>>3511382

"And yet it was he that made the offer," you say with a slight smile, agreeing with the ridiculous nature of the promised prize. "If anything, that should tell you how desperate he was to gain my assistance in the matter. Cornered rats do the damnedest things, emissary. Are you ready to do the same?"

"I didn't know," he sobs. "I swear, I didn't know! If you let me go, I will ask on your behalf about this. On my honour!"

You sigh in disappointment. All these hours spent on softening the courier and he turned out to be a patsie. He wasn't one of the more trusted of Venkata's men, or he would have known about the mutually beneficial arrangement you two made.

"No need to waste our time on this one, interrogator."

The emissary looks up with hope in his tear-filled eyes.

"Dispose of him however you wish. I have better things to do than talk to an uninformed lackey."

"Wait!" He shouts, arresting your movement. His voice practically drips with desperation, now that his prior reservations on betraying his lord was beaten out of him. The realisation that he was thrown away must have hit him as well.

"I... I know an entrance," he whispers. "A secret tunnel, built way back for the kings to escape. We used it to enter the palace..."

---

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[Heya, been a while, hasn't it? Some anons seemed to have thought that I died. I feel like death, what with real life and all, but nobody wants to hear the gory details. Here's the archive:

http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive.html?searchall=Commentarii

I fucked up with the last entry, putting "IV" instead of "IX". Oh well.]


"This 'Alexandros' is but a pale shadow of the famous God-King of the West that first used the name, my King. There is no conceivable method with which some upstart cloth salesman could storm this magnificent fortress built by your ancestors, especially with only two thousand men. And besides, he is a merchant; he will tire of playing conqueror soon enough, and return to fulfilling deliveries on timetables.
"
- Viceroy Raum Venkata to the court of the Archer-King Perum, the night before the Siege of Muchiri

---

"Carved into stone, that one," Ambiorix grunts. It's become something of a routine now, this huddling around the table with maps. The Gaulish chieftain rubs his considerable mustache thoughtfully, the smell of burning houses still clinging to his body. "My men have experience scaling walls, not cliffs. Bricks of stone and mortar I can deal with, but that smooth face will give us trouble before it begins."

"I still think we should accept the deal given," Xanthippos says. "It is a pretty favourable deal for us. How am I supposed to explain the continued aggression against the state to my superiors, when they have already capitulated?"

"The integrity of their negotiation is in question," you remind him. "The man behind the throne has shown he is willing to break promises already. There is no telling what else he will end up lying about."

"Striking while the iron is hot," Hermann agrees. "We are mobilised now. No better time to enforce our demands."

"I will have to wait for confirmation regarding further action, of course," the Atreides commander replies, the tone of his voice making it clear which option he thinks his boss will follow. Every day the Atreides house guard was mustered was another day their dockside warehouses went with minimum security. "I will not be able to assist you until I receive confirmation from Aineas."

There goes seven hundred soldiers, you think ruefully.

"I will, however, keep my troops stationed here," he continues. "No telling what roving bands of charioteers might attack them if we march out away from this more defensible position."

You quietly nod across the table to the helmeted man in thanks. That is probably the most the Atreides commander can do, and you do appreciate the underlying message behind the gesture: if we are attacked, we will be forced tod defend ourselves. Their presence alone would deter aggression from the palace for a while longer, they just couldn't be used offensively. Who says Harkonnens and Atreidae can't play nice together?

>>3511404
Well I'm glad your back fortuna and I hope you feel better soon.

>>3511404

"The onagers are working day and night, but we're basically lobbing rocks at a mountain," Marcus Pollio says. He was one of the learned slaves from Suerna, and raised to the post of doctores ballistarum due to his experience with siege weapons. You found him to be surprisingly blunt given his former slave status, but old age, it seems, has given him something of a no-nonsense disposition. "Our machines were designed for conventional fortification, Captain Alexandros. And that thing out there? Not exactly something that screams classical architecture. It will take a few days, perhaps even weeks, to properly breach even the first layer." He clasps his hands together, rubbing them excitedly. Is he... enjoying this? "None of my colleagues have ever breached a rock fortress before."

"So we return to the tunnel." Galen rubs his chin. "Goddamn tunnels. Why does it always have to be secret tunnels?"

You wince at the memory of that ill-fated ramble into the city of Yrna, which also involved using something of the sort. While you were busy fending off the patron goddess, your parents had met a bloody end from insurgents led by none other than Galen's ex-captain.

"Afraid of the dark, Roman?" Xanthippos jokes, continuing from the battlefield banter, but Galen does not rise to the bait.

"It was used by Venkata to enter the palace while the royal guards were outside fighting against us," he says. "The way is too well understood by the enemy. Once they realise the secret of the tunnel is out, the soldiers sent there will be trapped in a dark, enclosed space."

"Which means a smaller, more quiet force would be better utilised," Valei joins in eagerly. Looks like his apprenticeship under Galen is paying off. "Lord-Captain Alexandros, I suggest we use my men. The Jews are pretty good at this kind of insurrectionist warfare. They would need to leave the heavy armour behind, of course." The second cohort, which Centurion Valei commanded, was filled with volunteer Jewish youths from the civilian families that lived within the Ship.

"They are too green," Ambiorix shakes his head in disapproval. "If it is chaos you want, we Gauls would be of better use. Who else has better experience in torching fancy houses?"

"The primary target must be the gate so as to allow in the rest of the legion, not the royal domiciles," Galen reminds the Gaulish chieftain. "We need a small and elite force."

"I am so very glad we agree in that regard, Legate," Vishtapah smiles. "And I think we all know which men are the most elite of us all."

"Yes, I do," Galen replies, fixing him with a look that says otherwise.

"You don't need much more than a torch and an axe to cause confusion within a fort," Ambiorix declares. Beside him, Hermann tries to appear as unrelated as possible. He likely understands his own riders to be unsuitable for the task.

"Well, Lord-Captain?" Valei presses.

---

>>3511412

Who will you send? You will not be taking the entire group, but a small number from them only.

>COHORS PRIMA SVERNICVM
With the Five Hundred forming the backbone of this cohort, these men are the most experienced soldiers under you, save perhaps the Parthians. They took well to the Legionary training, the decades of battlefield experience honing them to a truly exceptional infantry corps.

>COHORS SECVNDA GERMANORVM
Although they have been integrated into your legionary military training, the legionaries of the second cohort are majority Jewish - an ethnic root that lends them better to light infantry roles that emphasise stealth and close quarter combat in chaotic environs. Intimately familiar with urban warfare and all the troubles that entails due to their ethnic heritage of being shunned and sequestered outside Judaea, they tend to prefer silent daggerings to marching in formation when they can.

>AVXILIA I GALLORVM EQVITATA (unmounted)
Gauls can be subtle when they want to be. You can bet on them being all quiet like until the moment comes to start raising all hellfire in the target area. Discipline after the inciting moment, on the other hand, is a question mark, what with the infamous battle drunkenness of the barbarians.

>EQVITES CATAPHRACTARII PARTHI (unmounted)
Vishtapah was not exaggerating when he claimed the Parthians to be the premier combatants among your forces, but their greatest power multiplier comes from their powerful horses and the destructiveness of a cavalry charge. Though they are excellent fighters on foot, their heavy armour may be impede their progress.

>Mix/Other [custom]

Will you be going with?
>Y
>N

>WILDCARD: MASADA - Engineers? Check. Legionaries? Check. Shit ton of pressgangable workers and huge mounds of repositionable earth? Check and check. This will probably cost a lot of lives, but you would not have to entrust everything on some silly secret infiltration team that may or may not include yourself...[/i]

>>3511411
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnlPtaPxXfc

>>3511416
>COHORS PRIMA SVERNICVM
Old reliable. The other options all sound like mixed bags, but we have a set of serviceable elite infantry tailor-made for the job.
>Will you be going?
Of course!

>>3511416
>wild card
Oh how I do love insane engineers and large feats of destruction. I think we should leave our mark for this betrayal.

>>3511416
Hum, I wonder of we can collapse those rocks, make the fortifications crumble.

>>3511416
>>COHORS SECVNDA GERMANORVM

>Will you be going?
Yes. The Jews see us as their messiah, and will try their hardest to impress us

Also, welcome back Fortuna. Life's a cruel mistress, let's hope she gives out soon, yeah?

>>3512139
Thanks. Hopefully things will be less crazy after test season is over.

>>3511416
>COHORS SECVNDA GERMANORVM
I am also thinking the jews are best suited for the task. Let them get some specialized experience along the way.

>>3511416
I would suggest a mix of
> Wild Card
And
>COHORS SECVNDA GERMANORVM

Let us start going full Massada and then lead the infiltration team while the enemy is distracted

>>3513235
This. We should try the unconventional method if the normal way doesn't work, but let's not leave our engineers totally (or at least mostly) defenseless.
And go with, of course.

Got a small tie between infiltration vs using both infiltration and the Masada here, so I'll make it simple with a new vote. In either case, it's COHORS GERMANORVM given the votes so far. To those of you who are just joining us on this thread (as unlikely as that is) the second cohort is named after the commander, who is a German. It may be a bit confusing because the majority of the common soldiery are (as described above) green Jewish volunteers from your very own stock of civilians.

>INFILTRATION
>COMBINATION

--

Second part of the votes - I was just going to have you pressgang the defenceless Tamil civilians in the kingdom, then realised some of the voters might have something as anachronistic as "modern ethics".

(1) Who will you use for the rough labour of stacking tons of earthwork all the way up the Palace?

>Innocent local civilians
>Your own people, compensated for their work from your treasury
>Custom

>>3513332

Realised I hadn't added the 2nd vote

(2) Since a crack team drawn from Cohort II will be infiltrating the place while Operation Masada is ongoing, will you be overseeing the latter, or taking part in the former?

>Caesar oversees the earthworks
>Caesar sneaks in

>>3513332
>COMBINATION
>Innocent local civilians
>Caesar sneaks in

>>3513348

>COMBINATION
>Innocent local civilians
>Caesar sneaks in

Ethics never conquered a rock fortress, and Caesar needs to lead the greenhorns

>>3513360
>>3513337
Whoops, meant to respond to Fortuna

>>3513332
>COMBINATION
>Innocent local civilians
>Caesar sneaks in
Let them think we're settling in for a protracted siege.
Also, it's good to see you're not dead (yet). So many other threads ive followed since new year's have been dropped, so I was fully expecting you to do so as well. I'm happy to see you proved me wrong

>>3513369
>>3513360
>>3513348
Vote closed, writing

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Caesar instructed his doctores ballistarum to begin construction a sufficiently large earthen mound for your infantrymen to begin the ascending march into the city itself. If the fortress could not be broken into, then he would simply level the playing field. He authorised the usage of the native Tamils, who were so far keeping to themselves to watch the conflict between their king and the outsiders play out. The doctores was to do everything he could to minimise friendly casualties, while keeping mind the pacing of this construction project. To this effect, he gave the freedman engineer temporary command of his forces.

Arming himself with only a single weapon and the loose, leather armour like the other ten volunteers from the cohors secunda to allow easier travel in the rocky bowels of the fortress-palace, he stepped forward into the dark. . .


Sound travels strangely in the catacombs.

The turned emissary had said that it was perfectly fine to speak as you wished within the escape tunnels-cum-underground tomb complex, as long as it wasn't anything so obvious like shouting. You thought he was just trying to get you found out before, until you stepped into this place.

There are sounds everywhere. Skittering, slithering, slimey things in the dark, with glowing eyes that light up and close all in the matter of a single moment. Green, yellow, red, even a blue - no colours of mortal torches, those. Nothing like the comforting glow of the anemic fire that cling sputteringly on your firebrands.

The air down here is cool to breath, clammy to feel. Trickling of water is ever-present, though you never seem to come close to the source after all these walking and climbing and staircasing. An internal water supply. That would have made the siege more difficult, if we were just relying on starving them out.

The occasional surprised shouts, when an unseen decline of the floor plunges one's foot two hand-length lower than expected, echoes off into the vaulted ceilings. Then they change into eery aftershocks - ghostly verbalisations of something not-quite-human, a cold mimicry of the origin cry. Words leave the mouth and return to the ear distorted by the unevenness of the wall surface, lined up against which are successions upon successions of stone-eyed sarcophagi.

At least, you think the uneven surface is the cause for the distortion.

"Do you think these tombstones contain treasure, Twice-Captain?"

Kaphar is a Jewish man of middled age, sporting a trimmed beard (unusual for people of his faith, you note) and a fully greyed but not entirely whitened hair. Two sons, dead wife; she was killed by an Armenian during a dispute over the ownership of a sow, so he killed the Armenian and his family. So it goes.

File: weeping_catacomb.jpg (161 KB, 1024x768)

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>>3513545

"Don't even think about it," you warn. "I am in no mood to inhale centuries-old miasma." You are not certain if he's being cheeky with the title he uses to call you Twice-Captain - once for being the lord of the ship, the second for becoming the leader of what was once the Five Hundred, you suppose.

"Maybe after we secure the palace," he says thoughtfully, voice echoing back to you from his place in the front of the row. "Old kings should rot in peace, while their mortal treasures are enjoyed by mortal men. King David himself was kind enough to donate a small part of his funerary treasures to my great-great-great-great-great-grandfather's pockets, when the Kingdom stood strong."

Where does his irreverence come from? "If we secure the palace."

"Oh, don't be so humble, Twice-Captain," comes the humour-tinged voice, tainted with the unnerving aural mutation this catacomb seems prone to affecting. "I've heard about you. How you are the messiah. You destroyed the gentiles in Ypra and killed the murderer of your parents with nothing but your fists."

"More of a shofet than anything, uncle Kaphar," a youthful Jewish voice adds into the theological discussion. "You should have seen the aftermath! It was like Shimshon's carnage against the Philistines. Watch your steps, some of the stone containers have fallen on the floor. Try not to trip."

"Shimshon would not have needed a comet to destroy a city," another voice you can't put a name on adds in. "He was."

Pause.

"Was what?" the first youthful voice says, puzzled.

>A rattle in the dark. The sudden inkling of wrongness. Three tessarae will determine the next moment. [Three rolls of 1d6]

Rolled 4 (1d6)

>>3513560

>>3513560
Roll low or roll high?

Rolled 6 (1d6)

>>3513560

>>3513581
Lower the better in this quest

Rolled 5 (1d6)

>>3513560
Not feeling lucky today.

Rolled 2 (1d6)

>>3513560

Rolled 1 (1d6)

>>3513560

>4

You turn the suddenly silent man around to find the source of interruption in the form of a glistening javelin handle protruding from his side.

"Ambush!" You shout, ducking to minimise your profile and hoping that whoever was behind you would aim for the torso. It is a well-founded hope; the missile that would have been lodged against your ribs find empty space instead.

The soldier beside you is not so lucky however. The thud of falling bodies - you count two other - show that it was not a singular attack. It wasn't coming from the front, where Kaphar might have had a chance to shout an alarm. The multiplicity of these tunnels must have allowed the attackers to take a side cut when they heard your troops.

That damned emissary promised you that these underground halls were not patrolled. Someone is going to lose the rest of his limbs once you return.

"Alexandros! So very delightful to see you. I was hurt you missed my King's coronation, but that is fine. You are just in time for the after-party."

That sneering, oily voice can only have one owner. "Venkata." Your voice is answered by a scornful chuckle from the former army captain. "I don't understand," you speak, stalling for time to give the others time to wear off their surprise. "Why did you risk this much? Why not just hand over what you promised in the first place?" Ten of them, one of them small. Could that be the latest boy-king?

"I? Risk much?" The low light levels make it difficult to see his face, but you do not need sight to know he is very angry. "I should be the one asking that question! What the hell are you doing building a gigantic mountain on the side of the palace after I gave you such good terms? Are you seriously going to destabilise an entire kingdom because of some steel?" His voice reaches an anguished fever pitch. "And siege engines! What kind of fig trader carries siege engines?! You weren't even supposed to win in the field against the chariots!"

Put that way, you guess it might be a bit unfair how you have all these things.

>"Not much of a kingdom if the king isn't sat on the throne. The siege is going wonderful upstairs I take it? No other reason for you to be bringing your king to the royal emergency exit."
>"All debts and IOUs must be paid and accounted for."
>"Oh, you poor thing. You still think I'm just a Harkonnen lackey, don't you?"
>"You know what they say - karma is a bitch."

>>3515219
I forgot to write in >Custom. Just assume every choice has a custom option, as long as the write-in is sensible.

>>3515219
>"All debts and IOUs must be paid and accounted for."
Going full anti-Greek

>>3515219
>Not much of a kingdom if the king isn't sat on the throne. The siege is going wonderful upstairs I take it? No other reason for you to be bringing your king to the royal emergency exit."
>"All debts and IOUs must be paid and accounted for."

>>3515219
>>"Oh, you poor thing. You still think I'm just a Harkonnen lackey, don't you?"
>"You know what they say - karma is a bitch."

>>3515219
>all debts and IOU's must be paid and accounted for.

>>3515219
>"All debts and IOUs must be paid and accounted for."

>>3515219
>"Not much of a kingdom if the king isn't sat on the throne. The siege is going wonderful upstairs I take it? No other reason for you to be bringing your king to the royal emergency exit."
>"All debts and IOUs must be paid and accounted for."
>"Oh, you poor thing. You still think I'm just a Harkonnen lackey, don't you?"

What right do you have to be pissed? I am pissed that we are wasting lives from our limited manpower pool because of you, you useless lying cunt.

>>3515219
"Good terms? The only terms I gave were those crates. All I have done was done for that metal. Are you really willing to send men to their death for it? Are you willing to die for it?"

What luck, to meet the enemy king in the midst of his flight! You are relieved that you do not have to fight your way into the palace to get to the throne room, like some cheap dramatic novella sold for the cost of a day's bread in the seedy streets of Rome. Doubtless it was the successful creation of the earthenwork to rival the heights of the palace's defences that spurred the king, or rather Venkata, to such desperate measures. And you outnumber him this time as well, sixteen men versus his nine. For once, the odds are on your side.

"You have something of mine, Captain Venkata. Or should I call you Viceroy? No matter, after the day is done, your kingdom will be in ruins. You made a promise to me when you started this harebrained scheme of yours. Did you make such a grandiose offer believing that I and mine would be destroyed in the attempt?" You smile thinly. Throughout your life you have been hated, mocked, even ridiculed that one time when you returned from Bythinia... but rarely were you underestimated. "Yet even now," you continue, "I am a generous man. False friend of my father! Hand me what is rightfully mine. End the war before more is lost."

"And hand over that many bars of crucible steel? Never!" Venkata laughs, drawing strength from an unseen reserve of confidence. "Shiva has delivered my people the means to our victory just in time. When we capture you, your soldiers will be forced to withdraw. You will die last among your band of adventurers, Alexandros, and you will regret ever setting feet on our sacred continent!"

Sandalled feet drum over the tightly packed earth as soldiers from a distant land march with square-shields interlocked, the defenders and aggressors both unaware of the smaller but no less deadly battle being waged many meters under the surface.

>>3517505

---

(1) Style

>Cautious - Double AV (Max 80), Total unsaved damage to Foe is halved (Rounding up)
>Guarded - Exchange of Blows does not inflict or sustain damage.
>Balanced - AV and Damage remain unchanged.
>Belligerent - Exchange of Blows does not inflict damage; +1 Damage to Foe if any unsaved damaged is inflicted.
>Audacious - Halve AV (Rounding up); Each point of unsaved damage to Foe is doubled.

(2) Stance

>Dance of the Maekarii I [Personal Combat +10, -2 Damage dealt]
>Aetian Acrobatics I [Exhaustion +1(Personal Combat -5DC, stacks), +2 Damage dealt]
>Iovani Backstep I [Personal Combat +5DC, -5AV]
>Susa I [Personal Combat -5DC, -1 Damage received]

(3) Weapon of Choice

>Crucible-steel khanda
A straight-bladed longsword with a blunted tip at the end, this exotic blade was the personal weapon of the leader assassin. The material is of superb quality, known to the local Tamils as urukku. Its length lends itself well to use as a cavalry sabre. [Chance to ignore armour]

>Gladius hispaniensis
The Romans may not have invented this weapon, but it was they that put it to its proper use. Adopted from the Iberians during their pacification wars in the Hispanic peninsula, this shortsword can be used only by the most disciplined of infantrymen, willing to go face-to-face against the enemy to ensure their painful deaths. This is not a weapon of the faint-hearted who wish to keep the enemy combatants at an arm's length. Its double-edged, point-ended design lends itself especially well to bleeding the foe. [Chance to bleed enemy, negative AV modifier]

(4) [ENEMY OUTNUMBERED] Fight alone, or call forth one of the allied soldiers?

>Fight 1v1 against the targeted enemy combatant
>Fight 1v2 against the targeted enemy combatant

Couldn't post earlier due to some bug with captcha not registering as being completed, what was up with that?

>>3517508
>Audacious - Halve AV (Rounding up); Each point of unsaved damage to Foe is doubled.

>Aetian Acrobatics I [Exhaustion +1(Personal Combat -5DC, stacks), +2 Damage dealt]

>Crucible-steel khanda

>Fight 1v2 against the targeted enemy combatant

>>3517512
That is strange, never experienced something like that

>>3517508
>Balanced - AV and Damage remain unchanged.
>Iovani Backstep I [Personal Combat +5DC, -5AV]
>Gladius hispaniensis
>Fight 1v1 against the targeted enemy combatant

>>3517512
Been reading other quests seems like a lot of qms were having the same issue.
>>3517587
Support

>>3517587
Support but with belligerent instead of balanced

>>3517587
sure. don't feel like 1v2 people down here

Hey OP, I'm not playing in your thread but I think you're one of the real good ones

>>3517587
Looks like this one wins, only one support for swapping balanced to belligerent so it will be this as is

>>3518303
Why thank you! I don't think I can compare with the more authentic /qst/ QMs though, like Black Company QM

The combatants break off into twos and threes, finding what space they can between the fallen stone tombs of once-kings and moisture-slicked columns. An underground game of cat and mouse.

You wave off one of the soldiers starting toward you to aid in your duel - "Stay with your comrades!" you exclaim. "Overwhelm the enemy with your numbers, if not skill."

The ivory hilt of your prized gladius feels snug and warm in your palm, an extension of your flesh and blood. How many times have you wielded this all too Roman weapon in your battles Gallian and African? That heretofore locked stores of experience, hindered by the unfamiliarity with your new body, is starting to come back.

>Remembered: Legionarius I
Shortswords are the weapon of the disciplined infantryman. No tool to distance oneself from the enemy, this impeccably balanced implement of death, forcing - urging - its user to step closer against the enemy to fully apply the deadly tip against the opponent's guts instead. Only the iron will of the Legionaries of old allowed the use of such an uncompromising weapon. [Only works while wielding weapons of the Roman Legion]


--

Captain Alexandros, Caesar Reborn: Healthy
>Combat = +55DC [Healthy +5DC, Skilled +5DC, Unnatural Strength +5DC, Skill: Legionarius +10DC, Linothorax and Helm +10DC, Iron roundshield +5DC Gladius Hispaniensis +10DC, Active Skill +5DC]
>Armour Value = 5AV [Linothorax and Helm +10AV, Iron roundshield +5AV, Active Skill -5AV, Gladius Hispaniensis -5AV]
>Active Skill = Iovani Backstep I

VS

Karhi, Royal Bodyguard
>Combat = 50DC [Healthy +5DC, Experienced +5DC, Martial Art: Khadgavidya +10DC, Crucible-steel scalemail +20DC, Crucible-steel khanda +10DC]
>Armour Value = 20AV [Crucible-steel scalemail +20AV]
>Active Skill = None

Crit-fail = Suffer a mighty blow (3 degrees of damage sustained AND dismounted/disarmed)
0 Success = Suffer a solid blow (2 degrees of damage sustained)
1 Success = Exchange glancing blows (1 degree of damage inflicted and sustained)
2 Success = Inflict a solid blow (2 degrees of damage inflicted)
3 Success = Inflict a mighty blow (3 degrees of damage inflicted)
Crit-pass = Inflict a killing blow (what it says on the tin)

Doubles Pass = +1 damage ignores opponent AV or Dismounted/Disarmed penalty
Doubles Fail = Dismounted and/or Disarmed penalty

> (1) Personal Combat DC55
>3 rolls of 1d100
>(2) Flesh Wound (bleed) [Gladius Hispaniensis] DC33
>1 roll of 1d100
>(3) Ego Death [Iovani Backstep] DC33
>1 roll of 1d100

Rolled 21 (1d100)

>>3520174

(The enemy is Healthy, missed out on writing that)

Rolled 1 (1d100)

>>3520174

>>3520194
Ouch, just in time for our freshly recalled proficiency

>>3520195
This is a roll-under thread

>>3520196
Yeah the ouch was for indian dude

>>3520194
Well, we just murdered the hell out of that poor guy.

No need to roll further, I -just- made myself comfortable thinking it'd take an hour or five for the resolution of the rolls ._.

writan

A stroke with the edges, though made with ever so much force, seldom kills, as the vital parts of the body are defended both by the bones and armor. On the contrary, a stab, though it penetrates but two inches, is generally fatal. Besides in the attitude of striking, it is impossible to avoid exposing the right arm and side; but on the other hand, the body is covered while a thrust is given, and the adversary receives the point before he sees the sword. This was the method of fighting principally used by the Romans, and their reason for exercising recruits with arms of such a weight at first was, that when they came to carry the common ones so much lighter, the greater difference might enable them to act with greater security and alacrity in time of action.

-Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus, Epitoma rei militaris


The unthinking routine of the soldier takes over, one you remember intimately not only as a combatant, but an instructor. Your legions were made, not inherited, and there was always a need to train the new arrivals to fill the gaps within the ranks from your ceaseless conquests.
Two full-legged strides forward, shield-arm bent protectively and sword-arm leaping forward, just like your training. Memories of destroyed battle-dummies return to your mind, spilling grass from precise puncture-marks from novices' gladii. The good days, when you were able to recruit from cives of the Latin race.

The Indian stares mutely at the burgeoning red spreading under his scale armour, his brain not fully comprehending what just happened. All the prestige and skill that being a guard of the king suggested, yet this was his end; an ignoble and anonymous death among the dead.

Your soldiers, on the other hand, are struggling. They are all too new to this kind of combat, being shepherds and farmers. And the relative lack of armour compared to these guards mean that even with the number advantage, the outcome is uncertain.

What you do next could decide the tenuous balance of battle.

>Help two soldiers having a hard time against one of the bodyguards. He is clearly the chief among their order, sporting a fancy wing-motif'd scalemail instead of the more mundane type that the man you just killed wear.
>Venkata is running back into the castle.
>Target the king. Puppet or otherwise, he is still their nominal lord.
>Custom

>>3520242
>take down venkata, he is the head of the operation.

>>3520242
This is a tough choice
>Venkata is running back into the castle.
I am thinking even if jews are decimated, we can still triumph if Venkata is ours.

>>3520242
>Venkata is running back into the castle.
It hurts a bit to leave our men like this, but if Venkata is allowed to escape and alert the castle garrison, then the entire mission is for nought.

>>3520242
>Help two soldiers having a hard time against one of the bodyguards. He is clearly the chief among their order, sporting a fancy wing-motif'd scalemail instead of the more mundane type that the man you just killed wear.

>>3520244
>>3520242
Actually I change to help two soliders.

We can hunt down and kill venkata, making our boys respect us is more important.

>>3520242
>>Venkata is running back into the castle.

No matter the kingdom, no matter the age, this axiom remains true: destroy the head, and the body will follow.

Venkata is running back to the castle. How far will he have to run and climb until he is safe and sound behind a hundred men? That was a trick question. He does not make fifteen steps before the younger, better fit sailor-captain-soldier arrests his progress in the form of a thrown body knocking him to the floor. The freshly-killed bodyguard served more purpose in death than he was in his last moments as a paperweight to halt his fleeing boss.

The armoured soldier proves too much for Venkata to push away in time to run once more. Not before the younger man puts his foot on his neck.

"Whorespawn..." the elder man breathes out, teeth gritted. "You should have died in the battlefield, you and your entire play-acting soldiers."

You shrug. "Funny thing about this world, I've traveled a long ways from home and met more than my share of enemies, and yet in the end, they resort to the same sort of insults as they flail impotently against defeat. It's almost like the universe has a limited vocabulary or something."

"You have done this often? Then you know what comes next. Kill me like the honourless cur that you are, Merchant. Unless you aspire to a flicker of greatness and fight me like a man, one against the other."

"To the death?"

"To the death."

>"Nah." [This kills the Venkata]
>Toss him one of your swords.
>"Surrender, Venkata. You still have a way out of total defeat."

>>3522237
>"Surrender, Venkata. You still have a way out of total defeat."

>>3522237
>>Toss him one of your swords.
Order his men to stand down and he can have his fight.

>>3522237
>order your men to stand down, and if I win I gain the bars you promised and the. we can have our fight.

>>3522237
>"Surrender, Venkata. You still have a way out of total defeat."

>>3522237
>>"Nah." [This kills the Venkata]

>>3522237
>”Order your men to stand down”
If he does so
>Toss him one of your swords

>>3522237
>>"Nah." [This kills the Venkata]
We have to get the rest of his force under control. It's time to be pragmatic

>>3522237
>"Surrender, Venkata. You still have a way out of total defeat."

Dueling really isnt the Roman way, and I want him alive so we can get those bars of steel

>>3522237
>"Surrender, Venkata. You still have a way out of total defeat."
Give wootz or get boots.

>>3522240
>>3522275
>>3522599
>>3522648
Demand surrender

>>3522579
>>3522299
Kill

>>3522245
>>3522248
>>3522346
Duel

"Surrender, Venkata."

The ridiculousness of the situation tires you, Caesar. How many men were killed because of this man's refusal to honour a promise so pithily given, you don't even bother thinking. The civil wars you caused killed tens of thousands... but what you did, and Venkata failed to do, was succeed. And that makes all the difference.

"There will be no glorious chapter in the history of the Chera dynasty today. Not against me. I have played the game before you were even born, with pieces far larger than your tiny kingdom living off the fat of greater empires due to its fortuitous seat. But the history of this nation does not need to end today."

The agonised cries of dying soldiers echo back from the site of the skirmish far behind you.

"Know when you are bested."

"And what will I get out of it?" He asks, voice wavering.

"Nothing." You press into his neck with the sole of your foot as you bend lower to hiss into his ear. "Everything."

---

>>3522762

The capture of the Archer King was unlikely to cause much damage in terms of enemy morale. This was due to the following reasons; the recency of his crowning which damaged whatever political legitimacy he may have had, as well as the well-known fact that he was merely a convenient figurehead for the true authority, which is to say Venkata, who controlled the sole organised armed forces in the capital with the defeat of the warrior-nobles.

Alexandros must have realised that every minute and hour that went by meant another life lost in the siege above-ground - hardly replaceable in these foreign and hostile lands. A good-natured captain may have sought to assist his immediate comrades from near certain death, battle out against the Commandant of the Royal Guard who was evidently unfazed by the flight of his chief, Venkata. Three versus one, he would have defeated the experienced soldier, certainly. With no allied fatalities, possibly.

But this man is not a warrior, deadlocked to a code of honour or camaraderie. He is a soldier, seemingly filled with the experience of a career mercenary; a general, who showed calm decisionmaking skills in the midst of battle multiple times despite his youth; a statesman, with the capacity to see the future without being distracted by the present that is endemic in the race of men we call politicians.

The reader, whether it be my successor to carry on the Annals or a later scholar of the great expedition, may have cause to wonder: Is he even human? After what I have seen from him, especially from a certain encounter aboard the Rhea which will remain unpenned unto the day of my death, I can confidently and fearfully answer in the negative. It is almost enough to make me believe his outlandish tale of being a god, though no god or demi-god has shown such brutal determination in attaining his goals, even the Most Highs in Olympus being so filled with human weaknesses to truly claim victory.

If Alexandros, or "Caesar", is who he claims to be, then I can only tremble at this emergence of a new type of god - not tied to the fluctuation of a set of loosely defined characteristics and divine portfolios, but also lacking in that all too common attributes of the larger-than-life Heroes of old that so often proved to be their downfall and prevented the dominion of these Nephilim over the children of men.

The battle of the underground pass was lost, with only five survivors from the infiltration team. The war ended mere minutes later.

- The Secret Annals of the Eastern Expedition, author unknown

---

A kingdom in its knees, its nobles and priesthood gutted. Roll three tesseraea made inexplicably with one hundred sides. Pray to the gods - or don't, and see how many depart for the heat-sapped halls of Hades. [1d100]

>(1)
>Pray [specify whom, write-in]
>Do not pray

>(2)
>Roll 1d100

Rolled 91 (1d100)

>>3522763
>play to Cesar!

Rolled 91 (1d100)

>>3522763
>Honor Mars, who grants us victory yet again

Rolled 32 (1d100)

>>3522763
>Pray [specify whom, write-in]

We pray to our self for inner strength?

>>3522802
Well 32 deaths is far better then 9q

>>3522805
yeah not gonna lie this quest has "blessed" us with high rolls, the only one on this board it seems

>>3522802
Do you utter those prayers as a question, Conscript Father? Are these words of uncertainty and self-doubt?

Though the rolls are now over with the three numbers in play, the first vote on Prayer will remain open

>>3522812
I suppose, if in the shoes of Caesar, they would be of what our true is. Are we just a human with a small fraction of a god's power, or can we eventually take our home in the pantheon.

>>3522763
>Do not pray

>>3522763
>Pray to Venus, the font of our divine ancestry.

>>3522763
What are we actually rolling for?

>>3523886
>see how many depart for the heat-sapped halls of Hades

>>3522763
>Pray to Apollo, that he may save our men from Death.

>>3523898
How many what? Who are we talking about here? :/

>>3522763
Supporting >>3523051

>>3522763
>Do not pray
What is the reason for praying in this moment? Men die. Take solace in victory well-earned.

>>3523915
You know what? Changing to this.

File: am disappoint.jpg (66 KB, 842x347)

66 KB JPG

All these votes and not a single one dedicated to Fortuna. And you wonder why your rolls are so high!

>>3523886
>>3523901
Casualty rates, sorry it wasn't clearer

---


>>3522767
>>3522802
DIVS IVLIVS

>>3523051
>>3523909
Venus, sacred ancestor of the gens Iulia

>>3523915
>>3523922
>>3522965
Refuse to send honour to those all too real gods, who haven't lifted a single finger to assist your travails

>>3522802
Martians

>>3523900
Brother Solar

"I've never seen fighting like that before," Xanthippos comments, the two of you watching Tamil dock workers labouring over their crates. Your crates. The Viceroy was taking responsibility for the cost of the war, as the loser should. If he had given up the steel when asked for, he wouldn't be paying the reparations that he is doing.

"An underground battle to capture the fleeing king, facing off against his own elite royal guard. That is like something out of the Bard's tales. How do you do it?"

"A lifetime of experience," you reply. "This isn't our first conflict, young man. And it won't be our last."

"You're probably younger than me," the Atreides commander chuckles lightly, dimpling his cheeks. You share his smile. This young man is the most agreeable Atreides you have ever met, though the fact that your father was working for the Harkonnen (and was born of a branch from the main line) tended to colour your perception of the rare meetings between the two trading dynasties back in Numante.

"It was a valuable experience." he continues enthusiastically. "I can finally say that I am a soldier now. I could only think of myself as a glorified warehouse guard before."

>"Glory is overrated. Pray instead for good harvests, warm winters, and beautiful women." [COMITAS]

>"There is no less honour in the role of the swineherd or the street sweeper. Whatever you do, do it well, and glory will follow." [PIETAS]

>"War is an ugly thing, but necessary. Do not revel in it overmuch, young Atreides, for there lies the pathway to madness." [DISCIPLINA]

>"To think - the new Viceroy would not have had to hand out so much reparations if he had only honoured his end of the promise. Let this be a lesson, Xanthippos. Never give your word lightly." [FIDES]

>>3524000
>"To think - the new Viceroy would not have had to hand out so much reparations if he had only honoured his end of the promise. Let this be a lesson, Xanthippos. Never give your word lightly." [FIDES]
The overwhelming majority wanted to pray. Why not hold a sub-vote to decide to whom?

>>3524010
Good idea, and it just so happens that I was going to write out the result of the Pray vote AFTER the latest update anyway, so it's not too late either. As a QM of a slow-burning thread, it's harder for me to just go ahead with offering yet another vote without an update, so I'm glad you showed initiative in asking for it.

(2) Prayer Sub-Vote, Deity of Choice (only counting those options with 2 votes or more)

>Caesar
>Venus
>None (Still including this since it did get the plurality of votes)

>>3524000
>"There is no less honour in the role of the swineherd or the street sweeper. Whatever you do, do it well, and glory will follow." [PIETAS]

is it bad that I just pick the most badass-sounding option everytime

>>3524000
>"War is an ugly thing, but necessary. Do not revel in it overmuch, young Atreides, for there lies the pathway to madness." [DISCIPLINA]

>"To think - the new Viceroy would not have had to hand out so much reparations if he had only honoured his end of the promise. Let this be a lesson, Xanthippos. Never give your word lightly." [FIDES]

Also, is it finally time to bring up that colonist supply chain thing?

>>3524000
>glory is overrated pray instead for good harvests, warm winters, and beautiful women.
>>3524013
Hail Caesar!

>>3524013
Apollo.

>>3524020
Sure, add it as a custom and see if other anons want to mention it too!

>>3524018
That's called roleplaying, anon. Have you seen some of Caesar's quotes? Man had a weakness for pithy one-liners.

>>3524000
>"To think - the new Viceroy would not have had to hand out so much reparations if he had only honoured his end of the promise. Let this be a lesson, Xanthippos. Never give your word lightly." [FIDES]

Trust is hard to come by and we will need it for
>>3524020
>Also, is it finally time to bring up that colonist supply chain thing?

>>3524013
>None (Still including this since it did get the plurality of votes)

>>3524013
>Venus

>>3524021
>>3524020
I'm switching from comitas to disiplina

>>3524013
>Caesar
>"War is an ugly thing, but necessary. Do not revel in it overmuch, young Atreides, for there lies the pathway to madness." [DISCIPLINA]

>>3524022
We literally reduced the vote option so people wouldnt vote for a bunch of different gods. Pick one of the three apollo already lost.

>>3524023
that could just be a case of him picking and choosing the words that will paint him in the best light, as you do when writing autobiographies. if he actually thought of and said even half those quotes on the spot, he'd be a mf god

>>3524033
>implying Caesar isn't divine in this quest
MODS

>>3524000
>"War is an ugly thing, but necessary. Do not revel in it overmuch, young Atreides, for there lies the pathway to madness." [DISCIPLINA]

>"To think - the new Viceroy would not have had to hand out so much reparations if he had only honoured his end of the promise. Let this be a lesson, Xanthippos. Never give your word lightly." [FIDES]

>Bring up Your idea for a colonist supply Chain to him.

>None (Still including this since it did get the plurality of votes)

Cleaned up my vote, is that fine?

>>3524036
Long as you keep the same ID so I can actually trace the change, yeah

>>3524038
I’ll try, but my phone just change my id from time to time... :(
How do the ID even work anyways?

>>3524043
I'm the worst person to ask how 4chan works :P Just link to your old comment when you change votes if your ID has changed

>>3524049
Alright :)
4chan is obviously Kekistani obscure kek technology.

>>3524036
Support

>>3524000
>"There is no less honour in the role of the swineherd or the street sweeper. Whatever you do, do it well, and glory will follow." [PIETAS]

>"To think - the new Viceroy would not have had to hand out so much reparations if he had only honoured his end of the promise. Let this be a lesson, Xanthippos. Never give your word lightly." [FIDES]

>>3524013
>>Caesar
>>3524000
>"There is no less honour in the role of the swineherd or the street sweeper. Whatever you do, do it well, and glory will follow." [PIETAS]

So nobody want to bring up the supply chain thing? :/

>>3524505
what supply chain thing

>>3524795
What we talked about last thread, using this port, the chinese lady, and our Greek friend here, in order to bring a steady flow of Greek/Roman/German etc etc as colonist to form a loyal base we could draw from in Asia.

Tied between honouring the cult of CAIVS IVLIVS CAESAR and not praying at all so far

>>3525556
I'm adding the colony thing into the convo anyway

>>3525673
Hopefully he take it well, Greek do love their Colonies :P

>>3525673
No praying

>FIDES
>No praying

"It is a precautionary tale for us all, Xanthippos. To think - the new Viceroy would not have had to hand out so much reparations if he had only honoured his end of the promise. Remember not only the battle from this encounter. The underlying morals of things will serve you better in the end than the ability to swing a sword."

He pouts. "You're no longer cool now. You sound like way too much like my father."

"Then your father is wise beyond your age," you continue unperturbed. "It is important especially in your hot-headed youth to remember the sacrosanct nature of your words, hastily given or not."

"Why are you so... old?" the young Greek commander asks curiously. "You look at least five years younger than me, but every time I talk to you, you seem like a world-weary geriatric."

Keen-eyed young man.

"I am a god, my true age swaddled in the cloak of mortal form." You say with a serious look on your face.

Xanthippos gawps at you like a water-starved fish, no word coming out of his mouth, until you break into laughter from his ridiculous expression.

"Right, that's it!" the handsome youth declares. "You brought this on yourself!" Then he jumps you.

The two of you tangle on the ground, drawing hectic shadows from the sunset. All mock play, of course, the violent body language of the young man who knows little in the ways of verbal articulation, especially when it comes to eeky things like feelings of respect and... maybe more.

The impromptu duel ends as quickly as it was begun, with you on top with a headlock around the tawny-haired head. "And this is what I mean by youthful rashness," you state calmly over the red-faced youth, who is panting from the exertion. "You knew I would be the superior combatant, but wasted no time in seeking to prove dominance as men are wont to in this age."

"I yield!" Xanthippos groans. "Just no more lectures, please! Zeus knows I have enough of them whenever uncle Aineas drops by."

"Not to worry, dear nephew. I won't be giving you my well-earned advice so freely now." The steely voice of the elder Atridae makes Xanthippos jump up in surprise, his approach unheard due to the play-fighting between the two of you. "Oh for the love of - dust off your clothes, and next time think before you tussle with someone your superior."

"The exuberance of youth, Aineas," you smile to show no harm was done as Xanthippos scratches his head sheepishly. "So you came."

>>3527581

"Of course I came. I am nowhere near stoop-backed like my nephew makes it sound. It is part of my duties to see off business associates." The head of the Atreidae in Muziris is all business, nothing like the snide animal during the convening of the three trade families. "Your offer. It is... interesting, but I will need to be certain that I am not sending these colonists to their deaths. Germans, Greeks, and Romans establishing a colony all the way east, in Sinae? An ambitious gamble, even for you."

You don't know the half of it.

"We've handled mass transport of human resources before," Aineas continues, "and the Old World back home is filled with trouble, as always. Men will be easier to convince than women, as is usually the case. Long voyages tend to be terrible for the pregnant, so I am not considering already married families for this either."

You nod. "As long as we get a steady stream of young men and women, we will have next generations to see to."

"Women, not so much. Men? Definitely. But I need to know you truly have a plot of land that close to the ends of the earth. No insult intended, Alexandros, but I need my own pair of eyes in your mad scheme so I know you are ready for colonists. So, Xanthippos." The merchant turns to his younger relative. "You are going with him as my representative, with fifty men to accompany you for security reasons. Cadet branch or not, you are still my kinsman and I owe you that much in sending you so far away. That is, if you accept."

"I..." the topic was clearly broached to him prior, but from the way he fidgets, it does not seem as though he has formed a clear opinion. You sympathise. Seres is a far away land, nothing like anything he is used to in Muziris where he was by all likelihood born. He will be saying goodbye to friends, family, and perhaps a lover or two. He is at that age, after all.

>Caesar said nothing, letting the youth sort his own feelings out on the matter.

>"I won't promise it to be an easy journey. There will be deaths along the way, and ugly decisions to be made. But I give you my word that it will be more interesting than staying in Muziris and guarding warehouses." [VERITAS]

>"If you are coming aboard my ship, you will need to know the order of things. Sailing is a life and death business, and insubordination has already killed good men." [GRAVITAS]

>"You won't get to experience a good pampered life on board a ship, Xanthippos. You need to be willing to sacrifice the conveniences of landed life before making the choice." [FRVGALITAS]

>"Hey, if you want to bring your girlfriends with, I'm totally cool with that. Just make sure not to wake anyone else up with your night time adventures, alright?" [COMITAS]

>Custom [write-in]

>>3527582
>Caesar said nothing, letting the youth sort his own feelings out on the matter.

>>3527582
>"I won't promise it to be an easy journey. There will be deaths along the way, and ugly decisions to be made. But I give you my word that it will be more interesting than staying in Muziris and guarding warehouses." [VERITAS]
Its not Caesar not to sway people

>>3527582
>"I won't promise it to be an easy journey. There will be deaths along the way, and ugly decisions to be made. But I give you my word that it will be more interesting than staying in Muziris and guarding warehouses." [VERITAS]

>>3527582
>"I won't promise it to be an easy journey. There will be deaths along the way, and ugly decisions to be made. But I give you my word that it will be more interesting than staying in Muziris and guarding warehouses." [VERITAS]

>>3527582
>Caesar said nothing, letting the youth sort his own feelings out on the matter.

We may handle the issue with women by buying slave and freeing them on arrival.

>>3527582
>"I won't promise it to be an easy journey. There will be deaths along the way, and ugly decisions to be made. But I give you my word that it will be more interesting than staying in Muziris and guarding warehouses." [VERITAS]

Does the guy still think we are a Harkonni lapdog?

File: Triumph or Tragedy.png (70 KB, 514x796)

70 KB PNG

>"I won't promise it to be an easy journey. There will be deaths along the way, and ugly decisions to be made. But I give you my word that it will be more interesting than staying in Muziris and guarding warehouses." [VERITAS]

Words fitting for a military recruiter, tearing sons away from mothers, fathers from daughters. If you had a conscience, you would not have encouraged the young man to step forward into uncertainty, forsaking a life of comfort for chaos. Here is a man who has everything he could want, a station in life, comfortable house, friends and comrades to sink and share sorrows with. Already in a young age of twenty he has managed to become the commander of the Atreidae house guard, despite being merely the scion of a secondary branch of the merchant-noble dynasty.

Conscience is not the concern of the politician. To foster the well-being of his tribe, clan, society, nation, the administrator commits many deeds seen as wrong and self-serving. Remember, O Caesar, the words you yourself chose: There will be deaths along the way, and ugly decisions will be made, not all of the losses from unknown faces and belligerent enemies. Hundreds of thousands lay bleeding in your violent conquista against the Gallian savages. A million or more enslaved, all in the name of the Pax Romana. Here you head now off to the East, where such numbers will be of trivial comparison.

Aineas is smiling at your words, unheeded by the younger man, nephew only in name. Xanthippos is too absorbed in your poisonous words, the promise of a difficult future stoking the flames of a young heart within his bosom. Just as you planned.

The old man wants him gone. An empty post, to be filled by his own son perhaps? Or a favourite bedding-boy - who understands the degenerate ways of the Grecian noble? The intuition of a man is surprisingly acute. He might understand the fact that he is not desired by the chieftain of the family in Muziris. In a way, this is an escape.

"I give you my word to follow you to the ends of the earth, Captain Alexandros!" He says eagerly, his statement made all the heavier by your advice on fidelity only moments prior. "Lord-Captain!" He kneels, drawing his sword and laying it at your feet. "I will see this future you build at your side, the first apoikia of Seres."

Young men are so dramatic. But it's a sign of liveliness.

"Well, that is that," the older Atreides harrumphs, turning around to clamber on his cart that he arrived on. "The Seres Whore will be our point of contact from now on, Xanthippos. Write often so your mother does not berate me over my decision to grant you this responsibility. Fair winds guide you east, Alexandros. Take care of my nephew."

You give him a smile, as natural as can be from decades of senatorial encounters. "Vale."

>>3527946
---

Having seen to the well-being of his soldiers, sailors, and civilians, Caesar ordered the sails to be raised, following the trade flotilla of the Lady Tzi.

— Alexandros of Numante, Commentarii de Bello Indica

End of Book I


As you set out for Ithaka
hope your road is a long one,
full of adventure, full of discovery.
Laistrygonians, Cyclops,
angry Poseidon—don’t be afraid of them:
you’ll never find things like that on your way
as long as you keep your thoughts raised high,
as long as a rare excitement
stirs your spirit and your body.
Laistrygonians, Cyclops,
wild Poseidon—you won’t encounter them
unless you bring them along inside your soul,
unless your soul sets them up in front of you.

Hope your road is a long one.
May there be many summer mornings when,
with what pleasure, what joy,
you enter harbors you’re seeing for the first time;
may you stop at Phoenician trading stations
to buy fine things,
mother of pearl and coral, amber and ebony,
sensual perfume of every kind—
as many sensual perfumes as you can;
and may you visit many Egyptian cities
to learn and go on learning from their scholars.

Keep Ithaka always in your mind.
Arriving there is what you’re destined for.
But don’t hurry the journey at all.
Better if it lasts for years,
so you’re old by the time you reach the island,
wealthy with all you’ve gained on the way,
not expecting Ithaka to make you rich.

Ithaka gave you the marvelous journey.
Without her you wouldn't have set out.
She has nothing left to give you now.

And if you find her poor, Ithaka won’t have fooled you.
Wise as you will have become, so full of experience,
you’ll have understood by then what these Ithakas mean.

— Konstantinos Petrou Kavafis' "Ithaka"

>>3527935
I don't think the guy still thinks of you as a Harkonni lapdog.

>>3527961
Good, that mean less family hatred directed at us X)
So, what kind of cultural/government structure should our news city take? I was thinking about making a semi democratic Stratrocratic Kingdom, with more Romans aspect of soldiery taken as model rather than Spartan.
Anyone has any idea?

And so ends our little quest, which ran from 3rd of February according to the archives. What an odd feeling it is to end at last! I'm thinking of timeskip until we reach Chinese shores, specifically Taiwan, because it is very hard to write about cultures I've rarely read about as you may have noticed from our Indian segment. Also, the name of the quest is [I]Commentaries on the Chinese Wars[/i], damnit! We should see China within our lifetimes, and maybe conquer the damned thing.

If you have questions, suggestions, criticisms, comments, and such things, do write them down. Discussions like >>3527971
on what to do are also welcome. Maybe talk about what you would be doing to better yourself during the travel? Maybe getting that sword training improved, or finally deal with that cursed bronze fragments (that you've been too busy to deal with so far).

>>3527971
Spartan style would have been good if it didn't rely on massive slave worked estates to support the system. Roman it is then.
>>3527979
Thanks for running, Fortuna. Hope to see you again soon!

>>3527979
Looking into it, Taiwan right now is very sparsely populated and developped, with perhaps a few ten of thousands natives, perfect for our purpose.
I think we should use our travels time to train ourselves, drill our men (and find some officer)
And do some city planning, so that we can get to work once we get here.
Not sure about the Bronze, still waiting to gift it to someone we want dead desu.
Perhaps we should even do a timeskip of our initial arrival phase? A few years pass where we get colonists, set up a city and ready stuff to start conquering.
I find us a bit young right at this moment.

>>3527994
Well, Spartan system is also more about individual warrior, compared to the Roman ones, that’s more about working within a whole.

...why is my ID changing every post? :/
>>3527996
>>3527971
>>3528000

>>3527996
Not to mention it's useful as a fallback point should things go south on the mainland
>>3528000
Not entirely. Spartan training included a lot of emphasis on discipline and organisation. There's a reason Spartan officers were highly sought after in the Ancient world, after all, such as young Xanthippos' (possible) namesake.

>>3528004
Of course not entirely, but the entire Grec system was set up on competition and individual glory, Arete, even for a disciplined and organised Polis that stay true, compared to that the Roman System was more like a relentless machine of war.

>>3528008
Aaaaaand, new ID again :/

>>3527996
>>3528000
>>3528004
Do remember that the Spartan Experiment went tits-up because they didn't invest on cultural bonds. Their actual citizen number was tiny and relied mostly on the not-quite-slave caste called helots, so the "Spartans" proper were basically extreme versions of hoplites, in that they were the wealthy land-owning caste that took upon themselves to defend their properties and interests. Rome, on the other hand, was fairly open in recruiting from all freedmen as long as they met the criteria.

One made an empire, the other remained a city state even at its height. Minmaxing doesn't work in real life once the the nations take the stage of empires.

>>3528011
True, that’s partly why I want a Roman based stratocratic Kingdom, we are going to have a lot of people from different culture that we will need to bind, we have to be quite careful about what we do class wise.

>>3528020
I don't know, I don't see a reason for anyone else but us ruling. I think we have a golden opportunity to bring the western ideas and values to the East, and institute a system of meritocracy. We could wipe away the caste system (even though China did have a sort of "exam") and create a Western government in the East.

>>3528211
Well, a Kingdom imply a King, and one can argue a Stratocracy is a form of Meritocracy, I personally think considering our numbers problem a Stratocracy would work better for us, but hey, to each his own.

>>3528224
I thought a stratocracy is sort of like an oligarchy where a group of military leaders will come together and lead the state

>>3528398
A Stratocracy is a place where there is no distinction between the Civil and military body of the government, in order to go anywhere in society you have to serve(or have served) the military in some way, but the military itself can(and should) be Meritocratic.
What you are mentionning sound more like a junta.

>>3528398
Starship troopers federation is a stratocracy for example(even if a somewhat corrupt one)

>>3527994
Well sooner than you think, because I'll be putting up a thread later in the evening. Will mostly be an introductory thread where people can (officially) brainstorm what the hell they've been doing during the three year skip until they arrive in Formosa.

But yes, see you there (maybe)

>>3528832
New book, new thread.