Thellasko
Thellasko served in Dispater's army rising to the rank of Major General. He retired with honors after the Battle of the River Rhye. [1]
Saint of Strategy
Thellasko teaches the virtue of accepting the battle as it is, not as you wish it might be. To take action based on available data, not what tradition says. That wars are not won based solely on the size of one’s army, but based on which side is best able to bring its force to bear against the opponent. [1]
History
The Proper Application of Force
After the Battle of the River Rhye, Thellasko decided to write a book about the proper way to conduct war, feeling that the high command of hell's armies fought battles on outdated principles.[1]
His thesis, The Proper Application of Force, was never published, but, as he wrote, he created a kind of ideal battlefield to use as a running example. The example became more and more critical to the text, more robust, such that eventually Thellasko put his manuscript down to develop the example into a proper game. [1]
The Game Of War
The first iterations of the game were played on a grid of 64 squares arranged in an 8x8 grid. There were two armies each with sixteen pieces. Eight serfs, two soldiers, two prelates, two towers, a King and a Queen. The game was superficially simple but held hidden depths. It taught the principles of sacrifice and territory control, of thinking like your enemy.[1]
This version of the game evolved into the game of Shere played throughout the Timescape. But while the game was immediately popular far outside its intended audience, Thellasko grew dissatisfied with it, and began work on his masterpiece simply called The Game Of War. It was complex, using hexagonal tiles to build modular terrain boards, and featuring dozens of different unit types with extensive tables that factored supplies, morale and visibility. Unlike Shere, which was an abstraction, The Game Of War was a true simulation. [1]
Expensive to product, the game was never very popular outside the Academy of Dis, but Thellasko used it to train a generation of lieutenants on the art of war. Thellasko’s students and best players led the armies of Dis from victory to victory. Thellakso taught his students that an army must fight. All other things being equal, the army with the most experience wins. [1]
In Thellasko’s time, the most senior noble was always the senior commander, regardless of experience or, indeed, sanity. After Thellasko and The Game Of War, commanders were chosen from among the soldiers with the most battlefield experience. [1]
Sainthood
Thellasko was granted sainthood on his deathbed after a generation of successful battles won by his students, all of whom carried a symbol of graduation from Thellasko’s school; three adjacent hexagons. They praised him on the battlefield during his life, and his church continues to advance his theories. [1]