Asterius Poírius Acássia

General introduction

Asterius Poírius Acássia was one of the finest naval officers in the history of the Tarrabaenian fleet and basically the person who is responsible for enabling Tarrabaenia to become a formidable naval power in the first place. He lived during the Third War against the Southern Elves and commanded the second fleet to be built by the still young Confederation of Tarrabaenia.

Family background and personal history

The Acássius family, although not noble, was distinguished within the Confederation of Tarrabaenia for their achievements in the ongoing wars against the Mdûlûn. Coming from humble origins, the family members earned a reputation for being brave and and clever soldiers, some of which were responsible for saving many of their comrades lifes by making the right decisions just at the right time. This talent soon enabled them to rise in the ranks and move as far up as a commoner could get.

With this background, Asterius, second son of Bellinus Acrius Acássia became the captain of the Léva Gúnátoris, the assisting ship of the fleets leader. It was in 1477 of the Era of the Earth, that a Mdûlûn fleet came from Akadra, a Mdûlûn city state to the southeast to harry the Grey Sea coast of Tarrabaenia. The fleet was deployed under the command of Marcellus Decentissimus Fibrillo, a highly capable man in the army, but with little experience on sea. His appointment as the commander of the fleet had been pushed by his father, Cirius Órilábra Fibrillo, a mighty nobleman who was eager to broaden his family's portfolio and by doing so furthering the family's influence on the Confederation. Marcellus' inexperience in naval warfare though, would lead to his downfall and, on the other hand, Asterius' greatest success.

Asterius as captain of the Léva Gúnátoris, Battle at the Blue Rocks and legacy

The 13th day of Príntempó of the year 1477 of the Era of the Earth was the day, when the unexpected attack of the Mdûlûn started to get countered by the Tarrabaenian fleet. They had been harrying the coast around Melita for two days, progressing steadily forward. The Tarrabaenian fleet was stationed in Óstica at the mouth of the Evoris river. When ready they set sail to meet the attackers. The Tarrabaenian fleet had only been rebuild recently after it was almost entirely obliterated during the Second War against the Southern Elves 17 years earlier.

Marcellus Decentissimus Fibrillo decided to align the fleet in a wedge formation, something he had made good experiences with when commanding cavalry on the battlefield. In naval battle, though, this tactic failed miserably, considering the then still prevalent ramming techniques used. The Mdûlûn fleet used its maneuverability to outflank the tip of the wedge and enter deep into the spearhead, incapacitating a dozen ships, among which that of Marcellus almost immediately. What became of Marcellus is unknown. He probably died drowning in his armour.

The left flank, under the control of Asterius took the lead, changing into an echelon as to have ships at different depths of the front line cover each other. While the Mdûlûn had caused considerable damage, the wreckages also posed a hindrance to their further progress. This delay helped Asterius with the rearrangement of the Tarrabaenian fleet. The Mdûlûn did not let lose though and closed in, fired up by their previous success and their belief that their more nimble ships would guarantee their victory. Since the Second War against the Southern Elves, though, Tarrabaenian naval tactics had been changed and adjusted to meet the enemy more efficiently. Both fleets were now facing each other. After several hours of minor skirmishes, the Mdûlûn saw that the Tarrabaenian defense was strong. A retreat was ordered.

Asterius made the bold decision here to set after the Mdûlûn fleet, although the ships were faster than his own and they had not recieved considerable losses so far. The reasoning behind his decision is unclear, with some claiming he only followed then to make sure they fully retreat into their own territory. However, even though the distance between the two fleets grew ever larger during the chase and there was a certain danger of a Mdûlûn backup fleet lieing in waiting somewhere, Asterius kept on going on. Something unexpected happened some time later. The Mdûlûn fleet sped down and took a denser formation. Unbeknownst to Asterius, they had reached the mouth of the Paunis river, which by that time was still not known to the Tarrabaenians. The Paunis flows into the Grey Sea with a considerable speed and power, making navigation difficult. On the other hand the mouth of the Paunis can only be circumvented with smaller vessels, as the mouth itself is navigable, but further into the sea shoals and skerries make it far to dangerous waters to traverse. These rocks are called the Blue Rocks ('Lanoi sisi' in Mdûlûn Tamôl) or the Stones of Fate ('Sorris silica' in Tarrabaenian). The densified fleet of the Mdûlûn now had to avoid the dangerous cutting rocks on one side, deal with the Paunis' flow on the other side and meet the approaching Tarrabaenian fleet. Under these circumstances, the Mdûlûn did their best, but in the end lost around 43 ships, while only sinking three more of the Tarrabaenians. The victory was a major one for the Tarrabaenians and a major one for Asterius personally, further cementing his family's path into the higher strata of the Tarrabaenian society.

After Asterius' return to Óstica one thing was clear: This victory was accomplished without the contribution of any noble, but instead under the command of a commoner, albeit a distinguished one, and a fleet operated by commoners or at its best lower nobility as the captains of the individual ships. This led to the commoners demanding more recognition by the nobles and the opening of more leading positions to commoners, given they showed the aptitude to fill such positions. Under the pressure of having its almost entire fleet against the nobility and the danger of not receiving taxes, as the fields would hardly be worked due to the people being in military service, the nobility agreed to far reaching changes that enabled commoners to more easily access positions in government. The law passed, that enabled these changes is called Lés óligáté plevis and is written down in the exhibition of important laws inscribed in Savína, close to the Óla líti Savíné.

Another effect of this defeat on the Mdûlûns side was the forging of the precursor of the Sendar alliance with other Mdûlûn city states, that also became the seminal event for the competition between Sendar and Rodasaikus.