EMPIRE: Song of Peace and War

[seleucid empire]

Another Seleucid AAR on VH/M
Played with realistic movement mod
Begins in 250 BC after attaining the victory conditions

[seleucid empire]

The Setting
Winter 250 BC



King Theodoros, Sarpedon and Alexandros "The Black"


And so it came to pass that in the Winter of 250 BC King Antiochus II Theodoros along with his brother Sarpedon and cousin Alexandros "The Black" finally crushed all resistance and reunited the empire of Alexandros Megas. It had taken the three generals 21 years since the beginning of their campaign in 271 BC to achieve this but the end result was the complete unification of the empire and even expansion north of the pontic sea. This made the Arche Seleukeia the largest and most powerful empire ever created

But as they say nothing lasts forever, and empires are especially fragile things...

[seleucid empire]

Book I: Crown of Flames

Act I: The Gardens of Paradise

Prologue: The Coming Storm
Winter 250 BC

Peace. Nothing more than an illusion. For there is only one thing man cannot stay away from, and that is War. To the millions of people living in the heart of the Empire, war is a faraway thought. They lived in the Great Empire of Alexander the Great, reforged and made even greater by his descendants. What nation in the world could now stand up to them? The wars were contained at the frontiers thousands of miles away. What was there to be worried about?

These people carried on with their daily lives, so certain that the future would be as bright as the present day. But not all men were fooled. A few saw what the others could not. They were not distracted by the brightness of the sun and saw the gathering storm clouds, wondering in fear when they would burst and unleash the torrent upon them...

[Rifal]

Good, Now wipe those barbaric Getai from the face of the world.

[seleucid empire]

the getai were especially annoying in my last seleucid game cause their cities were so poor and i had to pour a lot of money into maintaining them. i mite invade italy before i do that

[seleucid empire]

Chapter 1: Tidings
Winter 250 BC Antioch

In the underbelly of the great capital sat a small dimly lit inn and gambling house. Inside, one could purchase all manners of distractions, from the prized Greek wines to the whores, willing to satisfy any and every sexual desire for coin. It was a sanctum of decadence and lust, a den of filth, and visited by soldiers and thieves alike. Mardonious sat in a dark corner of the room, watching people entering and exiting, his face hidden by the shadows and his hood. The hood was nothing more than a precaution of course. As the youngest son of a minor Persian noble of Syria, he doubted anyone would have recognized him even without it. He often visited this place to purchase its pleasures but today he had a different purpose in mind. The establishment was a favourite of the soldiers returning from the frontier wars and Mardonious sat patiently, waiting for one or more to show up...

The door creaked open and two men entered, their faces weary from travel and their cloaks covered in dust. Although the sight of soldiers was very common here, the patrons still held their gaze in awe at these newcomers. The first to walk in was a giant of a man. He carried a large, curved bow and at his side was a short sword of exceptional quality. He wore a hardened leather tunic and strapped onto his left arm was a small round shield. A Cretan archer, concluded Mardonious. However, it was not the Cretan who held everyone's attention but his companion. As he walked in, every pair of eyes in the inn followed him and every pair of eyes showed the same emotion: fear.

He was of a much smaller stature than the Cretan but wore the full panoply of the elite companion cavalry, making him an impressive sight. But what set him apart was his helmet, on top of which sat a single black plume that marked him as a member of the Black Guard. They were the personal cavalry of Alexandros, cousin of the King and the most ruthless, brutal and cunning general in the empire, which earned him the epithet of Alexandros "The Black". There was not a single man or child from Illyria to India who had not heard stories of the black guard, who had never been beaten in the 21 years since they were formed and were especially notorious for the countless, horrific atrocities they committed. They had fought in every single corner of the empire, cutting a bloody path through Egypt, Greece, Asia Minor, Armenia, the East and even the North.

The two soldiers ignored the stares of the others and sat on a table in the centre of the room. They ordered wine and began to talk amongst themselves. Mardonious left his table and approached them cautiously. They didn't look up until he was right next to them.
'Greetings, I can see you two have just journeyed a long way and from the looks of it you two have just returned from war. Can I interest you in an offer?" asked Mardonious
"What kind of offer?" asked the large Cretan
"I will pay for your food and any entertainment tonight in exchange for any news from the frontiers."

The Cretan turned to look at his silent companion, who gave a small nod.
"Very well,"said the Cretan,"My name is Helioketes and my companion here is called Archimenes"
"And you are of the Black Guard?" Mardonious asked Archimenes
"Yes" he replied
"and you Cretan?"
"I was part of the Death Seekers before they were destroyed. Have you heard of us?"

Mardonious had. The Death Seekers were almost as famous as the Black Guard. They were a band of renegade Cretan archers who had pledged their services to Antiochus II Theodoros 20 years ago and were the greatest archers in the world. It was rumoured that they could bring down a man at 170 metres, almost double the killing range of any other archers. However, he was surprised to hear that they had been destroyed.

"They were destroyed? When?"
"Yes, nearly 10 years ago..." replied Helioketes solemnly. Mardonious thought he saw a glint of anger in the man's eyes
"How did this occur?"
"Our unit has been there since the beginning of the great reconquest, nearly 21 years ago. We marched under the command of Antiochus II Theodoros during the invasion of Egypt. When Theodoros marched to Asia Minor to support Sarpedon in his war with Pontus, he left us with Alexandros. We sailed to Greece and helped our new general achieve victory battle after battle with our deadly arrows. That was 14 years ago..We then marched on the Armenians, sweeping through their country as well. But Alexandros received pleas for help from the Bosphoran Greeks so we headed into the vast north. Under his leadership, we 'liberated' the cities of the Greeks, bringing them into the folds of the empire and achieved complete control over the Pontic Sea. Alexandros then marshalled more forces and formed the Legion of the North to defend against the Sarmatian counter-attack

But shortly afterwards, Alexandros received orders from the King to march east in all haste. He took the core of his heavy infantry and cavalry to the east, leaving us with strict instructions to stay in the cities and defend them. He left the north under the charge of a man named Herakleidies Atarneou.



This fool saw himself as the Alexandros Megas of the North and decided to march the entire Legion of the North into Sarmatian lands to bring the war to them. However before we marched, Herakleidies decided that he would be much safer if he stayed within the walls of Pantikapaion and he's still sitting there now, growing fat while the bones of our brothers lie scattered over the northern plains. So anyway, he didn't accompany us in our expedition and instead appointed a captain who had bribed his way into his favour. In the cities we could have held off the Sarmatians behind the high walls, our arrows would have decimated any Sarmatians who came close and we would be able to hold indefinitely as long as supplies arrived in our ports. But in the open, we were ambushed...The entire legion of the north was destroyed along with most of our corps.





I survived along with a handful of others and we travelled east on the invitation of Alexandros to train the garrisons of the newly conquered cities and there I have been for the last 10 years. Recently I was allowed to leave the army and was given a fortune for my service. Archimenes here also finished his service and we decided to make the journey back home. He has also been fighting since the beginning of the Great reconquest and he has been present in every major battle in the last 21 years. He saved my life once and we became comrades despite belonging to different companies."

"I am sorry for your loss" said Mardonious,"What news from the east?"
"Well as you probably know by now, the furtherest reaches of Alexandros Megas Empire has been reconquered. King Antiochus intends to march north and attack Chighu, the original lands of the Saka, afterwards I believe he will head west and continue until all of the Steppe bows before him. Now if you will, please tell us your name, for you have not introduced yourself to us yet."
"Very well, my name is Mardonious of Syria. The reason I am asking you for news is because I intend leave this place and make my fortune. You see, I'm the second born son of a minor Syrian house so I do not have many prospects when my father dies. My brother and I do not agree with each other so I intend to make my own fortune. I have already found a man willing to lend me the money I need to begin my slave trade. All I need now is the secret ingredient to a successful venture: War. And I wish to find out which frontier offers the most opportunity. I will need strong men to guard my goods as they are delivered to the cities. So now I have another offer for you. I know you are already rich with the fruits of conquest, but I ask you anyway..Will you join me?"