Dramatis Personae: Vlad Tepesh

Vlad Tepesh

Vlad Tepesh, by the Grace of God Archon of Fyodozhya, Reserve Bahrsatch of the Yabahratse, Siyum of Massawa. Magnate of House Tepesh.

Born 1243 in the Chersonese city of Fyodozhya to a merchant family of mixed Byzantine and Rus parentage. Vlad was the 2^rd of 3 sons. His family sent him Constantinople to study and, on his majority in 1259, bought him a commission in the Byzantine Navy.

Vlad served with a squadron of Dromond Hermaphroditoi, sailed craft equipped with oars, a shallower draught, and marine cavalry for amphibious operations. Patroling coastal & riverine areas around the Black Sea, Tepesh learned much about both naval and land warfare fighting against pirates and steppe nomads encroaching on Byzantine territory.

After 14 years of service he mustered out and served as a mercenary captain on merchant vessels in the Eastern Mediterranean. He travelled to Alexandria on a pilgrimage and met with the founding members of the Sable Rose Society.

Together they embarked on a mercenary expedition to Abyssinia. However the patron who had hired them, Isaiah Toretcus, had never appealed to him. A final falling out occurred at the culmination of their contract at the port city of Mogadishu. Here, Vlad foiled Toretcus’s act of cruelty on a high ranking prisoner, Rhalina Walatta Zagwit, who had just come into her majority. Together with Arkos Mohababdi, they convinced the rest of the Sable Rose Society to switch allegiance to the Zagwe and Iusefos I.

This new alliance culminated in a number of successful actions, both naval and land, which saw Vlad and the other Society members become honoured officers of the Abyssinian Empire. Vlad himself was made Bahrazmatch of the 2^nd Squadron in the Yabahratse. After the Battle of the Straits Vlad was made Siyum of Massawa, the Imperial Naval base and put in charge of much of the furious naval rebuilding program. It was at this time that Vlad began to secretly build the third-rater battle ship the Kon Bledniye (The Pale Horse), and two oared frigates. During the invasion of the Tri-States, Vlad commanded the ‘flying squadron’ of 3rd raters, frigates and corvettes that crippled Tri-States Naval lines of communication and defeated the Persians attempt to resupply Aden.

However all was not well with Vlad’s home in Cherson. Vlad’s father and elder brother had died in a nomad raid and the Byzantine civil war, entering into its second decade, had drawn all Byzantine troops away, leaving Fyodozhya and Cherson to defend themselves against the depredations of the Steppe nomads. A personal appeal was made to Vlad by the Damiorgi Council of Fyodozhya to return and take charge of their defence. He was even offered the office of Archon.

Tepesh took this opportunity to claim the favor the Emperor had granted him upon the victory over the Tri-States; a semi-permanent leave of absence and the use of the personal squadron he had been secretly building. The Negus was not pleased and had wanted to strip Tepesh of his ranks and titles, however the Bahr Nagash, Fitwari Farasenyoi and the Sable Rose Society lobbied him not to cut ties with Tepesh. However the final decision was made from a quarter which could not be ignored – Rhalina Walatta Zagwit came forcefully onto Tepesh’s side and demanded his retention as a ‘Reserve Admiral’, and his ships as a ‘Auxiliary Squadron’ on call for the defence of the Empire. Vlad managed to sail with his Abyssinian links and titles intact, as well as with a substantial amount of booty from the Tri-States campaign. However, unlike other members of the Sable Rose Society, Tepesh has not received a grant of land in the Tri-States and has earned the distrust of the Negus.

Tepesh returned to Fyodozhya and took on the defence of Cherson. By 1285 Cherson and Fyodozhya had a strong riverine and coastal navy and a mobile field army with which to repel any incursions. By 1287 Fyodozhya formally declared itself independent of Constantinople. Vlad Tepesh then handed his Arconship to his younger brother Radu.

Striking a trade deal with the Bahr Nagash, Romanus Servius Scipio, and Arkos Mohababdi; Tepesh has begun to supply horses and steel to Hamasin and in turn takes back oriental luxury goods from Hamasin, and textiles from Alexandria. Already 'House Tepesh' is a powerful presence in Adulis. Tepesh counts Scipio as a close ally since he gives Scipio first choice of the imported horses. The Bahr Nagash also occasionally uses Tepesh’s ships to transport special cargo to Alexandria and the Tri-States when he desires secrecy.

Tepesh still keeps in contact with most of the Sable Rose Society but has a strong and long-standing antipathy towards Oigmah Isfahani, whom he apparently blames for setbacks the Sable Rose Society suffered before the Battle of the Straits and during the Invasion of the Tri-States.