Historical Who Am I Riddles

[ggggtotalwarrior]

This wouldn’t be a terrible resource to go through: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mercenaries

[Sar1n]

This wouldn’t be a terrible resource to go through: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mercenaries

I'll save you the trouble, he's not there. Oddly enough, his wiki entry does mention his service.

[ggggtotalwarrior]

Riperoni failed again

[Kilo11]

Too bad he's not in that list, as that was my plan for investigating things today. At any rate, while hunting for possible matches I found an interesting fellow: Mad Mike Hoare. I don't think he is a match (though if he is, then that's my guess Sar1n! ), but he had an interesting life, and you history buffs might enjoy a flip through his wiki entry.

[ggggtotalwarrior]

I'm just gonna guess this guy I found named John Hawkwood because I simply have no idea. Can't find any references to his cause of death but it was during the 1300s after the Black Death had appeared in Europe. IMO the boil and rot line has to be the Black Death but I could be wrong. I sure as hell have been wrong up to this point.

Also I found this wiki line on The Black Plague: The second pandemic was particularly widespread in the following years: 1360–1363; 1374; 1400; 1438–1439; 1456–1457; 1464–1466; 1481–1485; 1500–1503; 1518–1531; 1544–1548; 1563–1566; 1573–1588; 1596–1599; 1602–1611; 1623–1640; 1644–1654; and 1664–1667. Just some food for thought.

[Sar1n]

You are still way off. I have to start dropping heavier hints I guess.

Timur was so far closest in time, though not geographically.

I'm surprised nobody here asked themselves one pertinent question and investigated, because once you do, it'll become trivial.

[Kilo11]

So, I feel like I am stumped, but I will present what I have thought of till now, in case that helps the other guessers. So here is Sar1n's original riddle, with my breakdown of what I think is going on.

1) "Left with little, and even more I lost
2) fear gave me what I craved most
3) Far and wide I fought for gold
4) yet cause I found in [my home] of old*
5) Thunder I brought, defeat I knew not
6) until mere boil had left me to rot."

Who am I?

*I minorly changed line 4) to reflect a hint from Sar1n

1) and 2): I don't have any particular thoughts about lines 1 or 2, and Sar1n said they aren't clearly in the wiki page anyway, so we can (somewhat) ignore them. At least, if one considers them, then just keep an eye out for those who've used fear extensively.
3): From line 3, we know he was a mercenary who got about.
4): From line 4, we know he returned home, and possibly found something more worth fighting for there than mere gold. This made me think of people like Harald Hardrada, but he doesn't fit with the other clues. At any rate, I think that general line of thought makes sense for this line of the riddle.
5): I feel very certain this means he used some type of gunpowder weapon. Makes me think it's a general who was one of the first to use cannons for sieges, or he was an early musket/arquebus mercenary.
6): He died of illness, probably a boil, possibly the plague specifically.

Also, we have the hint that he was close in time to Timur, but not close geographically. And finally, from previous guesses, we know it's not Attila, Napoleon, Timur, or John Hawkwood.

Anyway, that's all I can muster together for wisdom, but I can't for the life of me divine a particular name from that mess of clues. Hopefully one of you can!


EDIT: I'll add another guess here, that fits with many of the details: Baibars. A couple of the points of the riddle are not conclusively included in his wiki page, but a lot of stuff fits.

[Sar1n]

This is getting tiresome. The gunpowder might be an answer....

[Abdülmecid I]

Well, from my experience, the greatest hint of all is the nationality of the poster, so I'll go with Mr. Žižka. He was chronologically close to Timur, he fought as a mercenary, he had a pretty satisfying record as a military commander, he died from the plague and he's probably venerated by the modern Czech Republic as a national hero. All the above could be completely wrong, my knowledge of the Hussite Wars is about as great that concerning the use of the Excel software.

[Sar1n]

Well, from my experience, the greatest hint of all is the nationality of the poster, so I'll go with Mr. Žižka. He was chronologically close to Timur, he fought as a mercenary, he had a pretty satisfying record as a military commander, he died from the plague and he's probably venerated by the modern Czech Republic as a national hero. All the above could be completely wrong, my knowledge of the Hussite Wars is about as great that concerning the use of the Excel software.

Cheater . But yeah, you are correct. Asking why is it that I seem to know much more about the person than English Wiki and following up on nationality was the simplest way.

Jan Žižka was the first prominent Hussite military leader. Born to the family of impoverished minor noble, he lost his left eye in early age, probably during training (first line).
His first recorded occupation (though he was around 40 at that time) was actually banditry (second line), and after being pardoned, spent some time as mercenary. He fought for Polish during the war with Teutonic Order, most likely participating in Battle of Grunwald, and unconfirmed sources also mention him in Saxony, Hungary and even in English service at Agincourt (third line). After returning home, he entered service at court, though his service as chamberlain is probably exaggeration. He participated in the Prague Defenstration, and rose to become most prominent Hussite commander (fourth line), being credited with developing the Hussite tactics centered around war wagons and heavy use (for the time) of gunpowder weapons and artillery, and in his five years of commanding Hussite armies, he was never defeated in field (fifth line). He died while besieging Přibyslav, Hussite chronicles only mention the cause as a boil, which was most likely result of badly treated infected wound, not plague, as he died without the rest of siege camp being struck by plague.

Unfortunately, I'm all out of rep for you.

[Kilo11]

Well dang. I didn't know Sar1n was Czech, so I had no chance.

At any rate, I've repped Abdül on your behalf.

[Sar1n]

Well dang. I didn't know Sar1n was Czech, so I had no chance.

At any rate, I've repped Abdül on your behalf.

Thanks. Though following on gunpowder should have gotten you the same result...

[Kilo11]

It might have eventually, but I wasn't there yet. I was hunting through all the different Chinese and Mongol people who might have been mercenaries and died of illness, as I thought the "thunder" line might have meant it was one of the first people to use gunpowder (otherwise, the reference to "thunder" seemed to me to be out of place). At any rate, someone got it, and I am excited to see what Abdul will have for a riddle! I already have one ready for when I get my first win here, so I am hoping I can figure his out quickly.

[Abdülmecid I]

Thanks Kilo, although now your expectations made me a bit nervous! Next one is geographically close and probably a tad easy, given the specific audience our beloved site attracts.

''Praised as a military master,
I led my armies to disaster.
Called for total war more than thrice,
I got my wish with my superior's demise.
Denounced as a figure deeply controversial,
my funeral was more popular than a Super Bowl commercial.
With eyes like those of a cunning fox,
my face is nowadays printed on socks.''

He participated in the Prague Defenestration.

What's with Prague and her defenestrations? We invented windows, so that homes can be brightened up with sunlight and that their residents can breath a bit of fresh air, not for throwing highly-esteemed officials, with whom you may not share the same political and religious beliefs, out on the pavement.

[Kilo11]

This sounds somewhat like Napoleon to me, but I am not sure. I will await a verdict of yes or no before continuing with another guess though.

[Sar1n]

I'm going with Charles de Gaulle.

Ever noticed how corrupt officials tend to block the view?

[ggggtotalwarrior]

I had no idea Sar1n was Czech. I legitimately looked at his profile to check because I figured it would be relevant. Also I’m going to guess Rommel. Pretty sure he was involved in a plot against Hitler who then ordered a massive state funeral in his honor after his Suicide for propaganda purposes. He had a lot of praise but constantly outran his supply lines and while he won the battles/tactical outcomes he lost the strategic goals. The thing I’m hesitant about is the idea he was called to total war thrice when I can only think of the World Wars as well as the socks line. He was also known as the Desert Fox

[Abdülmecid I]

Neither Charles de Gaulle nor Napoleon nor Rommel. When I say geographically close, I mean that when he was active in the army, the residents of Prague and generally Moravia were his fellow compatriots. About the hints of the rhyme, notice that he called for war, not "called to war". Well, he also participated in the war, of course, but that's nothing special. Thrice is actually an understatement (for poetic reasons), I believe he actually surpassed the dozen. Finally, don't focus on fox, but on socks. I would frankly be surprised if not every nerd about recent history does not have any socks with his face hidden somewhere in his wardrobe.

[Sar1n]

Neither Charles de Gaulle nor Napoleon nor Rommel. When I say geographically close, I mean that when he was active in the army, the residents of Prague and generally Moravia were his fellow compatriots. About the hints of the rhyme, notice that he called for war, not "called to war". Well, he also participated in the war, of course, but that's nothing special. Thrice is actually an understatement (for poetic reasons), I believe he actually surpassed the dozen. Finally, don't focus on fox, but on socks. I would frankly be surprised if not every nerd about recent history does not have any socks with his face hidden somewhere in his wardrobe.

In both World Wars and even further, we had people on all sides. That does not really narrow it down. I'm going with Erich Ludendorff, although I have no idea about the socks...

@ggggtotalwarrior you misssed this? https://www.twcenter.net/forums/show...=#post15913776

[ggggtotalwarrior]

Yeah I honestly completely missed that post and had no reason to think you’d mention your citizenship there lmao. I honestly can think of a few potential guesses here still but they’re all missing something from the riddle