Kings of Mikra Asia - Pergamon AAR

[Hax]

Hello again!

I'm starting a new AAR (again, yes, I know) which I hope to last longer than 2 pages. First to get two things out of the way:

No, this is not EB2.
Yes, I will play as Pergamon. You'll find out about the details soon enough. This will be a fully serious AAR (with some jokes here and there), and also a bit meant as somewhat as a commercial for my mod, to be found here: https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=105682.

Anyway, without any further ado:

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The Kings of Mikra Asia

The city-state of Pergamon, 504th year after the first Olympiad.

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First update tomorrow.

[Havok.]

Woot

[QuintusSertorius]

Excellent. I see you went with the royal blue for the faction colour, too.

[Hax]

Prologue - Subjugation and Betrayal

Less than 50 years ago Megás Alexandros came from Makedonia on his crusade to conquer the ancient Empire of the Persikoi. Even though Alexandros succeeded, he died a premature death in his capital at Babylon. After his death, numerous of his generals stood up and declared themselves Alexandros' successors. Ptolemaios "Soter" of Aigyptous, one of Alexandros' eldest hetairoi proclaimed himself Pharaoh. Seleukos "Nikator", named himself King of all lands east of the Tauros Mountains, and lord of the ancient cities of Ekbatana, Susa and Babylon.

Antigonos "Monophtalmos", the one-eyed was King of Mikra Asia, the gateway between Hellas and Assyrie, along with it's many mines. Kassandros was King of Makedonia, the homeland, from which Alexandros came to conquer the world. And finally, Lysimachos, King of Thraikia and Byzantion, an area of little wealth, but filled with barbaroi from the north.

However, in these little 50 years much has changed. Antigonos and Seleukos were killed, and Lysimachos was murdered and betrayed numerous times. Seleukos' son, Antiochos, took over the throne of Babylon and then subjugated Mikra Asia, dividing the lands between Ptolemaios Philadelphos and himself.

Even though Antiochos "Soter" triumphantly proclaimed himself Basileus tes Basileion numerous Kingdoms have started to rise on his borders. As he is predisposed with the Ptolemaioi, in the far east the Pahlava ride from the steppes to reclaim the old Persian Empire. Baktria is revolting, and the Shâhânshah is too busy claiming the settlements of the Levantine in name of his "glorious kingdom". The Orontids of Armenia are on the rise, and the Pontike Kingdom of Mithridates has already proclaimed himself King. And what does the famed "galatikekrates" do? Nothing.

So then why do we not rise? We are true Hellenes, the sons and daughters of Pergamon, ancient city on the banks of the Aegaen sea. Four years ago, our King, Philetairos Attalides, threw off the Seleukide shackles and claimed the cities of Nikaia and Byzantion.



Even though we fought bravely, like true Hellenes, the Thraikioi were relentless fighters. Hardy and brave, they killed many of some of our bravest men.



In the end, however, we were triumphant.



Byzantion had fallen to our might, as had Nikaia.





With Bithynia and Thraikia firmly under our control, we had a monopoly on all the trade going into the Pontos Euxeinos. With a stable cash flow, we had the resources and abilities to break completely loose from the Seleukide yoke.

Around the same time, the Seleukidai conquered the settlement of Ankyra, subjugating the Galatians. Before long, however, the Galatikoi revolted and proclaimed themselves a free state. Seeing the opportunity, Philetairos sent envoys to the Galatikoi, Ptolemaioi, and the Chremonidean League, securing an anti-Seleukide alliance.







While our armies in Nikaia and Byzantion were being readied for the march in Ipsos, we knew that we were too late.

It was only then that we found out they came to us.

[QuintusSertorius]

Those three settlements, with ports and mines, will sustain you for a goodly long time, even if you're exposed to Seleukids, Pontos, Makedonia and Getai.

What are you using for armies? I noticed the classical hoplites on that screenshot, they're certainly stalwart enough to resist even a phalanx. Are you recruiting many phalangites?

[Hax]

I'm trying to keep my recruitment of phalangites as low as possible for the time being.

Most of my armies (250's now) consist out of Keltohellenikoi and classical hoplitai, along with Thraikioi Peltastai and the usual sphendonetai and toxotai (I also use Galatians as mercenaries.)

If I use phalangitai, I hire them

[||Lz3||]

Perhaps you could change the faction simbol , there was another thread about changing factions somewhere, and he had swaped someone for Massylia (numidia) and changed all their faction simbols

[QuintusSertorius]

I'm trying to keep my recruitment of phalangites as low as possible for the time being.

Most of my armies (250's now) consist out of Keltohellenikoi and classical hoplitai, along with Thraikioi Peltastai and the usual sphendonetai and toxotai (I also use Galatians as mercenaries.)

If I use phalangitai, I hire them

I can understand entirely. I don't know how close you're trying to play things to history, but apparently Pergamon had manpower issues which precluded heavy use of phalangites anyway. They seem to have liked their Thureophoroi, too.

Will we be getting any battle reports?

[Hax]

Perhaps you could change the faction simbol , there was another thread about changing factions somewhere, and he had swaped someone for Massylia (numidia) and changed all their faction simbols

I'd have to go into texturing for that. I fail hard at anything with art.

I can understand entirely. I don't know how close you're trying to play things to history, but apparently Pergamon had manpower issues which precluded heavy use of phalangites anyway. They seem to have liked their Thureophoroi, too.

I will play things historically. I won't field 20 sphendonetai units, and I will keep imit recruitment low. I won't alter the AI in any way, though.

And yes, there will be battle reports. More than you'd like, maybe :P

[Chaotix]

Nice AAR. And you could just use the already existant EB2 Pergamon faction symbol you know

[Reverend Joe]

I'd have to go into texturing for that. I fail hard at anything with art.

Done in 5 minutes with MS paint. Granted, it's really cruddy, but with a decent image editing program I think it would be fairly easy to clip out the Pergamon symbol from the shield thing and make it into a halfway-decent symbol.

[Hax]

Frankly, I have no idea how to texture the ingame faction stuff things. I DO already use the faction symbol of Pergamon though.

[Hax]

Chapter I - Loss and exile

After a siege of less than a year, Philetairos rode out to speak with the Seleucid commander. As I served as the commander of the Hoplitai back then, my lochos was tasked with protecting the gate from the invaders. However, what we did not know was that they had spies in the city, who overran the overseers of the gate and opened them before the beginning of the battle.

The Seleukidai immediately rushed forward as a band of barbaroi from Galatia, with no formation or alignment whatsoever. As the first few lochoi ran in, we tried to hold them off for as long as we could, but in seeing the amount of soldiers they had, our morale quickly sank



Shortly thereafter, I was knocked to the floor by a horse, and I lost all notion of time and space.

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A few hours later, I awoke amidst a pile of corpses. I couldn't move my right leg anymore, and my left shoulder felt as if it had been crashed into a wall numerous times.

However, as I lay upon the floor, closing my eyes, waiting for Thanatos to take me, I suddenly heard the sound of footsteps coming towards me. I tried to turn around and crawl away, but I was unable to move whatsoever. After a few times, I gave up and tried to turn my head towards the sound.

'Take what's left of these men and drag them outside of the city. We'll burn the corpses on the hill some few dilochoi* from here.'

I felt how one of the corpses was lifted from my body and I closed my eyes, waiting until they would drag me away. Two strong hands dragged me over the ground towards the city gate, from which I lay not even five metres. I opened my eyes and looked around. It was horrible. The dead lay everywhere, and the air was filled with the smell of gore and death. I tried to hold up, but I felt vomit shooting up through my throat. Somehow, the vomit gave me energy. I released myself from the tight grip of the man that was dragging me and grabbed a small dagger from my belt. Before he could react, I stuck it up, driving the iron blade straight through his hands. He screamed in fear and pain and released my other hand immediately, while he tried to grab for his sword. I dragged myself along the ground with one hand, causing my leg to increase in pain with every second. Finally, I heard the man running towards me again. I closed my eyes, shivered and waited for the blow to come.

It never came. After a good two seconds, I opened my eyes again and looked behind me. My attacker had stumbled over an arm, and subsequently impaling himself on a spear sticking out of someone's body. I threw up again, and dragged myself further along, until I could no longer hear the sound of the buzzing flies, waiting to feed on the corpses. I finally dragged myself into what seemed to be a small alley, and there I closed my eyes and fell asleep.

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The next morning, I awoke when I heard someone scream and run away. With great effort I opened my eyes again and looked around. I was covered in vomit, dried blood and something else I would rather not think about. I closed my eyes again and waited until I was found. Of course, then the inhabitants would take me to the soldiers and I would still be executed. After a full five minutes the girl came back, along with another man. I heard them converse, though I could not really understand what they were saying. They soon grabbed me and carried me from the alley to someplace else. Apparently, they had carried me to their house, where they treated my wounds and fed me...cared for me in any way that they could.

The first days were horrible. My leg had been crushed and my bones had been broken. Luckily, I was in the house of a chirurgeon, and he had treated me in the best ways he could. I would wake up in the middle of the night feeling an intense burning pain everywhere.

His name was Schidas Herakleiotes, and the name of his daughter was Andromache. He worked as a chirurgeon, first under Philetairos, and he was now treating the Seleukide wounded. To hear such a thing filled me with anger, but then I realized he was doing his job as any other man and he had to feed himself and his daughter in some way.

After a few weeks, I felt that the pain in my leg had gone, somehow. I tried to stand for the first time since the battle, and I collapsed almost immediately. As I lay on the wooden floor, I tried to hear if there was anybody in the house. I turned around after a few moments and just lay there, completely motionless.

After a few hours, I heard some stumbling on the stairs. I tilted my head so I could look at the stairs. Up came a little boy, who kept staring at me. I opened my mouth and closed it again, while he still kept looking at me. Then he crept towards me and started staring at me from a closer range.

'Good boy..go get your mother.' I whispered

Either he didn't understand me or I must have said something, because he then poked me in my eye and turned around, crawling back to the stairs.

I sighed and closed my eyes again, smiling.

After another few hours, I was finally found on the floor by Andromache, who helped me back into my bed.

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After another week I was almost fully healed. I could walk again properly, and I was able to help Schidas and Andromache in the housekeeping and such. On the second day after I was fully healed, Schidas sent me to the agora for some minor chores. As I walked through the city, I was surprised at how calm everything was. There was hardly any damage in the city, and everything seemed quite peaceful. As I came at the agora, I noticed a philosopher proclaiming how friendly the Seleukidai had been to our city, yet that we should not forget that Philetairos surrendered the city.

I was dumbstruck when I heard this. Philetairos had surrendered the city? I dropped the basket that I was carrying and stared at the man. How could such a thing have happened? I waited until he was done speaking and then I walked up to him.

'Tell me something, friend.'

'What is it you need to know, young one?'

'Back there,' I pointed at the pillar where he had stood, 'you proclaimed that Philetairos Attalides surrendered the city?'

'Aye. Do you not know? In exchange for his life, he coerced the Seleukidai into not harming the city, nor it's inhabitants.'



He looked at me vaguely and I stepped back from him

'I am sorry, I did not mean to interfere in your business.'

'It is of no concern, young one. In the future, be careful of who you ask about Philetairos. They might suspect you would be pro-Attalidean. Or even worse, part of the resistance.' He winked and walked off, leaving me dumbstruck for the second time that day.

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When I returned to the house, with everything I had to do done, I was more quiet than usual. I hardly looked at Schidas nor Andromache and I left for bed soon afterwards. Something about what the philosopher had said troubled me. Pro-Attalidean? There were still family members of Philetairos alive? I had suspected that with the fall of Pergamon the cities of Nikaia and Byzantion would have revolted. If they had not, there were still soldiers alive. And if there were still soldiers alive, we could reclaim Pergamon.

That evening, I walked up to Schidas and asked whether I could speak to him alone. Andromache simply shrugged and walked out of the room.

'Listen..I am grateful for everything that you have done for me, but I need to leave the city.'

Schidas raised an eyebrow and looked at me, yet he was still silent. After a short moment, I continued speaking

'As you might have well guessed, I am a soldier. I served under Philetairos, as did you. You have to understand that I need to make for either Nikaia or Byzantion, and from there, strike back at the Seleukidai.'

He was silent for almost a few seconds and then finally spoke.

'Impossible. You will not even get out of the city.'

I opened my mouth and closed it again, deciding it to be wiser to let him speak his piece

'Last week, a spy was found. Apparently, he was sent from Nikaia.'



'Since then, they have maximized all security, whether coming from inside or outside of the city.'

I remained quiet again and then wished him a good night. My time would come, eventually..

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Blegh. I hated this chapter. Okay, to help you out of two dreams. This won't be a novella-style AAR. It will be for the next chapter, but afterwards it will be way more massive slaying action and such. If you want to read good novella-style AAR, I suggest Across the Waters by Theodotos I.

[Hax]

Chapter II: Rebellion

One year later..

I awoke in the middle of the night in my bed, hearing shouting outside. Within moments, the distinct smell of smoke filled my nose. I jumped up and ran to the balcony, from which I could clearly see fires spreading all over the city. On the streets, men were running all over armed with knives, sticks and pitchforks, basically anything that would look like a weapon.

I ran downstairs, grabbed a knife from the kitchen and joined with the men on the streets. I tried to orientate myself in all the chaos, and I tapped a man on his shoulder.

'What is going on, in Athena's name?'

'We are overthrowing the Seleukide yoke! We shall drive them back to their eastern ratholes!' He looked at me with a euphoric glare in his eyes.

I turned my head away and started running. As I ran through the streets, more and more people came out, either armed or unarmed. After ten full minutes, I had reached my destination. They had plundered and set fire to the old town hall. It had been partially reduced to rubble, and I could see that the bodies of the Seleukide magistrates lay dead on the steps.

I turned my back again and walked back towards the house. The sight was indescribable. There were bodies everywhere, whether they were Pergamese or Seleukide, many houses had been plundered and set alight in the ensuing chaos making them look like candles in the utter blackness. When I finally arrived, there was nobody in the house, both Schias and his daughter were missing. Struck by terrible images of what could have happened to them, I dropped the knife in horror and ran outside again. Despite the darkness, I searched the entire district for them. Finally, wearied and sickened by the smell of smoke and blood, I sat down and rested my body against a pillar, and as soon as I closed my eyes, I fell asleep...

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The next morning I suddenly awoke, struck again by the fact that Schias and Andromache were missing. I got up and cleared the dirt from my linothorax, shivering as the cold wind stroke past my limbs. The burning in most of the houses had finally stopped, and even although there still lay bodies scattered over the streets, it could have been a day like any other.

Soon enough, I overheard two neighbours speak about the last night. Every free man had been summoned to the agora, by the decree of the captain of the guard, Andromachos. Only with the idea of that I could perhaps found the man and girl that had saved me, I sped to the agora. As soon as I arrived, the agora was already packed with people. They had built a temporary podium, or so it would seem, in the midde of it, under which a group of people had been put and surrounded. Finally, a man, clad in hoplite armour, climbed the podium and unrolled a scroll of parchment. He put off his helmet to reveal a clean-shaven face with bright, green eyes.

'Hail, noble citizens! My name is Andromachos Mysiakos, commanding captain of the guard of Pergamon. Last night, we have succesfully overthrown the Seleukide tyrant Euphanes! This clearly is a new step in the history of our proud and noble city.'

Roaring and applause came from the inhabitants of the city.

'However!' the people became silent again, 'not all of our citizens were loyal to Pergamon. Numerous of our trusted brothers turned on us and served the Seleukide tyrant.' Andromachos stopped talking for a moment to clear his throat.

'Times like these call for desperate measurements to be undertaken. To dissaude further traitors, these men and women will be executed for their betrayal.' The group underneath the podium was being forced up the stairs, standing next to Andromachos and his guard. I let my eyes run past the faces of those to be executed, but I couldn't find Schidas nor Andromache amongst them. Gathering what was left of my courage, I opened my mouth and yelled

'What will be the manner of their execution?'

I felt that everything was looking at me, but I kept my eyes on Andromachos only.

'Crucifixion..who asks?'

I was perplexed. Crucifixion? That method was reserved only for barbaroi and even then, it was rarely used. Even the crowd seemed to be somewhat reluctant. After a short moment, I realised he had asked me a question

'Alexanor Pyrrheios. Previous speirarches of the lochos of hoplitai under Philetairos Attalides.'

I breathed out as I spoke these words. Andromachos only lifted an eyebrow and spoke again.

'That is a bold claim from a stranger. Do you have any evidence to back this up?'

'I speak only the truth, as Philetairos would have wanted.' I felt anger seething through my veins at every second I had to look at this pathetic fool.

'I fear,' Andromachos mouth turned into a fake smile, 'that your word is not enough.'

Feeling I no longer had anything to say to this man, I turned my back and walked way, away from the agora.

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As soon as I got back into the house, I felt that something was amiss.

'Hello?'

I noticed something move in the room left of me. I ran forward and put my hand around the doorpost, closing my fingers as I grabbed a small wrist. I pulled my hand back and along came a young-looking woman, about the same age as myself.

'What in Haides' name are you doing in here?'

The woman released herself from my grip and pushed me away.

'I could say the same of you. I have never seen you before in this house. Have you come here to loot my uncle's possessions?'

Ashamed, I looked to the floor and answered the question

'I am sorry. My name is Alexanor Pyrrheios. Your uncle was kind enough to treat my wounds.'

Still cautious, the woman did not approach me. I kept looking at the floor, the idea of answering her glare seemed as tempting as crossing into Haides personally.

'Very well. You are too late to see my uncle though.'

'Why is that? Were they killed by that fool Andromachos?'

The girl laughed.

'No, he was wise enough to leave the city while he still could. He left for Nikaia this morning. He didn't speak of you, though.'

Finally I answered her look and decided it would be best if I did not impose myself on her.

'Very well. I shall take my personal belongings and leave, then. Perhaps they have some use at me at the barracks.'

'Wait, no --'

The girl grabbed my arm and pulled me back.

'Before Schidas left, he told me that there were rumours that the Seleukidai might come back. Euphanes is still alive, or so they say.'

I raised an eyebrow.

'Even so, they will need capable men, should they indeed come back.'

She still hadn't released my arm, so I tried to pull it loose, but to no avail. For the moment I was held prisoner in the hands of a woman, who might even start to use her nails if I didn't act the way she wanted me to.

'Why do you want me to stay here in the first place?' I said, after realising that she wouldn't release my arm just yet.

She laughed again.

'I might have uses for you. Taking care of an entire house is a difficult task, and it is no good doing everything here by myself.'

I sighed, and then tried to feign a smile.

'Fine. I will stay. But at the first rumours that they Seleukidai come back, I will re-enlist in the army.'

She finally released my arm, but something told me that I wasn't just free from her grip. I smirked. "I managed to stay out of the prisons of the Seleukidai, but here I am, imprisoned by a woman."

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Almost done with that bloody boring character building. Will get more interesting on from the next chapter. I promise!

...

What? Why are you looking at me like that?! Gah!

[Frodge]

Gah indeed. Character building or not it was still an interesting chapter, update soon Hax i'm enjoying this story

[Hax]

@Frodge: Thank you! It's good to hear that I'm not writing this AAR for nothing ;)

Chapter III - Downfall

As predicted, the Seleukidai came back within three months, as they had enough resources and manpower left from the revolt. Captain Andromachos said he had called together the "finest" men of the polis, but in reality, they were little less than a hastily-equipped band of rabble.

The day before the second assault, I climbed up on the walls to assess the situation. The Seleukidai had put together a hasty ram and ladder from the local woodlands around the city. Even though they appeared less than capable of holding out longer than a day in battle, they would suffice. In total, they had around 6,000 in number.



They had 5,000 phalangites along with 1,000 hetairoi. We barely had 2,200 poorly-trained and armed phalangites, along with around 3,000 of the psiloi, counting sphendonetai and toxotai, consisting mostly out of the peasants that had fled to the city in fear of the Seleukidai.



I cllimbed down onto the streets again, meeting up with Schidas' niece, whose name was Herine. It is best that I wrote this down lest I would forget. Together, we walked back to the house.

'How bad is it?' she asked, with an uncertain tone in her voice.

I sighed.

'Horrible. Their man are hardy and experienced, while ours barely seem to know how to hold a sword, let alone a sarissa. If they attack, we would be doomed. I fear that they might not be so kind to the citizens as they were before.'

'And Andromachos?'

'From what I saw of him, he seemed as arrogant as before. He looked confident that they would win the battle.'

'How would you look at our chances then?'

I tried to look at the situation through the eyes of an innocent bystander, though that didn't at all succeed.

'For the citizens, I think that our best opportunity would be to open the gates and beg for their mercy.' I smirked, 'I'm afraid that Andromachos won't just do that. In that view, he is a true Hellene, going down in the fight. Leonidas would have been proud.'

We had arrived at the house.

'Should they come here, pretend that you are not here. They will probably invade in any case.'

'What should I do then?' Herine asked again.

I shrugged. 'I have no idea. No place in this city is absolutely safe, once the Seleukidai get in.'

Noticing that Helios' wagon had almost neared the far side of the horizon, I turned towards the house.

'We may best get in before it gets dark.'

The rest of the evening, we hardly spoke. Immediately after using our evening meal, I went to bed. Should the Seleukidai attacked, there would be little hope the city was safe. I lay down upon the hard matress that served as a bed, and even though I was troubled by thoughts, I fell asleep within moments.

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The next morning, I was roused by the sound of horns. Immediately, I threw the blankets off and walked towards the balcony. I could see the soldiers already standing upon the walls, waiting for the Seleukidai to start their assault. I ran downstairs immediately and grabbed one of the knifes from the kitchen table. I ignored Herine's angry cries about how she'd need that and ran unto the streets. Without losing any time, I reached the main gate within ten minutes. The psiloi had been arranged in a loose formation on top of the wall, and right from them the phalangitai had been arranged. Even though I was I panting already, I ran towards the tower that gave access to the walls. I tried to open the door, but it had been locked. I banged on it twice, and when there was no answer, I leaned against the wall.

As I walked back, I noticed how quiet the city was. Everyone had locked themselves in their houses. Even the usual beggars and lepers seemed to had gone. The entire city was waiting, as if taking a breath before the plunge. As I got farther from the walls, the sound of dying men eventually died out, and before long, I had reached the house again. I walked in without saying a word and immediately went upstairs. In these, what I thought to be, the last moments of my life, I thought of what I would want to say to a person that would be reading my diary, yet I could think of nothing fitting to write.

As I just sat there, I suddenly heard the sound of marching men on the streets, followed by the blowing of horns. I walked onto the balcony, from which I could see how the Seleukide banners were lifted high by the soldiers that marched into the city. The Seleukidai had captured the city once again. I later heard that Andromachos himself had also died in the defense of the city, along with his guard of phalangitai. There were only 150 survivers amongst the psiloi.





Immediately thereafter, the main gates had been captured and the rest of the army could march in.



As the Seleukidai marched by, I was surprised to see how they were treating the city. For the second time, they had shown outright respect for the citizens of the polis, at which point I felt almost bad about the rebellion itself. And at long last he himself came, Euphanes Skythopoleos of the province of Ioudaia, strategos of the Seleukide armed force. He seemed a very calm and relaxed man, with no eyes filled with hatred, as I had somehow expected him to be. I walked back towards my room and met Herine on the way there. I simply nodded as she looked at me, and did nothing more.

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Two weeks later, as I was enjoying the sun out in the garden, I a knock at the door. Cursing as they had interrupted me from a relaxed day, I got up from my chair and opened the door. There were two armed men, clad in the classical hoplite fashion of the city.

'Alexanor Pyrrheios?'

I raised an eyebrow. 'That is who you are speaking to.'

'We need you to come with us, please.'

I felt that something was off about it, but I didn't heed to that feeling then. I simply shrugged and walked outside, closing the door behind me. I followed them to the agora and the (restored) town hall, while people passing by looked at us with a bit of suspicion. Judging by their looks, they would have thought I was some sort of criminal. The city was once again coming to life. Not only had the Seleukidai treated the citizens like equals, they had also paid for all the repairs that were needed after the horrible rebellion. More and more surprised at this show of mercy, I was starting to feel somewhat compassionate towards our new rulers. Perhaps they did not have the intention of taking our freedom after all.

Before long, we had reached the town hall. I was led into the main hall, where I held my breath for a moment. In the middle sat Euphanes Skythopoleos, and next to him, six seats on the right and six seats on the left sat the council of the Polis. A man on the left of Skythopoleos, who I identified as Timodamos Anthasios, one of the ruling members of the council, stood up and said;

'Alexanor Pyrrheios of Lampsakos?'

I tilted my head in respect.

'You have been arrested on the terms of conspiring against our tyrantos, Lord Euphanes Skythopoleos. You are to be held in prison until your trial begins. May the Gods have mercy upon your soul.'

I was stunned. In the meantime, two men had walked up to me and grabbed my arms. They dragged me away as I helplessly looked around me. I tried releasing myself from their grip, but they dragged me out of the hall, into some dungeon beneath the city. They threw me in a cell with only one small window, which hardly illuminated the cell. The door was shut and the sound of it locking sounded like the death bell of Tartaros itself.

[Chaotix]

Wow, surprising ending! Keep it up!

Oh and I couldn't help but notice that ya wrote "clumb" instead of "climbed" right under the unit card pic.

[General Appo]

Both your guy and faction gets constantly pawned. I like that, keep it up.

[Hax]

Oh and I couldn't help but notice that ya wrote "clumb" instead of "climbed" right under the unit card pic.

This is one of the major reasons I shouldn't be allowed to write AAR's after midnight! :D

[General Appo]

Yeah, and what´s up with the "In total, they numbered around 6,000 in total."? That´s just wrong *looks forward to many chapters of pointing out minor grammatic mistakes*

[Hax]

Gah.

Two things now: Don't watch movies and write AAR's at the same time, ahahahahah.

[Hax]

Right on, here's chapter 4, yo.

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Chapter IV - A new dawn

Strangely enough, I remember very little from my time in prison, apart from the usual mockery and beatings, that is. I was not alone in the prison, however. The Seleukidai had rounded up most of the older commanders and men of status that were still alive. The fact that they had rounded up me surprised me, to say the least. Even though I did help in the defense of the city under Philetairos, it seemed odd to me that they would arrest a speirarches for that.

It lasted nearly four years before there finally came any help.

One day, as I woke up from the sound of rats scurrying over the floor. I got up from the cold stone tiles and looked around. It seemed awfully quiet. Not a single guard was in sight, though, judging by the quality of the light in there, that didn't say awfully much. When my eyes were used to the dim light again, it appeared there were no guards at all. Shortly therafter, I heard shouting and heavy footsteps on the stairs of the dungeon.

'They have locked the door!' I heard someone shout.

'Well then, use your bloody strength to get the door open!' came the reply. Anxiously, I waited until I heard any further sounds. I heard a heavy bang on the door twice, and at the third time, it broke open. Running in came two men, carrying hoplite armor and armed with a doru. They looked around the prison for a brief moment and then shouted back through the now open door.

'There are still many prisoners down here.'

'Stop acting like an incompetent fool and free them immediately, then!' came back the muffled answer.

One of the two hopltai grabbed a heavy key from his pouch and opened it in the lock. With a screeching noise, the door was opened, and all the time as this happened, I felt tears run down my cheeks and I could see them falling on the floor. Freedom, at last.

As if in a dream, I walked outside. I looked at the hoplitai as if they did not exist, for surely this must be some false dream, sent by Morpheus himself. I ran my hands past the walls that held me in this horrible dungeon for so very long. The hoplitai, in the meantime had not been standing still, gawking at me. They had quickly opened all the other prisoners, who of only one I recognised. He was here even before me, although many of the older prisoners had died of mistreatment, he was one of the stronger people. He told me his name was Nestor, and he had been a farmer before he had to fled his house. He then served as a toxotes under Andromachos, and had been one of the survivers, and so the Seleukidai had put him here. I embraced him like he was my oldest friend and tears of happiness ran down both our cheeks. Finally, all the prisons were unbarred.

'Come on, let's leave this place,' I spoke, more to myself than anyone else. I walked up the cold stairs leading to the same town hall which I had been betrayed almost 5 years ago. The first time I could properly see the sun again was like being at Olympos itself. After not seeing such a thing for so many years, it seemed as if the sun itself was a wonder on it's own. I fell on my knees in it's sight and touched the marble tiles. They seemed so smooth in comparison. I just sat there, for what could have been hours, days, weeks, months even.

Freedom at last.



===========================================================================

The walk home was something surreal. Everyday events seemed so special now. At a certain point, I just stood and looked at a woman that was feeding the chicks. People opening the doors, cleaning the house, neighbours chatting and spreading the latest gossip, everything seemed unreal.

Finally, I arrived home. "This is it," I said to myself. With a large breath, I set my foot in the house

'Herine?' I said. There was no answer.

I grew somewhat anxious. What if she wasn't here?

'Herine?' I said, somewhat louder. Finally, I heard footsteps coming from upstairs. And down she came, looking at me, uncertainly. She paused a moment on the stairs and looked at me, as if she did not recognise me. Finally, she let out what seemed like a gasp and ran down the stairs. Within moments, she had flung around my neck like some overhysterical child. I lost my balance however, and crashing headfirst into a basket of apples, which subsequently rolled away causing a finely clad man to trip and fall.

Herine immediately had stood up and helped the man up.

'I am so incredibly sorry.'

The man merely smirked and pushed her away. In the meantime, I had got up and looked at the man with a mingle of surprise and, strangely enough, trust? I felt something about this man which caused me to feel trust for him.

'I thought that you might not recognise me, Alexanor,' he said, still with that arrogant smirk, 'it has been nearly 10 years now.'

I looked at his eyes and face. Somewhere, a memory seemed to come up. I thought of the times that I played near Lampsakos as a child...my schooling in Lampsakos itself..the military training in Pergamon...and suddenly I recognised him.

'Menedemos?'

He laughed and nodded. The world had just become a whole lot stranger.

'If you can, I would ask you to come with me to my house.' I simply nodded, 'Immediately, if you could.'

I overweighed the moment for a while. I looked at Herine for help, but she simply shrugged and walked inside.

'Very well.'

===========================================================================

As we walked through the streets, I noticed that we were drawing closer to the agora. Menedemos was a childhood friend of mine. We had lived in the same street and followed the same scholeion together. Then, the city of Nikaia had fallen to our might, and his father, who had been a speirarches on leave, was summoned to the city by Attalos. From there on, I had not seen him ever since.

We had arrived at the house of the governor. I recognised this mostly as the place where Philetairos had lived before his death. We had stopped in front of the building.

'We should go in here.' He nodded at the mansion.

'Do we have a meeting with the strategos?'

He looked at me slyly. 'That's one way you could look at it, yes.'

Two hoplitai opened the gates and he walked in, nodding as he passed by them. We followed the path towards the door, on which a beautiful garden had been made. The front door was opened as well and he walked in, hardly even paying attention to the servant girl which had opened it. I followed him as he entered the main room, which was beautifully adorned with doric columns on either side, forming an open courtyard in the middle. In the middle stood a table, with a map of what seemed to be Mikra Asia, with the main cities adorned, and around it several men had gathered, also clad in the fashion of the hoplites.



'Strategos Koilopos, thank you for being able to have returned so swiftly.'

I paused for a moment at hearing these words. Strategos?



'What is the situation, Lochagos?'

'The Seleukidai have been driven back over the Hermus river, into Sardis. Nikaia and Byzantion are both secure.'

Menedemos nodded. 'Very well. I want to introduce someone.' He turned towards me and smiled, before turning back to the men again.

'This is Alexanor Pyrrheios, an old friend of mine and a very capable soldier. He helped the first defense under Philetairos.' He then turned towards me.

'Alexanor, these are the men that commanded the armies. This is Lochagos Zopyros Adymanteus.' He pointed at a rather short man, with curly brown hair and a pale skin, 'these are the speirarchai Xenophon Aigaios and Soton Antikyreus.' Two finely-built men, of which one had a short beard nodded at me, 'and finally, this is my advisor Zeno Amphisseus.' The last of the men was the eldest as well. He had long, white hair and bright blue eyes. I wondered whether perhaps he had Galatike blood.

'Friends, I would like you to act as my witnesses at this moment, for I would like to proclaim Alexanor Pyrrheios as my heir.'



===========================================================================

Mwahahaha.

Right on!

[Reverend Joe]

Nice.

[General Appo]

He, a testy one is he? I say get rid of him, I mean he´s lost very battle he´s ever participated in.

[Hax]

He, a testy one is he? I say get rid of him, I mean he´s lost very battle he´s ever participated in.

Just you wait..

[Hax]

Chapter V - Strategos

I was stunned. We had not spoke, let alone seen eachother for more than 10 years, yet here Menedemos was already proclaiming me as his heir.

'I..this..' I could barely say anything, as I looked at Menedemos with wide eyes.

'Alexanor, do not think that I did this just to do you a pleasure. Of course, I have my own personal agenda to think of. Proclaiming you as my heir will certainly help the people of Pergamon believe in my pro-Attalidean intentions and you, being one of the locharchoi under Philetairos will certainly help that image.'

Clearly, I could see his intentions now.

'Then what is your intent?'

'I wish solely to lead a quiet life here in Pergamon, away from all the troubles of either the Seleukidai or the Attalidai.'

I opened my mouth and closed it again.

'What exactly is in it for me, in any way?'

He smirked, 'You would be named strategos of the standing armies and you would get to meet the last living member of Attalide family.'

'What do you mean, last living family member?'

He looked at me again. 'Have you not heard then?'

This time, it was my turn to smirk. 'Apart from the fine accommadations in my prison cell, I heard fairly little of the world outside.'

'Less than three years ago, both Eumedes and Soter, son of Attalos, were killed in defense of a Seleukide attack. Attalos still reigns as the governor of Nikaia, yet he is old and a broken man by the loss of his brothers and son.'





Before I had time to respond, one of the hoplitai came into the room.

'Strategos?'

Menedemos turned around and nodded.

'There is a messenger, sir. From Nikaia.'

'Well, send him through then.'

The hoplites nodded, bowed and then walked back. A young man, which I thought to be no more than 18 years old, ran into the room.

'Messenge from Basileus Attalos, strategos.' He handed a roll of parchment over to Menedemos, which grabbed it from the boy's hand and then gave him a destructive glare, causing the boy to bow and run out again. Menedemos unrolled the parchment roll and let his eyes run over the words.

'Well, that is funny indeed. Apparently, Basileus Attalos,' he said, with a semi-mocking tone in his voice, 'has declared me heir to the throne, for my capture of Pergamon.' He smirked again and rolled the piece of parchment up again.

I narrowed my eyes. Even though Menedemos had proven himself to be a capable strategos, was he fitting to rule the kingdom? He seemed to be a disloyal person, one that could not be completely trusted governing a city.

'Which reminds me,' said he, after a few moments, 'that would make you heir to the throne, should I pass away.'

I glanced at Menedemos.

'Even so, what are you planning?' I said, after nearly ten seconds had passed.

'It is good you ask. I was thinking of a public speech, persuading the people to once again trust the Attalide dynasty, asking them to follow us while we drive the Seleukidai over the Tauros mountains as we long had dreamed, that kind of story.'

'Incredibly cunning,' I spoke, with a slight sarcastic undertone in my voice.

Ignoring my commnent, he then turned towards me.

'You should go home now, though. You will have a busy day tomorrow. I want you to meet me two hours after sunrise, here.'

I nodded and turned.

'Oh, and Alexanor?'

I looked at Menedemos questioningly.

'You should perhaps cut that beard of yours. It looks quite distasteful.'

I smirked again, bowed and proceeded to walk out. The hoplite guards guided me out, but I simply nodded and walked down the, now dark, path outside. The streets were deserted as I continued my way to my house. There had happened so much in so little time. The liberation of the city, one of my childhood friends leading the saving army, being declared heir..perhaps the Gods were with me anyway.

When I arrived, Herine had already gone to bed. I silently snuck up the stairs and into my room. I then realized this was the first time in four years that I had been here. I lay down upon the bed that had so long been empty, and I lost my thoughts as I looked up at the ceiling in the dark room and finally, after many hours, I fell in an uneasy sleep.

===========================================================================

The next morning I awoke at sunrise, as Herine was cleaning the house of any unwanted bugs and creatures. Still disorientated from the hours of sleeping, I got up and opened the door leading to the balcony. Helios had just started climbing the skies on his daily routine, as I put my hands on the wooden balustrade and watched out over the city. As soon as I leaned on it, though, the balustrade broke immediately, nearly causing me to lose my balance and fall down and sending pieces of wood down on the street, causing several people passing by too look up angrily.

I quickly shoved the remaining pieces of wood to the sides. The time to clean that up would came later, I figured. I walked back into the house and decided to take a good look at my beard in the fountain, placed in our garden. I walked down the stairs and wished Herine a good morning, then proceeding to walk outside. I approached the fountain and hung my face over it, inspecting the facets of my face. My beard had grown quite long in prison, and it nearly came halfway unto my chest.

'Herine?!' I shouted

She came walking down the porch towards me, with a questioning look on her face.

'Hmm?'

'Do you have a razorblade somewhere around here?'

'Only regular blades, I'm sorry.'

I nodded, 'Good. Can you fetch me them?'

'If you want to shave your beard, you can find your own bloody razor blades,' she said, before turning her back on me and returning back into the house.

I sighed. Even though she was quite beautiful, her lack of respect started to annoy me somewhat. I followed her in and grabbed the sharpest knife from the kitchen table.

'Are you sure you want to use that? I use that to cut fish, mostly.'

I shrugged and walked outside again. I held the knife underwater for a moment to clean it and then place it just below my chin. Thick threads of hair fell unto the pavement. I tried to get the best look that I could from the fountain, but I cut myself a few times. Finally, I had cut most of my beard off to look slightly less like an overgrown Arabian lizard-monkey, and I walked back into the house again. Starving as I was for a bit of food, I grabbed an apple from a bowl and bit my teeth into it. The sensation of the sweet taste was something like from beyond this world.

'This is very good..where is it from?' I asked, with my mouth full.

'From the stand of that lady Ariadne at the agora?' Herine answered, as if it this was the most normal case of the world.

'Hmm..very good stuff.' I swallowed the rest of what was left in my mouth and took another bite. 'I need to leave very soon, though.'

'What for now?'

'I have been summoned by the strategos. If you come to the agora, you will notice why.' I threw away the core of the apple and got up. Herine looked up from whatever she was doing and looked at me.

'I have to go now, or I will be late. I hope you will be there.'

I kissed Herine on the cheek and proceeded outside. The sun had started to climb higher finally, and the city was becoming quite hot. Speeding my way along the streets, I finally arrived at the house of the governor. I nodded at the guard at the gate. He saluted and opened the gates.

"Hmm," I thought, "That was surprisingly easy. Too easy for a foreigner carrying a small blade in his garments."

I opened the main door and walked inside. I went to the same courtyard as yesterday, where I found Menedemos being clad by a group of (female) servants.

'Aah, Alexanor!', he laughed as I drew closer, 'It's good that you're here. However, you weren't planning to wear that, are you?'

He nodded at my plain white doric tunic. I looked at his own colour, a deep-blue with a white meandered pattern over the tunic itself. He was also wearing a bright white chlamys* over that.

'Ladies, fetch a new tunic for Alexanor. Preferably green, with grey patterning. With a grey chlamys as well.'

Immediately, two of his maids got up, bowed and entered a room. I stared at Menedemos, who only smugly grinned back at me. Soon enough, the two maidens came back and tried to pull my tunic off. Turning in shock, I pushed them away from me.

'Calm down, Alexanor. You cannot hope to be a noble without getting used to servants touching you everywhere.' I closed my eyes and felt how my old tunic was pulled over my head. I felt very naked, standing in the middle of a courtyard surrounded by ladies, which of course, I was. They soon pulled the new tunic over my head. Apart from looking more fashionable, the textile felt smoother. Afterwards, the chyras was attached to my shoulders with a silver Celtic fibula. They finally were done with me and I stepped forward.

'You look reasonably fit for a speech now,' Menedemos smirked. Now that I think of it, I cannot remember any time passed with Menedemos in which he did not smirk. I grinned weakly at him and aligned myself next to him.

'Are you ready?' he said

'I suppose.' I fiddled with my fibula a bit and then nodded.

'Very good. We'll go up the stairs and speak to the people from the balcony.' I nodded and followed him up the stairs. We then followed a corridor to a somewhat larger room, behind which the balcony was located. The balcony and the rest of the room were seperated by a curtain.

'I will go in first. You will follow me as soon as you hear your name.'

I nodded. He then waved the curtain aside and stepped onto the balcony. I could hear cheering and applause from outside, and I could follow his entire speech.

'Dear citizens,' he shouted, 'today, a new era begins! No longer will we be bound to the yoke of the Seleukidai, who came here to exploit the noble polis. We have succeeded in resecuring our beautiful city, and this is only one of the many victories to come. We are greatly in your debt, noble citizens, for it were you who never surrendered to the Seleukide oppression, while we fought to save this city. Without your help, the Attalides family would be little more than a mere footnote in history. But today, this will change."

More cheering.

"Antiochos "Soter", he calls himself, the great liberator of Mikra Asia from the Galatike oppression, or so he says, sits on his throne in the city of Seleukeia while the Baktrioi in the far east and the Parthioi from the steppes are claiming the furthest parts of his empire. Too long have we, true Hellenes, been denied by the "mighty" Seleukidai. The tables are turning. The city of Ipsos has been conquered by the true and only saviour, Soter Attalides. Byzantion and Nikaia had already fallen to our might. And answer me this question, oh proud citizens! If Antiochos did indeed defeat the Galatikoi, why is he paying them a tribute of gold? A tribute!

And if Antiochos can not win by arms, he sends assassins to deal with people. Is that how the great King of Kings earns his respect? Like some low Persike satrap? Yes, indeed, the news is grave, our noble Basileos Soter Attalides has been killed, by an assassin's knife indeed."

I could hear boo-ing and other sounds of anger.

"Our sons and daughters, our brothers have fought toe-to-toe with these Galatian barbaroi, and yet he claims all his honour for himself and his elephante corps.

But I say, no more! A new dawn is rising, my friends! The Gods themselves have granted Attalos a vision. A vision of a united Hellene state of Mikra Asia, free from the Seleukide yoke, free from the Pontike Persian kings. A free and united Mikra Asia, under a Pergamese banner!"

These last words seemed to drive the people insane. There was an explosion of cheering.

"To seal this day, I ask your attention for one last thing, friends. When I rode into the city, I was overjoyed to know that one of my oldest friends was still alive. He has served under Philetairos as a lochagos. He has coördinated the Attilidean resistance in the city, and has spent several years in prison for this. To close this joyous day, I pronounce Alexanor Pyrrheios,"

I drew a deep breath and walked forwards, drawing the curtain aside

"as my rightful heir and Strategos of the army of Pergamon!"

As I pushed the curtain away, the sun shone straight in my face, and I was greeted by a thundering noise of clapping and cheering.

Henceforth, I would be known as Strategos Alexanor Pyrrheios. I must admit, it did have something of a nice ring to it.

===========================================================================

Blegh, too much text, too little screens and all.The next chapter will be called:

Chapter V - Sardis.

Thank you all for reading. I need serious sleep now.

Edit: Also, a balloon for the guy that gets the Jedi Outcast reference.

*chlamys: A chlamys was a Hellenic kind of robe, usually worn over one shoulder.

[General Appo]

Dammit, I´ve played through Outcast a dozen times, but still don´t get the reference. Katarn is da Man.
It´s a good story, but I still think Alex will lose any battle he participates in.

[Constantius III]

Dammit, I´ve played through Outcast a dozen times, but still don´t get the reference. Katarn is da Man.

Maybe it's the bit with the beard. You Katarn fanboys always make life hard for the rest of us Star Wars fans.

It´s a good story, but I still think Alex will lose any battle he participates in.

He doesn't have a particularly good resume so far. Maybe he'll take a page from Demosthenes' (the good one, not the 4th century one) book and learn from his mistakes.

[General Appo]

Maybe it's the bit with the beard. You Katarn fanboys always make life hard for the rest of us Star Wars fans.

Yeah, Katarn´s got a really nice beard, but not to his chest I don´t think he ever shaves it with a fish knife. At least not in Outcast. Hmmmm.... need some tip from Hax.

[Hax]

had cut most of my beard off to look slightly less like an overgrown Arabian lizard-monkey

Still nothing?