Of Iron and Fire (Ancient/City-State/Fantasy, OOC, OPEN)

[The Imperial Reach]

Spoilsports.

Takht-i-Soh is also not a Telenian city. Shipping off citizens to terrifying barbarians is a touch different - and, potentially, a touch more catastrophically unpopular - than sending them to a more familiar neighbor.

Yet they'd probably all jump to sacrifice one of their own to an angry god of their own pantheon.

The Ancient World was racist.

*cough*

Sorry, did I miss something? Wouldn't be the first time, lol.

Yeah, I'm still not on the roster.

You'd really rather fight an expensive, drawn-out war instead of just holding a beauty contest and giving the winner a one-way ticket to Lesbos 2.0?

I mean, whatever floats your boat...

Not only the point about you being a foreign culture, but also the terms of the “alliance”. Would we be some sort of a subject or an equal partner?

Equal, though in hindsight I probably should have been clearer on that. It was a "you scratch our back, we'll scratch yours" deal, y'know? Considering the city's' martial traditions, population, and wealth it's not a bad deal really.

[Andsed]

Takht-i-Soh is also not a Telenian city. Shipping off citizens to terrifying barbarians is a touch different - and, potentially, a touch more catastrophically unpopular - than sending them to a more familiar neighbor.

Yet they'd probably all jump to sacrifice one of their own to an angry god of their own pantheon.

The Ancient World was racist.

Sorry, did I miss something? Wouldn't be the first time, lol.

Yeah, I'm still not on the roster.

Not only the point about you being a foreign culture, but also the terms of the “alliance”. Would we be some sort of a subject or an equal partner?

Equal, though in hindsight I probably should have been clearer on that. It was a "you scratch our back, we'll scratch yours" deal, y'know? Considering the city's' martial traditions, population, and wealth it's not a bad deal really.

Yeah dude you kinda shot yourself in the foot here. You probably should of formed these alliances before you decided to go to war. Now your likely going to have to deal with an alliance of Telenian city states. Good luck your probably going to need it.

[The Imperial Reach]

Yet they'd probably all jump to sacrifice one of their own to an angry god of their own pantheon.

The Ancient World was racist.



Yeah, I'm still not on the roster.



Equal, though in hindsight I probably should have been clearer on that. It was a "you scratch our back, we'll scratch yours" deal, y'know? Considering the city's' martial traditions, population, and wealth it's not a bad deal really.

Yeah dude you kinda shot yourself in the foot here. You probably should of formed these alliances before you decided to go to war. Now your likely going to have to deal with an alliance of Telenian city states. Good luck your probably going to need it.

Realistically speaking the only cities who have reason to forge such a coalition would be Almaria and Thalmos. They're the only ones I've directly threatened, and I never explicitly said who I'd be going to war with. The only other cities that should be even slightly concerned would be Erlend and Phylesia due to their proximity; everybody else is either too far away to care or too out the way to feel threatened - that includes you. I only have a land army, remember? Marching it around the bay would leave Tahkt-i-Soh open for attack; which wouldn't be wise. Unless I captured a port city Vison should have nothing to fear from me. Same goes for any city that's on an island or on the southern landmass.

And then there's Masroi and Erethios - the very fringes of civilization. They might as well be on the other end of the world. Maybe if there were more cities between them and the rest of Telen I'd consider it viable, but until then: nah son.

But yeah, if you're not Almaria, Thalmos, Erlend, or Phylesia then realistically speaking the only logical reaction is to laugh at what must obviously be the posturing delusions of rambling barbarians because those four are the only ones close enough to logically considered such boasts and threats of war as a legitimate threat.

Unless your leader is incredibly paranoid.

[The Frozen Forest]

Yeah dude you kinda shot yourself in the foot here. You probably should of formed these alliances before you decided to go to war. Now your likely going to have to deal with an alliance of Telenian city states. Good luck your probably going to need it.

Realistically speaking the only cities who have reason to forge such a coalition would be Almaria and Thalmos. They're the only ones I've directly threatened, and I never explicitly said who I'd be going to war with. The only other cities that should be even slightly concerned would be Erlend and Phylesia due to their proximity; everybody else is either too far away to care or too out the way to feel threatened - that includes you. I only have a land army, remember? Marching it around the bay would leave Tahkt-i-Soh open for attack; which wouldn't be wise. Unless I captured a port city Vison should have nothing to fear from me. Same goes for any city that's on an island or on the southern landmass.

And then there's Masroi and Erethios - the very fringes of civilization. They might as well be on the other end of the world. Maybe if there were more cities between them and the rest of Telen I'd consider it viable, but until then: nah son.

But yeah, if you're not Almaria, Thalmos, Erlend, or Phylesia then realistically speaking the only logical reaction is to laugh at what must obviously be the posturing delusions of rambling barbarians because those four are the only ones close enough to logically considered such boasts and threats of war as a legitimate threat.

Unless your leader is incredibly paranoid.

Kamox and Thalmos are economic rivals, so there is a monetary incentive for Kamox to support anyone or anything that could hamper Thalmosian iron production. Kamox wouldn't provide direct military support, but it would be willing to sell bronze weapons/armor at a cheaper price.

[Former Citizens of the Nimbus System]

And that's just about done! Might create an image for the emblem later (though if you prefer to do that, Tasuirin, don't let that stop you).

Oh, and I don't mind however you want to do it, if you want to design the symbol or I.

In that case... I'll let you do it. I've already described the emblem's basic layout but you obviously know how dragons look in this universe (or how people think they look), so you have that advantage over me! The silver and red, by the way, are hex a1a3aa (always like mixing a touch of blue into my silvers) and 5a000e.

I'll get to work on my first post now, I think. Just need to read through everyone else's to get a sense of the geopolitical landscape!

[Skarten]

I'm making my app but i'm having a real problem finding an good flag for my nation.

Well, less of a flag and more like a symbol that is essentially the only thing that's close to a flag that cities had at this point in time, but you get what i mean.

[Great Confederacy of Commonwealth States]

I'm making my app but i'm having a real problem finding an good flag for my nation.

Well, less of a flag and more like a symbol that is essentially the only thing that's close to a flag that cities had at this point in time, but you get what i mean.

I can make one for you tomorrow! What are you looking for?

[Former Citizens of the Nimbus System]

Hi, GCCS! Asked you something yesterday; not sure if you saw, so I'll quote it here:

Great Confederacy of Commonwealth States, would you be alright with a defensive pact between [insert future name of state currently referred to as Magna Getae here] and Syros, a 'we guard the sea, you guard the land'-type arrangement? I imagine that the Syriot aristocracy would be more than a little scared of their erratic inland neighbours and would feel that this would be a good way to neutralise them as a threat. On your side, Syros' trade links would be a very good way for Oneirophon to get access to the grain that he's using to hold power and I'm sure that the council would be happy to throw that into the deal!

[Skarten]

I'm making my app but i'm having a real problem finding an good flag for my nation.

Well, less of a flag and more like a symbol that is essentially the only thing that's close to a flag that cities had at this point in time, but you get what i mean.

I can make one for you tomorrow! What are you looking for?

Well, first of all, thanks!

Second, while i don't exactly know what could be a good symbol, i have, for example, an idea which would probably fit. So, you know the Greco-Bactrian Kingdoms right?

Well, in one of their coins, there is some imagery that would describe pretty good what my idea for the symbol/flag is essentially. Principally since, you know, they're not exactly flags, but more like symbols that are usually oval or of some other random shape, rather than just a modern-type flag.

Here's the part of the coin that has the imagery.




I don't exactly seem to be able to decipher what the coin is saying (I can translate it to greek, but it's just that the letters are a bit wonky. Point is, from what i read, the top part reads "Basileo" And then something, and in the bottom it's saying Eucratides, which was the Bactrian King at the time (This coin was made as a stater for his conquest in India). But really, it doesn't matter that much to the symbol.
So the symbol that i had in my mind would be, essentially, the, you know, soldier guys with the horses.

Once again, i'll say thanks a lot for you help.

[Tasuirin]

Sorry, did I miss something? Wouldn't be the first time, lol.

Yeah, I'm still not on the roster.

Oh! That! Whoops!

[Tasuirin]

Well, all city states are supposed to be somewhat influenced by Telenian culture. Telenian culture is the main focus of the RP. What I mean is that we have a somewhat Indic-inspired city state already. Though not entirely Bactrian, there are similarities.

I will also rephrase - the culture is to be mainly Telenian. You can add some flair from other cultures, but I've already stated before that I don't want too many more exotic cultures this early. I'm trusting you to make an app that does not go so far towards the Bactrian that you're neglecting the Greco. If the Greek culture is not prominent, I'm afraid I will have to decline.

Don't worry it is. Plus, Greco-Bactrian is not exactly Indian. It's different from it. Very different, actually. But don't worry, it'll still be remaining as Telenian-like. The rulers, too, will be Telenian (Greek). To be honest, Bactria was very greek, so it's not like i would have to decrease too much the eastern influence.

Okay, Skarten, after some discussion behind the scenes, both myself and the Co-OP have agreed that we had been very clear beforehand about wanting purely Telenian city states until we get more players. I'm sorry for my change of tune, but to be fair, we had made that clear in the OP. As such, I will ask for that to be the case.

[The Imperial Reach]

Realistically speaking the only cities who have reason to forge such a coalition would be Almaria and Thalmos. They're the only ones I've directly threatened, and I never explicitly said who I'd be going to war with. The only other cities that should be even slightly concerned would be Erlend and Phylesia due to their proximity; everybody else is either too far away to care or too out the way to feel threatened - that includes you. I only have a land army, remember? Marching it around the bay would leave Tahkt-i-Soh open for attack; which wouldn't be wise. Unless I captured a port city Vison should have nothing to fear from me. Same goes for any city that's on an island or on the southern landmass.

And then there's Masroi and Erethios - the very fringes of civilization. They might as well be on the other end of the world. Maybe if there were more cities between them and the rest of Telen I'd consider it viable, but until then: nah son.

But yeah, if you're not Almaria, Thalmos, Erlend, or Phylesia then realistically speaking the only logical reaction is to laugh at what must obviously be the posturing delusions of rambling barbarians because those four are the only ones close enough to logically considered such boasts and threats of war as a legitimate threat.

Unless your leader is incredibly paranoid.

Kamox and Thalmos are economic rivals, so there is a monetary incentive for Kamox to support anyone or anything that could hamper Thalmosian iron production. Kamox wouldn't provide direct military support, but it would be willing to sell bronze weapons/armor at a cheaper price.

Kamox is officially the new Ephialtes and there's nothing wrong with that. Welcome aboard!

[The Imperial Reach]

Toaslandia, I have a few issues with your post.

First, there couldn't possibly be any rumor of Tahkt-i-Soh preparing for war just yet. The only people who know about it right now are in the queen's court and the courts of Almaria and Thalmos. Seeing as none of these courts have publicly spoken on the matter or privately sent word to anyone else about it, no one outside the courts of these three cities should be aware of any war plans.

Second, the mention of war in the letters was vague and ambiguous. Nothing suggedts it was "all of Rheas" she was gunning for. Almaria and Thalmos are the only cities that have been directly threatened, so even if you did catch wind of these war preparations then right now Erlend has no reason to suspect war is coming for them. But since there's no way Erlend could even have learned of these war preparations yet, they shouldn't even be able to have such a conversation about it.

Plus, I don't think winters are that tough in a Mediterranean climate. That's not even to mention that Hazedans come from the steppes so they'd probably know the cold better than anyone else in Telen.

[Toaslandia]

Toaslandia, I have a few issues with your post.

First, there couldn't possibly be any rumor of Tahkt-i-Soh preparing for war just yet. The only people who know about it right now are in the queen's court and the courts of Almaria and Thalmos. Seeing as none of these courts have publicly spoken on the matter or privately sent word to anyone else about it, no one outside the courts of these three cities should be aware of any war plans.

Second, the mention of war in the letters was vague and ambiguous. Nothing suggedts it was "all of Rheas" she was gunning for. Almaria and Thalmos are the only cities that have been directly threatened, so even if you did catch wind of these war preparations then right now Erlend has no reason to suspect war is coming for them. But since there's no way Erlend could even have learned of these war preparations yet, they shouldn't even be able to have such a conversation about it.

Plus, I don't think winters are that tough in a Mediterranean climate. That's not even to mention that Hazedans come from the steppes so they'd probably know the cold better than anyone else in Telen.

Sorry, just the way everyone was reacting made me think that somehow everyone knew about it, so I'll fix the post.

[Reverend Norv]

There we go. Some cultural exposition, some politics, and a little bit of foreshadowing.

[Farahdeen]

Hey guys sorry for being inactive. I'll get a post up soon. Also to whoever @ed me, what was your question again?

[Tasuirin]

FINALLY got the post up. Yay me! And yay us, I guess.

Anyway, dragons are back. News of Eretheos will spread, and so our plot begins in earnest!

Also, for those still not on the roster (I think two of you), I am very sorry. Been a lot busier than expected today, so I'll try to get to it tomorrow afternoon.

[The Hoosier Alliance]

Question: How big a role, if any, will the gods be playing in this?

[Tasuirin]

Question: How big a role, if any, will the gods be playing in this?

From my point of view, the gods don't actually exist, though anyone can attribute things, even somewhat miraculous circumstances, to the gods. A lot of people would have been religious at the time, so it's not unusual.

[The Hoosier Alliance]

From my point of view, the gods don't actually exist, though anyone can attribute things, even somewhat miraculous circumstances, to the gods. A lot of people would have been religious at the time, so it's not unusual.

Awwwww man. Not that big a deal though.

[St George Territory]

From my point of view, the gods don't actually exist, though anyone can attribute things, even somewhat miraculous circumstances, to the gods. A lot of people would have been religious at the time, so it's not unusual.

Awwwww man. Not that big a deal though.

On the other hand you could worship the dragons, they seem real

[Farahdeen]

Finally one post up, I underestimated the time it would take to write that.

Xenos and Salenippos have been sent a message/reply.

Sorry if the details are a bit lacking or my writing is a bit rusty and awkward.

[The Imperial Reach]

Question: How big a role, if any, will the gods be playing in this?

From my point of view, the gods don't actually exist, though anyone can attribute things, even somewhat miraculous circumstances, to the gods. A lot of people would have been religious at the time, so it's not unusual.

That's a bummer, really. Gods are usually a legit thing in fantasy universes.

Maybe they can exist just not be very powerful? Like they can only influence the world to a certain degree and in certain ways?

[Nu-Amerika]

From my point of view, the gods don't actually exist, though anyone can attribute things, even somewhat miraculous circumstances, to the gods. A lot of people would have been religious at the time, so it's not unusual.

That's a bummer, really. Gods are usually a legit thing in fantasy universes.

Maybe they can exist just not be very powerful? Like they can only influence the world to a certain degree and in certain ways?

I actually like the fact that the gods don't exist. Won't stop me from having my fanatical order order of heathen priests, either. That's just me though. Never been one for clerics or pallys

[Great Confederacy of Commonwealth States]

From my point of view, the gods don't actually exist, though anyone can attribute things, even somewhat miraculous circumstances, to the gods. A lot of people would have been religious at the time, so it's not unusual.

That's a bummer, really. Gods are usually a legit thing in fantasy universes.

Maybe they can exist just not be very powerful? Like they can only influence the world to a certain degree and in certain ways?

No fantasy universe is beholden to the tropes of others. I think this world works better without actual gods.