The Unfolding of a Great Empire

The mightiest leaders of Babylon assembled after the death of Alexander. A question arises, who will be the next king? Everyone is reaching for the throne, but not everyone is attaining power. Some may even face death. The fate of the Babylonian empire rests in the hands of this group.

The assembly began on a peaceful note. However, crisis upon crisis befell this covert group. Everyone was willing to stab anyone in the back to gain power. The first act of war was Cleomenes II bypassing all security and spying on this elite class of influential people. Chaos ensued when their location was compromised. Mercenaries had surrounded them on the secret island they chose to meet on with all but 40 bodyguards for protection. They planned to send a decoy fleet of ships while escaping through an alternate route disguised and protected by their bodyguards. The bodyguards lost their lives protecting them. A thousand men and their master, Heracles, the illegitimate son of Alexander, had trapped them on the island.

After much debate, three representatives were chosen to negotiate with Heracles- Vebulus, Melegar and Nearchus. Their strategy was to offer the Macedonian empire to Heracles in exchange for safe passage to the nearest city. However, the actual plan was to assassinate and overthrow Heracles. In their eyes, he was unfit to lead the empire because his mother was Persian, and he was an illegitimate child. Heracles would not be readily accepted by the Macedonians as the Emperor. Even if they did accept him, it would be of no use as the Satraps, or provincial governors still had a majority share in power.

Multiple fronts of their plan were questioned and deliberated on. Only a few had the courage to enquire about the loyalty of the representatives who met Heracles. They were doubtful of the execution of the plan and any covert transactions between them and Heracles. Before these suspicions could be cleared, more crisis struck. They had received a set of riddles to solve and unravel the location of a secret passageway built by Alexander and escape the island. They ran through the gutter and reached their ships safely. They resumed their conference at another undisclosed location and continued their struggle for power and territory.

After all, everyone has a say on who gets to ascend the throne. Names will be thrown, alliances will form and break, and enemies will be revealed in this bid for the Empire of Macedonia.