The Mercantile Confederation of Crete

A Roman diplomat arrives in Crete. After staying in Knossos for a short while, he eventually makes his way to the palace to hold talks with the rulers of Crete.

"Salutem!" says Queen Jadikira, representing the Ruling Council. "What would you like to speak with us about?"

The Roman envoy bows curtly, before clearing his throat.

"Your Majesty, my Augustus is interested in pursuing friendly relations with the Mercantile Confederation of Crete, which possibly pertains to a trade agreement and an alliance."

"This is perfectly acceptable to the Confederation."

"Thank you, your Majesty. Now that is settled, we would like to inquire as to your diplomatic stance towards the Maltese Knights that have taken up residence in Sicily."

"Why do you not make a move? Do we require a timer?"

@Librarian: pawn moves from e4 to d5, slaying the enemy pawn. To be perfectly honest, I don't really care for this chess game. It actually caught me off-guard since I thought it was just role-play but now you made it an actual game.

@Richard of Gloucester: "You are most welcome.

The Confederation is displeased with the barbaric knights of Malta for using human heads as currency, foiling colonization plans by seizing Sicily, and hampering our economy by now taking Carthage. War with the Maltese might be a distinct possibility in the future. The Ruling Council watches and waits...

I suspect you ask since Rome also had designs for Sicily and the knights have interfered. Is the Emperor considering war as well?"

A Byzantine diplomat disembarks in the docks of Knossos.Since he remembers the location of the queen's residence from his last visit,he heads to there,and he is asking the guards to let him see the queen.

The envoy raises and eyebrow and clears his throat.

"I see. I believe my Dominus, the Augustus, does not have a fond view of the Knights due to their presence in Sicily, and island that has long been coveted by Rome. War is currently an option, should diplomacy fail of course."

Originally Posted by AntonisTheGreek

A Byzantine diplomat disembarks in the docks of Knossos. Since he remembers the location of the queen's residence from his last visit, he heads there, and he asks the guards to let him see the queen.

He is immediately let in. Refreshments are offered and a seat provided. Upon seeing him, Queen Jadikira sets aside her readings and bows low. "Greetings most honoured ally! What can the people of Crete do for the people of Konstantinopolis this day?"

Originally Posted by Richard of Gloucester

The envoy raises and eyebrow and clears his throat. "I see. I believe my Dominus, the Augustus, does not have a fond view of the Knights due to their presence in Sicily, and island that has long been coveted by Rome. War is currently an option, should diplomacy fail of course."

"The Confederation will fully support the Imperium Romanum in a war against Malta," the Ruling Council announces.

"We want to ask you 4 things,noble lady.
1.Do you requireus to assist you in case of an offensive war(when it's you who attack your enemy)?Naturally,we will help you when someone else is attacking you,but since we learnt that you would attack the knights of Malta in the future,we would like to know if we have to involve in that war,in case that happens,of course.
2.How do you view the Protectorate of Decinryos?
3.Carthage is not as important as it was in ancient times(except if we are mistaken).Why are you bothered about capturing that city then?
4.Would you mind if we established a naval base in Balearic islands?"

Smiling and bowing to the ruling council, the Roman envoy presents the ruling council with a golden wreath.

"My Dominus will be elated. Please, take this, as a token of our friendship."

1. No. Our alliance treaty is purely defensive, so it's more of a defensive-pact really. The actual provisions were: "If any foolish faction declares war on you, know that Crete will fight alongside you against them. And vice versa; we expect you to assist us when a faction initiates war against Crete. Our armies would be allowed to cross each other's realms and attack foes from each other's regions." But hey, the more help Crete and Rome get against Malta the better. You are very welcome to join us.

2. The Confederation of Crete has friendly relations with the Protectorate of Decinryos on the same level as we have with the Byzantine Empire. I don't think we ever officially agreed to an alliance. We were talking about one during the Crimean Liberation War, but I never pursued it. Why do you ask? Doesn't the Byzantine Empire have good relations with Decinryos?

3. Dude, Minoan Crete is in this game, which is, like, a very ancient civilization from, like, way back in the 1900s to 1400s BCE. Oh, and there was Assyria too (the Julia Domna guy who loves Assad) in the early game. Anyway, in my alternate history, Qart-hadast won the Third Punic War and remained a prosperous city through the ages. And Crete is drawn to prosperity... but really I want a region with access to two sea zones (kill two birds with one stone rationality).

4. It seems like you gave up on that. Anyway, my answer is: kind of. But if I had to choose between Zolland or Byzantium having the Balearics; Byzantium all the way man!

Question for you: what does Byzantium think about the Turkestan Khanate? Aren't they violating your Black Sea claims?

Surely that would screw up everyone elses history though

"1)OK.
2)Well,we are thinking of establishing diplomatic relationships with Decinryos.We just wanted to see if you would approve us conducting diplomacy with them.
3)So the conquest of Carthage(or Qart-hadast,as you call it)is more related to strategy than finance,right?
4)Hmmm,if you need these islands for housing population,trade etc.,you may take them.We're not interested in them anymore.We wanted them to establish a naval base,in case we lost our fleet while en route to the New World,but since other lords agreed to take lands in there,we canceled the expendition to the New World,because we respect other lords' claims.
5)We have never made any official claims,so I don't care about Georgia,if you're talking about these lands.We need,however,to secure Anatolia(except its southern coasts,which I agreed to stay away from them so you can take them).It's too late to announce claims,I think."

double post

And there was a man, named Kochiyani, a son of Eliyhu. And Qishon, a man of great status, spoke to Kochiyani, saying: Go, descend to the coast and see for yourself a ship. Sail to the isle of Crete, to the city of Phaistos and bring my word to its people.

And he went, he and six companions, and he descended to the coast and saw for himself a ship. And he sailed to the isle of Crete, towards the city of Phaistos, doing as Qishon had commanded him to do.

And he was a young man, red, pleasurable to see and strong in honor.

And he arrived at Phaistos, he and his six companions.

The Prophet Barachel in Knossos



And the prophet Barachel stood up, and went up to Knossos and he arrived there. And he went up, and he climbed the stairs of the palace and he spoke there, to all who could hear him, saying:
"And His word has come to me, and lo, dark will be the days of the future, shrouded in darkness they will be. And it will come to pass, that the pure shall be defiled, the clean unclean, the loving shall become hateful, the forgiving vengeful and the civilized barbaric. What was once untouched, shall be ruined and fires shall rage. The rivers will run dry, and the crops will not be watered with water, but they will be watered with the blood of young men and women. No children will walk the streets of Knossos, only the eldest will remain to see the crumbled walls."

"All this will come to pass, if your ways are not changed. I call upon you, change your ways, for the way you tred leads to fire and ruin!"

And Barachel descended to his ship, and he sailed away from Knossos, Crete, to return to his house, which is near Laraish.

"My good man," says King Rusa. "There is no need for the people of Crete to repent of anything, for we live in a utopia. Our people are ethical and enjoy maximum freedom in their lives."

"Walls?" King Kikeru scrunches up his face. "No city on Crete has any walls; this is a peaceful land that no war has ever come to."

"I think it is you who should mend thy ways," exclaims Queen Tarina to this "prophet". "Your patriarchal society limits the liberty of females, and yourselves! Encourage girls in education and to become leaders. Gender roles are meaningless! Abandon them and greatness shall follow."

"I think he's warning us of an impending war," Queen Jadikira muses. "A coalition has formed to destroy our blessed island. No doubt a major war would threaten our civilization. And if the sacred isle is invaded, it is very likely our people would become 'barbaric' to defend our way of life. Thank you, kind sir, but like a ship out at sea far from home, we must weather this storm as it descends."

~ Emergency Dictator Appointed ~

From now on all foreign ambassadors shall be directed to the City of Zakros. There they shall be dealt with by her majesty, Queen Tarina, High Priestess of the Snake Goddess, Defender of the Sacred Isle. May her strong will guide Crete through this storm.