Lezalit Genoicino

[original in High Calradic]
*(One winter he roared, another he slept.* *On in a cycle, the Grateful kept.)*
*[translated to Vlandian]*

Sketch of the First Marshal in 1259

### Born

Lezalit Giorna Geniocino8 August 1228(C.S.) 16 Aestas 1228Geroia, Duchy of Geroia

### Died

31 May 1299(C.S.) 21 Ver 1299 (aged 70)Pybys, Kingdom of Phyce

### Children

Granweld GenoicinoThralsug dey CrastonidHalberta IoradeDirfya Plathnid

### Awards

Order of Saint Aleksandr NevskyOrder of the DucatiHero of CalradiaHero of GeoriaHero of VlandiaOrder of the Sublime Imperial EagleOrder of the Golden SunOrder of the Legion of HonorDuke of Argoron MedalOrder of the Black LionHonor Medal (5)Count's MedalCompanion Medal (4)War Cross (8)Military Medal (8)

## Military Service

### Allegiance

Duchy of GeroiaGrand Principality of VaegirKingdom of NordsDuke of Argoron's Foreign LegionKingdom of VlandiaCalradic Empire

### Rank

Marshal of the Empire

Lezalit Genoicino was the first Marshal of the Empire, his title was given by Aleksandr Nevsky on 1 January 1264 and became one of the greatest war heroes of the continent. His face is portrayed like his counterparts on the 5 Calradoi coin and even today, we can see the scars he has left on several battlefields. Being born as a noble in Geroia, he has the right to claim Geroian territory but because he had become so focused on the Second Calradic War, he did nothing against his brother Alkidi Genoicino until the latter's death in 1268. Because of this noble deed, the Marshal has given many National Epics a story to tell.

## Life in Geroia

Like Artimenner Asugonnion, Lezalit Genoicino was Geroian by birth and was born on 8 August 1228 to the Count of Geroia, Armandit Genoicino and Lady Giolitta Giorina of Leona, daughter of the Duke of Geroia, Desiderdio Mattias Giorino, known officially as Desdio V. Since the Duke had only one daughter, the first born of Giolitta had the right to the Duchy when Desiderdio would eventually die and that first born was Lezalit's brother Alkidi. Since early childhood, Lezalit knew that he could never be duke and instead worked to become a count to succeed his father who died 10 years later in 1238. However, Alkidi was the first to take the place as count since their grandfather hasn't died yet only in 1241 when Alkidi was 19 and when Lezalit was 13, the elder ascended to become the Duke of Geroia. At the same time, Lezalit was appointed as count and a year later, enlisted to become a common soldier within the army to everyone's surprise though no one challenged him.

The young boy never got in a single fight and went on to become one of the most prominent captains of the garrison Geroia has ever seen and even fought in the Qayas War (1243-1255) between the Geroians and the Qayas Sultanate earning himself several medals and crosses and at the end in 1255 was given the Order of the Ducati, the greatest award in the Duchy of Geroia, like Lezalit, many of its receivers were young warriors who had fought in decade long wars throughout history. The Count of Geroia's name became widely known throughout Geroia and eventually word reached out to the Grand Principality of Vaegir. Shortly after winning the war, Lezalit was contacted by emissaries from the northern people to help them train and so he accepted for good gold.

## Military Career

In the winter of 1256, Lezalit had arrived in Vaegir lands and was issued Vaegir equipment and uniform over his Geroian noble attire which he wore willingly. He retained his old rank of captain and was stationed in Ismirala where he began training the men which he claimed to be "As lazy as sand on my doorstep." And although he was the one who was guest to the Princedom, he was treaty unjustly and unfairly by a boyar by the name of Naldera and when the latter had enough of the quarrels, Lezalit was thrown out of the castle in February when the civil war started to boil.

For a while, Lezalit considered to leave the turmoiled lands but chose to remain and holed himself up with enough gold in Sargoth, the capital of the Kingdom of Nords until on 2 April 1257 when Aleksandr Nevsky showed himself to the other foreigner. Lezalit was the first to join Aleksandr's Companion Cavalry and he who joined the Nords followed until the day Aleksandr left on 14 December 1257. During the few and limited months, Lezalit proved himself invaluable during the Battle of Pirush Bridge on 28 June where although Aleksandr and King Ragnar I lost the battle against the Vaegirs, Lezalit who commanded most of the cavalry of the army dealt the most damage though it wasn't enough to throw the invaders off balance who besieged and occupied Sargoth 6 days later. Even at Etrosq, Lezalit proved to be the most fearsome warrior of the bunch and charged himself into the enemy who outnumbered him by over 50 times until he was defeated after killing and wounding over 49 Swadian Mounted Knights. On the same day, Aleksandr killed and wounded as many as 67 by himself and even still it wasn't enough to defeat the Swadian army led by the second greatest commander of the Second Calradic War, Count Stamar Atonayrte still behind Aleksandr Nevsky.

After the defeat at Holding Ridge on 20 December, Aleksandr, Lezalit and Firentis escaped captivity with the help of the captured 19 huscarls who were the only ones who survived the battle as well as the three leaders and fled to the northern border untouched. A few days after, they resurfaced with elite troops, half of which supplied by the Empire and Echerdion, Duke of Argoron and attacked Asugan on the first day of 1258 winning a decisive victory over the holed up Sarranids, the second most powerful force in the civil war just lying behind the Vaegirs.

Being the first of few to become Aleksandr's oathsworn companions and allies, on the eve of the creation of the Kingdom of Vlandia on the same day, Aleksandr had created 2 ministries: the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Internal Affairs for both Artimenner Asugonnion and Firentis Countore respectively but lacked a Ministry of War in case if Aleksandr's works of war overwhelmed the young man. And so, as well as the 2 ministries, Aleksandr created the Ministry of War and appointed Lezalit Genoicino as the minister. A few days after establishing the new capital at Bariyye, on 7 May 1258, the rank of Marshal of the Kingdom was created which succeeded all other marshals of the other kingdoms. To put into perspective, the usual Marshal of the Nords, Vaegirs, Rhodoks, Sarranids, Khergits and Swadians were equivalent to a 5-star rank today but with Aleksandr's revised version of the rank, with the Commander-in-Chief being 7-stars, usually the monarch, the Marshal of the Kingdom and later the Marshal of the Empire was equivalent to 6-stars and Lezalit Genoicino, aged 29, was promoted to Marshal of the Kingdom, the youngest in history to ever been given the rank or anything equivalent.

## Second Calradic War

"The court was invincible. And the monarch was immortal." The words which were uttered by Regas dey Haringoth, the Minister of War who succeeded Lezalit in 1299. He was half-right. The court was definitely invincible because as we have all seen in history, it was by 1260 that the Kingdom of Vlandia had taken care of the western civil war and had turned their eyes to completely annihilating nations who were against the Empire and in this, Lezalit played a key role in winning for the Empire.

In 1263, the Battle of the Nations ensued whilst Aleksandr tended to the northern front of the war, the Marshal took on his army of 20,000 men along the coastline of the Great Southern Lake and made camp at Alision, a small town which was in the sights of Saint Arburg. However, he wasn't the only one there. His supposed ally was the new Emperor Arber III, only aged 12 when he rose to the throne the same year. Arber led a strong 10,000 man army bringing the Imperial Alliance to 30,000. On the other hand, the Khergits, Aserai and Sarranids commanded 50,000 but when they were about to engage outside the town defenses, the Aserai and Sarranids broke off from the Khergits and attacked their former ally. In this incident, Arber's army was made to march into the battle but was defeated and had fled back to Saint Arburg where he was holed up in a siege leaving Lezalit to fend off the attackers who seemed too preoccupied by one another. There he received a letter, timed perfectly from King Aleksandr I. The letter was burned after the Marshal had read it and attacked the Southern Alliance breaking the weakened army instantly. Then, he marched towards Saint Arburg where he was met with no resistance form the besieging Khergits and entered the city. There, he took control of the court and established it as the Kingdom of Vlandia's new capital capturing the old Emperor in the process. Whilst imprisoned, Lezalit ordered the young emperor to be tortured to blindness with acid and loss of limb by tearing Arber apart with cogs named the Logart's Tear after Alayen Logarsson who first tortured his first victim, Countess Katrin of Uxkhal in 1262 after she rebelled against Aleksandr. The Emperor was then exiled to the island of Downgarde where he was then murdered a year later by 13 lions. Since the main point of the Second Calradic War was because of the incompetent House of Konstantianos's ignorance to elsewhere other than the Kingdom of Vostrussia, when the main issue had gone, everyone who was at war with the Empire signed a white peace with the Imperial Alliance which was only left with Vlandia, Battania, Sturgia and Geroia. Aleksandr was coronated as Emperor of the Calradians and this resulted in Lezalit being promoted to the rank of Marshal of the Empire.

## Betrayal

The 21st Duke of Geroia died in 1268 and since Alkidi had no other family members other than Lezalit, the Dukedom was given to Lezalit Genoicino by blood where the Marshal attended the funeral of Alkidi before receiving the coronet. Many saw this as a potential ally for the Empire but some saw Lezalit, the 22nd Duke of Geroia as a threat and a terrible one as well. With so much influence in the Empire already, Lezalit had no trouble in instigating his influence across the region and had prepared for a betrayal which was clear to Aleksandr and the court who he was still part of.

On 25 April 1269, the Geroian army of 76,000 led by Lezalit I invaded from the south and attacked along the Hoqqa River which led to the Margraviate of Ostgard, a protectorate of the Empire of Calradia and previously controlled by the Khergits and the Khuzaits before them. He dealt a serious blow to the south and lords who would form militia armies in the area would have been defeated as easily as it was walking into an undefended city until in 1270 when Aleksandr finally arrived with an army of 80,000, mostly of recruits from Ostgard mixed in with a few veterans in the rear guard. He had defeated Lezalit's armies in 3 consecutive victories in Lavenia, Lamesa and Abou Khih which forced the Duke to retreat back to Geroia across the Nahasa Desert where he was defeated once again in Cala, a village nearby the capital. From there it was said by spectators, "That of when the Duke had lost, he was mercifully forgiven when the hand of the Emperor reached to grasp whatever was left of the great Duke. He welcomed as if nothing had happened." Exactly as said, Aleksandr never spoke of the brief war ever again in his life and forgave the Duke of Geroia.

## Later Life and Death

Lezalit who continued his career as Marshal of the Empire frequently visited Geroia occasionally after the betrayal and continued to fight wars for both sides. In 1272, just 4 years before Aleksandr's death, the Duchy of Geroia came into vassalage of the Empire where Aleksandr became the Co-Prince of Geroia beside Lezalit's son and true Prince of Geroia, Granweld, and Lezalit, the Co-Prince of Vlandia. When the Kingdom of Phyce, a nation situated on the western coast south of Calradia, declared war on Geroia in 1297, Lezalit commanded the expeditionary force from the Empire leaving Granweld to lead his nation. He attacked from the north and successfully created a buffer zone by 1299 which kept the deadly Phycites at bay but in the same year, the commander had developed a heavy fever and even suffered a stroke. He was killed by a second one on 31 May 1299, an hour before battle which the Empire won nonetheless. When the Geroians known of this, the nation mourned for 2 weeks before Granweld was placed to become the 23rd Duke of Geroia. No doubt Lezalit had left a standing presence in the world and even as the enemies to the Marshal, the Phycites greatly admired him and a statue was erected on the city square in 1499, the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Phybys and Lezalit's death.

## Family

#### Maternal

* [Grandfather] Desiderdio Mattias Giorino (1175-1241)
* [Mother] Giolitta Giorina (1201-1295)

#### Children

* [Son] Granweld Genoicino (1259-1305)
* [Daughter] Thralsug dey Crastonid (1260-1318)
* [Daughter] Halberta Iorade (1263-1317)
* [Daughter] Dirfya Plathnid (1265-1308)

## Titles and Styles

* 8 August 1228 - 13 April 1241: *The Much Honorable* Baron of Geroia

* 13 April 1241 - 17 July 12432: *His Excellency* Count of Geroia
* 17 July 1243 - 8 September 1244: *His Excellency* Sergeant Lezalit Genoicino, Count of Geroia
* 8 September 1244 - 21 November 1246: *His Excellency* Lieutenant Lezalit Genoicino, Count of Geroia
* 21 November 1246 - 30 September 1249: *His Excellency* Captain Lezalit Genoicino, Count of Geroia
* 30 September 1249 - 13 March 1254: *His Excellency* Lieutenant General Lezalit Genoicino, Marquess of Geroia
* 13 March 1254 - 10 December 1256: *His Excellency* Master of the Cavalier Eliti, Marquess of Geroia
* 10 December 1256 - 20 February 1257: *His Excellency* Captain Lezalit Genoicino, Master of the Cavalier Eliti, Marquess of Geroia
* 20 February 1257 - 2 April 1257: *His Excellency* Marquess of Geroia
* 2 April 1257 - 1 January 1258: *His Excellency* Captain Lezalit Genoicino, Marquess of Geroia
* 1 January 1258 - 7 May 1258: *His Excellency* Captain Lezalit Genoicino, Marquess of Geroia, Count of Dhirim, Minister of War of the Kingdom of Vlandia
* 7 May 1258 - 11 November 1263: *His Excellency* Marshal of the Kingdom, Marquess of Geroia, Count of Dhirim, Minister of War of the Kingdom of Vlandia
* 11 November 1263 - 19 January 1268: *His Excellency* Marshal of the Empire, Marquess of Geroia, Count of Dhirim, Minister of War of the Calradic Empire
* 19 January 1268 - 9 March 1272: *His Grace* Marshal of the Empire, Duke of Geroia, Count of Dhirim, Minister of War of the Calradic Empire
* 9 March 1272 - 31 May 1299: *His Grace* Marshal of the Empire, Duke of Geroia, Count of Dhirim, Co-Prince of Vlandia, Minister of War of the Calradic Empire