Stories Thread

[The Celtic Viking]

In the Basileus' war room, Basileus Philadelphos Ptolemaios sits quietly on a chair studying a map, with his closest generals waiting for him to speak. As this goes on, a man enters and salutes Philadelphos, who shows no sign of noticing him, obviously lost in his thoughts. The man is Hermokrates.

-"Sir..." he begins a little uncertain, as if groping for words to say. Philadelphos still doesn't recognize his presence.
-"Sir, Timon Arrhidaeos has invaded Babylonia, laid siege to Seleukeia, assaulted the city and..."

Hermokrates became even more nervous as Philadelphos now, slowly, shut his eyes and turned his head downwards and away from Hermokrates. After drawing a breath, and catching up some courage, he goes on.

-"... and he has sold the population into slavery."

Philadelphos hits the table with his right hand so hard that one of the stones holding the map on place bounces off the table, forcing the closest general to quickly grab the map so it didn't roll back. Taking no notice of that, Philadelphos starts roaring.

-"What is this?! Did I not give that man specific orders, SPECIFIC ORDERS, that he was not to go into Mesopotamia? What is this, a conspiracy? Is there no man I can trust enough to obey his own Basileus? His own Pharaoh? His own Setrepenrameiramen? How can I fight a war when my generals go every way they wish, completely ignoring my commands? I should have him hung for treachery!"

The generals all looked nervously at each other. Hermokrates squirms a little as if he's dying to say something but doesn't quite dare to risk it. Finally his urge to speak defeats his fear, though from hearing him you would think it won only a battle but not the war.

-"But sir... Sir... the messenger you sent, he... he didn't make it. The Seleukids got to him half way. Mr Arrhidaeos never received the orders to stay out of Babylonia."
-"So why didn't you send out a new messenger, then? Think, lad, think!"
-"I did, Sir, but he didn't make it in time. He..."

Philadelphos stands up with a jerk.

- "Didn't ma...!? He should've..."

Philadelphos doesn't finish that sentence, and instead stretches out his hands in front of him, as if grasping for something invisible in the air.

-"... and what about Timon himself? Huh?! Is he a complete fool? Does he not realize that he, by running off east like a some horny teenager spotting a nice pair of tits on the beach, leaves the center completely open - completely open mind you - for the Seleukids to attack? Does he not realize how he by this fool's errand into Mesopotamia allows our enemies to divide my kingdom in two?! Does he not realize that he has just given the Seleukids a clear path not only to Antiocheia but to Alexandreia herself?! What if they strike there, what then? Who would stop them? Who could?! This is madness!"
- "Sir, I'm sure he's got your best in mind. I'm sure he just wanted to capture the Seleukid capital - perhaps he hoped this would cripple them, sir? I think you're being too hard on him."

Philadelphos calmed down, but remained standing.

- "Too hard? I've been too gentle. Here I am, humping my ass to defend my kingdom, all the while I have to do the day-to-day running of the kingdom as well. During my reign, I have made Alexandreia into the most enlightened city in the world! I have increased our borders manyfold, I have taken Antiocheia, I have secured the kingdom and improved its economy, culture as well as the military strength it can draw upon. For this I have even taken my own money to do, my own, the Basileus. What thanks do I get? A bunch of cowboys who think that the laws are nothing more than mild suggestions. Perhaps if I hadn't been so lenient about each and every of the slightings I've suffered, if I hadn't been so merciful with the overstepped boundaries, people would think a little more about me and the kingdom and a little less about their own, very personal coffers. Perhaps if I had taken the time to teach them that honour and fame comes through faithful service to their king, perhaps this whole mess could've been avoided in the first place."

There's a moment of silence as Philadelphos Ptolemaios seemingly falls back into thought. It doesn't take long though before he turns to his chief military advisor.

-"So... what do you propose we do now?"
-"Well, sir, as I see it there are two options. One is that we use this victory - after all, we have Seleukeia. Perhaps Arrhidaeos is right after all - this does have the chance of destabilizing the Seleukid kingdom. Baktria, Hai and Pontos may very well get even more cheeky and force the Seleukids to weaken either front a lot or both fronts a little. It is even possible that it might implode and give birth to new, smaller kingdoms, though I think that unlikely. In such a scenario, taking Babylon should be easy now that we have Seleukeia, and then we shall have a rich land to rule from."
-"And the other option?"
-"Peace. We have their capital now, what greater bargaining chip could we get? Give it back to them at favourable terms and gain a peace, during which we can turn to our backs and take care of those pesky Arabians. Their garrison in Palmyra has only grown and grown, to such an extent that it can now seriously threaten an invasion of our lands. Since they are allies of the Seleukids, they could easily attack simultaneously there, easily defeat our garrisons while keeping you busy in Anatolia. That way they could easily defeat you, force you into a humiliating and dynasty-ending surrender, or wipe you off completely, all at their own mercy. One could even argue that the Arabians could do this even without any Greek help, all the more to your humiliation. If this was done, the Seleukidai wouldn't need to worry about their loss of Seleukeia. They'd get it back anyway, and you would be undone."
-"So..."
-"So I would recommend you the second option. I would recommend you make peace with them, sir."

Philadelphos sat down; on his face there was a great smile.