Roast Beef William

Roast Beef William was a Detinan officer and a northerner who followed "King" Geoffrey during the Detinan Civil War. Though he did not have an aristocratic background, he rose through the nepotistic northern ranks by his merits. He was a skilled tactician who wrote the training manual used by both sides during the war to train their troops. He was also a rather gluttonous man who was fond of very rare beef and could eat quite a lot of it in one sitting.

At Geoffrey's suggestion, Thraxton the Braggart installed William to command a wing of the Army of Franklin after he sacked Leonidas the Priest and Dan of Rabbit Hill.

William was a capable commander and was also tactful in his interpersonal relations. This combination allowed him to get along well with both the acerbic Thraxton and his equally acerbic successor, Joseph the Gamecock. This allowed him to give sensible advice to his superiors that was taken. However, he found Joseph's successor, Bell, far more disagreeable, due to Bell's habit of obstinately pushing ahead with reckless tactical decisions, then blaming William and other subordinates, who had usually advised against his course, when they failed. So unlikable did William find Bell that he considered writing libelous letters to Nonesuch, as Bell had done to Joseph the Gamecock to earn his army command. After Bell announced that he would not oppose Hesmucet's advance to the Western Ocean from the fallen city of Marthasville, but would instead invade Franklin Province,William, rather than join the Army of Franklin for that campaign, volunteered to remain in Peachtree Province to oppose Hesmucet with what forces he could gather.