Nobilissimus Sergios o Ithakenseys, Governor of Cyprus - Javi

Player: Javi
Faction: Orthodox, Byzantium
Email: sergios_o_ithakenseys@crusade.chaosdeathfish.com

Sergios o Ithakenseys (Sergius of Ithaca) is the current Governor of Cherson, the Byzantine Crimea, and belongs to a family of Greek sailors from Ithaca, although he hasn't inherited any sort of sea-faring skill, feeling more comfortable on land. He has been dealing with the Rus and the steppe nomads in the last years and has been assigned a mission there. He is in command of the troops of the Crimea.

“The Complete Roman Empire”, a textbook (1988).

Nobilissimus Sergios o Ithakenseys was well-known for his trips and expeditions to Hesperia and the creation of the first Byzantine colonies. The eventual development of the New Byzantine Empire was enabled because of Sergios' previous career as director of the Lykeio Alchemeio (Karapoulos 1963). It is during his years as governor and alchemist that medieval alchemical warfare was developed. This also explains why the conquest of the Hesperian natives was achieved in such a short period of time (Brooks et al. 1979).

Amongst his developments, now lost, which marked a revolution in Byzantine warfare we find the wide-spread use of Alchemical fire, the armour-piercing swords of fire-steel, glass shields, explosive jars, blinding-gas bellows and so many other weapons that we would hardly believe to have existed in that time. His treatise on alchemical warfare was subsequently burnt a couple of centuries later it was published, because of the great risk to mankind that it posed. His weapons were soon after also destroyed and the Lykeio Alchemeio burnt to the ground - and thus it exploded, splitting the former island of Cyprus into the modern islands of Cyprus and St. Helena. Modern excavations in Cyprus (Martinez 1986) have found traces of this fortification-inspired Lykeio, which have to be carried out with care, as many substances are still volatile or potentially dangerous.

Some extracts from De provincias ministrando, a treatise by Sergios o Ithakenseys, counselling how a provincial governor shall act and behave. The illuminated original, presented to Emperor Alexios as a gift, is still on display in the Imperial Palace as an example to the bureaucrats who work there.

• On Provinces and provincials - There is nothing worthier and more noble that to rule a Province of the Roman Empire. The governor of a Province does not only administer a region, but also leads its people towards a perfect equilibrium in the Empire. It is the main duty of the governor to balance the needs of its people and the demands of the Empire. Taxation shall be calculated on these two main premises….
• The rôle of a governor - A good governor will always be the middle man between the emperor and his subjects. If an emperor has acted wrongly towards a province it is the duty of the governor to let the emperor know. If the emperor demands more from the province, the governor shall explain this to the inhabitants of the region….
• On infrastructure - It is important to maintain and repair roads and bridges, as well as fortifications…. Try to use local staff who can speak the local language as well as Greek, as I had to learn all those years ago in the Crimea, this not only makes the people happy but also….
• On bears - The things which will most certainly disrupt the peace in your province and which will cause more injuries to a governor are certainly BEARS. Bears are giant foul evil creatures which will take any opportunity to maraud around your settlements and even will dare to entre the governor's private bee-farms, disrupting the supply of honey…

What has never been fully understood is his fear of bears and ….

An historically-inspired romance by Rachel Quinn.

From the towering main mast, from which hung the ruined tattered sails, came a great cry: “Land ho!”

Sergios leapt to the prow of his battered galleon his heart hammering in his mighty chest, hair flowing behind him. Upon the western horizon shone the goal of all his dreams and struggles, a tiny green speck upon the deep blue of the immense Atlantic. Tears streamed from his noble blue eyes as he turned to his valiant crew, their cares and trials forgotten as they looked in awe and wonder at their splendid captain.

“Friends! You followed me into storms and now I bring you to the promised land. We shall build a new Rome here, a better Empire. Our true Hesperia!”