Constantine Vasa
Constantine IX Vasa, previously known as Auel Sherlock, is a universally known leader in the Graal Military Community for his creation of the New Sarovian Empire. His origin like many others began in The State under Auel, but his prominence in the GMC came in the form of the New Sarovian Empire in 2016 and subsequent era in 2017, which has survived and has continued to this day. He is widely credited for the introduction of incredibly long lasting guilds including the first guild to survive without its original owner, a dedication to GMC role playing, a co-founder of the introduction of Brazilian players to the GMC and Sarovian hegemony in the GMC for many years.
He is known as a determined ideologist, pushing Sarovian nationalism whatever the cost. He is widely criticized for his actions in the Information Wars and his tendency to stop at nothing to achieve victory. Some say that his actions have in effect isolated him and his own from the GMC, whereas supporters say that his habit of pushing for victory was the reason why the New Sarovian Empire grew the way it did. Regardless of popular opinion, it is undeniable that Constantine has a massive following and his impact on the GMC is immeasurable.
History
Early Life (2012 - 2014)
Constantine Vasa began playing GraalOnline Classic in early 2012/2013 after brief stints in Era and Zone. A friend had invited him over to his house as a young child and introduced him to GraalOnline Classic due to his fondness of the Legend of Zelda games, and would often go over to his friends house after school every day to play. He had joined towering guilds and sparring guilds such as Chain of Memories briefly with his friend as they completed the quests and sought out what Classic had to offer, and after gaining enough experience co-founded a small player assistance guild to help new players complete quests. Their headquarters were founded in Air Asia, which is where they would introduce new players to farming on the left side of the island. As school ended for the summer and friends went their separate ways, Constantine’s guild would be discontinued while he himself continued to play GraalOnline Classic under the name of “Sherlock Holmes”. It was then he discovered The State while continuing to help players in a police guild, when they raided and guarded the police station jail cells. Constantine tried to enlist then and there but was refused due to closed recruitment and poor stats, so he went to the higher echelons and demanded recruitment, which was finally accepted.
Constantine was recruited under the command of Major Shaw of State Infantry I initially, which he detested due to the inactivity of its commander who was simultaneously serving as a member of the Graal Police. In an example of unit rivalry, Constantine was poached by State Infantry II by Major Orfeo if he could recruit five players, which he did so by the end of the day, resulting in his promotion to Lance Corporal. Constantine rapidly rose the ranks and within a week became a Master Sergeant due to his recruitment skill, with Sergeant Major Zero being his immediate supervisor. Due to opposite leadership and personality styles, Constantine led a junior enlisted coup against him in which he was commissioned as a Lieutenant under Major Orfeo and Captain Rose. A few weeks later, Constantine and a fellow Lieutenant were promoted as joint commanders of State Infantry VII as Captains. Eventually, the State went under reform and Constantine was transferred to the command of State Infantry IV, with John Watson (future John Vasa) as his deputy.
Constantine served with distinction in the multiple wars the State was embroiled in until he had witnessed first hand a meeting between Auel and Colonel Pierce authorizing him to engage in another fake battle to boost State activity. Constantine with the assistance of John and his subordinates began to automate the activities of State Infantry IV in an act of silent resistance in plan for an eventual clean break from the State, but the plan was prematurely accelerated due to the death of the State in the following month.
Constantine gathered his troops and made a guild known as the Imperial Command (of York). He and his friends goal was to continue their activities and jobs, maintain their professionalism in an attempt to bid for higher positions when the State ultimately reformed in a few weeks. However, power corrupted all involved and they strayed from their path - battling a military known as the Golden Gate Military led by Warrior and Monkey. Constantine’s guild was a ragtag militia with future prominent names such as John, Joe Kyro, Candy (Envisage), Tsubaki (Riely Magnus) and functioned entirely off of the State model. Likewise, members such as Peter Rhodes and Sol Fessler briefly joined before leaving to start their own guild known as the Rebellion, which Peter then seized to become Arcadia. Soon enough, Constantine at the urging of John was proclaimed Emperor Sherlock Zor and John as his Prince. Soon enough, Constantine and Peter began their ancient rivalry and went to war with numerous battles. At one such battle, Constantine ambushed Arcadian troops at York by hiding in bushes and in another, Peter ambushed Imperial Command troops at his house. In the chaos, the State was reforming and a great political debate ensued within the Imperial Command. There was the pro-independence faction led by Tsubaki, Joe Kyro, Sarolus and Conna Wonna who wished to defeat Arcadia and stay independent as Imperial, and then there existed the pro-State faction which wished for Imperial Command to rejoin the State as its original intent was, led by Prince John. Constantine was banned due to the Sentinel infiltration program, but the Imperial Command continued with him at the helm on his alternate account. After Peter’s retreat and defeat by the hands of the State, Alyssa assumed command which crafted an alliance with Constantine to defeat the State. Constantine used Imperial Command troops which he sent to train Arcadians to defect en masse. The plan partially succeeded but was exterminated by a weakened Alyssa, who accepted a surrender days later. Unfortunately, one day John had without authority transferred the Imperial Command tags to the State, and Imperial had ended with Sherlock going into a brief exile.
Constantine had briefly joined the Imperia under King Zaer, in which he re-met his former deputy John under the guise of Senlok. The two became friends unbeknownst to this connection and eventually Constantine was offered to create an Imperian tag by Zaer, but was unable to due to the Auelist coup the days later. Defeated and broken, Constantine took John to civilian life to continue a guild of his original origins - to help players.
Inspired by the stories of Sherlock Holmes and the coincidence of each other's names of Sherlock and John, the two created the guild 221B, which aimed to solve player issues such as hacking, harassment and more. Using the tactics he learned in The State of intimidation and persistence, they were able to consistently scare off harassers and abusers in the game, though the cases were minor at best and ridiculous at worst. This was recorded on their own Wordpress blog which still exists, which one can read here.
Later on, while Auel was conducting business in Era, Auel proposed to Constantine that he become the next Auel and lead the State. This proposal was accepted in 2014 and as such Constantine became the King of the State and a General in its army. Some brief battles with smaller militaries were held but the State had quickly become the hegemon of the GMC as it normally did. Within weeks, Auel had noticed the success of the State under Constantine’s command and requested to rejoin - Constantine demoted himself to Colonel and Auel to General but never gave back the title of King. Formerly holding the name and never technically relinquishing the title as King forms the basis of Constantine's claim to State, though the name Auel remains forsaken. Together, with Viral and Auel, Constantine began the concept of on map bases in the rail caves and on map, ushered in a new era of State shield codes and organizational efficiency and more. This would not last with the joint retirement of both Auel and Viral and the en masse defections from the State, Constantine likewise retired into temporary obscurity.
Pre New Sarovia (2014 - 2016)
After a brief period of two to three months with John in 221B again, Constantine accepted a promotion post to Major General in the State under Auel in 2015, in which he was appointed head of strategy to defeat General Slinger’s rebellion. Doubting that the rebellion was valid itself but ambitious of what victory could do for his career, he successfully led what was then a long six hour battle which was briefly celebrated before Auel’s subsequent untimely retirement once again. This was then handed to one of Auel’s deputies, Morzan, which after a brief struggle, Constantine successfully petitioned due to his Auel status and kingly claims to obtain the guild from Morzan which he promptly ended. This would start a rivalry with Vulnus, who was in the middle of attempting his own seizure of power from Morzan.
From the spring of 2015 to the winter of the same year, Constantine took on the role of fulfilling his previous rivalry with Peter Rhodes. Peter Rhodes’ Bavaria was seen as an “uncivilized” guild, with uniforms not mandatory, lack of military training and abundance of immaturity and social games. Through Sol Fessler’s guild Dobeln and other smaller guilds, Constantine successfully forced through a plethora of tactics to force Peter into the backseat of Bavaria and maneuver Warrior and Low Kusan, who were in Constantine’s debt, to win the Bavarian elections. With this achieved, Constantine successfully infiltrated Bavaria and was crowned as its monarch, and then promptly dissolved it. In the eyes of GMC historians, this is the origin of the modern Peter/Constantine feud. Constantine’s inability to settle down in a guild would see his return to the State once more to serve as a lawyer against Morzan, which he successfully banned from the State before retiring himself. Brief absences after his final retirement from an Auelist State would lead to late 2015, where with the help of former Imperial Command officers such as John, Mathiveas, Conna Wonna and a promising officer known as Kevlar Vaughn, Constantine started the Court of Reuss, which was the precursor to Sarovia in every way, such as identical flag, similar goals and similar players paved the way for a future Sarovia. The Court of Reuss was dissolved following a coup led by Xiaoguard on Conna Wonna’s account, in which Constantine gave up power and left the guild, later going on to start the Advanced Forces Operation Teams (AFO).
AFO was built primarily around small unit interactions, with modern military shields and bodies which were uncommon at the time. Through the nicheness of his new guilds AFO Neptune and AFO Wolfpack, Constantine invented many new training methods that are still done today in the GMC, such as breaching and on-map PK skirmishes as training opportunities. With John at his side once again, the two agreed upon naming it Sarovia after former friends in the Imperial Command of York. This new guild would battle off against German and Paynius’ guilds often from late 2015 to early 2016, before the entire high command was banned expectedly and without a reason. This ban led to the dissolution of Sarovia for a brief period of time while the ban expired in three months.