The City States of Greece

My friends, the "noble" houses of Kosta, Glaros and Economou belittle my ascension as unworthy and foretell the doom of this expedition. Obviously they do not believe the words they speak, why else would the family of Doros Economou be joining this "doomed" expedition? They call me inexperienced and qualified but it was I who was raised on my merits while they have rested on the legacies of their fathers. I welcome the ascent of the Plousioi to the nobility, truly their kyrios has displayed the skills required of a noble. Unlike the kyrioi of the remaining houses who have once again proven to Athens that the greatness of the father is no guarantee of the greatness of the son. In Delphi a noble will be required to demonstrate their worth before being permitted to participate in the Synedrion.
Join me and we shall build a great city that will stand as a monument to the glory of the gods and a bulwark against the ravages of the barbarians.

Demandros knew the place to go
But his "friends" told him where to settle
When he refused they called him born low
Yet Demandros proved his mettle
He will lead us to sacred Delphi

(A popular poem circulated by the minstrels of Athens in order to attract settlers)

The "noble" Aerogapus,
Ejected one of its own.
What do they think of us,
If they will not condone,
The great Demandros?

(Same)

This poetic style also quickly spread to the poets of Athens. It became known as the Pentegrammi format.

It consists of the following pattern:

A
B
A
B
C

ooc: tut tuts inferior poetry

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IC

Silence fills the empty fields, for the masses passed this way
led forth into the future, in the hope of a new day
Demandros led the people, northwards to the sacred land
To face the darkest nation, by the gods to make a stand

Cast out of holy Athens, With a blessing and a curse
Will he to us show mettle, or will his deeds come to worse
For shadows gather shadows, Japan heralds coming war
for they pray to their false gods, to end their ignorant score

Hail glorious Athena, our enemies crush and rend
Bring forth their desolation, Bring forth their final end.

For they pray to their false gods, and hear silence

OOC: What do do with marriages between players? Maybe make a thread in the SG for it? Anyways, an offer of mine

Oh great and wise Archon, I see that you have yet unmarried daughters. Since I have an unmarried son, I would propose a marriage between those two, in order to improve the relation between our houses

You can PM offers between each other, and if a deal is met just inform me of the marriage.

OOC: So, I decided to write an in-game book, about my characters thoughts on different matters Here is the first chapter!

Chapter 1: On nobility, ranks and vassals

Your proposals are intriguing, but your assertion that nobility is inherited is plainly incorrect. Nobility is a quality that the gods may choose to give to any man, whether they be high or low. When that quality is demonstrated it is absolutely correct that that man be raised to a station befitting his nobility.
History has shown that the quality of nobility may be granted to a father but not to a son. The Fotismenoi are the prime examples of this but other families have shown a similar withdrawal of Olympian favour and the Megakyrioi are the prime counter-examples where nobility has been consistently passed through the generations. I do agree that noble title be passed down the generations as it is more likely that the gods will favour the child of someone they have chosen than that they would favour a commoner.

I cannot comment on your proposal for an Autokrator as the dynamic between Hellenic cities is yet to be established but I can point to the Establishment Treaty of Delphi where the Archon of Athens is recognised as hegemon although he can wield no hard power over Delphi.
I do, however, take issue with your proposal that the hierarchy of nobles be determined solely on land holdings. The power granted to a man should be based upon the nobility and dignity of his character and the wisdom he has shown, not the vastness of his holdings. In addition this hierarchy would assume the nobility of any man who has managed to acquire ownership of a tile, even if such acquisition was made through villainous means.

If a person got tiles though "villanious means", the Archon in the city could revoke his ownership of these tiles.
Also, a Count could easily be mightier than a Duke. This system does not say "X is stronger than Y, because X holds more tiles". However, someone should not be able to have a vassal who holds more tiles that person.

I will be closely examining your proposals to see if any can be included into the Delphic syntagma. This 'vassalage' could have some merit, but it may require some changes.

These are merely thoughts of mine, you are free to implement any of them you would like to, in any way you want.

Public Speech

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People of Athens, I must solemly inform you that Japan has declared war on Athens in the name of defending their claim to the Eurotas valley. They have attacked our entrenched warriors who according to my orders had pre-emptively fortified themselves on a hill beyond Japanese borders. The Japanese attacked ferociously and the shogun himself was commanding their forces, however their strategy was poor and could not compare to ours, for they simply charged headlong into our stronger defensive position. Due to this the Japanese forces were cast back with minimal losses, with well over half of the japanese warriors being slain.

As of last reports from the commander the Japanese forces are still extant, but they are severely weakened. It is likely that a foray shall bring forth a total rout and capture the japanese settler group which the Shogun foolishly attached to the warrior group so confident was he of victory. As such I have ordered a foray to destroy the japanese. This is a somewhat risky move, but the potential benefits outweigh the negatives and are more likely to occur than to be denied us. Considering this I consider it the best option, for should we succeed we will severely curtail the expansion of our enemy thus ensuring our dominance in the region and granting us the time to take measures ensuring they cannot seriously threaten us again.

Overall we are a superior position, despite the undoubtable and widely acknowledged ferocity and individual skill of Japan's warriors. This I must stress can only be a sign of Athena's favour, for Athena is the goddess of wisdom and of strategic intelligent warfare, and it is precisely her wisdom and her aid which has led us to this strong position, where victory in the objective of stopping Japan's settler group is nearly within our grasp. Nevertheless, the war is nowhere near over and Japan is a powerful foe that is not to be underestimated. We will not be able to end this by conquest of Kyoto at this time, for our power is not so developed as to consider the taking of such a powerful city. Regardless I fully expect my military attache to continue to ensure the beaureaucratic running of the military is efficient during this time and to ensure my combat orders are fully transmitted to all units in our forces. I also call all of you, plebeian and noble, to greater efforts in service to the archon, I implore you to cast aside those petty grievances that have before divided you and compel you to unite together before a greater threat. For united as one nation we are stronger than all the armies the Shogun can throw at us and will with a single clarion cry send a message unto all the world that all will tremble to behold.

praise be Athena, glory be to the gods, and victory be unto Athens!

Another sign of Athena's favour must be the fact that we do not have any diplomats in Kyoto at the moment. We do not know what the Japanese might do to them, had they been there.

Nevertheless, I would like to sign up for Military duty.

That would presumably be the favour of Hermes, the messenger god, and patron of commerce and all forms of interchange. I hear that he is also the familial patron of your house Lord Plousios.

Anyways as to your request to serve in the military... Your already my head diplomat and although your zeal to serve in the fight against the Japanese is commendable, your services are better utilised where they currently are. We can not go to war against Japan only to neglect all those other things that are necessary for the state. Furthermore I already have full confidence in Lord Glaros as military attache, and in the commanders of the forces and their subsidiary officers to effectively manage the conflict in accordance with my direct orders and ensure the day to day running of the military commences with maximum efficiency. Therefore there is no real need to appoint another noble to a military position as of the present time.

Konstantinos Aristandros signs up for military duty.

ooc: and since your an in-game peasant until I otherwise decide to change that, what you do to that regard is not my problem.

Presumably though you will be from this time henceforth "in training" and be a soldier in the upcoming hoplite division once its completed. Either way its up to Dot80 how your self-conscription manifests in terms of what you can do. hmm, perhaps if you prove an exemplary soldier and rise up the ranks that will give me good RP reason to raise you (and as such avoid the NPC hate... on you )

ooc: I'm actually planning to write a book on my military experiences...

OOC: Remember, you're a peasant, so don't really have the funds for making books

ooc: he can produce an oral story, just like the campfire hobos with their not-so-hidden lamentations in regards to Megakyrios rule , Although unlike them it will actually be "in game".

All this talk of military service is interesting. If you guys want to work out some mechanic about non-born (and even born) players being allowed in the military than go ahead. Maybe military units can count as population points, but than of course there would have to be major restrictions and/or benefits to it.

Just have it reflected on their actions/movement options.

Ergo they are part of the military and as such they move where their unit moves, and do what the unit does in terms of movements (taking up one slot of movements) and actions and they can't go off and leave it without deserting and facing the prospect of punishment. So for example if it moves somewhere they move with it, if its garrisoning they must train, or do wall duty or whatever as a movement, and any additional military things go into actions they do. This also gives them the ability to do other things as well.

As to benefits, well presumably you can have some mechanic that gives a fair chance for a particularly noteworthy service, and a smaller chance for some negative result (like falling asleep on duty ) in addition to your ordinary neither bad nor particularly good result that you would have the greatest chance of getting.

As for the un-living plebeians... they are comfortable in their dusty sepulchres lamenting their unenviable estate. So why would we disturb their rest?