Elenor's relation with Cray

[Child of The Sea God]

What exactly did she teach him how to do? I don't see the connection she's a strategist and he's a merchant. Maybe I just didn't pay attention or forgot.
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Life is like a play, you're given the role that fate hands to you.
-Me

[Thief]

Shu did become a merchant/trader too, didn't he? I don't see why not.

[Ranadiel]

If I'm not mistaken both of them were strategists in the Scarlet Moon Empire. Elenor was Cray's superior. At this time there was a peace between te Empire and some nearby country(I forgot which). However there were some nobles in the Empire who wanted war to re-ignite, so they were raiding some border villages disguised as army members of the other country.

Some how at this time Cray got the rune of punishment. However he didn't want it so he cut his hand off. His son ended up being chosen as the next weilder. Then during one such of the previously mentioned raids Cray's son used the power of the rune on the raiders stopping the raids entirely. However it also ended up taking his life. Cray was blamed for the entire incident, so both he and his supervisor, Elenor, were canned and banished. Following this Elenor became a drunk recluse and Cray became a psycotic merchant in order to get his hands on the Rune of Punishment again.

I might have gotten a detail or two wrong, but that is mostly correct. I believe that there is a book in game that talks about those raids I mentioned.
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"Ye shall be as gods."

Titles: Harmonian Tenki Star, Harmonian Jousting Champion

[Barbarossa Rugner]

Well if you think about it there is a lot she can teach them. Strategists are not limited to just war planning, there knowledge covers a vast array of things. If you think about the suikodens thus far there are many different situations in which the strategists had to instruct the others in non military situations. Situations dealing with people and politics are an example. Although these can all be seen broadly under a military strategy, it still takes many different talents dealing with things outside of war to suceed.

The person that comes to mind and best relates to this topic would be shu. Remember that he trained under mathiu silverberg initially. It seems to me that he had a very sucessful career as a trader/merchant which he probably had some natural talent in, but i am sure his training under mathiu had some effect on. When you think of that it is easy to see how elenor's teaching could have influenced cray to become a sucessful merchant. Althogh it is surpassed by his natural personality of evil.

Those merchants and traders who have studied under strategists use their training to manipulate the market, as suggested in suikoden 2 with shu. This allows them to hold a considerable advantage over others in the same field because they will be able to predict the market.
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The Rune on my Sword, the Dragon King Sword, is protected against any form of magic, Even the rune of the Gate - Barbarossa Rugner

[Aesa]

Well that definite clears up some of the questions.
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The setting sun means the rise of a new day...
...excepting for Ragnarok, of course

~Tinto~

[Sialeeds]

So he ain't bad from the beginning he just cracked up because of the rune right?

[Ranadiel]

Well we don't know for sure. We know that the rune did mess with him. However we don't know what he was like before hand. He might have been the most cruel strategist in the world, or he might have been incredibly benevolent. It is kind of hard to say for sure. Any guess would solely be speculation.
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"Ye shall be as gods."

Titles: Harmonian Tenki Star, Harmonian Jousting Champion

[John Layfield]

At the very least we know he was kind to his son, suggesting, at the very least that he was a nice guy personally. Though, that doesn't mean he wasn't completely ruthless and uncaring when it came to military strategy.

Maybe he was of the Leon Silverberg style of thinking, or the whiny carey Mathiu Silverberg type or even the "Pick a card, Apple, any card!" class of Shu. It would seem, however, that he was heavily influenced by Elenor Silverberg, seeing as they were master and pupil, but with the lack of actual strategy in Suikoden IV that hardly tells us a whole bunch.
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One day, I shall come back. Yes, we shall all come back. Until then, there must be no regrets, no tears, no anxieties. Just go forward in all your beliefs and prove to me that I am not mistaken in mine.