Veniamin Vasilou
General Veniamin Vasilou
Veniamin Vasilou is the oldest and one of the most respected military leaders in the Kingdom of Alsona. His parents were both warriors in the personal military guard of the queens of Alsona prior to his birth, and their marriage was presided over by the Queen herself. He was raised into an environment of combat aptitude and training from the moments when he took his first steps. The Queen took a personal interested in furthering his education, and Veniamin received knowledge in nearly all forms of combat, receiving personal tutors from dwarven strongholds, Shin legations, and Jakonian Imperial regiments. It was no surprise when upon reaching adulthood, he enlisted with the same guards his parents had served in, becoming a bodyguard for the Queen's consort in 958.
Although Veniamin served honorably as a member of the consort guard, it was clear that he was hoping for greater things and glory. He requested and received a transfer to the levies of House Taeylorr, being granted an officer's position and status immediately upon his transfer. He slowly rose through the ranks as retirements and transfers opened doors for his promotion and elevation. He failed to gain any true combat or leadership experience, however, until 968, when an army of centaur, led by a pair of centaur sorcerers invaded from the north. Veniamin demonstrated his skill in tactics and combat theory as he led the Alsonan warriors to a major victory, smashing the raid before it could even truly began, with only a handful of farmsteads in the north burned by the raiders.
Veniamin did not rest on his laurels after achieving this victory, and he promptly began campaigning for a punitive expedition to the north to cull the numbers of centaur before they could muster a similar threat. This ultimately caused a rift between him and the royal family, as they were unwilling to commit their resources to a wide-ranging military operation. He was reassigned to less and less worthy positions, and ultimately announced his retirement in 974, to spend time with his family, having met and married a woman who owned one of the farmsteads his forces had rescued. He retired, for a time, to a life of assisting his wife in handling their farmstead and managing their five children.
Although his life was idyllic, and he maintained a hearty income from his pension from the Royal Family, Veniamin still longed for and missed the soldier's life. In 983, he accepted a position as an advisor to the Alsonan Rangers, consulting with their more field based operations for a small amount of gold and coins to supplement his income while remaining near to home. He even participated in the Sarkallis Expedition, sent into the foothills of the Apps Mountains to hunt a dragon. Although the expedition was unsuccessful, Veniamin managed to keep everyone alive despite the weather and other hostile elements that thwarted the campaign.
After consulting with the Rangers, Veniamin was approached by the newly formed Crysos Mining Company in 1009 to oversee their guards and protection. As the last of his children had come of age in the previous year, Veniamin took the job and became the head of security for the company. After only a few years of service, he determined to be very much opposed to the ethnical nature, or lack thereof, of the company's policy towards dwarven refugees, using them as essential slave labor. He resigned his position in 1011, and returned to a private life. Being of advanced age, it was assumed that his retirement was permanent this time.
The outbreak of the Wingo War in 1021 changed things, as the Alsonan ladies' levied armies were shattered by the cohesive forces of the dwarves and elves. The monarchy was desperate to assemble a modern military force to counter these enemies, and Veniamin despite being over seventy years old and a man, was approached to help fill out the new officer corps. He was immediately appointed a general in the new Royal Army and granted a command. His forces performed fairly well, although the rigors of age clearly weighed upon him. His forces suffered some defeats and merited some victories, and he retained his commission at the end of the conflict.
Veniamin's advanced age and position as a high ranking man in the hierarchy dominated by women left him with a target on his back. He was reassigned to the fairly forgotten post of Potami Keep, where he has lobbied for more support, which has not been forthcoming. Now over ninety years old, he has continued serving mediocrely, resisting calls for him to resign, as he has continued to try and get more funding for the bedraggled fortifications and soldiers left at his command. Most are convinced that he may be in this position for life, as he has shown no new desire for retirement.
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Ethnicity
Honorary & Occupational Titles
General of the Potami Keep Garrison
Date of Birth
Rainburst 7, 948
Year of Birth
948 AF
93 Years old
Children
Gender
male
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