Soliman is a vice admiral of the Great Khan, a man of Turkish blood who captains a dragon ship and, knowing some spells, steers its magical helm himself.
| Type | Character |
| Rank | Vice admiral (disputed) |
| Allegiance | Great Khan |
| Base | Main island of Isidora |
| Spanish entry | Soliman |
Description
He wears “a kind of turban, large” and slippers, “but like an admiral”; fleet accounts call him first the man in the turban. His bearing recalls the admirals of the naval tradition the chronicles link to the battle of Esparto. He is also called “Captain of the labor ship”, and is usually aboard.
Role
The dragon ship needs a magical helm, and the helm needs someone who knows spells. Soliman said he knew some spells and could therefore handle the helm, “so you did not use it”. While he steers, no one else does, so the effective command of the ship passes through him; it is his voice that asks “Shall we land?“. He earned his rank by career, not inheritance: “How do you think I became vice admiral?”
Based on the main island of Isidora, he moves with the fleet and takes part in, or leads, important diplomatic voyages to Dorotea. Politically marginal before the Khan, he is the operational face of his naval power: transport and point of contact between the cities. The Khan has more than one admiral.
Conflicting accounts
- Some accounts call him “Admiral Soliman” on the Dorotea voyages; others call him vice admiral, “the admiral of the Great Khan or one of the admirals, a vice admiral”. These may be two stages of one career or two men merged into one.
Open questions
- His ship is called both “dragon ship” and “chaos ship”; whether these, and the “labor ship”, are one vessel is unknown.
- Whether his Turkish bearing is the norm or the exception in the Khan’s fleet is unknown.
- His age, build, voice and weapons are not recorded.
- How many admirals the Khan has, and what separates admiral from vice admiral, is unknown.
- Which spells he knows and where he learned them is unknown.
- What is negotiated in Dorotea, and how often the voyage is made, is unknown.