It was very early in the morning when King Mikale of the Tartessian people looked at the small city in which he ruled. From his position in the tallest point of the huge rock of Tartes, he could see the whole city of Tartesia. There, at the shore, he could see the small port his people had built so many years ago, and some fishers were preparing now to enter the sea and catch some fish to later sell it in the market of the city.
At his left, the barracks where the army lived and trained. He should ask the Sage Council for some gold to be set aside for restoring it, as he could perfectly see that several planks of wood in the outer wall of the barracks were falling down, and some mold in the northern side threatened to eat through the walls of the home where the soldiers lived.
Several homes and a brothel around it provided the soldiers with some shade whenever there was too much heat, as well as some human heat when they got a free day, which they normally spent with their families, if they had them, or a prostitute, if they had enough money to pay for them and no family.
He could see a shepherd going through one of the most wide streets of the city with a flock of sheep, directing them to the market. It was, quite easily, the most important place of the city, as all the buying and selling was done in that place. There were several merchants in there already, preparing their wares for their customers, which had yet to get there as they didn't start to buy until three hours from the dawn, as it was the custom.
A small temple, dedicated to the gods, had just been built a few hundreds of meters (OOC: yeah, I am going to go with the metric system, any problem?) from the market, providing some rest to the souls of the people that went there, as well as those in the netherworld. Terra (OOC: Gaia), the Queen of the Gods, was always portrayed in the myths as a beautiful, powerful woman who took care of all people, living and dead, as long as the people helped themselves and her, which was what they did.
King Mikale closed his eyes, and as he felt the soft sea wind on his face, he took a decision. He started to come down from Tartes Rock, so that he could go to his palace and ask a servant to call the Sage Council. It was time to get some things approved.
OOC: In Tartessos, the kingship is an hereditary position, but the only real powers of the king are being the main commander of all armies and navies (air forces shall come through in the faaaar future) and directing the debates in the Sage Council, which holds the power of the laws. The king has a veto power, although through a tacit, non-spoken agreement, this veto power is hardly used unless the king feels that some legislation the Council approves can be potentially bad for the city-nation. The Council is formed by those regarded as the best from each of the economical and cultural groups of the city: farmers, fishers, miners/forgers (workers of the forges), teachers, merchants and priests (the King is the representative of the army and navy in the council). The Council meets once a week, and any of the councillors may propose ideas for the betterment of the city, ideas that must be debated and voted before the day is through. Any other things shall be revealed with future stories. Also, HAHAHAHAHA! First story of the game!
