Phocas Family/Aristullos

Introduction

The second born of the current Matriarch of the House, Cassandra, and her husband, the now deceased Chalsus, Aristullos of the House of Phocas was born three years after his elder brother, Pistalexios. He was born of an unorthodox method; he was so large that he had to be cut from his mother's womb, otherwise he would not have survived, and nor would his mother.

Despite his size, he was known as a gentle child, but also one who was fascinated by tales of war. He seemed much more suited to be the heir of the merchant estate than to be a member of the Army, but had a deep connection with his younger brother, Rogatos, and would not allow him to enter the Army alone once it was know that Rogatos had made plans to join the Army. Thus, he joined.

The Continental War

He and his brother had joined in the midst of a huge war that had been raging for some time. The then Kingdom of Itorunt was a member of the Southern Alliance (made up of the Kingdom of Itorunt, the Theocracy of Ibladesh, and the Democracy(?) of Yssaria), and was fighting the huge Kingdom of Perdan, who was allied with Ubent and Caligus. He and his brother served well, and with distinction, but there was no soldier of the Kingdom in that time who did not.

Records, sadly, of that time are scarce for the Phocas Family.

Through perusal of letters and public documents, it has been found that in the midst of this war, it was learned that Pistalexios had been killed, and the heirdom of the Phocas Family Estate fell to him. His mother Cassandra began to worry for the family's future, and began to arrange marriages for Aristullos; he managed to derail them, mostly just in time.

He followed partially in Pistalexios's footsteps, and had his men declare him a Hero, to stay his mother's increasingly burdensome proposals.

The Aftermath of the Great Wars

He served well during this time the expanding Kingdom, and happily acknowledged the end of the Wars. But his mother during this time stepped up her designs to have him wed and producing the next generation, and it seemed he was affected by a milder version of Pistalexios's own distortion of reality. This, combined with his giant physical stature, kept many who would have been interested in a marriage from proposing such an alliance.

Between this time and the following, Cassandra threatened to cut Aristullos off from his inheritance should he not find a woman to wed in a month. She had planned to arrange the entire thing, but a week later, a chance meeting between he, his brother, and the fellow Hero Evan Salvator, resulted in an agreement and betrothal of Aristullos to Evan's cousin, Tarma.

The Birth of Avamar Selective; the First Crusade

The following period of some years was an idyllic time for the new Empire of Itorunt, and everything flourished. Tales drifted in from the North, of an evil realm resurrected: Avamar Selective. The former Count of Zamor, Robert, now Duke of the Capital City of Semall, called for a Crusade through an Order, the Order of the White Shield, to wipe the evil realm from the face of the Earth. A large number of Nobles and men flocked to the Duke's banner, and they set off half a year later, one of the strongest forces known on the entire Continent. The two realms, the puppet state of Kalmar, and the realm of Avamar Selective, then declared war upon the Empire that had been the starting point of the Crusades.

The First Crusade was largely uneventful, due to poor logistics, and frightful conditions. There was only one battle, the Battle of Bastad, in which the Crusader Army utterly crushed the fleeing Kalmarans.

During this time, his preparations for the marriage were finalized, and any doubts to the union were swept away. He and the Lady Tarma would marry. They planned to wed after the conclusion of the Second Crusade, which has not yet occured.

Personality

Aristullos is without a doubt one of the kindest people you will ever have the chance to meet. It seems that while he himself is nearly seven and a half feet tall, he has enough heart for every inch. He is a bit self-conscious about his size. He is not really fit for the occupation he chose; he'd much rather be a Mentor than a Hero, or even not among the Army at all, and overseeing the farmlands and orchards that are his family's wealth. He is quite aware of his family's lowborn status, and is sympathetic to those of lower birth and such; he will avoid putting down peasant rebellions if he can help it, only fighting the undead and monsters. He will follow orders if he must, and sees no way around it, however.

IV Kataphraktoi

This is the list of men, alive and dead, who have served with Aristullos under banner of IV Kataphraktoi since before the First Crusade.