The Sons of Herakles - Bronze Age Low Fantasy Greece

>>1219136
Ancient Greece is petty cool, lets see where this goes. And how low fantasy are we talking? Do the Gods exist?

>>1219136
Waiting, OP. Lets get it.

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It was your grandmother, Oinone, who noticed it first. The smell of ash in the air. As you drew nearer and nearer to Thera, the world seemed to twist and contort. No birds flew in the sky, and fish floated to the surface already dead, while the waves washed like whirlpools. The ship seemed to rock and shudder at each crash, and two of the slaves collapsed into fits, falling into the water. As the ship drew closer to Thera, these omens grew ever worse, and soon the sight of smoke emerged over the horizon of the wine dark sea.

It had been a catastrophe. In the night, the isle of Thera had erupted, Hades spilling out into the world through the gaping wound of the mountain. Ash and stone had rained upon the island, and the village had been drowned. Only Poseidon had held back the tide, and weeping filled the deck of the galley as you sighted the ashen waves rolling out from the still roiling isle.

Three black sailed vessels sail out from the ash, their decks coated in terrified and shuddering men and women, their wailing filling the air. The first among the three approached you, and a tall, stoic man shouted up at you.

"The gods have abandoned us here, and put us to flight. Our homes are ash, our families... The people here are exhausted, injured, homeless and destitute. Our vessels are damaged. Please, if there is any goodness in you, take the wounded, the women, the children, take them to safety. It is Agathocles, priest of the place of divination on this forsaken isle, that asks this of you"

>How do you respond?
>We can take no-one. We are hunted, and will barely survive feeding our own.
>We can take the women, children and wounded, but we have no room for the men, we will be near starvation even then.
>We will take all of you. We are good men, and all alike the heirs of Hellen and Deucalion. We may suffer for it, but we will bear you with us, to a new place.

>>1219196
I'll be keeping it deliberately vague. You'll probably not see the gods themselves, but you'll definitely see some strange things, and some historical accuracy is out the window. For example, I'll be blending the historic period of the late palatial period in Crete and the Cyclades, with Pre-Trojan/Post Deucalion mythical Greece.

>>1219235
>We can take the women, children and wounded, but we have no room for the men, we will be near starvation even then.

If anything we can sell them as slaves in the next port.

>>1219235
>We can take the women, children and wounded, but we have no room for the men, we will be near starvation even then.

>>1219235
>We will take all of you. We are good men, and all alike the heirs of Hellen and Deucalion. We may suffer for it, but we will bear you with us, to a new place.

>>1219264
Changing. I cannot resist my moralfaggotry. And they may be useful. Trust is always such a commodity; good men is well appreciated.

>>1219271
>is
are

>>1219235
>We will take all of you. We are good men, and all alike the heirs of Hellen and Deucalion. We may suffer for it, but we will bear you with us, to a new place.

>>1219251
>>1219257
The priest stares stoically up at you, and nods, before calling out to the other ships. He moves through the crowd, and for a few minutes the only sound is the wailing of the wounded and the sounds of the injured being borne to your ship. Thirty women, with fifteen children, along with five old men, their bears long and made grey by the years. The ship grows crowded, as your female relations set about caring for the injured, tending to the burned as best they may. Once the infirm are loaded, the remaining men of Thera assemble on one vessel, staring after their wives and children, Agathocles the only man among them firm enough to stand tall, and to lead them in a sombre prayer.

It is a hard thing to leave men to die, but there was no choice. To take them would have likely lead some of your own to starve. Now you are left to wonder where you will go now. The great dark sea stretches out before you, all you own on your vessel, leaving you the last heir of your family line, surrounded by women, the only grown, able, free-man on board the ship, with almost seventy souls under your guardianship. These women must have a guardian, and these children must have fathers, and you are the last man left to do it.

Where will you go now? You cannot return to Crete to face your foes unarmed, Thera is a husk, and so you are without a state to return to. Perhaps it is your duty to found a new home for your people?

>Will you settle a new settlement with the people on board your ship, setting foot upon Gaia to build a town, no, a city, worthy of the heirs of Herakles?

>What else is there to do?

>>1219273
Ah. Let me just add a new paragraph to that last post to note the change in opinion. Sorry I didn't see it. I am glad you chose the moral choice.

>>1219286

Athenes! Where else to go?

>>1219286
>>Will you settle a new settlement with the people on board your ship, setting foot upon Gaia to build a town, no, a city, worthy of the heirs of Herakles?
Go to another defensible island in Greece, perhaps Rhodes.

>>1219235
>>We will take all of you. We are good men, and all alike the heirs of Hellen and Deucalion. We may suffer for it, but we will bear you with us, to a new place.

if we take the only the women we are fucked, wherever we make port we will be an easy target because there will be no warriors to defend all the women and children with us

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You realize, as the stars begin to emerge from behind the clouds, that you cannot do this. You cannot allow good men to die because of your own hardship, and nor can you build a new home with only slaves and women to aid you. You turn the ship around and return, as fast as you may, to the rubble of Thera, finding Agathocles still praying there. His deep, cerulean eyes turn on you like rays of sunlight. As you tell him your meaning, he rises, and nods.

"Good. Apollo has cared for us this day, as I knew he would."

The men of Thera climb onto the ship, and the three black sailed ships sink under the waves soon after. If you had left them longer, they would have been been wandering the plains of Hades, after having so narrowly escaped them. The thought braces you.

You can feel a lot more confident, with the arms to aid you, but your ship is now crammed full, and you will be forced to land soon for provisions. The injured among you will need salves, and you will need time to rest and reflect upon the deaths of men you have always known.

I hate to say it folks, but I threw this up to test interest ahead of time, and I can't stay to host much longer. If this style of writing and setting interests you, then watch this space until tomorrow evening GMT, starting several hours earlier than this thread did. Thank you for all of the enthusiasm thus far, have faith.

>>1219303

Found a new settlement, born out of the strength of our labor, we'll want an area for a pier so that we can utilize the ship as a trade vessel and of course a source of fresh water

>>1219286
>>Will you settle a new settlement with the people on board your ship, setting foot upon Gaia to build a town, no, a city, worthy of the heirs of Herakles?

An island near the mainland would be nice


QM, word of advice, when you feel enough time has passed and will start writing, make a post saying so to avoid a situation where more people come or change their mind in the middle of your writing

I'm not complaining, specially because the new paragraph reflects the option I chose, but it may become hard for you to have to re-write entire posts after you began because things changed while you were doing it

>>1219311

Oh you tease

>>1219314
I can see the merit in that, I'll throw up a post to say when I'm writing in the future.

>>1219315
You only have to wait until about fiveish tomorrow GMT.

>>1219311
Came in late, but liking it, I'll be here tomorrow

>>1219295
If possible Rhodes would be pretty choice. Backing.

Eight or so hours until I'm back folks.

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You have made your choice. You rise to the bow of the ship, and make your voice heard over the crowd. It is a low, rumbling tone, that silences even the children as you make your proclamation. The cacophony of indecision is silenced with your words, and you have taken command over the discord of the ship.

"Be calm, and be silent. I am the heir of Herakles, and through him Zeus, and so I will lead us to safety. We will make landfall and found for ourselves a new home, worthy of the gods on Olympus"

There are no cheers, but that is to be expected. Your grim silence mingles with theirs, and the ship sets to work, slaves taking to the oars and pushing you out into the ocean, but towards where?

>The isle of Ios is nearby, a small, hilly perch in the open sea?
>The isle of Milos is a while further away, but within easy reach, larger, famed for it's obsidian pits, providing sharp blades to surgeons for millenia. It is inhabited by a few hundred indigenous farmers and shepherds, and could sustain a decently large settlement.
>Somewhere further, but attainable? (The Cyclades)
>Somewhere that would put a strain on your resources to reach? (Kithira, the Peloponnese, Rhodos or the Ionia)

>>1222385
I dont know too much about Mediterranean geography but Milos spunds enticing. However, are we not being hunted? Would it not be best then to proceed instead to the Cyclades or any place further, albeit the strain of travel and resources? It would certainly be unexpected.

Kithira sounds safe, an island out of the crowd, but it is locked between two larger lands. Perhaps we can act as a prosperous medium via trade?

That, or Milos for respurces. But an empire of small islands is difficult to attain and maintain.

Or Rhodes. It seems to be geographically and sttategically located. Both a springboard for northern expansion into Turkey.

Id like to know what the other anons think

>>1222385
>>The isle of Milos is a while further away, but within easy reach, larger, famed for it's obsidian pits, providing sharp blades to surgeons for millenia. It is inhabited by a few hundred indigenous farmers and shepherds, and could sustain a decently large settlement.

let's go here, we have a natural resourse to harvest and the possibility to gr0ow large, later on we can allways make a new settlement later at another location

>>1222385
>>The isle of Milos is a while further away, but within easy reach, larger, famed for it's obsidian pits, providing sharp blades to surgeons for millenia. It is inhabited by a few hundred indigenous farmers and shepherds, and could sustain a decently large settlement.

>>1222385
>The isle of Milos is a while further away, but within easy reach, larger, famed for it's obsidian pits, providing sharp blades to surgeons for millenia. It is inhabited by a few hundred indigenous farmers and shepherds, and could sustain a decently large settlement.

Plus there's a population there already that might be able to help so long as we don't piss them off

The vessel cuts through the wine dark sea towards the Island of Milos, and you wander up and down through the mass of wounded, children and slaves. The sides of the vessel bristles with the oar-slaves and the men of Thera, at least those who may still bear an oar. Agathocles rests at the rudder, occasionally reaching for the water, his eyes lost in the grasp of Poseidon, and so you do not trouble him. A girl, only a few years old by looks, with barley coloured hair, taps you, before asking, without timidity.

"Where is mother?"

You look around, and not a soul has pursued the Girl. You realize quickly enough that the girl, likely among the other children on the ship, has been left an Orphan. You must answer her, and you quickly do, in a softer voice.

"She is gone, little one, gone to Elysium."

The girl looks confusedly at you, and you, despite your strength, sigh, guiding her to one of your cousins, Hellen. She is sensible young woman, steward for her fathers sheep herds for years before his death, and you trust that she'll make a good carer for the girl.

It is not until the next day the vessel reaches Folegandros, a squat little rock with little upon it but rows of cliffs and short plains. You can see cookfires, and you suppose there must be a village upon the island. Perhaps you can trade something with them? Either way, the ship must land for the rowers to rest.

>You have come to a stop on the island of Folegandros (Sparse, Rocky Terrain, 1 Village)
>What will you do? (3 Days of food supplies left (Sheep, Goat, Barley Porridge), 30 Slaves, 15 freemen, 3 old men, 50 Women (30 Marriageable) 10-15 Children, 3 Talents of Silver)

>>1222612

stop and break camp to rest, I assume our suplies are enough to reach the island but if they have some to spare at a reasonable price we should buy some to last at least a few days so we can set up there.

also, if we have room we could look to aquire some farming tools and seeds for when we arrive at our settlement

>>1222612
>Take over the village
I assume we brought some weapons with us

>>1222656
even if we do, we have no warriors save from the mc

>>1222677
I doubt the village has much better, and besides we have 15 freemen and a bunch of slaves I think we can win this

>>1222612

Stock up on water and some food, check to see if they have a healer or some medicine available for the sick. Use the silver if we have to, we'll need the man power more than the money in the end

>>1222686
>nazi

>>1222707
What?

>>1222628
>>1222706
these

>>1222712
i'm not calling you a nazi, but this seems to be a shit island to stay, if you want to take things by force you could try to convince us of doing it in milo, our planned destination

>>1222656
this, it's part of good custom to sometimes raid neighbours for loot.
Blitzkrieg!

>>1222656
We have a double headed axe (Ceremonial and practical) and three spears. I'm not gonna say it won't work, but....

>>1222737
Then just raid the village for supplies for Milo.

>>1222738
Of course, raiding is a fact of life, but you're not in a strong position.

>>1222747
how about psychological warfare, they will hardly be able to tell that our crew consists of starving men, women and children, we just land with our most able looking troops and demand tribute. Our impressive physicality should do the trick.

>>1222750

but if it doesn't we lose the opportunity to trade and can even be killed, let's trade with those guys and save raiding for later, we can even come back here after we have stablished our permanent settlement

>>1222750
Thats not going to work with actual starving women and children. Our most able are starving and lack weapons and armor.... I'm not sure what makes you think that starving men without weapons or armor would look impressive to anyone. Its not hard to tell even at a distance.

>>1222750
Personally I don't think we should take that risk just yet. Go with >>1222706 for now. For all we know the priest might be a moralfag and nope out of here to warn the village.

>>1222755
fine, we save the raiding for later.

>>1222750
How bout a compromise? We go trade, but be ready for a fight in case they decide that a starving bunch like ours is easy pickings.

So, we are going to stop, purchase some supplies, but not establish any guest-friendships with the local people, to allow raiding later?

>>1222771
Sounds fine

>>1222771
No. Guest-friendly relationship. They will serve us well in the future--IT well serve us well

>>1222777
We're gonna need a consensus, could everyone voting please attach their voting post to this post so I can gauge what people want to do.

>>1222788
Purchase supplies + guest-friendly relationship

>>1222788
Suplies, medicine, defence ready, future raids

>>1222797
this

>>1222788
Purchase supplies, no friendly relationship

>>1222788
Can we even use silver talents? They're a village. What use is a piece of silver to cattle?

>>1222801
Oh yeah? How would we reinforce rule thereafter?

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You lead a party, flanked by Oinone, your grandmother, and Agathocles, stepping down from the ship onto the soft sand of the beach beneath the beached ship. Your people clamber out from the vessel to stretch their legs, gathering fresh water and food, and beginning to crush up the ointments and salves needed to heal the burned. You set out into the rocky, half-arid landscape, clambering up cliffsides and aiding Oinone across small gullies, her matron's frame not strong enough to bear the strain of the rough landscape.

A small village comes into view as you reach the peak of a black-grey cliff, with small herds of sheep and goats wandering upon a hillside nearby. The year is young, and the fields are still fallow, the olives not picked in this off year. A small stone path leads you toward the village. A few wanderers greet you warily, but with politeness, and as you draw close to the small stone houses of the village you are met by a tall, whispy but boisterous man, claiming to be the Basileos (Chief/Petty King) of Folegandros. He offers a hand to you, bowing to Oinone and nodding curtly to Agathocles during your introductions.

It is clear that he is wondering why a stranger has entered his village, and you are quick to announce your intent, that you want to trade, and that you have three talents at your disposal. His bony face grows wide and he grins in a vulgar fashion as you say this, calling to a servant woman to make his table ready.

You are guided into his stone house, longer than the rest, with a clay oven on it's left wall and a cook's over in it's right, along with a sty filled with plump pigs and piglets, watched over by a brooding boar. The house itself stinks of olives and wine, concentrated wine, the sort taken by drunkards. He sits you at a long table of fine cedar wood, along with Agathocles and Oinone, serving you each the food granted to you by guest right, some cheese, bread, and olive oil, along with a cedar cup of goats milk.

He asks you where you have come from, and you tell him your tale. His various wives and serving women gasp at the details, and he grows momentarily grave as you mentioned Thera, before pushing on to trade dealings.

A squat little slave brings you a tablet of unbaked clay, bearing the inventory of the Basileos' accounts. Twenty sows, three boars, two bulls and six cows, fifty six sheep, sixty goats, fifteen serving women, five amphorae each of wine, olive oil and barley, along with many various luxury goods and various tools.

>What do you ask of him?
5 Sheep/ Six Goats - 1/2 Talent
1 Bull - 1/2 Talent
2 Cows - 1/2 Talent
Three Serving Women - 1/2 Talent.
1/2 Talent per five Amphorae
1 Talent for a boar and a pregnant sow
1/2 Talent for three sows.
1 Talent for Farming Equipment and Barley Seedstock.
1 Talent for Grape Seedstock
1 1/2 Talents for an Olive Press

(You have three talents, but may haggle and sell your women or wounded as slaves as you like, along with making other offers to him)

>>1222814
Trade is frequent, you are essentially trading shiny things with a greedy man who has no real need of his fifty sixth sheep, but would greatly appreciate this or that silver ring to prove his prestige to his foes among the villagers.

>>1222846
Farming Equipment and Barley Seedstock.
5 Sheep
a boar and a pregnant sow
Try to haggle it all down to an even 2 talents

>>1222846
1 Talent for Farming Equipment and Barley Seedstock.
Six Goats - 1/2 Talent
1 Bull - 1/2 Talent

>>1222846

How many slaves to a talent?

>>1222846
We already have sheep.
1 Talent for Farming Equipment and Barley Seedstock.
1 Bull - 1/2 Talent
2 Cows - 1/2 Talent

Or, my secondary choice:

10 Sheep/ Six Goats - 1/2 Talent
1 Talent for Farming Equipment and Barley Seedstock.

>>1222912
Depends who you're trading.

Children - 5 to Half a Talent
Serving Women (Ugly, Old or Injured) - 3 to half a talent.
Wives/Concubines (Your sisters or cousins, the only beautiful women uninjured on the ships) - 1 to a Talent, though he will only take one for a wife. (Dishonour comes with this option if you try to give away more than one)
Galley Slave - 2 to half a talent

>>1222920
You technically do have sheep, on Crete, it's not easy to transport sheep in a galley. If you mounted an expedition in future you could likely collect them from your fathers old shepherds, at least the loyal ones.

>>1222927
Please no. The slaves are pur responsibility. And on a related note, I would like to free them once we get to the island. But compel them to stay with us as freemen. Slaves are. Not neccessary and a man who loves his home will work and fight like a lion as opposed to a man who is weighed by shackles.

>>1222944
>"I like the cut of this man's jib" - Solon the Lawgiver, 2017

>>1222944
That, and we can use our dispute against slavery to aid us in conquer and expansion in the future. We will inspire inner turmoil behind enemy lines. Revolts, rebellions, let the freeman rise and join our ranks. The Ancient Greek states were big on slavery. Lets use that to our advantage.

I also find it morally abhorrent to treat people as mere commodities, especially women or our own family:
>>1222927
so please no.

Also, I fully intend to cuck this greedy imbecile. Let's stay on friendly terms for a while and then form a "under the radar" with one of the people contestong his rule:
>>1222851
>his foes among villagers
As OP said. The individual we aid, whom of which will lead the village thereafter, will have loyalty to us. Or perhaps this man is merely ambitious and prude. In that case, he isnt bad and could actually be quite the desirable partner. But theres a matter of trust whoch unsettles me. Someone who can be bought by coin is someone I do not trust.

>>1222846
>1 Bull - 1/2 Talent
>2 Cows - 1/2 Talent
>1 Talent for Grape Seedstock

Try to haggle down the grape seedstock 1/2 a talent.

Do not underestimate the power of being a wine merchant anons.

>>1222944
Get your modern sensibilities out of here.

So, we know what we're not doing, but what are we doing?

>>1222976
Apologies for the typos.

>Someone who can be bought by coin is someone I do not trust.
So close to home, that is. Anyone can be trusted for a single tasl they are good at. But so long as they arent trustworthy in the sense that they will not turn on you or backstab you, then keep them away from home. This village is a little too close.

>Get your modern sensibilities out of here.
No, theyre just sensibilities. I know full well the distinction. As the ages roll, we gather wisdom from the past and the present. It isnt a self-glorifying statement to say that on average, we were back then. I mean, you dont see anyone crying witch and burning their townspeople today, no?

And we should really get farming equipment.

And how will wine feed our men, women, and children? Get them later.

>>1222980
1 Talent for Farming Equipment and Barley Seedstock.
1 Bull - 1/2 Talent
2 Cows - 1/2 Talent

>>1223009
Apologies. My mind moves quicker than my fingers can follow and so I often accidentally do not type words I intended to be apart of the sentence as well.

>on average, we were back then
on average, we are wiser than we were back then

So does a Barley Feedstock, a Bull and Two Cows suit everyone? We may also be able to trade with the Milosians

>>1223009
>No, theyre just sensibilities.

No, no one gave a damn about slavery in the bronze age.

There are already indigenous farmers on Milos, undoubtedly we will be able to acquire food stuffs and equipment from them.

>>1223042
Sure.

>>1223048
>No, no one gave a damn about slavery in the bronze age.
I guess that's why they were in the Bronze Age, huh? And I already addressed this--twice, and with different reasons. Don't bother refuting my statements if you don't have the sense to read mine, because Ill return the favor and not give a crap about what you write.

>There are already indigenous farmers on Milos, undoubtedly we will be able to acquire food stuffs and equipment from them
Fair point. But we'd still need to trade them for something either way.

>>1223153
Also
>No, no one gave a damn about slavery in the bronze age.
Except for the slaves. And there's plenty of them.

>>1223153
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_in_ancient_Greece#Historical_views

There, now that's enough whining about slavery. The good old hurr we're smarter than our ancient ancestors and comparing slavery to witch hunts wasn't worth addressing, because it's stupid.

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You send Agathocles back to the ship, and he returns with silver ornaments to the value of two talents, in exchange for one black furred bull, two cows and the equipment and seed-stock needed to set up a large barley farm. The slender basileos allows you to inspect the animals you are buying before you purchase them, and by all accounts they are in good condition. As a token of good faith, he personally gives over to you an Amphora of Barley, and he looks forward to further trade in the future. He even shows you a more genuine looking smile as your eye wanders to one of his relations, sat at the table, long hair like gold, with an elegant grace in her movements.


Once your deal is concluded, you herd the animals to the ship, along with the various hoes, shovels and axes, the amphora of barley and the seed-stock. At the ship, the injured are greatly improved since they have taken land, it seems they have discovered a spring in a cave in the cliffs, which Agathocles notes as a site of minor importance in the life of a brother of Minos of Crete, and therefore a very minor holy site of Zeus. The water is carried onto the ship in pots, and a drink from it is enough to calm an injured child.

It is a pleasant day of travel to Milos, the gentle breeze from the sea like a caress. Agathocles smiles to you, tiredness barely evident behind his eyes under the gentle sunlight as you approach Milos. The Island is really comprised of a few smaller islands around one large island. The central island, Milos itself, is covered in green land, which you can tell from a distance would make wonderful pasture for sheep or goats, though it remains to be seen if the land is deep enough for fertile farms.

Milos is large enough that, while you can see far off villages, you will not have to encounter them immediately, and as you draw the vessel up into a small covered cove on the eastern coast of Milos itself, you feel, for the first time in a long while, a sense of ease. The people of the vessel dismount again upon the soft sand, wandering up into the grassy dunes and finding a place for the wounded on a small rocky outcropping.

A small forest lies just inland, but your immediate area consists of a small hill, starting among the sand dunes with a small slope, backing onto an otherwise inaccessible area atop cliffs, surrounded on all sides by sheer drops. The land of the clifftop is rocky, suitable for goats, and perhaps cows at a stretch, but the land at the base of the Hill is deep enough to sustain a barley crop.

>The ship and all of your supplies lie on the beach, and now your labours may begin.

Again folks, I have to go sleep and get myself educated, so I will have to return tomorrow evening, at which point my weekend starts, so I will have much more time, but thank you for your participation thus far, I hope you are all enjoying yourselves.

On Slavery. Slaves are more indentured servants than anything. They will likely expect to be freed when they reach their fourties if they have served you well, giving them just enough time to produce children, but you are not bound to that. The number of slaves a man has is not just a measure of his skill at arms and wealth, but a measure of his land, as he can provision so many servants. While you would be within your rights to do as you liked to slave, it is understood that they are still people.

Liberal slave owners existed, who would allow their slaves great freedoms, but the same can be said of conservative owners. If you want to free your slaves to establish a loyal populace, that's entirely viable, but similarly, if you wish to keep them to serve your family and the free people of your new settlement, that is also fine.

We do need to name our protagonist, something I completely forgot about.

>>1223180

Thanks for running

>>1223175
First, you're reading comprehension is sub-par. I used the example of the Salem Witch Trials, and the lack of any similar occurrences in modern day to illustrate our growing wisdom--on average, because humans are still pitifully inane.

>There, now that's enough whining about slavery
The link does nothing to address what I proposed. Maybe scroll up and read.

>>1223180
Take care, OP. And yes, it's fairly interesting.

>>1223193
>name
Athanasios, meaning immortal

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>>1223205
>I used the example of the Salem Witch Trials, and the lack of any similar occurrences in modern day to illustrate our growing wisdom--on average, because humans are still pitifully inane.

>>1223239
No need to go any further with this one, friends, we're here to loot, prosper, and get comfy as all hades, nothing more, nothing less.

>>1223193
>We do need to name our protagonist, something I completely forgot about.

Always liked the name Ajax

>>1223248
It's fine. I harbor no malice. I just want to make sure the anons understand the non-moral-related points I made.

If you're hopeless (or selectively illiterate) like
>>1223239
over here, I sorted the points out:
>slaves are not necessary
>a man who loves his home will work and fight like a lion as opposed to a man who is weighed by shackles.
>we can use our dispute against slavery to aid us in conquest and expansion in the future. We will inspire inner turmoil behind enemy lines. Revolts, rebellions, let the freeman rise and join our ranks. The Ancient Greek states were big on slavery. Lets use that to our advantage.

>>1223275

Your points are retarded and wrong, though. At worst you're a dumbass thinks he's smart, at best you're a powergaming faggot.

>>1223290
Now we're moving on to an ad hominem? Why do you feel insulted, anon? Do you have evidence that suggests that Im wrong? If you do, present it.

>powergaming faggot
No, I'm justifying my moral disposition to those who don't possess the same standards with logical benefits and pragmatism of not practicing slavery. It's called aligning goals. And if you called me a power-gaming faggot, that must mean you do believe this will serve us well, am I wrong?

>>1223307
>I'm justifying my moral disposition

Thought it wasn't about morals nigger?

>And if you called me a power-gaming faggot, that must mean you do believe this will serve us well, am I wrong?
>hurr lets incite all the slaves to revolt and conquer everyone

It's power gaming bullshit that realistically wouldn't work, and could only work if a QM allowed it.

Pretentious faggot.

>>1223340
>Thought it wasn't about morals nigger?
I never said it wasnt. I said the points you should focus on are the ones that will reap actual benefits, not my personal opposition of slavery. Again, sub-par reading comprehension.

>It's power gaming bullshit that realistically wouldn't work, and could only work if a QM allowed it.
As I said, cite some sources. Disprove me. This is a discussion so do it right.

>Pretentious faggot.
Excessive insults act like fillers. That add weightless mass to a weak argument. They also make you sound like moron. Words to the wise, never personally insult the person you are arguing with.

>sub-par reading comprehension
Don't bother citing this to accuse me of hypocrisy. This is merely an observation.

I'm going to nap. Catch you later, anon. I hope you don't take any of this personally. Take care of yourself.

>>1223386
>my personal opposition of slavery.

Like I said, fuck off with your modern sensibilities.

>>1223397
Like I said, the modern sensibilities are irrelevant. Seriously, anon, go take a nap or do your homework. You're a student, right? Anyway, I won't see any post after this so don't be a premature wank.

You're lucky I saw this.

Lads, I'd really prefer if you two didn't fill the thread with an argument. Thanks for keeping it bumped and all, but I would like this line of conversation to end and not to start again. When we come to issues of Slavery, we can discuss it, and I hope we can do so politely.

I'll be back in 49 minutes or so.

>>1225759
That's... oddly specific, but ok.

Damn, five minutes late.

>Right folks, we've landed on Milos, it is january, and time to get started.

Detailed Inventory incoming!

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The ship's hold contains, as you drag it up the beach: Three Sides of Mutton, Four sides of Goat, Thirteen Amphorae (7 Filled with Barley, one filled with olives, one filled with wine, three filled with blessed water, one empty), One Bull (Healthy, Non-Sacred, Young) Two Cows (Can be milked for one amphorae of milk per month each, Healthy, None sacred) 10 Working Axes, 15 Shovels, 15 Hand-Plows, three bronze spears, one bronze double headed axe (Sacred), One talent of silver, Barley Seedstock.

The people that follow you consist of:
20 Male Galley Slaves, 10 Female Galley Slaves, 15 Theran Freemen (8 Injured, 7 trained as Carpenters, one Literate (Agathocles), 3 Theran Elders, 30 Heraklidi Women(15 Unmarried under 45) 20 Theran Women (10 Widows, 7 Injured), 13 Theran Children (7 Girls, 6 Boys).

28 Able Bodied Male Workers (Farming, Plowing, Construction, Logging, Carving,
45 Female Workers (Domestic crafts, gathering, medical care, child rearing and household management, and farming if needed)

Your people need shelter, food, a place to worship, all the things a settled village has, and now you must set to work actually constructing this village.

>Civ style rules at this point, roll 1d100 for actions such as setting up shelters, workshops and so on.

>>1225802
How many actions at same time, or one at time?
I'd say we make shelters and farms as our first action.

Rolled 74 (1d100)

>>1225802
Set up groups to delegate work. Some gather materials, others start setting up shelters and a few people go further out to scout. Those who are unable to do any of this, care for the children and any remaining injured.

>>1225814
Supporting

Rolled 94 (1d100)

>>1225816
And the roll

Rolled 21 (1d100)

>>1225814
sounds good to me too

You have the children and injured brought into the shade of the cliff-side, before handing out work to the remaining men and slaves. Fifteen galley slaves, lead by Agathocles, will set out into the woods to gather lumber for shelters, while the other fifteen galley slaves, lead by one of the Theran men, set out into the woods to find supplies from the land, filling the empty amphora with water from a small stream.

You lead the remaining Free-Men of Thera, three bearing spears and you yourself bearing the axe, to explore the local area. You wander across the cliffs, and see that the island of Milos, unlike Folegandros, blossoms outward from the coastline. An open expanse of valleys and rolling hills, dotted by small patches of thin forest covers the island, from coast to coast. A village lies down the coast to the east, likely a small one, as you cannot see many cookfires. You should have all the space you need to expand along the coast. The flat lands behind the cliffs, but before the landscape rises into the hills is likely the best agricultural land, limiting you in future, but the hills will make wonderful pasture for sheep, cows and goats.

By the end of the day, you have acquired plenty of lumber, branches, simple forest greens, a few local birds, and some basic knowledge of the landscape. Stone is a distant commodity, and as the people settle in for a night sheltered in the ship, you realize that the soil must be dug out for clay, likely to be found in the very same farmland that is so precious, behind the cliffs of the island. This clay can be mounted on frames of branches and lumber to construct simple housing, so that your people need not suffer another night in the cold.

>2 Theran Freemen Heal, 4 Theran Women Healed

>>1225850

I say we take the clay and start farming

>>1225850
Half the people start building, the other half start farming and diging up clay where they find it.

>>1225810
One action, e.g. "Construct some basic shelters" or "Plant Barley"

Also, yeah, new actions can be submitted after each post, just while we're acting in the short term and setting up. We can move onto seasons when we've got whatever farmstead we're running set off.

Rolled 90 (1d100)

>>1225923
>>1225907
Basically same thing, and support

>>1225926

Extract clay and build shelters

Plant barley

Rolled 41 (1d100)

>>1225923
Oh ya. Roll.

>>1225850
Start setting up shelters

Rolled 90 (1d100)

>>1225850
Construct some basic shelters

>>1222612
>"She is gone, little one, gone to Elysium."
What'd her mother do that was great enough for her to inhabit the same space that dead gods do?

>>1228969
It's called a heartening lie.

>>1228972
It's called heresy, the only ones who can judge where she ends up are the three kings... or Cerberus, I forget how exactly it works.

>>1228973
I'm fairly sure that the early dark age/late bronze age Hellenes didn't actually have a formal structure for their religion, we're pre Homer, Pre-Hesiod. Besides, we were just trying to cheer up a child.

>>1228973
Aeacus was a fucking boss

Within two months of landing upon Milos, your people have settled into a routine. The injured Therans have been healed, through the sacred water taken from Folegrandros and through local herbal remedies, and their labour has been crucial to the establishment of the new village. Tow clay pits were dug behind the cliffs, the rich earth being used to construct the walls of a circle of small houses to house the populace on wooden frames. Each house built for itself a stove, for baking clay and in the future, bread, and the people prosper.

Once the few houses were built, three longer, rectangular houses were constructed of wooden planks extracted from the forest and cut, roughly, by working axes. Two of these long houses were built at the base of the small hill that ramps to the cliff-side, accommodation for slaves, barrack rooms around a short table, stove and cooking area. The third longhouse was to be your own, the largest house in the village, crafted of the finest planks available, with an outer layer of clay plaster, and a roof of wood, slowly being replaced with tiles.

Your longhouse contains several rooms, one for you, one large barrack room for your close female relations, a small hall with a long wooden table for you to eat from and to host visitors at, a bedroom for guest-friends, and a kitchen/workshop containing a small adjoining oven. A small store-room is added to act as the village larder, with each of the small houses keeping a portion of their daily supplies, and the slaves keeping a communal food supply.

By the time this labour is done, your food supplies are running very low, and the time for the harvest is approaching. At least you can take solace in the sturdy, rustic little village you've built for yourself, and the warm, squat comfort of your bed. Many issues remain, such as the distance of a water supply, the lack of any agriculture, the lack of defined pastureland for your cows, a lack of sheep for wool for clothing, no grapes for wine, no olive trees nearby, and a lack of any luxuries. Your people are housed, but to be comfortable they need many more things, from a true kiln and clay workshop for the pots needed for daily life and the tiles needed to keep out the rain.

>Before you continue your labours, you must do two things
>Name yourself (Athanasios is the current suggestion)
>Name your Settlement

>Settlement Statistics
>No Food Supply, Nearby Spring, 2 Clay Pits, 15 Houses, 2 Slave Barracks, 1 Longhouse (Accommodates 60 Slaves, 55 Free-Peasants, 1 Guest), No textile supply, No industry, No security, Small Storage Space, No Pastures.

Right folks, I wanted to come up with a way to properly sort out the homesteading section of the game, and I think this system works best.

>>1230409

Start by setting up a farm going, we have the seeds, if we can, start working on an enclosure for the animals

>>1230409
Athanasios (can we get a shorter name?)
Minos

Do we play it like a civ game?

Start clearing a field and plant some crops.

Send some men to scout for pastures and land for animals to graze on.

Scout for solid, stable land to build a storage room, and a granary.

>>1230460
With the establishment of farms an issue arises. Are you going to try to hold all of the land yourself, with the Therans as your tenant farmers, or are you going to parcel out land to the Therans, giving it to them in exchange for their co-operation and taxes. It is a question of whether you want to own the land, allowing you to do as you like with any of it as you will, or whether you want to hand it out to "vassal" farmers, who will give you food rent in exchange for your protection, but will own it themselves, managing it as they choose. This will likely make them much more enthusiastic to follow you, but limits your local power.

>Tenant Farmers
>"Vassal" Farmers

>>1230558
One action at a time, for my sake. Village management will be run similarly to a Civilization game, but with interludes for personal questing with our Hero. Once Athanasios here dies, we will play as his descendants, and so on and so forth through time, our village growing and prospering as we go. Or not, as either case may be.

My name suggestions include
Atrias, Patreus, Megakles and Paleus, at least for short names.

>>1230558
>>1230460
You folks appear to be the only people here, so you're gonna need to vote on this one.

>>1230585

>>1230585
>>Tenant Farmers
We can hand it off to the easier that taking it back with force, assure them once everything needed is built, you'll start giving out parcels of land.

>>1230666
Build the farm/agriculture first.

>>1230460
>>1230678
So farm

and

>>1230585
>Tenant Farmers

We both agree?

>>1230834
I agree

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>>1230834
You do not hand out the land to the people, meeting with a few dissatisfied looks from the men and women of Thera, but no outright dissent. The Therans desire land upon which to raise their families, and until you describe to them that you will eventually be granting parcels of land once the village is established they are concerned. Once the security has been put before them, they are willing to work.

The flat land suitable for farming is a short walk from the village, and in order to save time a few of the Theran men build small huts for themselves nearer to the farmland. Once these huts are built, you instruct the men to clear large rectangles of earth, hacking out the bushes and scrub-trees for firewood and food for the cows, before setting to work hand-plowing the rich earth.

Once the land is plowed, the men move on to other plots, until there are four in total, before going over them and planting the barley seeds you purchased in Folegandros. It is currently early in spring, and it will be the middle of summer before this harvest may be taken in, but when it is it should be more than sufficient to keep the village fed. The difficulty is feeding them in the meantime.

Twenty men and ten women, half slaves half free, are dedicated to farm work, and a small homestead flourishes at each plot of land. You are left to the problem endemic to all small villages, how to supply food while waiting for the harvest. The only answers are scavenging and trade. If you can find an industry to supply the nearby villages with, you may barter for their excess food to sustain you until the harvest comes in.

>>1231050
? no options?

>>1231050

We do have clay, what is it that we need to make pots?

I suspect we have to build a klin for those so we shall then we can start doing clay pots bottles and anphoras to trade with the other villages.

While the people work on the big oven we should head to the nearest village to meet them, lern about their needs and what they have to offer

>>1232121
You can just do actions.

>>1232726
A kiln and a potters workshop is needed for proper pottery, as you said.

I'll get writing.

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>>1232726
With the village houses all complete, the clay pits are left without much use. The clay has been baked previously in the small household ovens, producing very brittle and poor quality pots. You know that the harvest will require a great number of pots for storage, and you know that these home-crafted pots are too shoddily crafted to be worth anything to anyone.

You decide it best to have a potter's workshop and kiln constructed, and set to work. A large, deep kiln is built, with a long chimney, before a small one roomed building is attached to it, a workshop for the potter, on the second layer of the ring of houses that make up the village.

Soon enough one of the slaves has taken residence as the potter, with two of the Theran children serving as his apprentices to learn his trade. Other slaves dredge in the clay pits, and within a few weeks five new amphorae, of nice quality, though they are a little plain, have been produced.

>From now on, 5 Amphorae will be produced per month, with five slaves working in the pits and on the pottery.

You yourself leave the slaves to their work, taking Oinone and Agathocles, along with a few of the Therans and your slaves, on board the ship, rowing it out along the coast to the west, searching for one of the other villages on the island. Just a short row away you find one.

It is a squat little village, built on the coast, with a small wharf for fishing, the houses constructed of stone, with tiled rooves. There look to be about thirty small houses, along with a longhouse that you assume must be for the leader of the settlement.

You call out to the locals, and your ship is guided to the small pier of the wharf. You are met by a broad, black haired man, with searching eyes and lean musculature. He asks you, in a direct tone.

"What do you want of us?"

You tell him you are interested in trade, and he nods. calling you to come forward into the village, leading you to a small store-house on the outskirts. Small herds of sheep move on the nearby hillside, and a few cows mill about in a pen adjoined to the Longhouse. Within the store-room are several amphorae of olives, grapes, and even a few of honey, with and olive press sat in the back of the room. A long crate of bronze headed spears rest by the door, and helmets hand from hooks on the walls. You note that the people here seem to be without slaves, and to bear only men, with a scarce few crones wandering around. You could likely secure some marriages here, and could find a good market for slaves, though by the looks of their armoury they would not make a good target for raids quite yet.

>>1232766

Explain that we have unmarried women seeking suitable husbands and that we would ask for food offerings as a gesture of good faith, the more they give to seed us until harvest the more women we send their way.

on the village, we should start setting up pastures for our cows and bull, and we should explire the mountais when we are back to see if we can find a place for a quarry or a mine

>>1232766
Buy some nets for fishing.

>>1232805
This and some tools.

>>1232780
I don't think its wise to let the, know we have a surplus of women when they are better armed than us. I want to know what happened to them all first. Plus we can probably leverage a better deal out of this or maybe get their men to join our group with the promise of women.

>>1232766

Quick question, just how historical are you going with the resources and stuff on the island?

Could try trading for some food, and grape seed.

>>1233017
I agree with anon about the women as well.