To Synedrion (The Royal Council)

[Hotseat_User]

A shadow enters the floor of the synedron, right after that another one. Then the two persons with long hoods make a short stop. The tall one seems to take a look of the scenery, then turn around and exits the synedron entrance while no noise is hearable from some steps. The other immedeately steps further pushing back the hood. A long grey beard, hiding a smile becomes to be seen.

Welcome fellows of our Macedonia, free people of our good king!
As you all know, we are in serious trouble, after all those years campaigning outside of hellas, Phyrros finally decided to join our beatiful lands with his troops. The basileus has told to hold a emergency session of this commitee.
Informants of mine have given me some nice thoughts about the current situation. From our point of view, we have no need to seperate our troops in the south facing the alliance of free greek poleis. They should stay there without even think about their homes in danger.
There will be no danger for our capital of Pella. ...
With coopted work of the basileus fleet, the well known an also well trained garrission of Demetrias could be here - before Phyrros even has the chance of setting up a siege. In case they really hurry up, all ressources for a trouble-free defeat of the Epirotes can be here - without a weakening of our troops further in the south.

If you want more informations, I'll be here again in a few hours. There are people who whish to meet me right now. I have to hurry, but I hope my thoughts can help you out.

Illuminating himself in his grey hood, the person leaves the synedron with harsh steps, even without waiting for some response frome the audience.

[Cultured Drizzt fan]

Karpos Aiginios sits back in his chair, his enormous girth roiling under his white robe Phyrros must be dealt with, that is sure. but I for one believe that trying to split our forces to go against them would be a horrible mistake. For that reason I believe the peace must be reached with the Greeks. at least until we manage to get Phyrros out of the way. Theophilus Diokletes, those "perfumed Ionians" may look down on us, but to March against them now could end in disaster. If you can not stand them at least respect them for what they have done. They held off the Persians long before Megas Alexandros marched against them, for that we must show caution. Peace is the order of the day I say! Do not split our forces, I beg you all. For I see it ending only in pain.

[HunGeneral]

Philadelphios Teleochos an elder Synedros stands up and addresses the Snyedrion:

"Fellow Makedones! We seem to have many different plans on how to defend our Kingdom from the threat of Phyrros and his army of Epeirotai and Barbaroi, as well from the so called “Koinon Helennon” formed by those dim-minded Attikans, those over proud Lakedaimoi from Sparte and the Rhodoi who never saw and will never see farther then there own coffers…They might have driven back the Persians centuries before but after that all they could achieve since then was to fight amongst eachother and bring war and destruction to Hellas. Megas Alexandros and his Makedonian warriors were the first to unite Hellas and avenge the Persian actrocities.

Of all of these the most dangerous in my mind seems to be Phyrros the Molosson and his soldiers. The foolish Hellenes of the south always fought against each other and they will not agree now either on what they should do. Taking this into account I would suggest our true Basileus to march with his army north to support the defense of our Capital against Phyrros should it be of need.
However Basileus Antigonos should be ready to face an attack by the Attikans. They have shown several times how eager they are to fight an enemy who seems to be fleeing. Just remember Chaeronea… even there when the soldiers of Philippos started to move back the warriors of Athens were sure in there victory… On to Makedonia they shouted in there overconfidence… and soon Megas Alexandros himself lead the charge of Hetairoi which sealed the fate of Hellas against them.

If the Attikans attack then kill or capture them all. Only so will they learn the price for defying the true ruler of all Hellenes. Once there soldiers are all sent to Hades or in our captivity they will be too scared and too weak to even attempt to interfere with our actions.
If they don’t attack then we should gather our armies and prepare to drive back Phyrros to Epeiros where he belongs…"

Philadelphios sits down and awaits the reaction of the other Synedroi.

[/Bean\]

Theophilus Diokeltes stood, looking over at Karpos Aiginios.

Karpos Aiginios, if you listened to my speech you would have heard that I make no mention of splitting our forces, nor do I denounce the Greeks as weak or below us. I merely say we have war on two fronts, and we must choose between them.

I do not believe we are in a position to make peace with the Greeks. They want independence; they started this war, not us. The only terms we can offer is independence, and we would be forced to retreat our garrisons in Korinthos and Attika. I cannot agree to that.

[The Celtic Viking]

Agathangelos stood up and cleared his throat.

"Neither can I. That is the very reason why our situation is so precarious. We have two field armies, one commanded by Antigonos Gonatas, and the other by Krateros. Both are at the moment in the south. If you do not wish them to split up, Karpos Aiginios, then you are left with a dilemma: which front would you have us leave undefended? Of course, the question whether our resistance will be strong enough in either place if we only send a part of our forces is also a strong point, as you point out, and we will need to balance these issues dearly. It is not as clearly cut so that the preferable course of action is obvious. I'm sure we all agree about that.

Personally I have not yet made up my mind on what route we should take, but I do lean towards a split, with Gonatas moving back north. More soldiers to stand a better chance against Pyrrhos can be levied up in Thessalia, and if our coffers allow it and our need demands it, there is the option of hiring mercenaries. If we do that I have enough faith in Gonatas' ability as an army commander to have a fair chance at beating Pyrrhos back to Epeiros, and if he manage to do that, we may be able to ascertain a peace with him, and convince him to focus on Italia instead. Meanwhile, Krateros should be able to keep the Greeks at bay. I'm not saying it would be easy, or that it would carry no risk, but a smaller army travels faster, and we may be able to surprise them that way, catch them off guard.

I'm not completely sure though, as I said, and your thoughts are, as always, heavier than gold."

[/Bean\]

I agree. We need to get our priorities right. The Greeks, for the moment, need to be held at bay, while we must show Pyrrhus that Makedonia is strong enough not to bother attacking. We need to prove that Pyrrhus is better off attacking Magna Graecia. Once Epirus is dealt with, we can turn our main attention back south.

But Antigonos will not reach Pella in time to save it. We need to decide whether to abandon it and reclaim it later, or to risk the lives of the brave Makedonians that protect it.

[Maion Maroneios]

A medium-sized man with a grey beard stands up and, after catching the eyes of the rest of the Synedroi, speaks with a clear and loud voice:

Noble sympatriotai, I am happy to see you all here! My name is Antisthenes Pellinios, and some of you may already know me. I hail from a very old Makedonian family, with all of my ancestors having served as Synedroi in the past.

Certainly, the times are grim for little Makedonia, but seeing ourselves unified instead of divided at these times shows something very important: That we, the true heirs of Megas Alexandros, have withstood all those years of war and sivil strife successfully and are still standing. For the most important thing in life, at least from what I have understood, is not how hard you can hit, but how many hits you can sustain and still be able to get up every time.

Now, let me get into the main part of my speech. Namely, the problem we are currently facing. You see, as grim as our situation may seem, we can never lose ourselves. Even with those Epeirotai knocking at our doors just as we speak. The people are counting on us, their leaders, to get them out of this mess. And who are we to refuse that to our people? They, after all, are free people of the Basileion Makedonias and do not deserve to live under the tyranny of this Pyrrhos from Epeiros. For tyranny it will be, given the outrageous ambitions of this man. He even thinks he is going to be the next Megas Alexandros himself or, maybe in his wildest dreams, even greater!

Some laughter can be heard throughout the Synedrion and Antisthenes waits until the noise sunsides to continue.

To make things even better, we have lost most of the control in southern Hellas due to this unreasonable rebellion. And I am referring to this petty, though dangerous, alliance formed by Chremonides of Athenai. The southern Hellenes are not to be taken lightly, fellow Synedroi. They might not stand a chance against our military forces, but in the seas they are very dangerous. Furthermore, the fact that we are shifting our eyes to the north towards the invading force of Pyrrhos, is more than enough to incite them to attack our holdings in Peloponnesos. As you may know, our fellow Makedones, Krateros and Alexandros of the royal family, are left alone to protect Achaia. The only thing we can count upon right now, are the forces of Basileus Antigonos, who is campaigning in Attike.

If we want to effectively counter this crisis, we must grab every field that needs to be attended, isolate it and figure out how to fix the problem. Of course, the problem becomes more complicated as more fields eneter the problem, but all can be done with necessary organization, rationale and carefullness. Here are some points I have prepared and possible solutions:

1) The Pyrrhos matter. Since obviously the garrison present in Pella is too small to hold back the Epeirotai, we will have to reinforce the garrison. A good way to do that, in my oppinion, would be to stansfer troops from Demetrias to Pella as soon as possible. The fastest way, as I see it, would be to use our royal navy and ship the troops from Thessalia to the port of Thessalinike, then a quick march to Pella.

2) The southern poleis matter. Here, I believe our forces are strong enough to wipe out any remains of the Koinon Hellenon, as the Southrons call their alliance. Athenai lies before our Basileus like a ripe fruit ready to be picked, so I understand the temptation must be great. Though, in my oppinion, Antigonos should do the following: Take the bulk of his army and march back north, while leaving a portion behind so that Krateros and Alexandros can defend Achaia while the Epeirotai are being taken care of.

3) Economics. Since all this requires coins, something which we don't have an ambudance of, I believe the Basileus should consider announcing War Taxes to applied to all across the Basileion.

There is more I wish to say, but I believe I should let others speak before I end and, of course, listen to any criticism on my rationale.

And with that, Antisthenes sits back down and takes a gulp of water from a cup that is given to him by a nearby slave.

[Iskander 3.1]

Risto, representating Archon Basilikou Stolou Alkaios rose
The Archon Basilikou Stolou says that his fleet is ready to support whatever decision the Synedrion reaches. He does not wish to interfere in the matters of generals, just as Poseidon will not interfere with that which is Zeus'. Likewise, he must remind you that Zeus does not interfere with Poseidon's realm, and asks for the same courtesy from the Synedrion. He stresses that we are in no shape to challenge the Athenoi for control of the Aigaion as of this time. We will not engage this alliance at sea unless he deems it prudent. In the coming months, after this crisis is abated, we can discuss naval reforms.

[vartan]

The Synedros stands. Axios Anaxagoras is relaxed and speaks clearly.

My fellow Makedones...the time has come for a great people, under a great king, to make great decisions. Our situation is not bleak at all, but reassuring, because it is yet another test of our might and our self-confidence. For if none of us have forgotten, it was not too long ago that one of us rose against Persian might and Makedon's heartbeat was felt through vast lands as an earthquake moves the Earth itself. Let us not forget, that any decision we make, we give all our effort and all our strength. It is for this reason that I have full confidence in you, my brothers, and the Basileus of Makedon herself, my King, that any decision you make, you will have my full and unconditional support. May Pyrrhus, Koinon Hellenon, and the barbarioi know their limits, for nothing will stand in our way. Long live the Basileus!

[johnhughthom]

A man stands, he is obviously an experienced military man, though he seems uncomfortable in his current surroundings.

Greetings fellow Makedons, I bear a message from my master, the brother of our Basileus, Krateros Argeades.

"Friends, no doubt you are all debating the Pyrrhos problem and how we should attack it. My opinion is we should do just that, attack it. My brother Kalos has a small force with him in Demetrias, and my nephew Alkyoneus has a force here in Pella. The two combined should be enough to defeat Pyrrhos, perhaps our fleet may be of use in helping Kalos make Pella without Pyrrhos intervening. I am well aware of the youth of both men but when has youth ever stopped a man fulfilling his destiny? I am certain history will tell tales of the two young men who defeated Pyrrhos and saved Makedonia.
As for me, I am ready to undertake whatever the Synedrion feels necessary, go north to mop up the Epirotes after Pyrrhos is dealt with, or stay here and show this "Koinen Hellenon" who is destined to rule Greece."

I should add this message was written before my master was made Basilikos Grammateus and on his behalf I would like to thank the Basileus for the honour. I will wait here until I have orders to return with.