When the Haradicans first berthed their ships upon Eptemian soil, they say that they found a land of kings. Athranses is named foremost among them, and the Xionians have strong enough a tradition to claim him as their own native ruler, though the Orsirians make bold also that he was theirs. Perhaps the Orsirians are true in such declarations, and that Orsir, as it was then, was indeed under the rulership of larger Xios. The Haradicans also make it clear that King Athranses, and the others they encountered, ruled from villages often set upon the ruins of ancient fortifications, that none could claim any but giants built. To this the Haradicans wondered that their own architects could have built such monuments, though of the Eptemians of the time, they knew them only as remnants of their ancestors, who, as told in the Deidacalion, had migrated there under the direction of Cassander during a time when the gods were at war.
Now, King Athranses was also the older brother of Milesios, both children of a noble family, who would later found Xios when that soon to be future power was nothing more than a scattering of villages. According to legend, both Athranses and Milesios and their entire family had been exiled from their settlement as boys by a greedy landowner named Orithisios who wished to be the dominant force upon each of four villages that sat in close proximity. He wanted to claim to be a king over all the men there, whereby the villagers preferred a rotated system of chieftainship. But Orithisios was a brutal man, all set for dominating his peers, rather than respecting them, and he was not popular, nor did the villagers acceded willingly to his demands, so as Orithisios sought to excel himself in brutal actions he put down the rebellion of the villagers with the sword, raping some of the womenfolk belonging to the more noble families so as to insult them all the more greatly.
Athranses and Milesios had no intention of allowing such a man to govern their fellows and peasants, and took refuge in the small town of Delophis. Now, Delophis was a trading centre, founded by Irrax, that sits close by to the Enearic Sea, where merchants of all walks went to sell grain or trade crafts for food or the rarer metal coinage of those times that individual rulers sometimes printed in their richest day. The people of Delophis were sympathetic to the brothers and their family, and the Ephor, being an official agreed upon by a small council of the nobles there, wished to help the brothers in some minimal way. This man was called Eremithis, and in hearing that it would only take a small band of well-armed and organised men to overthrow the brutal Orithisios, agreed to supply a total of two hundred men from his own guard, on condition that Athranses and Milesios not only feed them but also pay double the men's usual wage for that year, in whatever goods. This was an expense that Athranses and Milesios accepted with some concern for their own finances, hoping that they could consider some other way to make their agreed payment once all matters were clear.
And so it was that Athranses and Milesios brought the men together, along with volunteers from among the exiled nobles, making a total of only three hundred men fit, armed and armoured, for fighting. Crossing the fields of an outlying village in darkness, Saturnyne's gaze beneath the horizon, lone Pheiros crossing the skies with the palest red glow, Athranses lead on with Milesios as his deputy and overpowered those few men loyal to Orithisios as they guarded. With the first village liberated, being called Innasta, they moved to a second, called Ormulis, where a more significant number of men resisted and were sound defeated.
Then Athranses turned all attention to the largest of the villages, called Phenothen, where Orithisios was known to be residing with the larger part of his soldiers. As luck would have it, they were eating and drinking and making merry with the spoils of their brutal regime, devouring grain brought from emergency stores, while taking of wine they had stolen from all. And so it was that Athranses and Milesios and their hundred volunteered nobles, and their two-hundred guardsmen supplied by Eremithis, broke in among the revellrous fray and slaughtered them all to a man, without losing one of their own. By now, however, the general disturbance and news of had travelled quickly in whispers and rumour to those others who had claimed loyalty to Orithisios, and they fled in alarm at the mere thought of reprisal. And so it came to pass, that by morning the four villages belonged to Athranses and Milesios.
However, a problem that now faced them both was that Orithisios and his gluttons had consumed so much of the villages' combined supplies in so short a time that both men were unsure of how to pay for the guardsmen in hire. The nobles had had their lands and wares ravaged and plundered, some things simply wastefully broken, and it was seen that there would not be enough to make quick payment.
However, this information neither brother kept from the guardsmen supplied by Eremithis, for they were born to be honest, so they took it upon themselves to plot a way to finance themselves better. While they were wondering so, a marvellous thing happened. As Athranses was sleeping one night, troubled by their situation, the glowing figure of Xios, greatest among the gods, himself appeared in his dream, and told him that he and his brother were actually sons of Xios himself. As their god and their father, he then ordered Athranses to found a new city in his honour. Athranses saw Xios standing in a spot between the four villages of Innasta, Ormulis, Phenothen, and Erasta, holding a glowing rod. The chief of all gods then ordered Athranses to do likewise. After this marvellous apparition, Xios then turned and told Athranses, in no uncertain terms, to bring together the two neighbouring tribes of the Inviti and Boresi under his authority. Then Athranses awoke and in the morning straight away told the men of his vision.
As the nobles and troops stood in awe of his telling, Milesios then added after, with great solemnity, that he too had been visited by a divine vision, though it this one it was the consort of the great god, being Dione, who spoke to Milesios, and advised him to make a city with his brother in the same manner of Athranses' dream.
Upon hearing this all who heard were astonished, and knew immediately that this was a great sign, and urged that the two brothers should at once set to making their foundations for this great and divine honour.
And so it was that Athranses, and his brother Milesios, took a tall wooden pole and brought it to the ground the gods had indicated in their dreams, a point upon a low hill between the four villages. As they were standing ready to perform the founding ceremony before all, an eagle appeared in the sky, whirling above them for some time, before swooping low and then landing upon the very pole that Athranses held ready. After being observed, the eagle took flight again and away over the distant hills. No one could mistake the meaning of this good omen, and Athranses spoke aloud that Xios had now blessed the place before them all, and rightly prophesised that Xios would make this city proud and mighty, its influence spreading over the hills after the eagles flight.
And so it was that Athranses and Milesios settled the displaced nobles, not back in or about their home villages, but upon their spot designated. The two hundred troops whom Eremithis of Delophis had supplied were so taken with the entire spectacle that they agreed, wholly and as one in unison, that they would settle themselves and their families here, if Athranses would grant it, as he did, and so Xios was founded, and hence the reason why Xios has the four central districts of Innasta, Phenothen, Erasta, and Ormulis.
But while the first buildings were being constructed, Athranses and his brother Milesios determined to fulfil the rest of their instruction, that of bringing the neighbouring tribes of the Inviti and Boresi under their influence. Determining that they would need to make a military assault, Athranses set himself to be the commander of a greater number of men, who would march to the hills and subdue them. As they prepared to do so, and approached the first village in force, they were welcomed as like as saviours, something that initially surprised Athranses and his troops. As it turned out, both the Inviti and the Boresi were being incessantly attacked by raiders from tribes in a region called Merebanon. Entreating the help of Athranses and his soldiers, the Inviti, joined now by representatives from among the Boresi, called for Athranses to aid them and rid them of this menace, and that if he did, not only would they agree to come under the authority and protection of newly founded Xios, but that they would also pay for the troops supplied by Delophis from their own remaining stores. And when they heard also of the two brothers' visions, they also offered to send settlers, craftsmen, and skilled labourers to help create stone foundations for Xios, if only they could be rid of the raiders from Merebanon.
To all this information and their specific request Athranses and his men could not have been happier, for Athranses knew both of these tribes, and there had been friendship with them in the past. It has even been said that the mother of Athranses and Milesios was originally of the Boresi themselves. And so it was that Athranses lead out with the soldiers, Milesios supervising the work of the building of their new city of Xios, and after a short and easy campaign Athranses not only defeated the tribes of Merebanon, but also successfully sieged their main town and plundered it of all its wealth, taking its cantankerous citizens into bondage.
With that accomplished, the Inviti and Boresi settled the necessary levy for the Delophian soldiery, who now refusing to return home, insisting on settling in Xios, received not only what was promised, but from the plunder of Merebanon Athranses and Milesios were also able to dispatch equal the value in various commodities to Eremithis himself, in thanks for his kindness and as compensation for the loss of the men of his guard.
Eremithis, for his part, was well pleased, and happy at the terms, for the people of Merebanon and their allies had also been attacking caravans from Delophis travelling those lands. Thus Eremithis offered to make a peace treaty with Athranses, joining Delophis and Xios in friendship and goodwill that would last for many centuries. So much for the founding of Xios.
Now it came to pass that as Xios grew under the auspices of Athranses' leadership, Milesios began to resent his subordinate position. Being only two years younger than his older brother, this made it harder for Milesios to accept subservience, and although the brothers loved one another, a friction slowly grew between. None knows if this would have lead to civil war, as some have imagined, or else some other catastrophe. In any event, the great god Xios averted such malattention to his new city and set up another event that would see both brothers not simply fully reconciled, but also fully empowered.
The people called the Argarians were being plagued by pirate raids from the seas. The brigands avoided Delophis for, although small by modern standards, it was equipped well enough by a truce among peoples there for Delophis to protect its naval interests, at least close about its own coastline. The Argarians, however, were thinly distributed about their lands beside the sea, and the pirates were able to land at any point, for vast swathes of sandy beach graced their shore. And so the pirates took advantage of this by raiding at any area, and the lack of predictability regarding their next attack made it all the more difficult for the Argarians to draw themselves together and repulse the invaders. Indeed, when the Argarians did try, the pirates had already accomplished their raid and were gone by the time their own forces arrived.
Now, as Delophis was a close and important trade centre upon the sea, the Argarians pleaded with them for help. As luck, or fortitude, would have it for the Argarians, the very person they made their appeal to was none other than Eremithis, who some years before had aided so nobly Athranses and Milesios in their own cause. Eremithis replied that the Delophians had debated the matter, and although sympathised with their cause, and sent their heartfelt sympathies, did not see fit to raise a force against the pirates, who otherwise troubled themselves not at all. However, in the reply that Eremithis sent by messenger, he added that he personally wished to help in some way, and did so by mentioning the names of Athranses and Milesios, and stated at how they had rid themselves of brigands before founding Xios. Although a wholly different set of circumstances had afflicted them, Eremithis saw that Athranses and Milesios had both sound tactical minds, and since the founding of their city, now had regular troops trained to a high standard. He suggested that as Xios was young, it would be more predisposed to finding a new ally in the Agrarians, whereas Delophis was already stuck in its ways and methods enough to care not so much for the Argarians individual plight.
And so it was that the Argarians sought out the settlement of Xios, and found it, and approached Athranses, and pleaded with him for help. Athranses, for his part, was very sympathetic, but replied that the needs of his own city were greater, for it was too young to leave undefended, especially as a tribe of people called the Denurians had grown jealous of the fast growing influence of Xios, and were already making solitary attacks on the outlying farmsteads of the Boresi and conquered lands of Merebanon. Athranses had already resolved to remove that threat from his land and people, and could not break either his oath to serve them, nor his promise of protection from them.
To this the Argarians listened and then made a startling offer straight, and that was that whoever rid them of the pirates, they would make their own king. For, as they explained, the Argarians last king had died some few years previous, and civil unrest now abounded as the people wandered lost without the shepherd of one ruler. They offered Athranses their crown.
Athranses, for his part, smiled and declined, and replied that he had already a crown, and that was of Xios, which had been formally appointed upon his head after his founding of his city, through the instructions of the most powerful of the gods.
Despite their protestations and wailing, Athranses stood firm that he could not help, and the Argarians, disheartened, began to leave his apartments. It was at that moment that Milesios was passing by, travelling to speak with his brother on some other issue, when he saw a portent that he could not ignore. A skylark was flying directly above the Argarian delegates, carrying a golden hoop in its beak. Milesios watched for a while and observed that it seemed to follow above the steps of the Argarians. Realising an important omen at work, Milesios quick approached the Argarians and asked of their plight, and was told the same as Athranses had been told. As they did so, Milesios realised the meaning of the portent, and there and then offered not only rid them all of the pirating menace, but that he would become their new king and make the Argarians great beyond their measure.
Gladly heartened by his words and hope, the Argarians waited only for Milesios to gather together an armed number of men from his personal escort, as well as provisions for their journey, and then Milesios explained his intention to his brother Athranses, who gave his blessing to the venture. And so they set off.
The Argarians were eager to know his plan, and asked him repeatedly of what action he might take, but Milesios simply answered that the skylark would tell them. This answer utterly confused the Argarians he travelled with, but Milesios could only laugh in humour when asked for an explanation, and gave none. Happy enough that Milesios had not only agreed to help them, but had despatched himself with troops to their cause, kept the Argarians from anything other than accepting, if somewhat befuddled, with all that was said.
When they finally reached the Argarian lands, Milesios took his men and quickly surveyed the surrounding area, and how the outlying farmsteads stood with regards to the coast. He examined the coastline itself, and saw that it was bereft of rocks, being a continuous line of fine sandy beaches that lifted into brief dunes, and low abandoned plains behind, before the Argarians counted their land proper.
As they all sat to eat that night, a murmur of Argarians crowding around where Milesios and his men sat, Milesios revealed a plan to them. He told them, that in no uncertain terms, that the Argarians must not remain so spread about the landscape, and that they should concentrate all their stock and herds towards a single point, upon a low rising hill among the uneven plains that were the Argarians own. The time of the year was now autumn, and the harvests were in, and Milesios insisted that it should all be stored together, in a new created buildings, for one place is easier to defend with a few than a great many, thus being the reason that the pirates found such ease of escape from any pursuit. Milesios outlined his design, and stated a timetable for it to be all carried out. Storehouses, a perimeter palisade, and a new ditch, must all be constructed over the following five days. After that, with a basely fortified position created, Milesios stated it his intention to leave with the majority of his men for finding more reinforcements from Xios.
The Argarians were distressed by his words, not simply that Milesios and his men would be leaving, but also that they were being told to place all their foodstuffs and equipment together in just one place, that if the pirates raided would doom them all for the coming year, for the pirates would surely take all their food together, rather than just a small part. But Milesios insisted on his plan of action, and stated that if the Argarians wished to be saved from their threat, then they must follow his counsel, or else he would simply leave with his men and never return. And so, reluctantly, the Argarians did as he bid them.
Even as they did so, they pleaded continuous against his leaving with his men, and begged for him to leave at least a few to guard their wares. But Milesios refused, saying that should the pirates come and overpower his men, and kill them, then he would be less able to protect anyone.
And so it was, as the five days were over, and the Argarians had their grain and their herds set upon the low hill in improvised shelters, a small palisade and shallow ditch all surrounding, that Milesios bid the Argarians farewell as he and his men set off for Xios. All the while the Argarians begged him not to leave him defenceless, and all the while Milesios shrugged aside their protestations, stating that he had come to rid them of their pirate menace, and for that he must do the job properly. The people grumbled, and more so they lamented, as Milesios lead his men out in the growing darkness.
Soon the night settled strong upon the landscape, the stars and great Saturnyne hidden from view by thick and dark clouds, Pheiros already descended to the underworld, when a ship sailed up to the beach and landed. The pirates came onto land, and in rough formation they headed directly towards where the Argarians had placed both their harvests and herds, the raiders ready to deprive their victims of their winter foods, and that for the following year. As these pirates strode boldly on, the Argarians panicked and fled before them, some of those more brave and more desperate grabbing what instruments of toiling they could and stood upon the hill among their stores to protect what the mouths of their families would sorely need to survive. One man among the Argarians, named Anisander, took hold of the Argarians hearts with fine words and rousing speeches, calling upon them to protect their own when none else would help them, and although some group did cluster ready about him, there was no prayer that could save them from the greater number of approaching raiders.
Yet all was not lost, for as the pirates made towards the ditch and palisade, climbing them easily while no man dared defend them, and the pirates strode proud towards their bounty, a sudden cry went up. From among torn bushes and piled timber close by to the inside of the palisade rushed out Milesios and his men, charging out from hiding, and cut terribly into the rear of the over-confident pirates. Confusion reigned among the raiders as they were cut down from behind, and as they tried to wheel themselves around for defence, Anisander and the Argarians with him saw their chance and rushed down from the hill where the food was stored, the pirates attacked again in the rear and now full surrounded. The raiders full panicked as their numbers dwindled, and attempted to flee, only to find their way encumbered and slowed by the very palisade thought built to keep them out. Finding no easy escape, Milesios killed the majority and then took the few survivors as prisoner as their entreaties finally seemed to prevail upon him. Among the prisoners was one called Enieros, the leader of the brigand band, and Milesios had him questioned thoroughly.
Milesios soon learned that this was no simple raiding party, for he discovered that as succession to the last king had been disputed, a man by the name of Pesirios, a noble among the Argarians, as they were then, and contender for the throne, was claimed by Enerios to be their true leader, for he had devised the raids and the pretext that he would soon offer to rid the land of these brigands, planning to do so very successfully as the raiders were none but men in his own pay. And so it was that Milesios spoke with the Argarians to find out where this man lived, and then marched out with a number of his men and Argarian guides, leaving the rest to guard the captives and place them in bonds. Soon reaching the farmsteads belonging to Pesirios, Milesios found no resistance, and burst in upon Pesirios enjoying the very wares that his men had plundered from his countrymen. Taken captive easily and with little struggle, for the man was a coward and drowsy from drink stolen in his successes, Milesios brought him back to where the hill and stores stood, and the other prisoners.
By now, almost all the Argarians that there was had now concentrated about the place, eager to learn better of the amazing news travelling about the countryside of the pirates being defeated and killed, or else captured. But none was sure how to treat them. A popular call was that they should be killed, and Milesios considered their requests as he listened to each Argarian proclaim the harm done personally to either himself or his family.
Soon Milesios had made up his mind, and in the torchlight addressed them. "Argarians, you are no longer a people who need live under fear, but hope, for I have rid yourselves of the pirates as I promised you. And let me now apologise for my deceiving you, for as you now no doubt have learned, neither myself nor my men ever truly left this place, and neither did I have any intention of leaving for Xios. I needed not reinforcements, but an understanding of omens, and the cunning to carry the plan. You see, when your representatives pleaded with my brother in Xios, and then left woeful for he had his own troubles, I saw above them as they left a skylark, fluttering high among their heads with a golden loop within its beak. Now I knew that this was an omen of a crown being offered by heaven, and when I heard the Argarian delegation were offering a kingship I knew that I must act. Yet how to remove yourselves of this threat of raids by brigands? And so I thought upon the skylark, and why such a bird maybe the object of the omen itself, and soon realised that the skylark is a bird that keeps its eggs together in a nest upon the ground, rather than within a tree, and so I knew that I must bring together all your harvests and herds to one place, like a nest upon the ground, for they feed yourselves like a skylark feeds its own young chicks. As for the rest, I knew also that the skylark moves away from the nest, stating this loudly and clear, only for it to return in secret to its nest once the decoy has worked. And so I knew too that to defeat the pirates upon you, that myself and my men should create a distraction, and seem to leave, only to return hidden, like the skylark, and thus give opportunity for surprising the raiders and defeating them most soundly. Yet this is not something that I felt able to share with you, for I suspected possible treachery, as was revealed in the man of Pesirios, who wished himself to subdue you with his own cunning and men and threats to gain a crown for himself. Now, I have spoken of that, I will now tell you what I will do next. First, I will accept the crown offered, and have no doubt that you will not refrain to giving it to me as promised. Secondly, so as to prevent future attack by brigands, or else make them less effective, I propose that I found a new settlement upon this very hill, populated by Argarians and called Argar in honour of your first father and son of Cassander, as told by the Deidecalion, where yourselves and your families may sleep all the more safely."
To this some of the Argarians insisted that he call the city not Argar, but Milesios, and that they should no longer be called Argarians, but Milesians. But Milesios refused, and his will was his judgement. "And now to the function of sentencing. As your new ruler, as you give me power to do so, I will pass judgement as follows. Pesirios and Enieros, for their unequal yet appalling parts in leading of these raids, should be put to death. We shall leave them bound and then place them upon their very own ship, and then set it alight as we send it to the fortunes of the sea, where they may choose to burn or drown in the wave. Either way it is just punishment. As for the men, I would sentence them the same for their crimes, and yet I am a lenient man, and just also, that I would wish to state my thoughts upon them, and that you, the Argarians, may then decide if my counsel is acceptable to you. For I would ask that these men be not put to death, but set to work on the hard labour of constructing our new settlement, and that when any Argarian sweats to help in his part, the brigands should sweat twice as hard, and thus by their contribution, be offered the chance to redeem themselves. For I propose that when all the hard work is done, and for that it may take many years, that the people of the Argarians then judge these men by the merit of their behaviour, and if they have found them hardworking and penitent, that they may join our city that they have helped make. If, however, they have proved lazy and licentious, and have plotted darkly for revenge of any kind, then even if one man does so, let them all be put to death in whatever manner seems fit then for their crimes. The leaders of these brigands, Pesirios and Eneiros, I sentence with full authority and without appeal, for their deeds determine that they deserve such a death. As for the common brigands themselves, I offer my advice on how they should be treated, and put it to the Argarians themselves as to whether they will accept my judgement on this matter, or whether they would prefer another sentence declared upon their heads."
The Argarians, for their part, were most impressed and received his speech rapturously, for they had found a king who was not only brave and cunning, but wise and merciful as well. They cheerfully accepted his judgement as he had proclaimed it, and then with brief ceremony made him their king, even though it was still dark. After this was accomplished, Milesios declared that he would reorganise the Argarians as a people and find the best soldiers among them, and train them in the bravest arts of war. To this he added that he would make Anisander commander of the Argarian forces, beneath his own authority, but above all others, for his outstanding bravery for daring to defend against the raiders, even though to do so would be suicide, and granted Anisander the right to decide some of his own officers, which he did by choosing those other men who had dared to stand with him, and then fight, the pirate menace.
And so it was that the will of Milesios was accomplished, and all that he said was done. The city of Argar was founded, the lands about being now called Argaria, and the leaders of the pirate raids were indeed were sent out to sea, bound upon a burning ship. As for the common brigands themselves, they saw the error of their ways, and worked hard to regain their honour and dignity, working twice as hard as Milesios had originally asked of them. After five years, when most of the original work had been completed, though more yet was being planned, for Argar was already expanding past its first set boundaries, the men were then set free to be their own again after a unanimous declaration by the Argarians while Milesios celebrated his fortieth birthday.
So much for the founding of Argar.
