A courier arrives at the council room, accompanied by an attendant

Lysimachos Ptolemaios's personal clerk unrolls the papyrus scroll, and reads;

"My kinsmen and fellow councilmen. I write to you now having recently departed with my new model navy to Krete. It is not uncommon knowledge that Krete is a major haven for smugglers, mercenaries, pirates, and other unlawful men from around the Mediterranean. Therefore, my personal advisors and I have decided to embark on a military expedition to Krete to ensure that it will no longer be a land that sows lawlessness. With the navy marines I have personally commissioned for the past few years, I will rid the region of the Kretan piratical threat. In addition, I have been informed by our allies in the Hellenic League that they currently have a military force on the island who have been rather uncomfortably marooned for several years. They have agreed to assist my naval forces in capturing Krete, on the condition that we provide them with transport back to Hellas."