>I see Tatius as much as a magician as Broyan. He is a Dara Happan
>patriarch, i.e. an incarnation of a manifestation of Yelm (Antirius/take
>your choice).
>
>Political appointment: maybe. But he also is from a family trust that
>takes its power from the construction of Reaching Moon temples. Even if
>not a great field magician, as a project leader he will know all about
>coordinating divergent magics.
Yes, that's what I mean. He is not a specialist magician.
>In my personal opinion, Tatius is a worse military thinker than Euglyptus.
>Because he is a magic specialist. Common soldiers, even those of the
>phalanxes, are just magical ingredients to him. IMO Euglyptus had some
>qualifications at getting an army marching, and Tatius probably will be
>able to copy those achievements. Exhorting an army to martial efforts is
>not their style.
That's where I see him as selecting capable subordinates, and ruthlessly sacking, or executing, those who don't perform.
>Even so, I don't think he would think twice whether to use up an Oroninian
>or Darjiinian regiment - it is Yelmic and (upper) Lunar nobility he would
>use sparingly. Unless they make the perfect mythical precedent (read:
>sacrifice) for some magical preparation.
>
>The Carmanian 7 year build-up involved the ritual battlefield death of the
>brother of the Shah along with an expedition army. That's part of what the
>military doctrine of the Imperial college is based on.
Sure, but it has to be directly relevant to the important objective being achieved not a casual expenditure. He may well think more in terms of the magical energy of the unit than the lives of individual soldiers.
-- Donald Oddy http://www.grove.demon.co.uk/
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