Crete

Crete, also known previously as the Minoan Empire, is a kingdom set on the island of the same name. It is a joint-kingdom with Israel after the marriage of both of their monarchs. It is a powerful Naval force in the Mediterranean. It's territory used to stretch into the Aegean Sea and it's islands, but during the Mediterranean War, they lost these islands. They even lost Crete itself for near 30 years, until the Minoan Uprising where they won back the island. A prideful and powerful nation, they wish to regain their land and conquer the Mediterranean Sea. They wish to become the New Rome, as they call themselves. It is a large sea power that is scientifically advanced and knowledgeable. It's current capital city is Heraklion, but was formerly Knossos. Their current and very much new flag, which was created by Ariadnh, symbolizes several things. The laural wreath symbolizes victory in battle and sports. the black represents grief at the loss of the old Minoan Empire and oppositely, the white represents the hopes of going forwards. The dark blue symbolizes intelligence and wisdom. The light blue symbolizes calmness and tranquility between fellow Minoans. The light blue forms a sideways or fallen cross. This symbolizes that Crete will not reform or accept what is forced on them, as a cross is a symbol of Creatite which was a religion forced on them. They rejected this though to make their own choices.

## Foreign Relations

### Poor Relations

#### Israel

During the Mediterranean War, Israel was Crete's foe. The king of Israel at the time was Abijah, a idiot king who was very selfish and power hungry. Abijah saw the power that Crete possessed and wanting it for himself, declared war. He died and passed the throne to Joram, his grandson since his son had died in the war. Joram won the war taking Crete and the islands they had claimed in the Aegean. The Minoan Uprising put Crete back in Minoan hands, but they still have a rivalry with Israel. This rivalry seems to be lessening with the friendship of Ariadnh and Solomon.

## Government

Crete is an absolute monarchy. Both men and woman ruled with absolute power. When the king or queen is away, the High Captain of the Navy rules in place of a monarch. They will also rule if the throne is passed onto a prince/princess that is under the age of 15.

### Laws

There are laws where people can't murder, steal, etc. A few more interesting laws are listed below:

* All Minoans past the age of 20 must work in some kind
* All Minoans must pay taxes to their captain
* Minoans may not own slaves unless the slave had previously committed a crime against them
* All Minoans must be taught how to wield a weapon and sail by the age of 14
* Woman and men most be viewed as equals

## History

### Early History

No one knows exactly how the Minoan Empire started besides that it was created by an early settler named Minos. He and his family settled in the area hailing from Athens. They started farming and fishing. Soon after, other Athenian settlers came and elected Minos as leader. Minos requested independence from Athens. The king allowed them as he viewed the colony of Crete as a waste of resources and time. They flourished and soon, other Greek people flooded into Crete. People from Africa came to Crete as well. Eventually, Minos's son was crowned the first, true monarch of Crete. His line continues to this day. Some of the kings and queens invaded small islands in the Aegean, forming a large empire.

### Mediterranean War

When Abijah inherited the throne of Israel, he abused his power, lording of his subjects. He is described as foolish, selfish, fat, and power hungry. He saw the power of the Cretans and attacked, wanting it for himself. He being lazy and selfish, sent his son to lead the military while he stayed in Jerusalem. Sadly though, since his son would have been a good and selfless king, unlike his father, he died in the war. The Mediterranean War was almost entirely made of naval battles that were described by historians as "battles that painted the oceans red and left bodies for flotsam." This shows how violent the war was. The war started to wind down when Abijah died and passed the throne to his grandson, Joram. Joram was worse than his grandfather, He was cruel and evil. He over taxed the Israelis and killed even his own people without cause. But he was effective. He led the armies and took out all the different islands that Crete owned before sailing and invading the island itself. He won and conquered the whole nation. He gave up the islands to the Spartans and Athenians for money, specifically gold. But he kept Crete for himself. He used it as a personnel prison for all who angered him. But he made a grave mistake when he sent one of his former generals to Crete around 30 years later.

### Minoan Uprising

When the Minoans met the general, they wanted to kill him because he had helped conquer them. To soothe them, he told them that he had been forced to lead the Israeli military to war and that he had been against it. This was true. He also told them different Israeli military tactics. He taught them different fighting styles and new tactics that would work best against the Israeli. Eventually, the Minoans used this knowledge to strike back against their oppressors. They took back Crete and were able to defend it from the Israeli counterattack. When Joram was killed in battle, his son, Ahaziah, agreed to a treaty. Thus both wars were over.

### Reign of Ariadnh

When Ariadnh (of House Minos) came to power another 50 years later, she changed the country. She changed the main language to Latin. She reformed the military to become raiders, making raids on different nations. Ariadnh focused most of these raids on northern Africa, where she plans to invade completely and take over areas like Egypt and Libya. She secretly aided a thieves guild in Jerusalem. Ariadnh is the main one who started the ideas to become the "New Rome" and conquer the Mediterranean. Ariadnh is a good queen though, well, to her own people. While she attacks and raids other nations, she also helps the common folk, giving them resources like food, money, and shelter to those who need it. She started institutes of science and learning to make more jobs and improve her nation as a whole, as well. She also put in the slavery law to try to help the good people in her nation while punishing the bad ones at the same time. The people love her, but the rest of the world despises her.

## Military

The Minoan military is trained to be quick and fast in any situation. They are trained unique fighting styles and tactics based off of ancient Greeks, Viking raiders, Israeli forces, and European warriors. All of these styles were blended into one fighting style. They use shields, helmets with aventails, grieves, and bracers for armor and defense. They also use gambeson armor with some differences for the weather, with a short kilt and no sleeves. For offense, they use Norse straight swords, European glaives, axes of their own ancient design, and Greek and Israeli bows. These weapons did vary from soldier-to-soldier.

### Navy

This is the larger part of their army. They would use the same armor and shields as the other soldiers, but they would use larger, more traditional Minoan shields to block projectiles in sea battles. For weapons, they would use European glaives, traditional axes, traditional swords, Greek or Israeli bows, and Israeli knives. This, again, would differ from different opinions and preferences that vary from soldier-to-soldier.

## Abilities

### People of the Bull

Minoans are stronger and faster, but not by much, than a lot of other nations

### Raider's Fury

Minoans are quick to anger, drawing weapons over petty insults in some cases

## Religion

After the Mediterranean War, the Israelis destroyed the temples, religious texts, and religious symbols. They re-taught them Jierodism, Creatite, and Kharvark. After they reclaimed Crete, they went away with the Israeli religions and adopted the religion of neighboring Sparta and Athens. After converting to the Hellenistic faith, they took Poseidon and Artemis as their patron deities.