The Chronicles Of The Shark Empire

The Military Ecclesia

As the lives of the people began to get better and safer, they began to question the Count about when the ecclesia would be held so that the people would have representation in the government.

The Count's immediate response was to create the Polymarcian military ecclesia.

Made up of citizens belonging to the fighting forces of the city-state, they would vote for new laws, taxes, and so on.

There would also be 3 seats for nobles and 3 for citizens.

It was a masterstroke as the Count and his commanders would still command through their men.

The year is 496 BC. Four years had passed. Sarpi, had gained fame, had a few ladies who warmed his bed, 2000 men under his command and a naval force of ten fishing ships, and 5 Liburnians already named for Sarpi's frequent piracy, who gained the reputation of (amazingly) white shark of Hades.

The population in the meantime had swelled, from the former 15,000 to now 100,000.

The neighboring city-states were terrified by the actions of the city that did anything to stay alive, to such an extent that they were only prevented from attacking by the Spartan troops stationed near the borders with Polymartius.

Sarpi's power level was at his 225 and it was very difficult to raise it.

While Spartan puppets feared the craziest city-state in all of Crete, at the other end of the island, the Persians prepared to take the rest of the island, massifying their efforts to quickly deploy troops without the Greeks noticing.

It was at one of these placements that Sarpi and his fleet, while chasing a Persian merchant ship, were intercepted by the Persian fleet off the coast of Paeso.

And just as his troops and ships fled and left the Persians like porcupines, Sarpi saw countless golden standards, with different symbols, to the west of his position.

With his instincts warning him that something was wrong, he decided to send a dozen men at dusk to find out what was in fact going on.

Of the twelve, 4 came back, wounded and tired, and when they said the reason for such tragedy, he was surprised:

_The Persians have at least 30,000 warriors there chief, with a few hundred elephants, countless horses and chariots. we have to use this information to get gold! said one of the warriors, smiling like a hyena.

Sarpi tapped the warrior on the shoulder and said,

_You read my thoughts boy! go do it, and of what you get, a third will be yours.