Strange Tides

Isidoros nervously shifted on his throne. Well, throne might have been an overstatement, for it was more or less a wooden chair adorned with finely-carved images of acanthus leaves which framed an image of the hills of Hyphyria on the backrest and scenes of commerce and war on the sides, but in the end it was still plain wood. Not even paint had been added to it yet, for there was little of that available to the city, barring ocre and charcoal. The throne of Orchomenos, before which Isidoros had often stood over the years, had been from finely-carved marble, inlaid with bronze and painted in luxurious colors. Not for the first time, he felt a sliver of shame at the memory. Here he was, king in name over a city in name, copying what had been lost and yet unable to achieve even a fraction of its glory. It was the third winter in these lands for him and it always felt as if he should have achieved more in that time.

It as hard to say if pondering this is what had made him nervous or if he already was and just grasped for anything to occupy his mind while waiting. Though it was quite fitting to be thinking about the bronze and stone throne of Orchomenos, given the circumstances. Still, Isidoros hated to publicly hold court, especially when he knew there would be an argument. Even years of doing so had not changed and the attention of all these people in throne room was still hard to bear. Though when the two people he had called before him arrived, the attention sifted away from him, taking the pressure with it. Two older men entered the hall, throwing vitriolic glances at each other all the while. They both were roughly of Isidoros' age, maybe even a few winters older, though that was where the similarities stopped.

The speaker for the masons was the architect Kleitos, a man of neatly trimmed beard and hair. In the past, he was often called upon to maintain or expand the channels of Orchomenos and had worked on both the walls and the palace. He was an even tempered man most of the time and respected as a scholar, though also outspoken about what deemed proper and what not, using oration like hammer and chisel to chip away at others. And many things he didn't deem proper about Hyphyria, from the lack of of a quarry to the lack of proper walls and flood-channels.

His opponent, Procopius, could have not been more different. A broadly built and somewhat intimidating figure, the graying beard he bore managed to look unkempt, even though it was cropped short and his skin was blotchy as it was common for a bronze smith. His friends and allies called him steadfast and dependable, but his enemies said he was headstrong and stubborn. Most agreed that he was quiet though and that his skill at haggling and oration was mostly wasted on compensating his gruff comportment. His goal was at once far easier and narrow to achieve, yet so much more difficult in other ways. The city needed bronze to grow, and in a few years time it would need it to survive. Yet there was no great trade network found so far like that of Greece, so Hyphyria was left to buy up the scraps found among the local people.

They both approached the throne and bowed deeply before it, leaving Isidoros a moment to gather his thoughts. "I have called you here for a specific reason. The debate about what projects the city should pursue has been going far too long and I will now settle it." The words were decisive, but as he caught first the glint of satisfaction in both their eyes and then their victorious glances at each other, he paused just a moment too long to continue.

"So we will begin to build a proper city, then?" Somehow, Kleitos managed to sound both pleasantly surprised, condescending, and smug at the same time. "The people will be pleased to hear that they will no longer have to live in wooden huts like barbaroi."

Procopius just snorted at that statement and crossed his arms in challenge. "A proper city? The only thing that reminds me of barbaroi is how you want us to keep bang rocks together. The soldiers are using more and more wooden spears, as we run out of bronze to make tips and the woodcutters have begun to use saws made from bone bought from the Earth People."

The look he gave in response told clearly that Kleitos thought he had already won this argument. "So? We will need less wood once the huts are gone and less spears once a proper wall has been build. We can easily make do with what bronze we have, but not without stone, or do you want to build yourself a home from sheets of bronze?" Without waiting for an answer, he looked back to Isidoros. "Shall we begin with the channels you have drawn up, my lord? If we begin to dig the ditches now, we should be ready to reinforce them with stone come the next winter and we might even be spared the stink of the muck that gathers between the hills in the summer."

A moment of awkward silence followed while Isidoros weighted how to best state his decision. There was not much he could do to soften what Kleitos would most certainly consider a blow to his pride. "No, for the city will have to pursue other things for now. The trade of bronze--" Murmurs rose at his words, while Procopius smirked and Kleitos gasped, the din cutting off Isidoros words.

The next words from Kleitos mouth barely kept up a semblance of civility and quieted the crowd somewhat again. "So me and my brethren shall sit tight while Hyphyria will keep cavorting with barbaroi and letting that boy pretend he is a Strategos?" Only whispers were trade among the attendants and with a start, Isidoros realized that not all were that opposed to Kleitos way of thinking.

A low grumbling rose from Procopius, drawing the eyes back to him. "That boy has proven himself in battle and been shown favor by the Forge Father himself." In response, Kleitos drew in breath, yet he wasn't fast enough to get a word in before the smith continued. "Keep your drivel about his wife and affairs. He stood before Hephaestus himself and was granted a great boon, so fetch a priest and complain at the gods if you want, but I will not listen."

If the slight tint of red to Kleitos face was any indication, these words had hit quite well. It was all Isidoros could do to not groan right then at there at the mess unfolding. It was not that the masons had no point to their demands, which was why he was planning on seeing the quarry erected as soon as feasible, but slowly this debate was turning into something far more dangerous and ugly. Many nobles still favored Argurios for his name and the divine favor he had been granted, though ever since he stopped openly shunning Semni, others began to whisper about him being enthralled by the barbaroi woman. Some even called it treasonous behavior.

In an act of unfathomable hypocrisy, they now even used his many affairs as a sign of a unworthy character, even though they had before seen it as expression of a Greek man clearly knowing that he didn't need to pander to his barbaroi wife. There had been no new incidents recently, so Argurios had either stopped or at least gotten more subtle about it, but that didn't stop his detractors from dragging up old stories. And worst of all, they tried to leverage Argurios perceived failings to cast doubt on Isidoros rule.

This whole matter was turning into a farce and Isidoros doubted that he could salvage it by announcing his plans for the quarry. He could only press on and hope that everything could be wrapped up before escalating further. "Be that as it my, my decision stands. I hereby name Procopius as my Oikonomus, tasked with securing a steady supply of bronze for Hyphyria." Leaving his gaze on the two men before him, he tried to gauge their reaction. His newly-named Oikonomus seemed quite pleased with this decision, but Kleitos took it anything but well. He huffed once, then turned around and stormed out of the palace. In response, Isidoros could just sigh. He had not the power to punish this behavior, the mason being too important and influential, and that meant that this decision might yet come to haunt him.

Gained new Hero Unit: Procopius
Court Organization: Major Failure
Masons disgruntled by choice of Oikomenos.
Doubt cast on Argurios and Isidoros.

It took a moment for the court to calm down again, then Procopius spoke as if nothing had happened. "I thank you for this trust and the opportunity my lord. As it happens, I have a proposal to achieve the task you have set me. We have found no signs of copper in the land around Hyphyria, and even if there were it would be folly to hope for the luck of finding both tin and arsenic too."

Isidoros just nodded along and motioned for him to continue. He was no smith, but he knew enough about the craft to know how difficult it was to find everything needed for good quality bronze. "Therefore, I would wish to start an expedition to look for metals in other places. I could take the galleys to chart the route back to Greece so that we can buy bronze or its ingredients there. Or I could sail to the west and find the lands of the Bull Men, for their ships allegedly travel far and might know other ports where metal could be found."

"A daring journey you propose there." Now that it was just Procopius before him, it had become vastly easier to ignore the attendants of the court and speak with confidence. "We still know little of these lands, let alone shores even further west."

A curt nod acknowledged the point before Procopius resumed his proposal. "Indeed, my lord. Though I would loath to delay this matter even further, we could first send people to speak with the Earth People and mayhaps the Bull Men traders. They should know the land and waters better. Even talking to the Woodsfolk might help us, for they might know about the southern shores and thus a good place to stop on the way to Greece."

The point was well made, though Isidoros wasn't quite sharing the urgency expressed. Kleitos had not been entirely wrong in his assessment that Hyphyria could make due with what it had for a while longer. Then again, if he waited with this until the last moment, a setback might mean that bronze would be missing at a crucial moment. So far, the local people had ignored the new city in their midst mostly, the closeness to the lands of the Woodsfolk having made its creation not as disrupting to their lives. Yet now tales of Hyphyria were spreading alongside the pottery they sold to the barbaroi, and it might have been only a matter of time until greed would show itself by violence.

What should be done on the matter of bronze trade?
[] [Procopius] Send Procopius on a trade expedition.
-[] Target:
--[] To the east, towards Greece.
--[] To the west, to the Bull Men and beyond.
-[] Troops:
--[] Take only the ships and no further crew.
--[] Take a unit of trained Sailors to defend against pirates.
-[] Provisions:
--[] Write-In how much Wealth and Supplies to take along.

[] [Procopius] Promise Procopius to send someone to treat with the local people to gather information for his expedition. (Must take at least one Diplomacy action to this effect next turn.)

Kleitos had raised another valid point. While Argurios has been acting as the Strategos of Hyphyria for a while and many treat him as such, he never formally received the title. It was time to either confirm this state of affairs officially or to look for someone else to fill that role.

[] [Strategos] Name Argurios officially as the Strategos of Hyphyria.
[] [Strategos] Begin looking for other candidates for the position.

Lastly, the soldiers were departing to the mountains soon and this was the best moment for some more detailed orders on what to do.

[] [Area] Claim only the quarry and the neighboring valleys.
[] [Area] Claim a large stretch of the mountains for Hyphyria.
[] [Area] Write-In

[] [Red Woman] The soldiers should focus on patrols and not aid Argurios hunt for the monster known as the Red Woman.
[] [Red Woman] If the last journey to the mountains was any indication, the monster will target the soldiers anyway, so they might as well help Argurios to slay it.
[] [Red Woman] Write-In

AN: With the court slowly coming together, you are now increasingly becoming aware of what's going on in Hyphyria proper. Unsurprisingly, there is a lot of partisan interests and it's impossible to please everyone equally.