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>>3528832

>ON THE BEIDI: OR, THE NORTHERN BARBARIANS

Of all these nations and peoples in the East, the horse-paired Beidi are the bravest - in part because they are furthest from what passes as civilisation and refinement from the Middle Kingdom, and also because merchants least frequently resort to them and import those things which tend to poison and effeminate the mind.

It is from them that the people of Xia most readily go to for horses, their mounts being similar to that of the nomadic peoples east of the Iranian steppes - small, hardy, and with great endurance. They are however unable to carry as much, or put forth as much destructive charging power, as the Parthian destriers. They are renowned for their mounted archers who fire bows of animal sinew and treated wood, and often discourage the Imperial legions of Xia by hit-and-run tactics.

They are a sworn enemy of the Dongyi people, who dwell beyond the river Yalu, with whom they are continually waging war; for which reason the Dongyi border-kingdom of Goguryeo also surpasses the rest of the civilised barbarians in valor, as they contend with the Beidi in almost daily battles, when they either repell them from their own territories, or themselves advance to war on their frontiers. Despite this estrangement, these two people share a common root that belie their modern vendetta, as can be seen in their mutual affinity for cavalry.

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>>3528837

>ON THE DONGYI: OR, THE EASTERN BARBARIANS

The Dongyi are mainly confined to their minute peninsula far to the west, which use the river Yalu as the main border against their northern cousins, the Beidi. These people are separated largely into three tribes, or nations, with the bare minimum of the sophistication demanded of kingdoms.

The Baekje, who trade with a cluster of savage islanders even further east, is known for its religious devotion. Their main import is texts of religious sort, and export the religious artefacts from their faith, which are lovingly crafted out of the plentiful gold in their hills.

The Sillae, who are the weakest of the three kingdoms, is constantly pillaged by the island-savages to the east, the very same trade partners of Baekje. They are insignificant and will likely fade away in a few generations.

The Goguryeo, as has been stated elsewhere, is the paramount among the Dongyi peoples, and also the most savage. They are a curious blend of their northern Beidi cousins and the civilising influence of the Xia, the convergence of which put them in a unique spot of being able to create regiments of heavy cavalry, armoured from head to hoof, not unlike our cataphraktarii.

They are a reclusive people, and prefer on the whole to defend their borders than to make conquests.

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>>3528866

>ON THE XIRONG: OR, THE PEOPLE OF THE WEST

Of Xirong little is known by the Xia, the people of the Middle Kingdom being hardly aware of the wider world that exist beyond their desert periphery. Indeed, they are unaware of the variety of the races of men that exist around the Mediterranean save that through them come the wares and news of the "Daqin". To the Xia, the mere label of "Xirong" is sufficient to group-name the Syrians, Jews, Greeks, Romans, Armenians, Parthians, Dacians, and others that occupy the Silk Roads.

They are recognised by the horse-poor Xia of the excellence of their horsebreeds, which they call "Tianma", or Celestial Horse. A great war was fought between an unspecified "Xirong" kingdom and the Xia over the acquisition of a herd of such horses.

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>>3528875

>ON THE NANMAN: OR, THE SOUTHERN BARBARIANS

The Nanman are an insular race of tribals, given to stealthy dispositions, and fond of swamp frog poison indigenous to their jungles. They are said to eat spiders, snakes, and hairy men. They are not great travelers, nor do they make sailors, despite occupying great forested coastlands, preferring to stay in their disease-filled habitat. The lands of Nanman are a great source of jade, which the Xia prize among all else save perhaps bronze.

Little is known by the Xia of the Nanman, the jungles proving too formidable for extended military expeditions.

Inserted is a crude sketch of the spread of the Five Peoples of Sinae. Note that it is not a political map, and border changes fluctuate wildly between nations and kingdoms and empires.

It is 771 years from the founding of the City.

Far away to the west, in your beloved Rome, the brilliant Germanicus of the gens Claudia concludes a peace treaty with Parthia, ending the eastern border disputes and allowing him to focus on the west. In the Chinese mainland, the so-called Xin Dynasty struggles with agrarian rebellions and mutinying warlords after Wang Mang (who has renamed himself 'Earthly Emperor') poisoned the Han Dynasty's reigning ruler and established a new dynasty. The Goguryeo break their traditional borders by invading the easternmost Han commanderies, taking advantage of the internal focus of the Xia. Among the Beidi, the sign of the Blue Wolf and the White-Spotted Doe is witnessed by a certain shaman of some repute.

But even greater than any of those events in history will be the arrival of the Tessarakonteres to Formosa. Within thousands of souls, every single one determined to achieve the previously unattained. Within these menagerie of men, a single soul shines brighter than the rest, its determination eclipsing its neighbours'.

18 AD. A satisfied carpenter in Rome-occupied Judaea wipes his brows, looking over a job well done.

---

The wind bats fiercely against your face, sending your hair into a dizzying dance against your patrician features. Aquiline nose not so dissimilar to that of your own from your past life, a set of glittering green eyes flecked with gold - the former colour a gift from your mother, the latter the evidence of your emerging divinity.

Sprays of saltwater douse your well-muscled body, causing tears to spring unbidden from your eyes with the brine, but not to close your eyes. A sailor shouts at you from behind, warning of the dangers of the rough waters. To head inside, where it is warm and safe, with bowls of warm gruel being served.

You ignore the man and stare directly ahead.

Land.

This shall be your domain, your first landing. From this land will you begin the spread of true Civilisation in this benighted land that know only uncertainty and fear. Out of the sea you brought brave and hardy souls to establish anew far away from the jealous gods of the West, away from the peeking eyes of Juno Regina, whose bitter envy is never-ending, never-forgiven. A land where you may spread your wings, create an empire of your own, and perhaps return West someday to right the wrongs that was done to you by the people and the gods of Rome.

Welcome to Formosa, Divine Caesar. May your conquest be a successful one.

>>3528971
Ignore the above post, clicked enter way too quick
----

Humans, soldiers and civilian alike, are at their weakest when they land. Adjusting to a floor that does not sway and shift at every provocation is one that requires some time, during which their sense of direction and balance is like that of a child.

>Even so, Caesar understood the necessity of establishing a beachhead. He ordered every able-bodied men to begin the construction of a castrum immediately, with exceptions made to those less hindered by the deleterious effects of land sickness, who stood guard.

>Alexandros wished for the colonists and soldiers to be at their best when making the landing. There was no sign of settlement along this side of the coast, but the land was one with heavy foliage, and more than once he fancied he saw darkly painted faces beneath the large leaves. He first landed with a select group of men himself, men who were able to handle their stomach better on land without heaving the contents immediately.

>Custom

>>3528973
>Alexandros wished for the colonists and soldiers to be at their best when making the landing. There was no sign of settlement along this side of the coast, but the land was one with heavy foliage, and more than once he fancied he saw darkly painted faces beneath the large leaves. He first landed with a select group of men himself, men who were able to handle their stomach better on land without heaving the contents immediately.


Make sure no native get any idea.
Btw, no vote about what we were doing during our time on the boat?

>>3529051
I'll definitely go over that, three years is a long time to have just spent as a blank. Still wanted some more suggestions on what you guys were thinking of in terms of activities done, as stated in the last thread, but I also wanted to make this thread today since I might be gone for the entire day tomorrow with tests.

Look at me, not properly studying, and running a silly quest instead. T-T

>>3529060
For what it’s worth, I find this quest extremely entertaining.

Ah, I know that, I did worse; I waited until the last moment to write a report because I was reading a book... I ended up spending the entire night to finish the darn thing.

Copy paste from last Thread.

>>3529066
Looking into it, Taiwan right now is very sparsely populated and developped, with perhaps a few ten of thousands natives, perfect for our purpose.
I think we should use our travels time to train ourselves, drill our men (and find some officer)
And do some city planning, so that we can get to work once we get here.
Not sure about the Bronze, still waiting to gift it to someone we want dead desu.
Perhaps we should even do a timeskip of our initial arrival phase? A few years pass where we get colonists, set up a city and ready stuff to start conquering.
I find us a bit young right at this moment.

We could also encourage our people to have kids during our travels as well, ask our Greek friend to. Buy women Slave so that we don’t have an imbalance of men/woman, allow Indo-Greek to seek refuge with us should they get persecuted, makes proper map of our Travel to make it easier to get to Formosa, properly plan our City social, military and civil structure by talking it out with our leader so that we can come to an agreement before we arrive.
Lot to do.

>>3528973
>Alexandros wished for the colonists and soldiers to be at their best when making the landing. There was no sign of settlement along this side of the coast, but the land was one with heavy foliage, and more than once he fancied he saw darkly painted faces beneath the large leaves. He first landed with a select group of men himself, men who were able to handle their stomach better on land without heaving the contents immediately

>>3528973
>Even so, Caesar understood the necessity of establishing a beachhead. He ordered every able-bodied men to begin the construction of a castrum immediately, with exceptions made to those less hindered by the deleterious effects of land sickness, who stood guard.
Britain two

>>3528973
Should we name the island actually?

>>3528973
>>Even so, Caesar understood the necessity of establishing a beachhead. He ordered every able-bodied men to begin the construction of a castrum immediately, with exceptions made to those less hindered by the deleterious effects of land sickness, who stood guard.

>>3528973
>Alexandros wished for the colonists and soldiers to be at their best when making the landing. There was no sign of settlement along this side of the coast, but the land was one with heavy foliage, and more than once he fancied he saw darkly painted faces beneath the large leaves. He first landed with a select group of men himself, men who were able to handle their stomach better on land without heaving the contents immediately.
>>3529247
Not sure about the island but the first settlement I vote we name Alexandria Eskhata (or Ultima, for the more Latin inclined among us), Alexandria Furthest.

>>3530083
I'm sure our Greek soldiers would appreciate the irony

>Alexandros

Years of living had changed the interior of the Tessarakonteres, which ceased being referred to by its former name after the death of the lady. The great ship was host to more men than merchandise now. It was like a village afloat on the sea, filled with the lively sound of running children and singing washerwomen. Water was always a premium on voyages, so they had to make do with briny waters for washing dishes and clothes.

The Grand Ship was finally alone now. Lady Tzi's trade flotilla went on their own way once they entered Chinese waters, though not after giving you ample directions, of course. You bore the

"Once more we sail with the northerly gale..." you hum a little song, hopping out of the salt-stiff bed to begin your morning routine of...

>...the refreshing morning shave. You'd come to appreciate the calm before the storm of the day's activities that this activity gives you, back when you were a Roman. You were continuing the tradition of not shaving into this life. After all, you are not a barbarian.

>...drinking a cup of morning tea. It was from Lady Tzi's overly frequent visits that this slightly bitter drink finally won you over. You didn't like it at first, preferring the familiar bite of wine and posca, but there is something soothing about the way the liquid warmth spreads from your gullet to the rest of your body.

>...play with Hermann Junior, of course. He was two years old now, almost as old as you were when this voyage began. You've never had a biological son before, but you are enjoying being an "uncle" - none of the work that comes with parenthood, with all of the joys. One of your favourite things to do is to extend a finger to the unassuming bundle of cloth, only for a tiny arm to pop out and grasp it possessively.

>...take half an hour to meditate. It's odd, this thing about 'seeking your inner self'. You were told by someone named Guru while your ship was resupplying in the eastern end of India that it would let you find inner peace, but the only thing it's done is make you feel like you need to ravage and pillage. Maybe that says something about you.

>...custom?

[Forgot the usual "hi guys" bit for the start of every thread this time + the link to archive, here it is, so I don't have to go to the older thread every time to look it up.

http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive.html?searchall=Commentarii

Hi.]

>>3530746
>...play with Hermann Junior, of course. He was two years old now, almost as old as you were when this voyage began. You've never had a biological son before, but you are enjoying being an "uncle" - none of the work that comes with parenthood, with all of the joys. One of your favourite things to do is to extend a finger to the unassuming bundle of cloth, only for a tiny arm to pop out and grasp it possessively.
Tough choice between this and meditation, but caring for our people is important

>>3530746
>...the refreshing morning shave. You'd come to appreciate the calm before the storm of the day's activities that this activity gives you, back when you were a Roman. You were continuing the tradition of not shaving into this life. After all, you are not a barbarian.

>...play with Hermann Junior, of course. He was two years old now, almost as old as you were when this voyage began. You've never had a biological son before, but you are enjoying being an "uncle" - none of the work that comes with parenthood, with all of the joys. One of your favourite things to do is to extend a finger to the unassuming bundle of cloth, only for a tiny arm to pop out and grasp it possessively.

>>3530746
>All of the above
Everything has it's place

>>3531011
Although, if you're asking what we begin with specifically, then I vote for shaving

>>3530746
>take half an hour to meditate. It's odd, this thing about 'seeking your inner self'. You were told by someone named Guru while your ship was resupplying in the eastern end of India that it would let you find inner peace, but the only thing it's done is make you feel like you need to ravage and pillage. Maybe that says something about you.

We'll pick up something from East I suppose

>>3530746
>...drinking a cup of morning tea. It was from Lady Tzi's overly frequent visits that this slightly bitter drink finally won you over. You didn't like it at first, preferring the familiar bite of wine and posca, but there is something soothing about the way the liquid warmth spreads from your gullet to the rest of your body.
The first step to seeming less "other" to the locals is to partake of the same food and drink that they do.

>>3530746
>...the refreshing morning shave. You'd come to appreciate the calm before the storm of the day's activities that this activity gives you, back when you were a Roman. You were continuing the tradition of not shaving into this life. After all, you are not a barbarian.
Followed by...
>...drinking a cup of morning tea. It was from Lady Tzi's overly frequent visits that this slightly bitter drink finally won you over. You didn't like it at first, preferring the familiar bite of wine and posca, but there is something soothing about the way the liquid warmth spreads from your gullet to the rest of your body.
I'd particularly like to vote for no meditation.

Can't have every single option, you greedy anons! This is just to know what you started the day with. Looks like shaving wins, so I'll go with that.

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>...the refreshing morning shave. You'd come to appreciate the calm before the storm of the day's activities that this activity gives you, back when you were a Roman. You were continuing the tradition of not shaving into this life. After all, you are not a barbarian.
> [SALVBRITAS] - kept your face clean, according to the Roman customs

Your mind is unusually busy today, even as you douse your face with brinewater to rid yourself of stray hair from the shave. Today is the day you land on this new island, one that Lady Tzi assured you was more or less uninhabited. "By the Han, anyway," she had said. "And that means free real estate."

"The Han?" You'd questioned. "I thought your people were named Xia."

"That's the general name. Our name changes according to the dynasty we are in."

These easterners will take some time getting used to. You can't imagine the Parthians changing their names every time their Shah died, or the Romans with the changing of the Augustus. The Lady Tzi was an invaluable teacher in the years of the voyage even as her fleet led you closer and closer to that promised land.

"How do you know so much, Teacher?" you had asked her one morning, as soon as she arrived from her ship via boat. It was a once-a-week occurence between the two of you, the widow seemingly enjoying teaching someone instead of calculating profits for once.

"You mean, how does a whore from Yuhang know of anything other than pleasuring men?" she drawled in her accented Greek, drawing in a breath of her long pipe.

"It isn't fair to the other women for you to be talented and beautiful."

Your teasing had brought forth a peal of laughter instead of the expected blush. "Oh, you will be a heartbreaker once you loose yourself in the Jewel Cities of Han," she shook her head. "I can already see it now, the army of angry fathers and tearful single mothers. But you will have to try harder than that for me, greenhorn," she said playfully. "Young men should find young girls to bed instead of looking to their elders. I am probably old enough to be your grandmother, you know?"

And not for the first time, you wonder what the widow's age truly is.

>Somewhat familiar with the ways of the strange, strange people of the East

Though she calls you a young man, there is a hint of sarcasm in her voice as usual. Three years of escapades with the nameless tribals and countless client-kings of distant Han has chiseled your features to shed the baby-fat of yesteryear, though that has only accentuated your youthsome appearance if anything. You are alike with the Widow that aspect - an ambiguity of age.

Three years. It really was three years since Muziris, wasn't it? It seems like a lifetime ago now, after all that. A faint smile plays along your lips, reflected from the polished bronze shield you are using as a mirror, as you reminisce the past. The most memorable of all though, was...

>>3532499

>...fighting the Giant of Malacca. The memory still causes adrenaline to course through your veins. The brute was using uprooted trees as his weapon, displaying a formidable (and clearly unhuman) strength to terrorise the locals for tribute. That would have been the way of life in the small irrelevant island for the natives, if not for the fact that one day, a great fortress-ship appeared on their horizon and demanded much of the same things that the Giant ordered. There could only be one. [+Skilled]

>...an unforgettable night with the Queen of Nanyue, sneaking in to the palace while her Chinese husband was off suppressing yet another rebellion in the troublesome satellite kingdom of the Han. There's something about the wives of powerful men that tingle your predator instincts. There's something about -you- that gets lonely trophy wives all hot and bothered. [Lady Killer]

>...stealing a few horses from some Beidi traders with Ambiorix and Hermann. When Hermann asked tips on what he could do to improve his awkward relationship with his father-in-law in the middle of the high-class horse market, you just had to do it. Like the wise men say - friends who steal together, die together. (Though that probably had more to do with friend-thieves getting caught and executed more than an advice to steal to deepen friendship.) The prickling phantom pains of nomad arrows on your arse return when you ride for long periods of time, though the wounds have long healed without a hint of scarring. [+10 Northern Plains Horses]

>The birth of Hermann and Aisling's son. It was a rare moment of festivities aboard the Tessarakonteres, where everything is rationed, from food to water to light sources. For a single night, all those restrictions were lifted to celebrate the birth of this precious little one. And what a night! Even Ambiorix mellowed out with his son-in-law, giving him a hug, until he realised what his daughter having his son meant and ran away in tearful disgust. Ah, your poor Gaulish chieftain of the maiden's heart. No hesitation whatsoever in burning down houses and killing people, but he can't imagine his precious daughter uniting with another man. [A Happy Memory]

>...[Custom]

>>3532502
>...fighting the Giant of Malacca. The memory still causes adrenaline to course through your veins. The brute was using uprooted trees as his weapon, displaying a formidable (and clearly unhuman) strength to terrorise the locals for tribute. That would have been the way of life in the small irrelevant island for the natives, if not for the fact that one day, a great fortress-ship appeared on their horizon and demanded much of the same things that the Giant ordered. There could only be one.
KILL

>>3532502
>..fighting the Giant of Malacca. The memory still causes adrenaline to course through your veins. The brute was using uprooted trees as his weapon, displaying a formidable (and clearly unhuman) strength to terrorise the locals for tribute. That would have been the way of life in the small irrelevant island for the natives, if not for the fact that one day, a great fortress-ship appeared on their horizon and demanded much of the same things that the Giant ordered. There could only be one. [+Skilled]

>>3532502
>...fighting the Giant of Malacca. The memory still causes adrenaline to course through your veins. The brute was using uprooted trees as his weapon, displaying a formidable (and clearly unhuman) strength to terrorise the locals for tribute. That would have been the way of life in the small irrelevant island for the natives, if not for the fact that one day, a great fortress-ship appeared on their horizon and demanded much of the same things that the Giant ordered. There could only be one. [+Skilled]

>>3532502
>The birth of Hermann and Aisling's son. It was a rare moment of festivities aboard the Tessarakonteres, where everything is rationed, from food to water to light sources. For a single night, all those restrictions were lifted to celebrate the birth of this precious little one. And what a night! Even Ambiorix mellowed out with his son-in-law, giving him a hug, until he realised what his daughter having his son meant and ran away in tearful disgust. Ah, your poor Gaulish chieftain of the maiden's heart. No hesitation whatsoever in burning down houses and killing people, but he can't imagine his precious daughter uniting with another man. [A Happy Memory]

>>3532502
if we dont choose the birth does it simply not happen or what?

>>3532553
Yep, no kid

>>3532502
>...fighting the Giant of Malacca. The memory still causes adrenaline to course through your veins. The brute was using uprooted trees as his weapon, displaying a formidable (and clearly unhuman) strength to terrorise the locals for tribute. That would have been the way of life in the small irrelevant island for the natives, if not for the fact that one day, a great fortress-ship appeared on their horizon and demanded much of the same things that the Giant ordered. There could only be one. [+Skilled]

As nice as those horses might be, we're going to China, the land of Champions and vast armies. 10 horses aren't going to matter in the grand scheme of things but us being competent in a fight might if we can duel our way past certain foes.

>>3532502
>The birth of Hermann and Aisling's son. It was a rare moment of festivities aboard the Tessarakonteres, where everything is rationed, from food to water to light sources. For a single night, all those restrictions were lifted to celebrate the birth of this precious little one. And what a night! Even Ambiorix mellowed out with his son-in-law, giving him a hug, until he realised what his daughter having his son meant and ran away in tearful disgust. Ah, your poor Gaulish chieftain of the maiden's heart. No hesitation whatsoever in burning down houses and killing people, but he can't imagine his precious daughter uniting with another man. [A Happy Memory]

>>3532502
>>The birth of Hermann and Aisling's son. It was a rare moment of festivities aboard the Tessarakonteres, where everything is rationed, from food to water to light sources. For a single night, all those restrictions were lifted to celebrate the birth of this precious little one. And what a night! Even Ambiorix mellowed out with his son-in-law, giving him a hug, until he realised what his daughter having his son meant and ran away in tearful disgust. Ah, your poor Gaulish chieftain of the maiden's heart. No hesitation whatsoever in burning down houses and killing people, but he can't imagine his precious daughter uniting with another man. [A Happy Memory]

>>3532502
>The birth of Hermann and Aisling's son. It was a rare moment of festivities aboard the Tessarakonteres, where everything is rationed, from food to water to light sources. For a single night, all those restrictions were lifted to celebrate the birth of this precious little one. And what a night! Even Ambiorix mellowed out with his son-in-law, giving him a hug, until he realised what his daughter having his son meant and ran away in tearful disgust. Ah, your poor Gaulish chieftain of the maiden's heart. No hesitation whatsoever in burning down houses and killing people, but he can't imagine his precious daughter uniting with another man. [A Happy Memory]
I have a feeling we have here the makings of a potential heir/prodigious lieutenant here

>>3532733
Damned Bene Gesserit anon reading my head...

>>3532733
We will make our own heirs. He can be the kid's trusted general or something.

>>3532745
We already did it once with Octavian/Augustus, why not this kid? Being able to choose our heir for his natural ability rather than being stuck with a biological heir, no matter if he turns out incompetent, is better I say.

>>3532757
Because we are a god and our kids will naturally be divine in nature.
Also, we are going to be King this times around, and that mean dynasty so get that shit out of there.
Also, literally looking at a baby and saying «Hey, that guy could be my heir» is no better than chosing a biological heir, for all you know he could be incompetent as fuck when he grow up.

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>>3532768
>King
>Not Imperator
Anon, I am disappoint

>>3532779
I have a failed...My ambition was not Grand enough.

Btw, didn’t the roman import the Imperator title from China? I think I read about it somewhere.

>>3532819
I don't know where you got that from, Imperator is an indigenous title that was granted to those with imperium, or Authority (with a capital A), for the luminaries in Roman society that had accomplished a deed deserving of a Triumph.

Chinese Huang Di is rooted in their own socio-historical context and is translated as emperor (which itself saw great change from aforementioned Imperator, or "man who accomplished a Triumph", to "man who is lord of a very large nation/bearer of the translatio imperii") for convenience's sake.

May I get a sauce for this claim of title importation?

I'm also disappointed in anons for choosing not to find inner peace.

>>3532502
>The birth of Hermann and Aisling's son. It was a rare moment of festivities aboard the Tessarakonteres, where everything is rationed, from food to water to light sources. For a single night, all those restrictions were lifted to celebrate the birth of this precious little one. And what a night! Even Ambiorix mellowed out with his son-in-law, giving him a hug, until he realised what his daughter having his son meant and ran away in tearful disgust. Ah, your poor Gaulish chieftain of the maiden's heart. No hesitation whatsoever in burning down houses and killing people, but he can't imagine his precious daughter uniting with another man.
I like the giant-slaying, but this is seriously important for uniting our peoples

>>3532502
>>...an unforgettable night with the Queen of Nanyue, sneaking in to the palace while her Chinese husband was off suppressing yet another rebellion in the troublesome satellite kingdom of the Han. There's something about the wives of powerful men that tingle your predator instincts. There's something about -you- that gets lonely trophy wives all hot and bothered. [Lady Killer]
Keeping with the Caesar personality

>>3532505
>>3532506
>>3532520
>>3532653
Jack the Giant Slayer

>>3532526
>>3532681
>>3532706
>>3532733
>>3532928
Karl der Große

>>3532980
Lust makes strange bedfellows

Writing

>The birth of Hermann and Aisling's son. It was a rare moment of festivities aboard the Tessarakonteres, where everything is rationed, from food to water to light sources. For a single night, all those restrictions were lifted to celebrate the birth of this precious little one. And what a night! Even Ambiorix mellowed out with his son-in-law, giving him a hug, until he realised what his daughter having his son meant and ran away in tearful disgust. Ah, your poor Gaulish chieftain of the maiden's heart. No hesitation whatsoever in burning down houses and killing people, but he can't imagine his precious daughter uniting with another man.

"What a beautiful child he is!" you had exclaimed once the midwife's hand revealed what lay beneath the bundled cloth. The silvery blonde tufts of hair on his still-forming head looked so soft and inviting, that you extended your hand for a stroke, only to have it slapped away by the midwife. "Dirty!" she had tsked. "The child needs sleep. Sleep and rest, yes."

"What will you be naming him?" you asked as the serving women busied themselves with cleaning and caring for the newborn infant.

"Karl," Aisling replied softly, holding hands with her stoic husband who was unconsciously opening and closing his palm.

"Karl," you echo. "Carolus. Yes, a healthy name for a healthy son. I think we will be great friends, your Karl and I."

He had his mother's ice-blue eyes, the one that so nearly enchanted you all those years ago while she was delivering the Nesaean foal. It felt like an entirely different world, between the here and now. Aisling was just a developing slip of a girl then, and Hermann an emotion-deprived war-chief leading his men and women into self-imposed exile.

The two was a good match. You said so yourself, and Caesar knows what Caesar knows. His sternness was mellowed by the honest girl who knew how to speak her mind, but she also learned to temper that enchanting fire that burned within her with the fervor of youth with the cooling wisdom that comes from a longer life.

In time, Aisling and Hermann will die. And Karl will step in on their shoes as the leader of the combined Germans and Gauls. Then he, too, will be replaced by his sons and grandsons and so on, an indefatigable chain of blue-eyed men to be born, mature, and grow old.

A pang of melancholy hits you just then, right where the gut would be in a training dummy. They will pass on, but you will remain.

>>3533063

"Mortality is a gift, Caesar," Jupiter had spoken to you, the moment before your departure from the hallowed halls of the heavenly ones back into the realm of men. "There is a reason we gods stay above the affairs of the finite race. We cannot get too attached, because we remember... forever."

A thousand gratitudes for your considerations, Deus Pater, you think to yourself. But I have borne the crucifix of authority before. Curious expression, to bear the crucifix. Why did it spring on your head just now?

Probably nothing.

A moment of inattentiveness with the shaving knife pulls you back from your reveries. Golden ichor flows from the cut like thick, unadulterated honey for a few seconds, then the wound closes - just like that. Only thing left was a clean patch of soap-less flesh and a stinging sensation of the cut. You wash your implement, then rinse the rest of your face with the towel. Back to the present. No point mulling over what is to come.

It was good that the German-Gaelic couple finally gained an heir. Marriages may constitute a deal, but children seal such contracts, and Karl was a healthy baby for all the deprivations of a shipborn lifestyle. The years will weigh heavier on your followers as time goes by. It is important they produce the next generations to continue serving the nation you envisage. It is...

>>3533068

>...the new Sparta. Built upon the back of the majority helot-slaves to whom all menial labours will be offloaded so that the elite warrior-noble caste can focus on one thing and one thing alone: the making of War. All shall know and fear the banner of your island-kingdom, for beneath that banner will be warriors unparalleled individually in skill and might. [Warrior-King]

>...the new Athens. Scholars will speak freely their minds in marble-clad forums on various topics, their contributions into the total sum of Mankind's ideas resonating for a duration far longer than that of any kingdom's. A government stands at the pleasure of the people whose whims are fickle, but ideas endure forever. [Philosopher-King]

>...the new Carthage. Their mercantile empire of old knew no rivals, even in the Greeks and the Jews. Their trade fleets reached each and every diameter of the Mediterranean, extending even to the rarely-traveled Britannia, centuries before you had attempted an invasion. By plying the coasts and their wealthy ports, the treasure-troves of the East will be laid bare before you. [Merchant Prince]

>...the new Rome. You are not satisfied with a mere city-state locked within an island, however large, or even a maritime empire that reaches the extensive coasts of Sinae. A year, decade, or even a century - it matters not, for it is an imperial ambition that burns in you, one that caused you to exclaim: "I would rather be the first of this village, than the second in Rome." [IMPERATOR AETERNAM]

>Custom

>>3533078
>...the new Rome. You are not satisfied with a mere city-state locked within an island, however large, or even a maritime empire that reaches the extensive coasts of Sinae. A year, decade, or even a century - it matters not, for it is an imperial ambition that burns in you, one that caused you to exclaim: "I would rather be the first of this village, than the second in Rome." [IMPERATOR AETERNAM]

I’d like if it had a more militant bend, keep the military service and all that.

>>3533078
>>3533078
>...the new Rome. You are not satisfied with a mere city-state locked within an island, however large, or even a maritime empire that reaches the extensive coasts of Sinae. A year, decade, or even a century - it matters not, for it is an imperial ambition that burns in you, one that caused you to exclaim: "I would rather be the first of this village, than the second in Rome." [IMPERATOR AETERNAM]

>>3533091
Given that the idealised Roman was the citizen-soldier-farmer (a la Cincinnatus), a nation of martial bent is one you will obviously get. Besides, Romans thought themselves as being children of Mars.

But the most interesting thing was their wide acceptance of non-Latins into their fold by way of citizenship, as long as they showed that they were useful and dedicated to Rome.

Then Caracalla shat on all that and muddied the pool, all for the sake of short-lived popularity. So it goes.

>>3533078
>...the newer Rome. A better Rome. You are not satisfied with a mere city-state locked within an island, however large, or even a maritime empire that reaches the extensive coasts of Sinae. A year, decade, or even a century - it matters not, for it is an imperial ambition that burns in you, one that caused you to exclaim: "I would rather be the first of this village, than the second in Rome." But this Rome will not grow fat on Egyptian grain or Germanic gold. This empire will be composed the greatest conquerers in all the world. Militant in the extreme and purged of the weaknesses you, Caesar, identified in your past life. [IMPERATOR AETERNAM]

>>3533107
I mean, we got German, Gaul, jew, persian and grecs, We have no Latin at all so it’s a given we will need to accept others :o).

Well, before doing anything we are probably going to spend a few years building the city battling natives and getting colonists. We need to produce more ship if we want to go anywhere, and we need forge to feed our army and makes plow to work the earth, find a source of Iron and all that.
We ain’t going conquering just yet. At least not Sinae.

>>3533122
Oh I'm not saying inviting non-Latins into Roman citizenship is a bad idea, just that the blanket gifting is. Joining in the auxilia was one of the methods of becoming a citizen of Rome, since the legions proper were limited to citizens only. After that edict, the prestige and quality of the legions took a drastic downward turn.

>>3533078
>...the new Rome. You are not satisfied with a mere city-state locked within an island, however large, or even a maritime empire that reaches the extensive coasts of Sinae. A year, decade, or even a century - it matters not, for it is an imperial ambition that burns in you, one that caused you to exclaim: "I would rather be the first of this village, than the second in Rome." [IMPERATOR AETERNAM]

>>3533167
It's always seemed bizarre to me that Caracalla would do that. He certainly wasn't a seeker of popularity with anyone but the troops, after all; he allowed them to plunder the empire, and wantonly destroyed his own people. Most of his reign seems to perfectly follow Severus' advice to scorn all but the soldiers. Yet he grants citizenship to every person residing in the empire with an edict. Very odd.

>>3533078
>>...the new Rome. You are not satisfied with a mere city-state locked within an island, however large, or even a maritime empire that reaches the extensive coasts of Sinae. A year, decade, or even a century - it matters not, for it is an imperial ambition that burns in you, one that caused you to exclaim: "I would rather be the first of this village, than the second in Rome." [IMPERATOR AETERNAM]

>...the new Rome. You are not satisfied with a mere city-state locked within an island, however large, or even a maritime empire that reaches the extensive coasts of Sinae. A year, decade, or even a century - it matters not, for it is an imperial ambition that burns in you, one that caused you to exclaim: "I would rather be the first of this village, than the second in Rome." [IMPERATOR AETERNAM]

>>3533078
>...the new Rome. You are not satisfied with a mere city-state locked within an island, however large, or even a maritime empire that reaches the extensive coasts of Sinae. A year, decade, or even a century - it matters not, for it is an imperial ambition that burns in you, one that caused you to exclaim: "I would rather be the first of this village, than the second in Rome." [IMPERATOR AETERNAM]
There is no other choice.

>>...the new Rome. You are not satisfied with a mere city-state locked within an island, however large, or even a maritime empire that reaches the extensive coasts of Sinae. A year, decade, or even a century - it matters not, for it is an imperial ambition that burns in you, one that caused you to exclaim: "I would rather be the first of this village, than the second in Rome." [IMPERATOR AETERNAM]

Yours is the Dream Imperial.

The world of man is flawed and fragmented, its disparate princedoms drawing borders unseen to demarcate their petty fiefdoms, which they guard jealously against their neighbours. They accept no man as their overlord, nor do they worship the same pantheon of gods, a source of great conflict among the different tribes of Mankind. It was not always thus; tablets of baked clay older than the gods of Ionians themselves speak of a time before the Younger Gods, when young Mankind was united as one. Tall and noble-browed men walked the unspoilt lands then, bright-eyed and far-sighted, and with their hands they wrought such wonders...

Your death had arrested your plans that would have begun with the Parthian conquests, but here you have the chance to begin again. It is time to remind the world just what the title of Imperator means.

You finish making yourself ready, when a knocking is heard from the door. There is your combat trainer, waiting for you to come out at last. For the last three years, you had been training with...

>>3535042

>...Ambiorix, the ursine raider who, despite being a grandfather, is not quite prepared to retire. The jovial Gaulish chieftain was training you in fighting with the wild abandon that his race was so famous for. Though he was but a mercenary in the start, you impressed him firstly with your tactical acumen despite being only a child (physically) during the destruction of Suerna, and secondly after you freed him from his imprisonment by the Iberian. He considers you like one of his own sons now, and you have enjoyed the paternal attention while training with him as well. [Aetian Acrobatics II, Proficiency: Light Cavalry]

>...Galen of Suerna, the ex-Five Hundred mercenary who was now the legatus of your admittedly undermanned but experienced legion. He taught you some valuable and exotic shieldwork that could prove useful in a pinch, techniques you had never learned as a legionary in your former life. One of the few lieutenants who gainsaid the Iberian Captain in his mutiny against you, he was made the chief of your infantry after you regained sovereignty on your father's ship. Despite the cheeky nickname you gave him all those years ago, the man is a seasoned soldier who has traveled through the many warzones of Asia Minor and does not actually come from Suerna. [Susa II, Proficiency: Heavy Infantry]

>...Kaphar, the irreverent Jewish soldier who was more adept at handling a knife than he was in holding a spear, the concept of any shield larger than a dinner plate having no place in true combat in his mind. His younger sisters (twins, they are) were dancers themselves, who often performed for the benefit of the ship's work-wearied inhabitants. The demands of a ship as large as yours is taxing, but you managed to slip away from the demanding Lynius with all his paperworks and worker timetable reforms one night to watch them contort themselves in truly fantastic ways. No wonder Kaphar was so shunned by the more orthodox among the Jews. You would have liked to met their mother a decade or two earlier. [Dance of the Maekarii II, Proficiency: Light Infantry]

>...Ariamnes, the crazy Parthian paladin who was either bipolar or actually twins changing their faceplates around. You had the pleasure of witnessing him really fight only once, in the muddy plains near the city of Muziris against the gathered Indic horde. And only for a moment. The battle had swept you and Ariamnes hither and thither, so you did not know whether he had survived or not until the fight ended. But what little you saw of him chilled you to the bone. It was that unnerving self-destructive way of fighting that characterised the unnatural fighting style Venicius imparted to you before his death. [Iovani Backstep II, Proficiency: Heavy Cavalry]

>>3535047
>...Ariamnes, the crazy Parthian paladin who was either bipolar or actually twins changing their faceplates around. You had the pleasure of witnessing him really fight only once, in the muddy plains near the city of Muziris against the gathered Indic horde. And only for a moment. The battle had swept you and Ariamnes hither and thither, so you did not know whether he had survived or not until the fight ended. But what little you saw of him chilled you to the bone. It was that unnerving self-destructive way of fighting that characterised the unnatural fighting style Venicius imparted to you before his death. [Iovani Backstep II, Proficiency: Heavy Cavalry]
Anons just love Iovani Backstep, so I choose this one

>>3535047
>...Ariamnes, the crazy Parthian paladin who was either bipolar or actually twins changing their faceplates around. You had the pleasure of witnessing him really fight only once, in the muddy plains near the city of Muziris against the gathered Indic horde. And only for a moment. The battle had swept you and Ariamnes hither and thither, so you did not know whether he had survived or not until the fight ended. But what little you saw of him chilled you to the bone. It was that unnerving self-destructive way of fighting that characterised the unnatural fighting style Venicius imparted to you before his death. [Iovani Backstep II, Proficiency: Heavy Cavalry]
Both because I want to know more about Ariamnes and the style.

>>3535047
>>...Ariamnes, the crazy Parthian paladin who was either bipolar or actually twins changing their faceplates around. You had the pleasure of witnessing him really fight only once, in the muddy plains near the city of Muziris against the gathered Indic horde. And only for a moment. The battle had swept you and Ariamnes hither and thither, so you did not know whether he had survived or not until the fight ended. But what little you saw of him chilled you to the bone. It was that unnerving self-destructive way of fighting that characterised the unnatural fighting style Venicius imparted to you before his death. [Iovani Backstep II, Proficiency: Heavy Cavalry]

>>3535047
>Ariamnes, the crazy Parthian paladin who was either bipolar or actually twins changing their faceplates around. You had the pleasure of witnessing him really fight only once, in the muddy plains near the city of Muziris against the gathered Indic horde. And only for a moment. The battle had swept you and Ariamnes hither and thither, so you did not know whether he had survived or not until the fight ended. But what little you saw of him chilled you to the bone. It was that unnerving self-destructive way of fighting that characterised the unnatural fighting style Venicius imparted to you before his death. [Iovani Backstep II, Proficiency: Heavy Cavalry]
Heavy Cav is the way of the future. Some might think it foolish, but we're just ahead of the curve.

>>3535047
>>...Ariamnes, the crazy Parthian paladin who was either bipolar or actually twins changing their faceplates around. You had the pleasure of witnessing him really fight only once, in the muddy plains near the city of Muziris against the gathered Indic horde. And only for a moment. The battle had swept you and Ariamnes hither and thither, so you did not know whether he had survived or not until the fight ended. But what little you saw of him chilled you to the bone. It was that unnerving self-destructive way of fighting that characterised the unnatural fighting style Venicius imparted to you before his death. [Iovani Backstep II, Proficiency: Heavy Cavalry]
I think we use Iovani more, but Galen is tempting.I think we have anough experience with Heavy Inf. anyway

>>3535047
>...Ariamnes, the crazy Parthian paladin who was either bipolar or actually twins changing their faceplates around. You had the pleasure of witnessing him really fight only once, in the muddy plains near the city of Muziris against the gathered Indic horde. And only for a moment. The battle had swept you and Ariamnes hither and thither, so you did not know whether he had survived or not until the fight ended. But what little you saw of him chilled you to the bone. It was that unnerving self-destructive way of fighting that characterised the unnatural fighting style Venicius imparted to you before his death. [Iovani Backstep II, Proficiency: Heavy Cavalry]
While I have heavily considered Ambiorix, Ariamnes is just too baller not to choose.

File: Ariamnes the Gallant.jpg (137 KB, 808x989)

137 KB JPG

>...Ariamnes, the crazy Parthian paladin who was either bipolar or actually twins changing their faceplates around. You had the pleasure of witnessing him really fight only once, in the muddy plains near the city of Muziris against the gathered Indic horde. And only for a moment. The battle had swept you and Ariamnes hither and thither, so you did not know whether he had survived or not until the fight ended. But what little you saw of him chilled you to the bone. It was that unnerving self-destructive way of fighting that characterised the unnatural fighting style Venicius imparted to you before his death. [Iovani Backstep II, Proficiency: Heavy Cavalry]

---

Aboard the unnamed Tessarakonteres, two years earlier...

"Rise."

You grit your teeth, tasting the bitter iron of blood on your tongue. Using your gladius as a crutch, you stand up again warily. The old Parthian merely looks down at you, his eyes hard and voice aloof.

Nothing at all like the comforting old grandfather who saved you from the ruins of Ypra.

"Readied? Good." His deep, mellifluous voice is all the more louder for the laconic brevity of his words. "Lift up your sword."

Taking a deep breath, you hold your sword up once more, ignoring the primal call for self-preservation from the back of your mind. There is a conspicuous emptiness to your left and right, places which would normally be filled by legionaries. My brothers in arms.

"But a knight does not rely on a great wall of shielded men," he says as if in reply to your thoughts. "Infantry is static, cavalry dynamic. Even the most trained of horsemen cannot keep up a perfectly flat line on the move. Ours is a lonely existence, Lord. Comrades to fight with is good, but do not count on it. Never rely on it. There is only you and the mount during the charge, two souls joined in one blessed motion."

He slams the end of his ebony lance on the wooden floor with a resounding thud, settling to a motionless poise. "Again."

>>3535408
---

(1) Style

>Cautious - Double AV (Max 80), Total unsaved damage to Foe is halved (Rounding up)
>Guarded - Exchange of Blows does not inflict or sustain damage.
>Balanced - AV and Damage remain unchanged.
>Belligerent - Exchange of Blows does not inflict damage; +1 Damage to Foe if any unsaved damaged is inflicted.
>Audacious - Halve AV (Rounding up); Each point of unsaved damage to Foe is doubled.

(2) Stance

>Dance of the Maekarii I [Personal Combat +10, -2 Damage dealt]
>Aetian Acrobatics I [Exhaustion +1(Personal Combat -5DC, stacks), +2 Damage dealt]
>Iovani Backstep I [Personal Combat +5DC, -5AV]
>Susa I [Personal Combat -5DC, -1 Damage received]

(3) Weapon of Choice

>Crucible-steel khanda
A straight-bladed longsword with a blunted tip at the end, this exotic blade was the personal weapon of the leader assassin. The material is of superb quality, known to the local Tamils as urukku. Its length lends itself well to use as a cavalry sabre. [Chance to ignore armour]

>Gladius hispaniensis
The Romans may not have invented this weapon, but it was they that put it to its proper use. Adopted from the Iberians during their pacification wars in the Hispanic peninsula, this shortsword can be used only by the most disciplined of infantrymen, willing to go face-to-face against the enemy to ensure their painful deaths. This is not a weapon of the faint-hearted who wish to keep the enemy combatants at an arm's length. Its double-edged, point-ended design lends itself especially well to bleeding the foe. [Chance to bleed enemy, negative AV modifier]

(4) Divine Constitution [Heals 1 Wound]

>DC33

>>3535410
>Belligerent - Exchange of Blows does not inflict damage; +1 Damage to Foe if any unsaved damaged is inflicted.
>Iovani Backstep I [Personal Combat +5DC, -5AV]
Meditating could've helped us master this by letting us come closer to zen.
>Crucible-steel khanda
SHATTER HIS BREASTPLATE and his breastbone

Rolled 27 (1d100)

>>3535410
>Audacious
>Iovani Backstep I
>Crucible-steel khanda

Rolled 50 (1d100)

>>3535410
>Audacious
>Iovani Backstep I
>Crucible-steel khanda
I personally love how old Caesar has embraced the maddening, uber-dangerous fighting style

>>3535410
>Belligerent - Exchange of Blows does not inflict damage; +1 Damage to Foe if any unsaved damaged is inflicted.
>Iovani Backstep I [Personal Combat +5DC, -5AV]
>Crucible-steel khanda

>>3535549
We're a god now, beyond mortal worries of danger. Did Hercules fear for his life? Does Mars? Alexandros feels the wind of a sweeping blade on his cheeks and has no fear.

>>3535775
Have you checked out Ariamnes' statline from two threads back, by the way?

>>3535791
Without an archive link in your OP, that's hard to do now. IIRC it was very high, and we're almost certain to lose this fight. That said, it's training; we're supposed to be getting destroyed in order to improve.

>>3535796
Yeah, I'd forgotten to post the archive with the OP. You can find it by ctrl+F'ing "Hi" with period, though! As long as you don't expect to slap everyone around, it should be fine. After anons requested I stop with high-magic shenanigans, I've seriously toned down the setting, too.

There are gods, and then there are gods.

>>3535814
As one of the anons who requested that you keep going with the high-magic shenanigans, that still rankles. Ah, well.
At any rate, I was just providing an RP reason for Alexandros to embrace a dangerous style as anon pointed out.

>>3535851
I feel you

>Just barely got the dune reference
Wow

>>3535410
>Cautious - Double AV (Max 80), Total unsaved damage to Foe is halved (Rounding up)
>Dance of the Maekarii I [Personal Combat +10, -2 Damage dealt]

>Gladius hispaniensis

Rolled 1 (1d2)

Just gonna roll a dice to break this deadlock since it's only a combat option

>Divine Constitution: Pass
>Belligerent - Exchange of Blows does not inflict damage; +1 Damage to Foe if any unsaved damaged is inflicted.
>Iovani Backstep I

Lord Alexandros, Caesar Reborn: Battered
>Combat = +60DC [Battered +0DC, Skilled +5DC, Unnatural Strength +5DC, Elite I +10DC, Iovani Backstep +5DC, Lorica hamata +15DC, Parma +10DC, Crucible-steel khanda +10DC]
>Armour Value = 20AV [Lorica hamata +15AV, Aspis +10AV, Iovani Backstep I -5AV]
>Active Skill = Belligerent, Iovani Backstep I

VS

Ariamnes I: Healthy
>Combat = +95DC [Healthy +5DC, Skilled III +15DC, Elite II +20DC, Lord of War +10DC, Grivpanvar +30DC, Ebony Lance (Polearm ver.) +15DC]
>Armour Value = 45AV [Grivpanvar +40AV, Iron buckler +5AV]
Active Skill = A Rare Moment of Lucidity

Crit-fail = Suffer a mighty blow (3 degrees of damage sustained AND dismounted/disarmed)
0 Success = Suffer a solid blow (2 degrees of damage sustained)
1 Success = Exchange glancing blows (1 degree of damage inflicted and sustained)
2 Success = Inflict a solid blow (2 degrees of damage inflicted)
3 Success = Inflict a mighty blow (3 degrees of damage inflicted)
Crit-pass = Inflict a killing blow (what it says on the tin)

Doubles Pass = +1 damage ignores opponent AV or Dismounted/Disarmed penalty
Doubles Fail = Dismounted and/or Disarmed penalty

> (1) Personal Combat DC 15
>3 rolls of 1d100
>(2) Armour Piercing (Crucible Steel Weapon)
>DC33
>1 roll of 1d100
>(3) Ego Death
>3 rolls of 1d100

Rolled 50 (1d100)

>>3537002
Here we go to lose...

Rolled 29 (1d100)

>>3537002
He will fall!

Rolled 53 (1d100)

>>3537002

>>3537009
>>3537004
>>3537006
Well, no need to roll for Armour Piercing. I still need three rolls for the third vote, however.

Rolled 16 (1d100)

>>3537002
rolling for armor pierce

Rolled 23 (1d100)

>>3537035
Ego death fun times

Rolled 100 (1d100)

>>3537035

File: godDAMN IT.gif (496 KB, 500x332)

496 KB GIF

>>3537157
Ah, shit

>>3537160
World is a fuck

>>3535408
>>3537002
>>3537004
>>3537006
>>3537009
>>3537036
>>3537137
>>3537157

>0 Success - Wounded
>Ego Death: FAILED

You take the initiative, striking at the old man with the lethal blade; he had insisted on using live blades, not training swords. You'd held back at first, on account of his mortality and his age. How foolish you were to worry for him.

"Our swords and lances penetrate deep to the heart of the gathered enemies," Ariamnes intones gravely as he swats aside your thrust like an errant insect. "The knight goes into the fray without expectation of hope, without thinking of rescue. Why do you hesitate, Caesar? You can do better than that. You are better than that."

Why does he call you that name? How does he know? You only told Scrivener, and he is not one to be indiscreet. You had asked before, many times. The response was always a puzzled tilt of the head, the old man turning senile at the flip of a switch. He is clear-minded now, you think, but the overwhelming pressure of the fight prevents you from even a moment of respite to mouth the question.

"An Emperor who entrusts his fighting to other men is no emperor at all. He must be able to defend his throne with his own virtues, lest he be overthrown by ambitious generals and whispering eunuchs." He slams his ebony-wood lance against your wide, driving the wind out of you. More than a couple ribs were broken just now.

"It is a matter of priorities. Life and victory - which holds more value? Know that the choosing of one may force the forsaking of the other. Know that the winding road of existence holds only one final destination." A resounding smack from the flat of his shortsword - held off-hand - leaves you sprawled against the floor with ears ringing, the right side of your face wet with ichor freely flowing.

The old Parthian's shadow looms over you, but his calloused hands are stayed. Waiting. Watching.

What is it that you value the most?

>There is said to be hope in all things, as long as there is life. Only the dead have none. [Stay on the floor]
>Iacta alea est. [Stand back up]

>>3537198
>Iacta alea est. [Stand back up]

>>3537198
>Iacta alea est.

>>3537198
Aut vincere aut mori (>Iacta alea est)

>>3537198
>>Iacta alea est.

Just realised I forgot to ask for AV rolls, aaaaaaaaaaaa Retroactively adding a Wound because that was my fuckup

You knew what you were going in for when you asked Ariamnes to be your mentor. Or rather, you knew you weren't going to know what might happen. With the maverick soldier-noble, even your death was on the table.

Yet you stand up. You can hear your mother now, the venerable Aurelia Cotta wiping dust and blood from face after you brawled with another boy who slandered the name of your dead father.

"That pride of yours will get you killed one day, my son."

From anyone else it would have been a warning, an admonishment not to stand out. Not from her. She was a woman from one of the great consular families of Rome, used to the losses of relatives and family members from standing up for their ideals. It was a statement of maternal pride and more, encouragement.

A wise woman; you are eternally grateful to her for your upbringing.

Is it pride to know that your place in the world is more than an anonymous death? Arrogance and folly to reach for the stars? No. You rejected the insipid life of the Senatorial rank in your first life in exchange for the chance to grasp the imperial wreath, and you will not submit yourself to this bodily weakness when here, right in front of you, is a chance to become greater.

Sic itur ad astra.

You stand up.

>>3537482
(1) Style

>Cautious - Double AV (Max 80), Total unsaved damage to Foe is halved (Rounding up)
>Guarded - Exchange of Blows does not inflict or sustain damage.
>Balanced - AV and Damage remain unchanged.
>Belligerent - Exchange of Blows does not inflict damage; +1 Damage to Foe if any unsaved damaged is inflicted.
>Audacious - Halve AV (Rounding up); Each point of unsaved damage to Foe is doubled.

(2) Stance

>Dance of the Maekarii I [Personal Combat +10, -2 Damage dealt]
>Aetian Acrobatics I [Exhaustion +1(Personal Combat -5DC, stacks), +2 Damage dealt]
>Iovani Backstep I [Personal Combat +5DC, -5AV]
>Susa I [Personal Combat -5DC, -1 Damage received]

(3) Weapon of Choice

>Crucible-steel khanda
A straight-bladed longsword with a blunted tip at the end, this exotic blade was the personal weapon of the leader assassin. The material is of superb quality, known to the local Tamils as urukku. Its length lends itself well to use as a cavalry sabre. [Chance to ignore armour]

>Gladius hispaniensis
The Romans may not have invented this weapon, but it was they that put it to its proper use. Adopted from the Iberians during their pacification wars in the Hispanic peninsula, this shortsword can be used only by the most disciplined of infantrymen, willing to go face-to-face against the enemy to ensure their painful deaths. This is not a weapon of the faint-hearted who wish to keep the enemy combatants at an arm's length. Its double-edged, point-ended design lends itself especially well to bleeding the foe. [Chance to bleed enemy, negative AV modifier]

(4) Divine Constitution [Heals 1 Wound]

>DC33

Rolled 84 (1d100)

>>3537486
>Guarded - Exchange of Blows does not inflict or sustain damage.

>Dance of the Maekarii I [Personal Combat +10, -2 Damage dealt]

>Crucible-steel khanda

>>3537486
>cautious
>iovani
>khanda

>>3537716
I would advise you change over to Maekarii, as we will need passes to merely survive this phase of combat.

>>3537533
I'll support this. Go on the defensive and let him make the mistake

>>3537821
Really hoping to let that godly physique do its work and maybe sunder his armor at some point. Ariamnes is such a monster that mere survival is worthy of a triumph atm.

>>3537716
>>3537750
You have a point ill switch to just support
>>3537533

Rolled 1 (1d100)

>>3537486
Supporting >>3537533

>>3537955
Very niceu

Rolled 87 (1d100)

Don't mind this roll

>>3538082

>Divine Constitution: Pass
>Guarded - Exchange of Blows does not inflict or sustain damage.
>Dance of the Maekarii I [Personal Combat +10, -2 Damage dealt]

Lord Alexandros, Caesar Reborn: Battered
>Combat = +65DC [Battered +0DC, Skilled +5DC, Unnatural Strength +5DC, Elite I +10DC, Dance of the Maekarii +10DC, Lorica hamata +15DC, Parma +10DC, Crucible-steel khanda +10DC]
>Armour Value = 25AV [Lorica hamata +15AV, Parma +10AV]
>Active Skill = Guarded, Dance of the Maekarii

VS

Ariamnes I: Healthy
>Combat = +70DC [Healthy +5DC, Skilled III +15DC, Elite II +20DC, Lord of War +10DC, Precision Strike (Skilled II) -10DC, Spare the Dying (Elite II) -10DC, Stress -5DC, Grivpanvar +30DC, Ebony Lance (Polearm ver.) +15DC]
>Armour Value = 45AV [Grivpanvar +40AV, Iron buckler +5AV]
Active Skill = A Rare Moment of Lucidity Stress is incurred every turn he has to limit himself and misses the Sanity DC; at third stack of Stress...

Crit-fail = Suffer a mighty blow (3 degrees of damage sustained AND dismounted/disarmed)
0 Success = Suffer a solid blow (2 degrees of damage sustained)
1 Success = Exchange glancing blows (1 degree of damage inflicted and sustained)
2 Success = Inflict a solid blow (2 degrees of damage inflicted)
3 Success = Inflict a mighty blow (3 degrees of damage inflicted)
Crit-pass = Inflict a killing blow (what it says on the tin)

Doubles Pass = +1 damage ignores opponent AV or Dismounted/Disarmed penalty
Doubles Fail = Dismounted and/or Disarmed penalty

> (1) Personal Combat DC 45
>3 rolls of 1d100
>(2) Armour Piercing (Crucible Steel Weapon)
>DC33
>1 roll of 1d100
>(3) Ego Death
>3 rolls of 1d100

Rolled 23 (1d100)

>>3538092
*spins intensify*

Rolled 9 (1d100)

>>3538092

Rolled 84 (1d100)

>>3538092

Rolled 70 (1d100)

>>3538092

Rolled 11 (1d100)

>>3538092

Rolled 79 (1d100)

>>3538092
unnecessary spin but yaknow

Rolled 24 (1d100)

>>3538092

>2 Success
>Armour Piercing: Fail
>The Grass That Bends: Success - The greatest strength from the Water Dance was ever sourced from the enemies of the fighter themselves, the power from their incoming attacks borrowed, re-directed. [If the Foe scores a Wound on the User, it is inflicted on the Foe instead. (Limited to 1 Wound)]
>0 Wounds dealt

You shift your form at the spur of a moment, changing to a more graceful form. The diminutive women of the Maekarii were able dancers and actresses, but often accosted by drunken men after the festivities they were hired to perform in. It was an occupational hazard. So they made themselves hazardous as well, as deadly as the poisonous lilies in the desert valleys their ancestors hail from.

If it catches Ariamnes by surprise, he does not show it. You run circles around him with newfound agility - not in small part aided by the hasty regeneration of your shinbone - and, seeing a moment of vulnerability, strike.

I did it!

"Venicius was a talented tutor," Ariamnes says with a congratulatory smile, almost grandfather-like for the duration of a split-second. "The foundations have been set well indeed."

Not enough strength behind that attack, you think ruefully as you backtrace your steps to evade the incoming lance that crashes into the spot you were standing on but a moment ago. That monster of a weapon is like a portable battering ram in the hands of its grey-haired master.

Circling around the knight warily, you look for any sign or hint of damage on him - and find none. The sword did not even bite into the mail greaves that covers Ariamnes' stout legs, but this is good. That single hit is giving you a much-needed boost of confidence, that maybe you might be able to stand the winner this time.

>>3540105

My bad on not typing out the 3rd vote properly, Ego Death is an Iovani Backstep feature.

(1) Style

>Cautious - Double AV (Max 80), Total unsaved damage to Foe is halved (Rounding up)
>Guarded - Exchange of Blows does not inflict or sustain damage.
>Balanced - AV and Damage remain unchanged.
>Belligerent - Exchange of Blows does not inflict damage; +1 Damage to Foe if any unsaved damaged is inflicted.
>Audacious - Halve AV (Rounding up); Each point of unsaved damage to Foe is doubled.

(2) Stance

>Dance of the Maekarii I [Personal Combat +10, -2 Damage dealt]
>Aetian Acrobatics I [Exhaustion +1(Personal Combat -5DC, stacks), +2 Damage dealt]
>Iovani Backstep I [Personal Combat +5DC, -5AV]
>Susa I [Personal Combat -5DC, -1 Damage received]

(3) Weapon of Choice

>Crucible-steel khanda
A straight-bladed longsword with a blunted tip at the end, this exotic blade was the personal weapon of the leader assassin. The material is of superb quality, known to the local Tamils as urukku. Its length lends itself well to use as a cavalry sabre. [Chance to ignore armour]

>Gladius hispaniensis
The Romans may not have invented this weapon, but it was they that put it to its proper use. Adopted from the Iberians during their pacification wars in the Hispanic peninsula, this shortsword can be used only by the most disciplined of infantrymen, willing to go face-to-face against the enemy to ensure their painful deaths. This is not a weapon of the faint-hearted who wish to keep the enemy combatants at an arm's length. Its double-edged, point-ended design lends itself especially well to bleeding the foe. [Chance to bleed enemy, negative AV modifier]

(4) Divine Constitution [Heals 1 Wound]

>DC33

Rolled 88 (1d100)

>>3540110
>Balanced - AV and Damage remain unchanged.
>Iovani Backstep I [Personal Combat +5DC, -5AV]
>Crucible-steel khanda

Rolled 82 (1d100)

>>3540110
>Guarded
>Audacious
>Aetian Acrobatics

Rolled 64 (1d100)

>>3540110
>Belligerent
>Aetian Acrobatics I
>Crucible-steel khanda
Feel like pressing the attack

>>3540146
whoops, meant
>Audacious
>Aetian Acrobatics
>Crucible-Steel Khanda

>>3540214
I suppose I'll support this one

>Divine Constitution: FAIL
>Audacious - Halve AV (Rounding up); Each point of unsaved damage to Foe is doubled.
>Aetian Acrobatics I [Exhaustion +1(Personal Combat -5DC, stacks), +2 Damage dealt]

Lord Alexandros, Caesar Reborn: Battered
>Combat = +55DC [Battered +0DC, Skilled +5DC, Unnatural Strength +5DC, Elite I +10DC, Lorica hamata +15DC, Parma +10DC, Crucible-steel khanda +10DC]
>Armour Value = 13AV [Lorica hamata +15AV, Parma +10AV]/2
>Active Skill = Audacious, Aetian Acrobatics

VS

Ariamnes I: Healthy
>Combat = +90DC [Healthy +5DC, Skilled III +15DC, Elite II +20DC, Lord of War +10DC, Stress -5DC, Grivpanvar +30DC, Ebony Lance (Polearm ver.) +15DC]
>Armour Value = 45AV [Grivpanvar +40AV, Iron buckler +5AV]
>Active Skill = None

Crit-fail = Suffer a mighty blow (3 degrees of damage sustained AND dismounted/disarmed)
0 Success = Suffer a solid blow (2 degrees of damage sustained)
1 Success = Exchange glancing blows (1 degree of damage inflicted and sustained)
2 Success = Inflict a solid blow (2 degrees of damage inflicted)
3 Success = Inflict a mighty blow (3 degrees of damage inflicted)
Crit-pass = Inflict a killing blow (what it says on the tin)

Doubles Pass = +1 damage ignores opponent AV or Dismounted/Disarmed penalty
Doubles Fail = Dismounted and/or Disarmed penalty

(1) Personal Combat DC15
>3 rolls of 1d100
(2) Armour Piercing (Crucible Steel Weapon)
DC33
>1 roll of 1d100
(3) Taurian Might
DC33
>1 roll of 1d100

Rolled 48 (1d100)

>>3541741
Jupiter’s beard this is why I wanted belligerent over audacious....

Rolled 68 (1d100)

>>3541741
Kombat

Rolled 90 (1d100)

>>3541741

I've been reading quite a lot of quests, and rarely have I seen threads where anons roll consistently high numbers.

>>3541863
It only ever happens in roll-under quests in my experience

Rolled 32 (1d100)

>>3541741
>>3541863
Your namesake is a fickle one

>>3541888
I’ve had the same experience.

>>3541863
It's perspective. In a roll over quest you wouldn't consider 48 or 68 high. Because they're over the DC, though, they feel higher now.

Rolled 4 (1d100)

>>3541741
Here's another roll to speed things along

>0 Success
>Armour Piercing: Success
>Taurian Might: Success - Smash. Break. Crash. With every swing, a deliberate outpouring of strength. Even the most agile of opponents cannot dodge your slow and steady attacks if they are forced on the ground. [Successful attack against Foe inflicts Prone modifier.]
>0 Wound dealt, 2 Wounds received

>End Remembrance and return to Present? Y/N

>>3542052
>Y

Empire Building await.

>>3542052
>Y
I wish we could have gained Ego Death and whatever the Susa does, but Alexandros is too injured now to learn

>>3542052
>N
I wanna see how it ends

>>3542052
If we end the remembrance, do we gain benefits from the training?

>>3542052
Nah, we go until it's over

>>3542052
Hey Fortuna will we ever see the Sacred Band and the Suernian remnants again and have our own little Punic War in the East?

>>3542200
Yes, it was only really for a bit of exposition. It's been three years, so it would be unfair for me to not give you -anything-.

>>3542887
I haven't forgotten the little Suernian prince and his wrath-filled dedication to the Gods, promising them his all for one thing and one thing only - vengeance.

I'll roll a dice to break the tie, 1 = Y, 2 = N

Rolled 1 (1d2)

>>3543846
...forgot to roll the dice itself

--

Senharib enters the room after waiting a suitable length of time while you prod your torso where the lance pierced broke your skin. "Ah, I do apologise. I was just... reminiscing."

"Does the wound still bother you?" Ariamnes' aide-de-camp says respectfully. "I can have the ship's doctors come take a look."

"Truth be told, it is the memory that still lingers on even after the damage has faded away." You gingerly rub where the pointed lance had pierced your side. How was he so old and yet so strong? "Quite a man, Ariamnes."

"He is an unrelenting tutor," Senharib agrees. "I thought you were going to die that day, but young bodies have a way with knitting themselves back together." He hesitates. It is more or less an open secret that you are something not quite human among the ship's inhabitants, but even with your divine constitution it was a close thing, as the lingering mark under your right ribs left on your otherwise flawless skin attests. "We could delay the scouting if you do not feel well..."

You shake your head firmly. "No. It is only proper that I step onto the shores of our new home with my men."

---

The landing is the most difficult part of any coastal invasion. Soldiers are sickened by the motion of their little boats, which, owing to their size, tend to suffer from errant waves to a greater degree than a proper sea-faring vessel. To prevent whatever premature contact the natives might attempt (in the form of a hail of arrows or other missiles), Caesar took the precaution of taking a century of the legionary first. Their large tower shields would cover their defenceless bodies as they were shuttled to the quiet beaches. Together with him was Scrivener, who had with some reluctance professed knowledge in the lingua Sinarum, to act as translator.

Having been used to the hostile reception of islanders, not only from his past life with the Britannian tribals but also the myriad brown-skinned Polynesian people who were scattered throughout the tiny islands that dotted his journey so far, Alexandros was astonished when a great number of locals, numbering three hundred with women and children among them, appeared from the foliage and prostrated themselves before him and his legionaries.

It was some minutes before Veicht found an elder among the natives who could speak a dialect of the mainlanders' language, who promptly communicated their awe at the 'wooden mountain' from whence our boats had deployed, referring to the mothership. They were not so primitive so as to believe us gods, but they were sufficiently cowed enough to come before the 'strange outsiders' and offer their allegiance. Furthermore, the elder communicated his wish to take Alexandros and his men deeper into the island, where the coming of their new overlords would be properly celebrated, the day having been a festival day of theirs by a stroke of luck.

>>3543914

>Seeing a chance to assert control over the island without bloodshed, Alexandros quickly had Veicht the Scrivener announce to the natives of his acceptance of their vows of fealty. He would follow them to their villages further inland and partake in their ceremonies to cement their status as underlings.

>Not trusting these tribesmen who seemed overly subservient, Caesar had Veicht ask for some time while he and his lieutenants deliberated over the offer. It is often the case that things that appear too good to be true, are in fact too good to be true. He wished to establish a fortified beach-head (castrum) and land more men before rashly following the natives to their villages.

>Noting that the majority of the three-hundred strong natives were women and children, Alexandros ordered the hundred men he had with him to begin butchering the natives. It was possible there were more of them hidden in the underbrush, but these were odds he was more than willing to accept, given the clear lack of metal weapons and proper armour among the few primitive warriors in their number. These diminutive and undeveloped people had no place in his new nation.

>Custom

>>3543918
>Seeing a chance to assert control over the island without bloodshed, Alexandros quickly had Veicht the Scrivener announce to the natives of his acceptance of their vows of fealty. He would follow them to their villages further inland and partake in their ceremonies to cement their status as underlings.

>>3543918
>Not trusting these tribesmen who seemed overly subservient, Caesar had Veicht ask for some time while he and his lieutenants deliberated over the offer. It is often the case that things that appear too good to be true, are in fact too good to be true. He wished to establish a fortified beach-head (castrum) and land more men before rashly following the natives to their villages.

>>3543918
>Not trusting these tribesmen who seemed overly subservient, Caesar had Veicht ask for some time while he and his lieutenants deliberated over the offer. It is often the case that things that appear too good to be true, are in fact too good to be true. He wished to establish a fortified beach-head (castrum) and land more men before rashly following the natives to their villages.

Last thing we need is for our numbers to be further diminished by foolish action. Also we're getting close to the point where we're going to be doing long-term planning and management of a civilisation rather than a ship, that'll be fun!

File: 1558148244537.png (411 KB, 327x1007)

411 KB PNG

>>3543956
Chinese battles are something else in scale and scope...

>>3543918
>Not trusting these tribesmen who seemed overly subservient, Caesar had Veicht ask for some time while he and his lieutenants deliberated over the offer. It is often the case that things that appear too good to be true, are in fact too good to be true. He wished to establish a fortified beach-head (castrum) and land more men before rashly following the natives to their villages.

So, this is an important discussion. What is to be Alexandros/Caesar’s policy with the natives? Genocide? Incorporation? Expulsion?

Personally, I’m inclined towards a mix of the three- utterly destroy resistant tribes, expel marginally non-complaint/surrendering tribes, integrate the better among the collaborators.

>>3544156
Just like Gaul. Good times...

>>3543972
I am quite aware but luckily we might manage to avoid dealing with their scale too quickly. Assuming we stick to small attacks on frontiers and ports, the general lack of skill in the Chinese at sailing should keep us safe until we've made a suitable core of heavy infantry and prepared for a campaign to break the resistance of those we face.

>>3544156
>Personally, I’m inclined towards a mix of the three- utterly destroy resistant tribes, expel marginally non-complaint/surrendering tribes, integrate the better among the collaborators.
Basically the Roman method and I'm inclined to agree. Although I'd add surrendering tribes should be given the option to become "vassals" that we slowly integrate. The Romans made use of such people in this way as it allowed for the creation of nominally Roman (e,g tax-paying) lands between them and the true barbarians, keeping the actually Roman people safe.

>>3544436
I don’t want any form of client-states on the island, as it will be the anchor of our continental operations.

>>3544156
I’d agree with this.

>>3544471
Fair enough but consider that we're dealing with an island the roughly half the size of Ireland, we're going to be busy for a fair while if we're going round subjugating individual tribes. Long enough that the occasional vassal could certainly be absorbed without issue.

Especially because we're probably not going to be charging straight into a serious war any time soon. I mean we're going to need troops, ships, commanders and all the infrastructure to support them. Chances are we're going to be busy getting this isolated and backwards island ready to mount an invasion (maybe even performing a few practice runs on other places) before we even consider the mainland.

>>3544544
Frankly, the local population is small enough that making vassal would be kind of absurd.
We are talking about a few ten of thousands people in total as population of the island at the very, very best.
We will probably get an equivalent numbers as colonist.
I wish we could use our god power to find ore or something :/

>>3543918
>>Noting that the majority of the three-hundred strong natives were women and children, Alexandros ordered the hundred men he had with him to begin butchering the natives. It was possible there were more of them hidden in the underbrush, but these were odds he was more than willing to accept, given the clear lack of metal weapons and proper armour among the few primitive warriors in their number. These diminutive and undeveloped people had no place in his new nation.
We don't need these weak and subservient people in our society.

>>3544555
>Frankly, the local population is small enough that making vassal would be kind of absurd.
True but it could very well make their acceptance far easier. If nothing else, we might consider it for the mainland / bigger expansions.

>We are talking about a few ten of thousands people in total as population of the island at the very, very best.
Again, half the size of Ireland. That is certainly space for a decent, if decentralised, population.

>We will probably get an equivalent numbers as colonist.
That I very much doubt and even so we'll be waiting for a fair time for them to arrive through the straits between here and India, assuming they make it that far and assuming they don't get killed on the final leg of the journey.

>>3544560
Now, now anon we do need slaves for the mines and for building our cities.

>>3544571
The number I found suggested 150 000 people... in the 17th century.

>>3544611
Fair enough.

>>3544633
Oh, btw, we got sugar cane, we can probably send them back on a trip to Europe when they unload colonists.
Sugar should be popular.

>>3544639
Yep but the issue will be keeping it in a good state for that long of a journey by sea. Other goods we've got: tropical wood, silk (via trade), spices.

Honestly, we can probably make a damn good profit expanding south into the various islands and just producing shit to ship west. At least short term, that way we can turn the profits to creating a strong army / navy and all the industry to support it.

>>3544659
>>3544639
>>3544555
Whatever you export will most likely not reach Parthia and western states directly. Lady Tzi only sails between India and China, and even that takes years. In a similar vein, colonists will not arrive all that quickly.

I couldn't find estimates for pop at around this time, but I thought roughly 10k pop is reasonable. Mainland Chinese haven't bothered with the island much since currently the majority of them are in the north, near the Henan region with all the major rivers branching through. It was only after the Three Kingdoms period during the Five Barbarians Uprising that there was a mass exodus of Han Chinese southward.

Great to see serious discussions on what to do. What do you guys want to name the island? Alexandria Eschate was suggested before.

>>3544974
I thouth Alxendria Eskhata was the name of the city?
I would call the Island new Grecia but I don’t know how to spell it properly in Greek :/
Well, Lady tzi and the Greek transporting the colonists will at least have incentive to keep the flow going if they go back with hold full of goods.
The beast deal are the ones where everyone win.
10k seems ok to me.
Btw wasn’t there some Greek merchants around sinae?

>>3544974
>Whatever you export will most likely not reach Parthia and western states directly. Lady Tzi only sails between India and China, and even that takes years. In a similar vein, colonists will not arrive all that quickly.
True, although I still think my point about the difficulty of transporting sugar stands.

>I couldn't find estimates for pop at around this time, but I thought roughly 10k pop is reasonable.
Sounds a bit low but you're the boss. If you feel it is reasonable then that is what we go with.

>Mainland Chinese haven't bothered with the island much since currently the majority of them are in the north, near the Henan region with all the major rivers branching through. It was only after the Three Kingdoms period during the Five Barbarians Uprising that there was a mass exodus of Han Chinese southward.
Precisely how divided is what we know as southern China? I want to get an idea of just what we're dealing with in terms of kingdoms and targets.

>What do you guys want to name the island?
Our mothers name.

>>3545046
>Rhea
I actually love this idea. I know Caesar shouldn’t be broken up about his second mother so many years after the fact, but we *did* vote for him to honor his parents significantly in the early threads.

>>3545046
I was thinking something simple like Eonesia from eos (east) and -nesia (island), which I'd like to think might also be taken as Eunesia "good island". Maybe Rhea can be one of the new settlements, since I doubt we're gonna concentrate all our population in one place.

>>3545145
Rhea could be a province, but naming the jewel of our Empire that seems a little overdoing it for Caesar. New Rome lacks subtlety, but "New" might be good, because this is what it is. Eonasia is good, but when we spread to the mainland, some might think that is what we call ourselves.

>>3545170
How do we even say new in Greek?

>>3545145
Fair enough but like >>3545082 says, it's a damn nice thing both in character and out of character. We failed to save her life but we CAN save her memory which fulfils our familial piety and ends a chapter of our life. The birth place of our new nation bearing the same name as our mother also has a lot of metaphorical value.

>>3545170
I mean, the son of a greek merchant leading a crew of gaulic, germanic, jewish and christ knows what else people to found a new civilisation in the far east called New Rome is kinda odd. I know why but the Romans aren't exactly the favourite people of a fair few of our crew and they'd probably object.

>>3545185
παλαιός
palaiós

>>3545188
Palaios Grecia then ?

I don’t think naming the birthplace of our nation after our mother is a good idea.
Because 1)We are going to be militaristic as fuck and we are most likely going to spill river of blood, I’d rather people not be terrified when they think of our mother name.
2)This isn’t just about us, it’s about everyone who followed us into this endeavor, I don’t think it would send the right messages

>>3545199
>Palaios Grecia then ?
An acceptable compromise if no one else comes to vote.

>Because 1)We are going to be militaristic as fuck and we are most likely going to spill river of blood, I’d rather people not be terrified when they think of our mother name.
A fair point but I'd counter it with the fact we're naming this island, not our new nation. Chances are people are going to care more about our chosen name as a nation, especially as we expand beyond the island, than the name of this place but it will still be a sweet gesture.

>2)This isn’t just about us, it’s about everyone who followed us into this endeavor, I don’t think it would send the right messages
By that logic then we should name this place any number of things because, again, our crew is made of many groups. Naming this place after our mother is at least a nice neutral gesture that everyone can agree is sweet rather than a sign of favouritism toward a group of our crew.

>>3545199
>>3545188
I think naming the island the functional equivalent of motherland isn’t a bad idea at all. Firstly, as defined in the earlier vote this nation will be imperial and autocratic in nature. It’s entirely game to name it in such a way that appeals to its (legitimately) divine, immortal, and Alexander-esque ruler who largely commands the loyalty and admiration of his people. Secondly, as >>3545220 pointed out, nobody who we care about will find this too objectionable.

>>3545199
I think "new" would more properly be Neos or Nea, and the Greeks themselves called Greece "Hellas", with Grecia being a Latin term

>>3545188
I didn't mean to name it "New Rome", I just meant that naming it "New Athens" or something like that is a little out of character

>>3545806
Fair.

File: Major Settlements of the (...).jpg (1.29 MB, 1650x1950)

1.29 MB JPG

>>3545011
>Greek Merchants
Mostly Persians actually this far east, you want to go to Bactria for more "Greek"-inclined population.

>>3545046
>Southern China
It's extremely divided, though nominally a "Chinese Region". Right now the south is populated by the Nanman which is itself a generic group-name for "southern barbarians" that indicate the modern Vietnamese, Thai, Laos, etc., who occasionally count as "China" (Chu Kingdom during the Zhou Dynasty, Shu Han vassal during Three Kingdoms) but generally they're fairly independent and do their own thing owing to their distance from the Chinese heartlands and continue to be so until centuries later with China consolidating its southern holds. As you can see from the map, the vast majority of Han Chinese population were concentrated in the north at this point in time.

>>3546412
New thread

>>3528832
>who call themselves the Middle Kingdom out of hubris and ignorance.

Wouldn’t the more accurate translation be “central states”. It was used to describe their homeland as culturally distinct from the tribes surrounding them.