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

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[X] Refuse Metapontion's alliance and call to arms. We cannot tie ourselves up in wars of Greek against Greek while our wall is being built! We may lose the alliance, but we have the security of isolation!

Splendid isolation should our course of action, to fight forgin wars if for the honor of ally is currently too much price to paid
 
Cetashwayo said:
You know what, I don't want to leave people hanging. It's been over three months since the last post and I want to explain what happened. I got busy with the school semester and then my enthusiasm disappeared. I think the major reason for it is that I got tired of writing alternate history when most of my work is around writing history. It wasn't enjoyable for me anymore, and I went too crazy with factions and the map and so on until it got to the point where it was hard to track (a problem of my own making).

Magna Graecia will probably not be returning. I won't do another reboot or anything like that, I'll just let it rest as it is. I wrote the first part of it at a time of my life when I felt pretty happy, motivated, and accomplished, and I don't really feel that way right now- I just can't muster that original excitement which provoked me to post so often and so consistently.

I enjoyed the hell out of it while it was on. I think there was a very solid community of people who enjoyed it regardless of their historical background, and who learned a lot about the classical world. Eretria's story will pass into the mists, like so many other ended quests, but in its time it was one of the most fun stories I ever had the pleasure of sharing. I'm writing another quest now, but it's an entirely different background and it's a fantasy quest; I'm not going to shill it here, but I'm still doing other work. After a while, though, I just had to put Magna Graecia to rest- after multiple multi-month hiatuses, false starts, and a reboot that then petered out once I had to start really doing university readings again, it was just done for me as a setting I wanted to write more in.

Cheers, everyone.
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It was a very enjoyable read, with all it's odd social structures and looks into how values have changed over history. But I definitely recognise what you're feeling, and I'll enjoy what has been done over some hypothetical future. I imagine that a great many of us will revisit Magna Graecia every year or so for a reread, and that's something most stories don't accomplish, let alone quests.
 
Cetashwayo said:
You know what, I don't want to leave people hanging. It's been over three months since the last post and I want to explain what happened. I got busy with the school semester and then my enthusiasm disappeared. I think the major reason for it is that I got tired of writing alternate history when most of my work is around writing history. It wasn't enjoyable for me anymore, and I went too crazy with factions and the map and so on until it got to the point where it was hard to track (a problem of my own making).

Magna Graecia will probably not be returning. I won't do another reboot or anything like that, I'll just let it rest as it is. I wrote the first part of it at a time of my life when I felt pretty happy, motivated, and accomplished, and I don't really feel that way right now- I just can't muster that original excitement which provoked me to post so often and so consistently.

I enjoyed the hell out of it while it was on. I think there was a very solid community of people who enjoyed it regardless of their historical background, and who learned a lot about the classical world. Eretria's story will pass into the mists, like so many other ended quests, but in its time it was one of the most fun stories I had the pleasure of sharing with everyone. I'm writing another quest now, but it's an entirely different background and it's a fantasy quest; I'm not going to shill it here, but I'm still doing other work. After a while, though, I just had to put Magna Graecia to rest- after multiple multi-month hiatuses, false starts, and a reboot that then petered out once I had to start really doing university readings again, it was just done for me as a setting I wanted to write more in.

Cheers, everyone.
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I am going to bury Sworn to the State in a landslide of painted rock memes, just you watch. :mad:



More seriously, that sucks, but I understand if you feel you can't continue writing for this anymore. It was a good ride while it lasted.
 
Cetashwayo said:
You know what, I don't want to leave people hanging. It's been over three months since the last post and I want to explain what happened. I got busy with the school semester and then my enthusiasm disappeared. I think the major reason for it is that I got tired of writing alternate history when most of my work is around writing history. It wasn't enjoyable for me anymore, and I went too crazy with factions and the map and so on until it got to the point where it was hard to track (a problem of my own making).

Magna Graecia will probably not be returning. I won't do another reboot or anything like that, I'll just let it rest as it is. I wrote the first part of it at a time of my life when I felt pretty happy, motivated, and accomplished, and I don't really feel that way right now- I just can't muster that original excitement which provoked me to post so often and so consistently.

I enjoyed the hell out of it while it was on. I think there was a very solid community of people who enjoyed it regardless of their historical background, and who learned a lot about the classical world. Eretria's story will pass into the mists, like so many other ended quests, but in its time it was one of the most fun stories I ever had the pleasure of sharing. I'm writing another quest now, but it's an entirely different background and it's a fantasy quest; I'm not going to shill it here, but I'm still doing other work. After a while, though, I just had to put Magna Graecia to rest- after multiple multi-month hiatuses, false starts, and a reboot that then petered out once I had to start really doing university readings again, it was just done for me as a setting I wanted to write more in.

Cheers, everyone.
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It was a hell of a ride while it lasted, and while I'm sad to see it go, I'd much rather it fade away rather than have you feel bad about not writing something you don't enjoy any more. Godspeed, you magnificent jerk.
 
The cooks problem. They are cooking for other the whole day and when work is done they lack the motivation to cook for themselfs.

Don't bury this forever. Once you are done with RL this may be entertainig again. Everything else is spreadsheets. :p

Have fun!
 
Straton the Hoplite grunts in disapproval at the lack of work ethic in the younger generation, and goes back to writing his scathing satirical play about metics and merchants.
 
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309 OL, Turn 24: Eretria Eskhata Goes to War
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    • 309 OL, Turn 24: Eretria Eskhata Goes to War

    ​
    [X] Accept Metapontion's alliance and call arms. To Arms, Ionians, against the menace of the Dorians! We will shatter their spears and break their shields!
    Number of voters: 46

    [X] Refuse Metapontion's alliance and call to arms. We cannot tie ourselves up in wars of Greek against Greek while our wall is being built! We may lose the alliance, but we have the security of isolation!
    Number of voters: 12

    Last Time in Magna Graecia: Eretria Eskhata's foreign representative, the xenoparakletor Kallias, was sent to the city of Metapontion to investigate scams sourced from the city of Lykai (near Taras) and to forge an alliance. There, he not only discovered that Lykai was ruled by Leontios, a notorious citizen of Eretria known for both his scams and extreme ambition, but that Metapontion was preparing for a great war in Sicily against the Tyrant Hiero's Empire, based out of Syrakousai. Kallias was offered an alliance, but only if Eretria committed to a war against Hiero's empire and its allies (Krotone, Lokri Epixephyrii) along with an Ionian alliance (Rhegion, Metapontion, Himera, and whatever Ionian cities free themselves from Syrakousai).

    Eretria accepted. That was then, this is now. Hiero is dead. The war has begun. The time has come for Eretria to prepare.

    The Coming of War


    The scene in the Agora is frenzied. Old men are divided. They sit around on the steps of the stoa and speak about the coming conflict. Some are afraid; they have never been so far from home or ranged so far. Others are moderately excited. Restrained by age and experience, they nevertheless wish to have a rush of adrenaline that they feel can only be gotten when fighting true equals. The Dauni and Peuketii, those benighted tribes of the interior, always fight with trickery and skirmishes, but Greeks, Greeks! Greeks are another thing entirely. For many, it may be the last time they will truly be able to gain glory. They chatter among themselves and discuss the happenings in the late afternoon, some of them Hoplites exhausted from a long day's planting, others tradesmen or merchants or craftsmen, and even an aristocrat here and there. In Eretria Eskhata the classes mingle and argue vigorously with one another, and there are friends across professions.

    The young men are elated. They run to and fro and argue about what the war will mean. They have bright eyes and soft faces, and talk in hushed tones while peeking through pillars in the Agora at their elders, wondering what tribulations they had to face and how much from the stories their mothers and fathers told them was really true. Young wives and mothers whisper to each other and fear the coming of war. They clutch their baskets and bags as they wonder what the men will do when they're away from home for so long, about household chores and who will handle them. A few bolder ones, including a young wife called Aphasia, have a certain shining defiance in their eyes. They say that while the men are away, the women will play, and a wink from Aphasia sends a giggle through a gaggle of women.

    They are soon corrected by their mothers and grandmothers, who chastise them for spending so long chatting rather than gathering figs and bread from the market. They say that it is hardly the first war in living memory, and drone on about their own struggles. Some of them listen intently while others roll their eyes at the overdramatic hand gestures of their mothers, who claim that when their husbands had to leave for war against the Dauni, they wept and sobbed. One of the younger wives murmurs that the only people who wept and sobbed in her mother's household was the husband when the wife didn't think he was really "away on a merchant's expedition to faraway lands". Another giggle, and another round of browbeating of the younger women.

    Some of the slaves rest from a construction projects in the low spring sun. They are exhausted from the day's work but at least know that they might have enough money from the money they get in the trade gang to one day buy their freedom. They are from half a dozen locales, Illyrians and Thracians, mostly, and speak to one another in either the tones of their homeland or with a rough Greek, accented but understandable. The owner shouts at them to get up and get back to work, and rubs his temples as he wonders whether his son will be up to the task of handling his father's business as he's gone. Maybe not, but as he catches a glimpse of his plump wife across the Agora, he knows that it doesn't matter, because although she is hardly the most beautiful she walks with a certain sharpness that belies the intelligence and mathematical skill he married her for. They are in good hands.

    In one of the fields far outside the city a Peuketii serf sits down and shares some small pieces of bread with his fellows in the shade and cover of a willow tree. He says that the Greeks will go to war, and the others ask where. He says somewhere far away, beyond the shepherds, and they all sigh and say that it would be nice for them to go beyond the shepherds and away from this bondage. They share a laugh, and then jump and run back to their stations when a severe overseer on a stallion, his face shaded by the afternoon sun and his wide-brimmed hat, begins to trundle to them with a steady hold on his foreman's whip.

    Several thousand beards with citizens attached congregate to the center of the city. They bring rocks and stones and little boulders too. Some women stay and watch on overlooking houses, others go about their business. The metics are quiet in their quarter, and speak briskly about the events of Sicily. A whole group has gathered, and speak about the possibility of going home. Others dismiss it and say they must wait and bide their time, for no man has enjoyed eating an unripe fig. The younger men smile at the metaphor that they recall from their youth in Katane, and the older man claps them on the back and brings them close, promising that they will go home.

    Men speak and holler and argue. A number of issues become clear. The Epulian representatives filter in from four little towns, each cowed by the mass of men before them, an assembly as large as each of their towns. They speak at length about the need for the Epulian League to maintain neutrality in the struggle, and that they will present a collective veto if they are forced to fight. There is some shouting and hollering, but a man with an eyepatch and a beard of stubble speaks up and all go silent. He is Herodion, and he is the leader of the city, not just in title but in spirit. They all listen to him. He speaks at length to the representatives, and at last they accept that it can go to a vote. They put forward their position, that the Epulian League believes its forces are better kept at home and that it is not their quarrel, but that of Eretria. Drako speaks up from atop a mighty stone, and says it is the quarrel of all Epulia, for the Sicilians defile democracy and defile the Gods through their excesses. The Epulians say that is fair enough, but their position is their position.

    King Harpos arrives looking very Greek. He has a cap of well-made leather that he wears, so as to differentiate himself, but he comes before the walls and speaks on it as citizens stream to listen. He gives a well-spoken speech in Greek, better than his last, and says that the Peuketii will give their support to a war "that is prosecuted by our good allies and friends the Eretrians". He is the picture of loyalty. The old do not trust him, but the young run through alleys and say that Harpos is a friend of Greeks, and that he is a man they can all work with. Some groan at the naivete, while others appreciate that the young have a more optimistic picture of the world than the crotchety old men.

    The Assembly speaks at length on the size of the army that has to be provided. Some say they should not devote too many men, others say they should devote the bulk of their forces. Herodion speaks for the latter, declaring that this is the presentation of Eretria to the world. But Drako is circumspect, and believes that a devotion of the army would be a risky move. Better to send a smaller force. Herodion rebukes him and has the temporary good favor of the crowd with his speech of glory and acknowledgement among the Greeks, but fickleness may yet take hold of the assembly. Pydamon says some words about the will of the Gods and the danger of Ares, that most inconsistent of Gods. They must beware him, and if they spot a man in black armor and terrible skill on the battlefield, they are to hold their ground and fight until he is satisfied. All nod to this wise man and his good sayings. No one has seen Ares, but no one has fought Greeks for many years. It is an entirely possible occurence.

    There are a parade of candidates for strategoi, but most are voted down immediately by the ekklesia. At last four remain: Herodion, Eutropios, Antipater, and Drako. All laugh, for Antipater and Drako have been vying for this for many years. However, Antipater gives an impassioned speech that most agree is better than Drako's, about the need to fight with allies and defend against the enemies of Eretria. He opposed a war with Greeks, but now that it is done, he promises he will commit himself to the far left of the forces, the most honorable position in the phalanx. Drako speaks of the need for caution, but soon drops out: He says he will not be the strategos this time as he trusts the judgment of Herodion. Herodion speaks of his past victories, his campaign experience, and his understanding, and then, if the city is afraid to leave itself without a leader, offers his best companion in life Eutropios, whom he embraces publicly to an adoring crowd. Eutropios is a man who knows how to speak to a crowd and a former athlete besides, so he stirs the city up with stories of his time in Sicily and the campaign that must be enacted, in strict accordance with the application of cavalry and ekdramoi. Antipater claps for him, but points out that the hoplites must be bolstered, because they are untrained for a fight with Greeks. Some shout him down but others are quiet, acknowledging his wisdom.

    The questions of the day go to the ekklesia, where volunteers hand out little pieces of clay in the Ionian style and await the votes of the assembly.

    Should Eretria commit a large force or a small force to the expedition south?

    [] Commit a large force [80% of Levy is devoted to the war].
    [] Commit a small force [50% of Levy is devoted to the war].

    Should Eretria take King Harpos and his men with them?

    [] Yes, let us take King Harpos and a large contingent of Peuketii [+500 men for campaign, mostly skirmishers and light cavalry, and Harpos].
    [] No, let's keep King Harpos and most of his men at home and draw a small levy [+200 men for campaign, mostly skirmishers and light cavalry].

    Should we involve the Epulian League, knowing they would prefer to sit out the conflict?

    [] Yes, the Epulian League must learn to fight with us [+400 men, mostly hoplites].
    [] No, the Epulian League should stay at home [No Levies from Epulian League].

    Who should take charge of the Eretrian Forces?

    [] Herodion, a man with the experience and expertise suited for the position.
    [] Eutropios, his right-hand man, a charismatic leader who understands the ways of war.
    [] Antipater, a brash warrior, who understands the hoplites best and what they need.

    News from Around Italy
    • In Sicily, Hiero's empire is crumbling. Akragas' tyrant has fallen to the mob and has been replaced by a democracy that has proclaimed neutrality.
    • Gela has declared independence and chased out the mercenaries, creating its own democracy and pronouncing neutrality in the coming war.
    • Some mercenaries expelled from Ionian cities along with other colonists have founded the city of Aetna in the shadow of the volcanic Mount Aetna, seizing a local settlement from the Sikels.
    • The chaos in Syrakousai has seen the successor to Hiero, Thrasybulus, overthrown by an alliance of aristocrats and mercenaries. They have appointed the mercenary captain Phaleron as their strategos, and he has expelled much of the Ionian population of the city to prevent a civil war, as well as gathering a large mercenary force to oppose the alliance aligned against him.
    • Rhegion has refused to do battle with Lokri and Krotone, and so they are looting the countryside of Rhegion with impunity, burning vineyards and olive groves to force Rhegion to fight them.
    • Metapontion has marshaled its forces and is prepared to relieve Rhegion contingent on support from Eretria.
    • The cities of Katane, Leontini, and Naxus have declared independence and formed a unified Sikeliote League, inspired by Eretria's Epulian League, but with a tighter bond and common citizenship. They have slaughtered or expelled the mercenaries in their cities and are supported by both the tyrant of Himera, who is camped at Naxus, and the rest of the Ionian Alliance.
    • The Dauni Confederation is quiet, whilst the Messapii have signaled they would be willing to allow military access for Eretria to pass through.
    • Taras is quiet.
    • Selinous has declared neutrality.
    • Carthage is in chaos due to the disappearance of its king through the Pillars of Herakles and has been rendered incapacitated for the coming war.
    • The expanding maritime confederation of the Liburni have been dealt a defeat by the Padanian Etruscans, and have been forced by Korinthos to sign a peace with them that promises they will not raid Etruscan ships. However, soon after the defeat they crushed an Enetoi fleet near the northern Adriatic port of Patava.
    • The Slave-to-Serf Conversion tax that has been giving Eretria Eskhata reliable revenue has dried up because of a massive slowdown in the conversion of slaves to serfs (loss of +2 talents per turn).
    • The bonus population growth from pentekontors turned to fishing boats has stopped due to the massive expansion of the city. City population growth declines from 3.5% to 3.25%.
    Voting is open immediately and will last for at least one day. No plan votes- if you agree with someone's vote in full, then copy and paste it.
     
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    • You may notice some significant edits and changes on the front page. Yes, this is not a late april fool's joke. It's really back. After finishing my classes for the semester, I put a lot of effort into thinking about what I did wrong. I realized I had overextended myself far too much. As a result, I enlisted the help of Nonsequtur to write a macro to make the mechanical aspects of the quest easier, sat down and slimmed down the front page, completely cut a lot of superfluous or irrelevent information from the diplomacy and factions tab, cut down the map, and have made a bunch of quality of life edits so I can actually put out updates fast and easily.

    Which all means that yes, Magna Graecia is back. Consider it an April Surprise.
     
    Professor Vesca said:
    But I guess I can live with this. What prompted this? If you don't mind me asking.
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    I missed the likes

    Like two weeks ago I was talking on a discord server about how I often ruined my own quests for myself by overextending and getting to obsessed with minor details. I cited Magna Graecia and how while people absolutely loved it, it was getting harder and harder to update because I had self-inflicted an enormous amount of effort (updating every diplomatic faction sheet and the enormous map all the time, for example). Then about a week ago I was like "okay but I don't need to do that" and decided to go back to basics. I cut the map back down to Italy, comprehensively went through and redid the factions (they are much easier to keep track of now) and just made things easier for myself. It helped that classes ended and I was bored, and that my recent nationstates experiment had given me a taste for Magna Graecia again.
     
    [X] Commit a large force [80% of Levy is devoted to the war].
    [X] Yes, let us take King Harpos and a large contingent of Peuketii [+500 men for campaign, mostly skirmishers and light cavalry, and Harpos].
    [X] No, the Epulian League should stay at home [No Levies from Epulian League].
    [X] Herodion, a man with the experience and expertise suited for the position.
     
    [X] Commit a large force [80% of Levy is devoted to the war].
    [X] Yes, let us take King Harpos and a large contingent of Peuketii [+500 men for campaign, mostly skirmishers and light cavalry, and Harpos].
    [X] No, the Epulian League should stay at home [No Levies from Epulian League].
    [X] Herodion, a man with the experience and expertise suited for the position.

    Fellow citizens, we war against other Greeks now. It would be hubris to expect a swift and crushing victory as we have often tasted against the barbarian. Let us therefore commit ourselves in full to the liberty of our Ionian kin and to the alliance with Metapontion. The opportunity to earn renown before all of Italia and for our valor to be known in Hellas requires nothing less. But let us take only those who are willing to the combat. Our Epulian allies may be best held back to guard their homes rather than to be forced into a battle they feel is not their cause. But our Peuketti subjects are, as we have often learned firsthand, excellent scouts and light horsemen and will be of value; and it will be of value to us that our prowess will be seen before their eyes.

    Thus Kallias son of Aristedes urges his fellow citizens.
     
    Yay :) Its back :)

    Diomedes, son of Lysandros began to spoke, noticebly less enthusiastically then most of the other youth:

    ''Fellow Eretrians, we see ourselves at war for the freedom of our Ionian brethens and for the defense of our Metapontians allies. Our cause is just and the gods will surely grant us victory! Nevertheless, the barbarian threat has not disapeared and remain ever present, it would therefore be foolish to not leave ourselves well guarded at home.''

    [X] Commit a small force [50% of Levy is devoted to the war].

    ''As we will nevertheless bring a sizable share of our forces to war it is only fair that the Peuketii will be asked to do the same. They have, after all, swore to be our subjects in exchange for peace and protection. The time has come for them to fulfill their oats.''

    [X] Yes, let us take King Harpos and a large contingent of Peuketii [+500 men for campaign, mostly skirmishers and light cavalry, and Harpos].

    ''Our allies of the Epulian League, on the other hand, only bound themselves to us in order to better organise our common defense against the Barbaroi. Therefore, they should not be forced to fight fellow greeks if they do not desire so''.

    [X] No, the Epulian League should stay at home [No Levies from Epulian League].

    ''To lead the man who will be send south who better then Herodion? Who better then the ever victorious general who know those lands better, perhaps, then any Eretrian?''

    [X] Herodion, a man with the experience and expertise suited for the position.
     
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    And here I thought that the course about ancient Greek would be wasted ^^... Will be interesting to see where this goes.

    Btw, did you guys know that there is some evidence that connects Eretria (the original greek city I mean) with the Myceneans?
     
    Erandil said:
    And here I thought that the course about ancient Greek would be wasted ^^... Will be interesting to see where this goes.

    Btw, did you guys know that there is some evidence that connects Eretria (the original greek city I mean) with the Myceneans?
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    In what sense? As in the city maintained more connection to the Myceneans after the end of the Bronze Age than other greek cities did?
     
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