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Magna Graecia: Victory's Children (A City State Quest)

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Okay, time for some RP.

From the crowd assembled, a weary, battered hoplite makes his way to the center. He sits on a small boulder and begins to speak, at first in a tired manner, but more and more passionate as the time goes on.

"My fellow Eretrians... look around you. Do see yourselves? We are a... tired bunch. We have marched on the fields of war for weeks without end. Our shields are battered, and many of us have seen our fellow comrades fall. So it has been for many of these past twenty years. It feels to me like we have been eternally at war with the barbaroi, and our families cry out for a repose! But now, some of us propose warring with a dangerous tribe of barbaroi, over what? A mere flock of sheep? Is this the cause that the sons of Eretria spill their blood over?!"

The hoplite pauses, then continues.

"There is a saying that it is easier to catch wasps with honey instead of vinegar. We do not have to conquer every barbaroi by force of arms. Instead, we can do as we did to the Gnatians. We can let them come to Greek culture, we can make them want to be Greek! There are more ways to spread our customs that by the sword!"

The hoplite raises his voice.

"Therefore, brothers, I beseech you! Let the sheep go! Put aside the Lukani, leave them be for now, so that we may return to our fields, to our families! Do not drag us into even more conflict!"

And with that, the hoplite bids farewell, and returns to the crowd.
 
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Another hoplite emerges from the worn crowd, claiming the same rock of the prevoius speaker, his jaw clenched restrained annoyance.

"The Lucani have a fierce reputation, a fierce mass of Barbaroi, wandering up and down Epulia, constantly at war with all before them. What manner of men arre they? Which gods do these...people hold in their breasts?

No, they are more beast than man, and the wisdom of mercy is lost on them. Perhaps the time for oaths and righting of wrongs with them was lost long before Eretria was guided to these shores. Let us instead make sacrifices and share in the spoils the Pueketti have gathered from the barbaroi.

To drive back this flock would be folly when the gods have seen fit to reward us with this bounty from a people who lie in wait and pounce. Brothers! Are we to make oaths sworn to the gods with such snakes? "

The hoplite descends back into the crowd in a huff, hoping to not have to return to his lands empty-handed.
 
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"Slaughtering the sheep would indeed be an insult to the Lukani, but what of us? What of our loyal subjects? What of our own army? What of our own Gods, who provided this bounty and to whom we swore a part? Shall we spit upon all of them for the sake of not offending some shepherds?

"We have just won this land by the blood of our people, and our defeated foes, showing good grace, have brought us a gift. They seized the gift from a hated enemy, a people who had wreaked great violence on them in the past. Are we to rebuke them, and side against our subjects with a mutual foe, in order to 'make the barbaroi want to be like us'! Or will we accept the gift with thanks, share it with our friends and use it as we need?

"Because make no mistake, we need it. Are we not hungry? Are we not exhausted? Have we not spilled our sweat and blood for a victory which, while necessary, is of no glory and no profit? We delayed our journey home, staying in this barren place for the sake of this gift, and now you say we must cast it back? You saw the impatience of the army as the defeated Pekutii drug past their wealth, and the disappointment with the spoils. We have won a seeming victory, but the threat of Azetion could prove to be less than the consequences of such a disasterous policy.

"And what disaster could be greater for us than breaking our oath, our duty to our gods? You all remember as well as I Pymadon's words - 'We shall take from this feast good cattle and set it aside for the Gods'. It is not only our bellies that are empty. We made a pact, the gods provided, and now some would have us rebuff them! Far worse than spitting in the eye of those we have defeated, they would have us do the same to those who have preserved us thus far!

"As for the Lukani - of course we should let them go. What are a few barbaroi worth to Eretria? Release the women and children, and the men as well, that we have no grieving widows poisoning ears. But the shepherds lost their flock by themselves straying too far like the herds they were supposed to be protecting - can we really call it unfair? Let us sacrifice what we have sworn, eat what we must, and return what we can home that all Eretria can feast on our victory! And if the Lukani would throw themselves on our spears for the sake of a few animals, let them!"
 
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Another Hoplite stood up, he had spent much of his life as a Mercenary ranging far abroad and thus his mercenary ways often shone through.
He took the same stone as the previous two hoplites, seeing no reason to look for a better one.

"Why not sacrifice a few to the Gods, keep a good bunch to ourselves and send some back to the Lukani? Thus the Lukani are at least somewhat appeased, the Gods are appeased and we finally had something proper to eat. Sure they don't get back their entire herd but thats their own fault for ranging outside their lands. The Lukani will not want to wage war over a herd of sheep either i wager and any percieved insult by us by eating their sheep is reduced by us sending some of them back."

Having finished he stepped down, and made for the back of the crowd.
 
Ghazkull said:
"Why not sacrifice a few to the Gods, keep a good bunch to ourselves and send some back to the Lukani? Thus the Lukani are at least somewhat appeased, the Gods are appeased and we finally had something proper to eat. Sure they don't get back their entire herd but thats their own fault for ranging outside their lands. The Lukani will not want to wage war over a herd of sheep either i wager and any percieved insult by us by eating their sheep is reduced by us sending some of them back."
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I'm not going to single this out to punish people, but no half-measures :V I am open to alternatives, but playing sheep accounting is not going to fly. The Lukani aren't going to be happier because they got back half their flock, you still stole half of it.
 
Metakles snorts, "These barbaroi are like the hydra. Remove one head and more grow in its place."
 
"Well, that's too bad for those filthy barbaroi then. They should have made sure their sheep were better guarded." Dareios exclaimed as he laughed at the misfortune of the Lucani. "If they want them back, let them come and try to get them. The Gods are on our side! After all, if the Gods didn't want the Peuketii to capture these sheep for us, they wouldn't have let it happen. Still, it might be prudent to offer a sacrifice. Knowing the Gods, it's very likely they allowed us to capture this herd for that sole purpose."
 
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Also I have corrected the very wrong mispelling of Lucani as Lukani. This is a Greek spelling and is therefore not right to give to barbaroi. Only the Peuketii are allowed the Greek K because they are hellenized.
 
I'm uneasy with making new foes. We already have Taras to our south and the Messapi too, I don't want us to get ahead of ourselves. Return the sheep, I suspect this to be a Puketti plot to drive us to war against a new and brutal foe.
 
To be honest, the Lucani are not a unified polity as such, and their methods of communicating between herds/communities isnt going to be great, even when taking into account the limitations of communication in the ancient world. So who is to say when they will learn of the fate of this community? perhaps not for weeks or months.

Now, while they may be able to support a campaign a bit longer since they are primarily shepherds not farmers, time is against them even if they were to learn of what the Peuketioi did today. To attempt to return them does little more than alert them of what has been done, while also making us look weak. Remember that the greatest successes of the Lucani against the Peuketioi were based entirely on base treachery and surprise and not strength of arms and arete. In the Future we will have to do battle with the Lucani perhaps, but in this case whats done is done.
 
Ironanvil1 said:
Buy sheep, sacrifice/eat sheep, send Lucani home with presents.
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Buy sheep from where? There's no sheep market in Azetion. You'd have to go back to Eretria at which point the campaign would be over and you'd be doing any kind of festival at home at considerable expense (probably 40 talents because you need to drive the sheep in from Canosa). The Messapii are not interested in selling.
 
Cetashwayo said:
Buy sheep from where? There's no sheep market in Azetion. You'd have to go back to Eretria at which point the campaign would be over and you'd be doing any kind of festival at home at considerable expense (probably 40 talents because you need to drive the sheep in from Canosa). The Messapii are not interested in selling.
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"Buying" the sheep that are already at the army and sending the Lucani off with roughly equivalent value in presents.
 
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