“Thucydides of Athens recorded the war between the Peloponnesians and Athenians, as they warred against each other; he served directly in the event and he realized it was great and that it was going to be the most remarkable of all previous history, judging that they were at their peak in it, both of them, with all possible preparation, and seeing that the rest of Greece was stood against one another, some directly, and others by intention. For this movement happened as the greatest before among the Hellenes and in whichever country of the Barbarians, such that it was even named among the biggest of mankind…”
With these words, Thucydides began his account of a war which shaped the future of the Greek civilization. What I like most of all about his narrative, is that he believed there was more reason to call this war ‘great’ than merely the length of time or the scale of the operations involved. That was part of it, but he thought it was the expression of a more basic, civilizational clash, between two powers who represented two diametrically opposed ways of life: the Athenians, flushed with belief in themselves and unafraid to break the limits of human humility with sweeping art and literature; and the Spartans, unreflective, tied to the way of things and to the land, living in the way of nature.
I am looking for people who are interested in RPing an epic war inspired by the Peloponnesian War of old. Two great powers (one of them will be myself) face off with however many allies they have. I have a premise for the war already which people can discuss. One of the essentials for this project is that it must encompass a confrontation between two ‘opposing’ systems. My idea was to use slavery as the flashpoint for the war and go from there. My nation, Thebes, is a large confederacy with a direct democratic culture, subscribed to their own indigenous system of libertarian society. This makes it a perfect ‘modern Athens’ parallel but we don’t have to be too rigid about the premise. Thebes’ “national” government is somewhat inactive but some members of the confederacy patrol the seas to battle pirates and slavers. I need someone to play the ‘Sparta’ role and represent a rival great power that is perhaps the opposite image of Thebes: centralized, authoritarian, personality-driven, and exploitative. Or whatever you think. We add whoever wants to be allies to either side.
I recently started a thread which is designed to be the backstory to this war and it RPs domestic politics in Thebes, attempting to tell the story of the last few years before the present, in which the Theban debate regarding what their proper role in the world is spins out of control, and tests the strength of their democratic system of life. I’ve only just started and I left it vague so far to leave room for retconning depending on who wants to play. My personal idea is somewhat intricate, its probably what I’ll do if I don’t get any interest: I’ve been thinking that a brilliant young king or ruler from some despotic state has just completed a series of Alexander-style conquests and, being hardcore in with evil, he devises a campaign against a region which neighbors Thebes, thinking that he will isolate the hated Thebans and position himself to strangle them or strike them directly in the intermediate future (could be like a 15 year plan or something). In this storyline his pirates and slavers are raiding the region, which is in Thebes sphere of influence, to weaken them before he suddenly pulls the trigger and arrives in the region with a massive army to conquer the continent. This is the start of the war, and the Thebans all take up arms together – which they rarely ever do – in order to try and stop the evil king.
In fact the only thing I'm dead set on is the general premise of slavery (or piracy maybe), but even that can be portrayed in any way. I mostly want to have a really cool RP and get people involved. I must disclaim up front, I have a plain writing style but my interest in this RP is semi-literary, I like that this is a game and I like our RPing conventions for style, brevity, brisk plot movement, and so on – and most importantly I am no critic when it comes to reading others. That being said, for me there is a big story element, and I’m trying to make it a work of literature a little bit, my plot has themes and its experimenting with real aspects of the human experience. If I summed it up I would say that it is about self-realization, conflict and energy pushing things to become the maximum expression of what they are. I would not mind if people really liked that idea as a writing challenge and wanted to try and tell a collective story where our nations evolve through the dialectical challenges of politics and human society contained in war, but I would not make anyone do so, it is just like the official theme of the RP or something.
At this point, this is just the very first part of the planning stage, I just want to hear from anybody who’s interested, either as the rival power or as any level of combatant, to start talking about the premise of the war and some of the background info – where is this going to take place, what is our previous history with each other, what are your ideas, etc. Eventually we could put up an IRC channel if we really get a lot of interest and use it to make a wiki or something, that’s like my grandest ambition for this RP.
I included a signup sheet, go ahead and use it to tag the thread but most important to me is your blurb explaining your nation's backstory to the war and what your take on the premise is. There is really no pressure here unless for some reason we get like 10 people trying to play as the rival power, then we have to talk about perhaps making the opposing side a league of some kind...
EDIT: Now including a running list of participants
Theban Alliance
Batavia
Getaresovnihica
Free Missouri
Confederacy of Technologist Communes
Baal
Legatia
Thebes
Rival Alliance
The Soviets
Great Krogaria
Altpeak
Minor Powers
Bendicion
Medwedia
Romanzuin
Greater Terra
Vymar
Order of Battle
, I hope maybe we can get you on in your afternoon or evening time...
