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Description
Phanes of Halicarnassus is an obscure figure who played a role in Cambyses II's invasion of Egypt in 526 BCE. As Herodotus tells us, he was a Greek mercenary who originally served the Pharaoh Amasis II. For unclear reasons, however, Phanes became disgruntled with the king of Egypt, and slipped away to lend his services to the Achaemenid shah. Amasis tried to send a fleet to recapture Phanes, knowing the mercenary had extensive knowledge of the Pharaoh's battle plans, but Phanes was able to outmaneuver them in Lycia. As punishment for his desertion, the mercenaries who remained loyal to Amasis had Phanes' two sons executed. The boys' throats were slit and the blood was collected into a bowl for the soldiers to drink. Now generally, murdering someone's sons like that isn't a good way to rekindle friendship, strange I know. As such, Phanes relayed all of Amasis's dirty little secrets to Cambyses, allowing the shah to come thundering into Egypt and completely decimate their army. For all his importance to the campaign, Phanes seems to completely drop out of history beyond this point.

Attempts at extending his biography usually begin with an analysis of the aptly named "Phanes Coins". These are small electrum coins found throughout ancient Anatolia, even in pots at the famous Temple of Artemis at Ephesus. These are actually some of the oldest coins to be struck with images in the Greek world, and often depict a deer with an inscription stating "I am the badge of Phanes". While some have tried to tie these coins to our main man here, the oldest of these artifacts were minted in 625 BCE, which would make the man well over a hundred years old by the time he was serving Cambyses. Which okay, technically isn't impossible, but if ancient medicine was so bad that even Alexander the Great couldn't make it to 40, I have my doubts that such an obscure mercenary could go much further. More likely, the Phanes to whom the coins were dedicated were probably just an older relative or just some completely unrelated dude with a lot of influence. Or, more intriguingly, it could be referring to a divinity from Orphic mythology who was considered a primordial god to procreation and light. This interpretation gives rise to the much more mysterious and esoteric translation of the inscription on the coins: "I am the Tomb of Light". Sadly, this is one of those mysteries of archaeology that we simply do not have enough evidence to conclusively confirm one theory or another.

Design notes, this is another design I made up whole cloth. Phanes was a major antagonist in my D&D game, leading a renegade cult who believed human extinction was the path to cleansing the world of demons and evil, since in the Drake Hero Universe, human belief is what brings supernatural entities into existence. I leaned heavily into the Orphic identity of Phanes, and by extension I wanted him to look creepy and reptilian. His under armor is actually inspired by a suit of Roman period crocodile-skin armor from Egypt. I have no idea how well that works in real life but goddamn it looks metal as hell. The deer on his shield is taken directly from the imagery found on the Phanes Coins, even though I don't think it's this Phanes specifically these coins are dedicated to. Overall, I'm quite pleased with this one. He was a neat villain to play with, equal parts charismatic and terrifying, just how I like my D&D.

Description
Phanes of Halicarnassus is an obscure figure who played a role in Cambyses II's invasion of Egypt in 526 BCE. As Herodotus tells us, he was a Greek mercenary who originally served the Pharaoh Amasis II. For unclear reasons, however, Phanes became disgruntled with the king of Egypt, and slipped away to lend his services to the Achaemenid shah. Amasis tried to send a fleet to recapture Phanes, knowing the mercenary had extensive knowledge of the Pharaoh's battle plans, but Phanes was able to outmaneuver them in Lycia. As punishment for his desertion, the mercenaries who remained loyal to Amasis had Phanes' two sons executed. The boys' throats were slit and the blood was collected into a bowl for the soldiers to drink. Now generally, murdering someone's sons like that isn't a good way to rekindle friendship, strange I know. As such, Phanes relayed all of Amasis's dirty little secrets to Cambyses, allowing the shah to come thundering into Egypt and completely decimate their army. For all his importance to the campaign, Phanes seems to completely drop out of history beyond this point.

Attempts at extending his biography usually begin with an analysis of the aptly named "Phanes Coins". These are small electrum coins found throughout ancient Anatolia, even in pots at the famous Temple of Artemis at Ephesus. These are actually some of the oldest coins to be struck with images in the Greek world, and often depict a deer with an inscription stating "I am the badge of Phanes". While some have tried to tie these coins to our main man here, the oldest of these artifacts were minted in 625 BCE, which would make the man well over a hundred years old by the time he was serving Cambyses. Which okay, technically isn't impossible, but if ancient medicine was so bad that even Alexander the Great couldn't make it to 40, I have my doubts that such an obscure mercenary could go much further. More likely, the Phanes to whom the coins were dedicated were probably just an older relative or just some completely unrelated dude with a lot of influence. Or, more intriguingly, it could be referring to a divinity from Orphic mythology who was considered a primordial god to procreation and light. This interpretation gives rise to the much more mysterious and esoteric translation of the inscription on the coins: "I am the Tomb of Light". Sadly, this is one of those mysteries of archaeology that we simply do not have enough evidence to conclusively confirm one theory or another.

Design notes, this is another design I made up whole cloth. Phanes was a major antagonist in my D&D game, leading a renegade cult who believed human extinction was the path to cleansing the world of demons and evil, since in the Drake Hero Universe, human belief is what brings supernatural entities into existence. I leaned heavily into the Orphic identity of Phanes, and by extension I wanted him to look creepy and reptilian. His under armor is actually inspired by a suit of Roman period crocodile-skin armor from Egypt. I have no idea how well that works in real life but goddamn it looks metal as hell. The deer on his shield is taken directly from the imagery found on the Phanes Coins, even though I don't think it's this Phanes specifically these coins are dedicated to. Overall, I'm quite pleased with this one. He was a neat villain to play with, equal parts charismatic and terrifying, just how I like my D&D.