H4

As May continued, I had a pair of projects that I wanted to get started, namely production of byssus cloth on a more than local basis and the construction of a saltern on the coast using an Archimedes screw powered by a windmill to bring seawater into the saltern to evaporate and leave behind salt. The first would be simpler than the second, as the production of byssus cloth was a cottage industry in parts of coastal Epirus. I simply had to organize the scattered folks in various fishing villages and provide them with the shellfish to harvest the threads and the means to weave the threads together. That would only take a month or two of concerted effort once I had found enough weavers to staff my byssus works. Constructing a Saltern, though could take the rest of the year, depending on if a site could be found that was suitable, then digging out the brine pools, constructing levees, and of course, the windmills.

I had my men scouring the fishing villages along the coast looking for areas rich in the pen shells that byssus fibers were harvested from, looking for weavers of said fibers, and also looking for a good place to build a saltern. As it happened, a stretch of coastland opposite the Island of Korkyra happened to have a decent number of fishing villages all with a dozen or so byssus weavers in them. I offered to have them move a few miles inland to the City of Kestria in Chaonia, where I had purchased a disused warehouse and had it refurbished into a center for weaving byssus cloth. The men of those villages along the coast I offered double rates to bring in pen shells to be harvested in Kestria. All this was finished and finalized before June was over. Wagons would come in from the coastal villages laden with pen shells to be harvested and turned into byssus cloth in Kestria, and from there sold for a profit to feed the treasury.

My search for a suitable location for a Saltern was not so easily accomplished. At first, a good site was selected near Kestria as well, but I decided that having both my big money-making industries in a central location would make said location too attractive to enemies. It would be too easy for them to just hit Kestria and take out a large chunk of my funding that way. I told my men to keep looking. Eventually, they found a site in the last week of June just north of the Ambracian Gulf near the town of Elatria. Construction on that front would begin at the end of June and continue for the rest of the year.

In the meantime, I contented myself with building up stockpiles for the upcoming war with the Illyrians. By May 15th, Menon had completed the full-scale blast furnace in Ambracia and Epimenides was well into training apprentices in its use. The first ingots of Osmond Process steel were produced in the last week of May and soon all manner of military equipment was being forged of the new steel. I soon had sets of linothorax, swords, pike heads, and shields, all being made of steel. While it would be considered crude, low-quality, steel by the standards of 2021, it was still miles ahead of anything that Macedon, Rome, or Carthage were putting out.

At the same time, saddles and stirrups were being produced by Phillipos and the 3 other saddlemakers and leatherworkers that he had pegged as being loyal to Epirus. By the end of May, they had some 500 hard tree saddles and stirrup pairs made for my cavalry. It'd take them until the end of August to finish kitting out the rest of the cavalry, which would mean that I would have to delay my attack into Illyrian Territory at least a month if I wanted the full cavalry equipped and trained with the new saddles and stirrups in time to do anything. I still had the cavalry practicing with the new equipment, though. Even if it was unlikely that I'd start the campaign before the end of September.

By that point, I'd have maybe a month or 2 to campaign before I would need to encamp for the winter. I was fairly certain I could manage a victory against the Dardanii in that time, though I probably wouldn't be capable of invading Dardanii territory. I would need to winter in Taulantii territory, which would give me time to solidify control over the Taulantii as a client state. Then when spring came, I could march into Dardanii Territory and attack bits of Bardyllis' Kingdom, maybe break off the iron and copper-rich territories of the Pennestae, Parthini, and Uscanae as clients. If I killed Bardyllis, his core territories would dissolve into bickering warlords as he has no heirs at the moment. No less than 3 major nobles would jump at the chance to lead the Dardanian Kingdom if Bardyllis died, oddly enough all 3 of them were named Monunius. I could leave them to squabble and consolidate my gains.

Things went by in a whirlwind of activity and before I knew it, May had come and gone and June was upon us. Two things of import happened in this month, the first was that Menon and Cineas returned on the 20th from their embassy to Macedon. Demetrios I Poliorcetes had heard the words of my diplomats and agreed that the border in Thessaly should be settled, though he did not pledge any great restructuring of the border. He did however cede the exit of the Katara Pass to Epirus in recognition of the change of heart I had instilled in the Aetolian League.

"This is perfect, he cedes me what he believes to be nothing in exchange for what he thinks is lasting peace, but control over the pass means we can control trade through the Pindus into Thessaly, and even better we can control who goes in and out of the pass." I exclaimed.

"Indeed, it's no great prize from a territory standpoint, but as preparation for a future attack, I could think of worse things." Nodded Menon.

"I just hope you plan judiciously, my king. Otherwise, no amount of good staging grounds will help you against Macedon." Cautioned Cineas.

I nodded and dismissed the two of my advisors, already planning on ways to tax trade going through the pass and send agents out through the pass with said trade to get the lay of the land in Thessaly. I would have to prepare in coordination with the Aetolian League to beat Demetrios. He was still a force to be reckoned with even with this and could potentially turn the tide on me at any time. But that was for after I had defeated Bardyllis in Illyria. The Illyrian War would need to take precedence.

It was a few days after I had gotten the border settlement with Demetrios that the second thing of import to happen in June occurred. Agathocles of Syracuse sailed into port in Ambracia onboard a magnificent Hexareme. The huge vessel with its many oars was bedecked in banners bearing the sigil of Syracuse on a blue and white background. The massive ship dwarfed any of the triremes or trade galleys in the harbor of Ambracia as it made its way towards the royal docks, set aside for only ships used by the royal family. I waited with a bodyguard of Hypaspists, all decked out in Osmund Process steel equipment and byssus cloth cloaks, for the massive ship's gangplank to lower. When it did, a man with a wrinkled face, short hair, though still possessed of military bearing stepped down, flanked by marines armed and armored as hoplites.

"Agathocles, I thank you for making the journey yourself and hope that my hospitality will be up to the exacting standards of your august person." I said formally.

To my surprise, Agathocles, Tyrant of Syracuse, simply cracked a crooked smile and said, "None of that now boy. We have a lot to discuss, too much to stand on ceremony."

And with that, both our parties headed to the palace for food and negotiation. .