the loyalty of his men - Wolfy could very well be perceived as this arrogant jackass who was just handed Phoenix-Commander, the highest rank in the Amoraean Army, on a knee-jerk reaction to one battle at the age of eighteen, proving once again that if you have the right bloodlines and born to the right families, everything will be handed to you without effort in Amoraea. The spoiled brat who gets everything he wanted instantly while so many other more worthy soldiers toiled much lower because they didn't have the connections or the bloodlines.

Just a thought.

[Philotas]

I don't think Philotas will mind Wolfezth's aristocratic lineage, given that Philotas' own family is older than the empire itself. He values blood and believes in abilities of the exceptional few, despite his adherence to the democracy of Archaea. Nor will mind his meteoric rise overly much.

However Wolfezth's blatant Amoraean partisanship will definitely place them on opposing sides. Philotas' distaste for the Amoraean Empire cannot be overstated. And being of a leading family from the Empire will only make Philotas dislike Wolfezth all the more. I think he would also doubt Wolfezth's skill, given that the Phoenix Commander has not seen a "proper" campaign since his ascension to the title. Although he would acknowledge the merit in the strategy that Wolfezth has employed thus far, of securing borders and reinforcing troops.

I definitely think it would make sense for the two of them to have crossed paths at some point in the past. Perhaps Wolfezth left with the impression that Philotas is not the most "manly" of men, a common impression of him. Which could make for some interesting times when they encounter each other again.

[Wolfezth Severus Deraine]

That's an extremely valid point on the doubting of skill - there's been nothing but border skirmishes since his ascension, and it was honestly something I never noticed before. Extremely valid point. Especially in a setting like this, not making a major move in two years is either overly cautious or downright cowardly.

To the point of them meeting in the past, absolutely. In Wolfezth's opinion, leadership is the main quality of generalship - the ability to put a fire in the eyes of your soldiers, to have those intangibles that would make them follow you to the gates of hell and back willingly, howling with eagerness the entire way. If one does not possess this, it's much easier for Wolfy to underestimate Philotas very much. One cannot tell military genius from a brief encounter, and Wolfy is still young and dumb enough to make critical oversights like this; and assume incompetence due to seeming lack of fire in the eyes of a leader like Philotas - even from a brief encounter. Most of his life has been warfare, and outside of it in a peaceful setting where he has to gauge people -- to put it simply he's not very good at it. The collapse of your entire empire from boyhood and spending your teenage years helping to rebuild it doesn't allow you to learn much court skill. =P

[Philotas]

The ability to inspire is a skill that Philotas acknowledges as a great talent but one he knows he does not possess in any form. He is simply uninspiring, though amongst his Chiliarchy he is loved fanatically. This again just demonstrates how aloof and distant he is, it took nearly nine years to win his Chiliarchies complete and utter trust.

So in part Philotas will probably be slightly jealous of the ease at which Wolfezth wins men's loyalty and devotion, and also he would admire it as a sign of a great commander. For Philotas there is a difference between a commander and a general

But sounds like they will have an interesting encounter in the Diplomacy thread, and our past one should be fun as well