Elder Fortun
Elder Fortun rose to prominence during the middle to late Floral Revolution. He was reluctantly drafted into the Recester Guard who were preparing a blockade of the city. The ruling nobility had not declared support on either side, but would de facto be assumed to be supporting the King, however the word amongst the troops were that it was a royal army they were protecting against.
Elder was placed in a unit with an uncertain identity and a hostility to the irregular and became very close with one another. When Recester formally defected, any drafted soldiers were offered release, however the majority of Elder’s unit stayed together, bar their appointed captain. With a role to fill and popular amongst his fellows, Elder took up the position and began to liaise with the incoming Floralists.
With a command of just over fifty men, he was hardly in a robust position to bargain, but was able to negotiate a meagre wage as well as a compensatory bereavement payment. This spread his popularity and would further his limited renown as his unit were posted, (as many were), alongside a rural highway with an aim to disrupt enemy supplies.
Here Elder would impress, with any units involved in the pilfering of enemy goods, an allowance was always made that provisions would arrive incomplete. Discipline was difficult with casual soldiers, many being new recruits, so supplies captured would be ferreted away or shared amongst the troop first. Elder however, considered it a point of principle that the goods were not his, but the armies, and went to great efforts to ensure a higher yield. While it was impossible to extinguish any misplacements, Elder handled the administration personally, cataloguing supplies in and supplies returned. This risked his popularity among the unit, but Elder reassured them the matter was in hand.
Armed with a comprehensive record of his troops spoils, Elder went back to his Floralist superiors and renegotiated his contracts. Now, a soldier under his command was promised regular pay, with rations suitable in lieu in the event of lack of capital, and expanded the bereavement pay to account for any retirement entitlement. In addition, Elder offered himself, his reputation to the Floralists, he would be inducted as general, bringing with it a higher command.
While his notoriety had been tempered up until this point, it was as a general that he became famous. He spearheaded several operations, including both sieges of Dester and Atcaster, was a figurehead for recruitment, and would often find himself appointed as an intermediary arranging terms of surrender. His reputation, even amongst his enemies, were that of an honourable individual and he was noticed among the leading Floralists as a prime candidate to lead the new state. Fortun however, had no such compulsions. He was not a politician and truthfully considered himself to be an unsuitable soldier. When the revolution was over and those with authority had to become political to retain it, he choose instead to retire, settling with a plot of land and a stable family life.
Even in retirement, he would occasionally offer his services as a consultant if his financial situation required it, although this was seldom the case. Fortun died peacefully after siring five children and outliving two wives, with his eldest and only son inheriting his lands and wealth.