At the governor of Mazaka's house, summer of 272 b.C.

A ray of light found its way through the curtains and hit Aratos' face. The suns heat woke him and he move his head lazily. However it was impossible to fall asleep again the city's square was already filling up with the noise of the traders mounting their tents. He growled, this was the smallest "palace" he had ever been stationed in. This was quite a promising city, miners have already found precious ores but were waiting for investment, the lands were fertile and the Persian Royal Road passed right through it. But the war, the damn war drained all the money. Well at least the governor wasn't corrupt and didn't spend his assigned budget on building huge palaces for himself.

He got up, kissed his wife good morning, climbed over the wooden frame holding the curtains and stood up on the tiled floor of the rooftop's balcony. That night, as on many other hot summer nights, he slept outside, a good opportunity for petty assassins but Aratos always reorganized and reforced the night shifts of the guards when necessary annoying many hosts. Sometimes he wouldn't even do that, who would want to assassinate an unknown and young Strategos? Now his father, Timarchos, had plenty of failed assassination attempts stories when he returned home from a spying mission, but one is just so lucky. Aratos' was 17 when a messenger arrived at his family's state bringing news of his father death by an egyptian assassin. Everyone cried, but Aratos remained steady, remembering his father's lessons, he then pledged to avenge his father's death and destroy Ptolemaios' Egypt.

From his missions to far away lands Timarchos always brought back home to Persepolis friends and teachers who helped in his son's education. The Syriakes family was a military one, Aratos grandfather had been a captain of Nikathor Syriakos' Royal Army. But Timarchos had chosen a different path and he regreted it. So he dedicated himself in educating his only son (though Aratos had an unmarried younger sister, 16 years old). One of his foreign military teachers was Hágárádáz, a germanic exiled from his tribe called the Hobukoz, quite a mysterious man as most of his foreign teachers were, and as was also Timarchos, who always tried to keep his son out of his shady side businesses. Probably that's why he got killed...

Hágárádáz fell in love with Persia and remained in Persepolis under Syriakes family protection. Then Aratos was promoted to Strategos and was assigned to Mikro Asia, at age 20. Of course he brought the germanic who Aratos grew fond of. Besides his strange "barbaric" ways, he was a wise 48 year old man and could prove useful when dealing with galatian mercenaries, who Aratos would surely meet at Mikro Asia.

Aratos sighed and looked around the small town. He looked south and watched the huge mountain range, reminding him of his travels to the northern Baktrian regions when he was a child. There was also a vulcano expelling gases between the mountains, he never saw one before, and desired to climb it, but those regions were dangerous because beyond them was a region controlled by egyptians and the city of Tarsos. Then he looked north, along the endless stone road curving between the forest, beyond it were independent Pontic lands.

How can these lands remain independent, they must be -

"Master Syriakes!" shouted someone, down on the garden.

Aratos walked to the edge of the balcony and looked down. "Well good morning Virios, how did you know I was awake?"

"Oh I know many things Master."

Aratos laughed. "What do you have for me?"

"This is a message from the Basileus. Hágárádáz was awake when a messenger arrived early this morning."

"I assume he's waiting for me at the living room, I'll come down. We shouted to much, we must've awaken the governor by now and he doesn't like me very much."

When Aratos arrived at the living room, the servant gave him the message and left, the Strategos opened it and read it.

Aratos face was concetrated, after a while he raised his eyebrows and looked up at Hágárádáz. "The Basileus is summoning a Council with all the Strategos."

"Strange..." murmured Hágárádáz.

"Yes... very interesting. Well Hágárádáz go and prepare the expedition. We'll travel only with our bodyguards and we will cross egyptian territory quickly, I don't feel like going all around the borders."

"Yes, sir."

"I'll go warn my wife, we'll be in Antiocheia for a short time, then we return to Mazaka."

Later in the day, while Aratos mounted his horse, he smiled and thought about many other Strategos who had to cross the whole Empire to arrive at Antiocheia. Captain Krateros, a good friend of Aratos, asked why was he smiling and so Aratos told the joke to his soldiers while the gates closed behind them.


OOC: You might want to view Mazaka in game, to help illustrate the story... Note how small the governor's house is!!! I never seen such a thing. Yes there is no rooftop tiled balcony, but imagine it
I think I never wrote so much in my life, this PBM is going to change my life 0_0