Biff Stud Tex
General Biffos Studi Texil (shortened by moderns to Biff Stud Tex) was the final High Commander in the Tiger Prince's army during the 3rd Jucund War. He is generally agreed to have been born in 272 SD, but the date of his death, like that of the Tiger Prince, remains a subject of scholarly debate.
Origins
Texil was born into the Anrav class of Jucundian society to parents whose own origins have been lost to history. Traditions favorable to Texil (such as the so-called Texilians of Jucundia Prime) state that his maternal side could trace decent from the ancient Jucundian nobility. Yet even favorable traditions made no attempt to discover (or more likely, invent) a suitable origin for his father or his ancestors.
Obscure Beginnings
As Texil only gains public notice in the closing years of his life, there is little with which to work when attempting to write a biography. The ancient sources, untroubled by conflicting rumors, have given us the following somewhat-contradictory timeline of his life until the 3rd Jucund War:
- 272 SD - Birth
- Between 283 SD and 287 SD - Enrollment in the Jucundian Expeditionary Force
- 291 SD - Involvement in The Battle of Crooked Ditches
- 295 SD - The Chasim Event (rejected by Ausenganian sources, promoted by Texilian sources)
- 302 SD - Promotion to high rank in the Archprelature
- 303 SD - First meeting with Tiger Prince (conflicts with Texilian story of Chasim Event)
- 306 SD - Promotion to high rank in the Jucundian Expeditionary Force
- 312 SD - Rallies Jucundian survivors of the Second Battle of Crooked Ditches
High Commander
Following the Jucundian massacre at the Second Battle of Crooked Ditches, Texil was promoted to High Commander and, according to some, given direction of the war effort against Yibal by the Tiger Prince shortly before his mysterious death. Other traditions state that Texil was given the position of High Commander but given strict direction by the still-living Tiger Prince. Whether the Prince remained alive for the duration of the conflict or not, what is universally acknowledged is that Texil held the rank of High Commander from 312 SD onward. Texil was able to organize some resistance to the Yibali invaders, culminating in a successful relief of Poltripa from Yibali seige in 315 SD. Unfortunately for Texil, the defeat of such a large Yibali force only had the effect of bringing Tristia into the war openly (their aid had been crucial to sustained Yibali offense) on the side of Yibal. From this moment onward, Jucundia was doomed.
Last Days
Much like in the case of the Tiger Prince, the final events of Texil's life are unclear. Tristine history makes it clear that Texil was captured alive in the razing of Laetitia in 318 SD, but here the chronology again is subject to differing traditions on the Jucundian side. While some claim Texil was then brought to Arom for torture and public execution, others claim it was a slave bearing an uncanny resemblance to Texil who made the fateful journey, and Texil remained free to lead future rebellions against Tristine rule. As the slave story has many other fanciful antecedents and parallels in both Tristine and Jucundian literature, it is generally believed by modern historians to be an artful ruse designed to provide standing to future Texilian pretenders.
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