INTRODUCTION
I ask for some freedom from the hardcore history zealots out there. This is fiction, and I am probably going to say some things that are totally inaccurate.
I also ask for forgiveness for two other things: First, I'm spanish, and english is not my first language. Therefore I will make some mistakes, and speak like an 8 years old kid.
Last, I don't like taking screens to illustrate the story. I'm sorry. Perhaps I will do it, with time, but now I don't feel like it. But if you want me to, you're going to have to ask me very politely, convince me, and perhaps use your cohorts, phalanxes or barbarian naked people in order to force me to do it. I recommend you use horse archers, though: I f&$%ing hate them.
Let's start this. It's a hard//hard campaign about a bunch of greek exiles that end up in the colony of Emporion (very near of my house).
****
Prologue: THE IBERIAN EXILE
Odysseus of Emporion wrote this lines for two reasons. First, for the amusement of the greeks and barbarians of Emporion, which he now calls home. Second, because he thought that the facts of the exile of Akrotatos of Sparta, also known as Akrotatos of Emporion, and of his people, will be interesting for the future generations.
The reasons of the exile
Not many know the exact reasons for the self imposed exile of Akrotatos, and not many dare to ask him about the matter, for it is unclear even to himself. What we know well are the facts, because many of us where in the ships that left the shores of the old Greece.
Let's just say that the Greek Confederation, as it is remembered now, never existed in the minds of the peoples that belonged to it. Now the years have passed, and in the mists of the past, it is remembered as an alliance that worked for the future of all the polis of Greece. The truth is that, at the time, each polis was interested in its own future, not the others.
So it only existed in appearence, sustained by fear, for Greece's enemies were powerful, and Greece was not. This selfishness was in conflict with the young, unselfish Akrotatos, son of Areus, king of Sparta, for he strongly believed that the many arms of the Confederation needed to row in the same direction. By that time, the direction was "to Athens", a city which was encircled by the Makedonian forces of king Antigonos.
That was, by all acounts, not the most popular opinion between the Lakedemonian, but the vehemence in Akrotatos voice almost convinced the scarce forces of Sparta of the necessity of aiding their old enemy.
In the end, though, that vehemence was Akrotatos undoing. When Areus died in Crete, Akrotatos influence on the young spartans was deemed too dangerous, and the elders were clear: Athens' ship was sinking, and it was foolish to jump into such a boat.
And a boat he had! The elders were tired of his arrogance, and scared of the strength they sensed in him. They exiled the young lion to Rhodes, where he could play politics all he wanted, for at least five years. Except he was tired of games. In a day to be remembered, Akrotatos talked for the last time in front of a multitude. His first words are well remembered:
"Many countries fight for the glory and the spoils. Sparta has never done so: Sparta only fights for Sparta. For its lands, and for its people. We were deemed saviours of Greece, because we defeated the Median, and overruled the tyrants. When Athens' pressure on the Peloponnese was too strong, we again succesfuly defended ourselves and our allies.
No more, I say. Today I leave this rotten corpse. It is not in shape to fight, and it has not any will left inside. With my exile, the elders have spoken clearly: This is not a city for warriors anymore. It's a city for cowards and weaklings. Let it be so. I'm leaving forever, but not to Rhodes. Because all Greece suffers of the same illness, and I'm also sick of it.
I spit on Greece! I piss on Greece! I am done with this land and with this people! I shall find a future in the other side of the Earth. I now declare my intention of sailing to the West, to some land where I can leave my stamp. If any of you thinks like me, if any of you is tired of this land that looks to the past and forgets about the future, I call you: Sail with me."
Only a few ships left the shores of Greece. But fear not, my audience, for my name is Odysseus, not Achiles or Agamemnon, and I don't need a thousand ships to make a good story.
