Rolf Julian
Although best-known as the father of Burzmale Julian, Rolf Comte Julian was himself a military figure of some importance during the Great War, commanding Tasnica's Republic Expeditionary Force during the conflict with NAMAC and a disastrous invasion of Ticondera.
The Julians were a military family, and had served in the cavalry for generations. Rolf was commissioned in the Second Regiment of Horse, a heavy unit, when he became of age. Hotblooded, idealistic, and romantic, Rolf's pictures from this time show him in a variety of brightly colored uniforms, an elaborate mustache, and a mischievous grin.
In his first assignment abroad, to Auria, Rolf distinguished himself in an early action for bravery. He also fell in love virtually at first sight with Jarya Koreni, a slave girl from Ticondera owned by a local Priman merchant. He decided to 'liberate' her. When the Priman raised an issue about 'stolen property' with the local authorities, Rolf married Jarya, entitling her to the protections of a Tasnican citizen. The two had a son, Burzmale.
However, Jarya had been a Grolim before being sold into slavery. A Red Star, sworn to avenge injustice everywhere, tracked Jarya down and murdered her. This greatly upset Rolf, who believed Jarya deserved a new chance at a new life. Although he considered Jarya the great love of his life, he later met a nurse, Lucilla, while recovering from injuries in a hospital. She was a "respectable woman from a respectable family", but somewhat plain-looking and ordinary. Believing Burzmale needed a mother, he married her.
As the Great War geared up, Rolf spent an increasing amount of time on campaign. Upon discovering the Esper Dimension, Tasnica sought to establish superiority in the region lest the Ticonderans gain access to the vast wealth and technology of the new dimension. This plan horribly backfired, as an Esperian proto-nationalist movement led to the formation of the Nikeah and Mobliz Army Corps (NAMAC) to oppose Tasnican expansion. In 5 WR, NAMAC soundly defeated the Tasnicans in the Battle of the Isthmus, near what is now Hosluftgrad. The Tasnicans had only recently switched to rifles, and were still using the dense blocks of infantry that dominated musket tactics. The Esperians were more used to the range and accuracy of the rifle, an advantage that they used to dominate the Tasnicans for the first part of the conflict. Even when the Tasnicans began to change tactics, the Esperian rifleman was a better shot. Led by Alexander Colby, NAMAC frustrated Tasnican ambitions at every turn.
Frustrated, the Tasnicans sacked general after general. This led to the rapid rise of Rolf, who was promoted General of Cavalry in 11 WR, and became overall commander of the REF a year later. Rolf was one of the first Tasnicans to learn how to ride a chocobo, and he realized the importance of his Esperian allies even as he nursed disdain for Esperian nationalism. Rolf knew that a large infantry engagement would favor NAMAC, and so used artillery bombardments and cavalry raids to try to soften the Esperians up before the main fight. This paid off in the battle of Hobby Peak, near Kohlingen, where a dramatic cavalry action captured almost all of NAMAC's artillery.
Finally, in Rolf Julian, the Tasnicans had found a general who could 'trade even' with Colby. Nikeah and Mobliz did not have the same level of resources as Tasnica and her Esperian allies, and were slowly worn down. Rolf waged this war as a brutal pragmatist. Gone was the young idealistic cavalry lieutenant in the bright uniform, replaced by a dour, somber general in drab feldgrun . Rolf employed war opportunists such as Barton Stone to get an edge. Most dramatically, in the final battle of the campaign, at Albrooker Plain, he ordered his heavy guns to shell Tzen. Julian's Esperian allies, such as TO Halberg, were shocked by this action. Nonetheless, Rolf won the battle and became a military hero in Tasnica, and the NAMAC conflict came to an end in 14 WR.
The Tasnicans now possessed a large army, with sophisticated Esperian technology, lots of combat experience, and a proven field commander. Prime Minister Wilhelm Klinten decided that the time was right to face Ticondera for 'all the marbles'. Many of Tasnica's Esperian allies refused to support the Republic in this venture, preferring to nurse their own wounds from the NAMAC conflict. Nonetheless, Tasnica pressed forward, and dispatched a large contingent of the Republic Expeditionary Force to link up with the Ticonderan Freedom Fighters and depose Salynae.
The operation got off to a wrong foot almost immediately. Rolf and TFF leader Valsu Saizer got along well enough personally, but the same could not be said for their subordinates. The Tasnicans just did not make themselves welcome in Ticondera. There was also a fundamental clash over strategy: the TFF wanted to continue its guerrilla campaign, while the Tasnicans thought the time was right for a direct confrontation. Eventually, the TFF acquiesced, deciding that the presence of such massive foreign support represented a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take the Legions head-on.
The resulting Battle of North Viper was a total disaster. Only a handful of Tasnican soldiers survived, led by Hauptmann Franklin Yeats, so the actual events of one of the war's most important battles are not entirely clear. Many believe that this battle was the first instance in which the Dark Gods deployed their dreaded Banelings. Rolf died while leading a desperate, final charge, but could not break the line of the Imperial Guardsman.
