Balthus, of lineage unknown, was a former Antlantean slave who later in life earned renown and acclaim as an Admiral, explorer and cartographer.
Early Life
No record of Balthus' childhood exists, beyond the knowledge that he was born and raised on the Isle of Pellas, assumedly to a family of at least some local social standing. His birth name too is lost to the ages, and any desire by later archeologists or anthropologsts to investigate the origins of the acclaimed explorer were quashed by the abrupt disappearance of his homeland.
It is known, however, that the boy later to be known as Balthus was taken from his homeland in approximately 870 PCE, by one of the regular Coercive Expeditions operating in the area which supplied Atlantis with household servants, plantation and municipal labourers and participants for The Games.
After being ritually castrated, as was the case with the majority of slaves taken during expeditions, the boy endured a three-month voyage in squalid conditions to the Antlantean capitol. During this voyage, he caught the eye of the ships quartermaster one night, after deducing (without the use of sextant or compass) that the ship was in fact doubling-back on its course after narrowly avoiding being caught in a tempest. The navigator (named Kramidos) was instantly impressed by the boy's perceptiveness, had him freed from the slaves hold and brought to the officer's quarters as his personal servant. Bestowing the name Balthus (meaning "little hawk") upon the child, Kramidos soon found that he was literate (in his native script), and set about teaching him the finer points of Atlantean language and custom (and even taught Balthus the rules of xellus, for which the boy quickly began to adopt relatively advanced tactics).
Middle Years
For at least the next decade Balthus accompanied Kramidos (who served for only a brief while longer as part of the Coercive League and soon found a home as a navigator in the Atlantean Merchant Navy) on a number of voyages, first performing relatively-banal tasks and later being taught the use of navigational instruments, how to decipher various maps and charts, and even how to act as a ship's pilot. During these voyages Balthus also learned through observation something of logistics, and most importantly the political tensions which often exist during naval expeditions.
After the death of Kramidos, Balthus served briefly as a navigator aboard the frigate Courser (under a captain who had been impressed with his skill a number of years earlier) for which he gained distinction as both a sailor and soldier during the Ternion Conflict, before being sent to serve as an adviser in the Ministry of Nautical Affairs.
Balthus the Explorer
A shrewd political animal, Balthus spent scarcely a year advising at the Ministry before exploiting a rift within the bureaucracy and convincing then-Minister Servius the Elder to send him back out to sea, this time at the helm of his own exploratory vessel, Exemplar. The first voyage he embarked upon was to chart a shorter trade route to Mu, a journey thought impossible as the course must inevitably lead through the seemingly-unnavigable Strait of Perdition. Not only did Balthus successfully navigate the perils of the Strait, he also made contact with previously-unknown primitive groups of people which would not only allow ships to barter and resupply during the voyage to Mu, but would later act as a source of fresh slaves to aid the flagging Atlantean economy.
This and a number of other high-profile voyages won Balthus both acclaim and a certain degree of political power. At the close of the Ternion Conflict he was awarded officially the Rank of Admiral, due to bravery, leadership and diplomacy in the face of overwhelming enemy power; and in doing so had attained a level of status previously unheard of for a former slave. Balthus had also, however, earned the ire of many within the Ministry, who were envious of his station or who felt overlooked or mistreated by the Eunuch's quick ascendance. After the death of Servius the Elder, the newly-appointed minister, Gradus, who was sympathetic to many of Balthus' enemies, took it upon himself to issue the former slave a task worthy of his new station - to be the first Atlantean to circumnavigate the globe. Given the prestige of the voyage, Balthus had no difficulty finding experienced sailors to volunteer for the journey. The Examplar departed Atlantis during the Winter of 901 PCE, and no further trace exists of either the ship or its crew (speculation exists that the ship fell victim to the perils of unknown seas, but scholars consider it more likely that The Exemplar was sunk several hundred leagues from shore by the Eunuch's political rivals).
Edited by Dr. Euripides A Hladik
