Argos is one of the Hyborian kingdoms that rose out of the ashes of Acheron when it fell 3,000 years
ago. Situated on a coastline with natural sea-ports, unlike Shemites, the people of Argos have become master sailors, crafty pirates and powerful merchants. Argos is a small nation with a population of just over seven million people.

Argos is an interesting land for a Hyborian kingdom. It is wonderfully varied. The sea-ports are cosmopolitan and liberal. In contrast, the inland provinces of Argos are peopled with more traditional, conservative farmers, craftsmen and labourers. The roads of Argos, lined with trees, fields and villages, are generally peaceful and the inland folk are friendly toward strangers. Nearly every village has an inn for travellers, most of whom are making their way to Messantia or one of the other port cities, or are making their way toward Zingara, Ophir or Aquilonia laden with trade-goods.

With a command of the sea and the trade-routes, Argos has become a wealthy kingdom. It is wealthy enough to be able to raise armies for war or to hire assassins, spies and diplomats for its own brand of intrigue and subterfuge involving the other kingdoms.

An Argossean looks to others for confirmation of ability, identity and honour. No Argossean can be his own judge. Argosseans do not look inwards to understand themselves but toward others to determine the opinion they should hold about themselves. It is not enough, though, that an Argossean holds this code of honour – he must be seenas upholding that code by others. Thus, Argossean characters may act in private as if they have no code of honour so long as there are no witnesses, but one holding a code of honour must publicly behave in the appropriate manner. However, if private deeds become known, a reputation can be publicly ruined.

Glory is measured by one’s Reputation. Reputation can be used to climb the social ladder. Any honour or glory given by another to a character is used to further his political and social fortunes. Thus, many Argosseans become braggarts, for any achievement is blatantly spoken about to make sure everyone knows about it. However, some Argosseans feel too arrogant for such acts so they find others who will brag for them.

Honour for the Argosseans is a very real concept, built of a character’s reputation, moral identity and self-perception. This sense of honour is the guiding principle of Argossean society and is never a matter of mere lip-service. Indeed, honour is an all-important issue. Argosseans of honour are always alert for insults. Actual or suspected, insults will impugn an Argossean’s honour. An Argossean’s honour also extends to his wife, his family and his beloved. Impugned honour will usually result in a duel or other form of violent redress. Among the aristocracy and the knighthood, honour is one’s measure of standing among his peers, setting him apart from the common man. To those who hold a code of honour, it is as real as a castle, yet vastly more important, for a castle can be rebuilt if destroyed and honour is wounded forever if stained. For example, a man is allowed to kill his betrothed or wife without facing criminal charges if he suspects her of adultery because the man’s honour and integrity has been tarnished.

In Argos, news and gossip spreads quickly, for many of the wealthier citizens spend much of theday talking in public baths or in the Argossean courts. Playwrights write plays that may praise or deride a public figure and the inns resound with songs praising or ridiculing the important figures of the day.

The importance of Reputation in Argos is such that the normal rule of losing one Reputation point for three consecutive months spent without any change in Reputation is suspended. If a character goes two consecutive months in Argos without a change in Reputation, then the character loses two Reputation points. Not to be talked about is political and social death for Argosseans and it does not take long before the people forget.

Argosseans share most of the basic values that make civilisation possible, such as loyalty to lord and nation. Argosseans have a strong sense of community and a large
share of civic pride. They take tremendous pride in their nation, in its infrastructure, wealth, art and architecture and most will gladly answer questions or provide directions to foreign visitors. Their civic pride ends at their coin purses, however. There are no charities in Argos, no orphanages, and beggars receive most of their alms from people from other lands. Even when it comes to their tithes to the cult of Mitra, Argosseans are tight-fisted. Argos is less feudal than Aquilonia and has more of a reliance upon written laws than Aquilonia or Nemedia, so allegiances are less important to an Argossean than to an Aquilonian or Nemedian. Still, many Argosseans have an allegiance to their nation and/or city simply out of civic pride. Unlike in Aquilonia, there is no penalty for lacking allegiance in Argos.

The economics of rural Argos depend on the concept of allegiance. The social orders rely upon their members swearing allegiances. Allegiance is a pledge, a promise and oath, taken faithfully and with full realisation that it may mean giving up everything, including but not limited to time, property, even lives in support of one thing. Feudal lords pledge allegiance to the lord of their manor and their allegiance changes according to who wears the crown. Characters also pledge allegiances to loves, wives, families, comrades, cities and gods.

Allegiance is usually a reciprocal tie between individuals and between families. Allegiances involve obligations on both sides and are regarded as being as binding as formal law. In some cases allegiances are considered morebinding than formal law. Written contracts count for little in rural Argos, although they take precedence in coastal Argos. Most of the rural nation is illiterate, so only an oath taken before peers is worth anything. These oaths are taken more seriously than any public law. This sometimes creates problems in society in the form of escalating violent vendettas as people avenge each other and counter-avenge in never-ending cycles of blood and war.

Allegiance ties in with honour as well. Honourable Aquilonians almost always have one or more allegiances; indeed, Aquilonians define themselves by lines of allegiance. Usually their immediate feudal lord is their primary allegiance; however, many nobles are pledged to more than one lord. Common allegiances include family, merchant houses, guilds, household, neighbourhood, feudal lords, province and/or nation.

There are, at present, no formal schools or academies in Argos. Children are educated according to their parents’ means.

For the scion of nobility or wealthy merchants, this means hired tutors or educated slaves to teach lessons in history, etiquette, mathematics, literature and philosophy. For families of lesser means, tutors and knowledgeable slaves may not be an option. A merchant who owns his own shop will generally rear his children to run the business, assuming he does not have too many.

Shop-owners with too many children, or those who have no business of their own, have fewer options for their offspring. If the parents are very lucky and very pious, they might arrange to have their child educated by the priests of Mitra. Otherwise, their best option is to petition a guild to accept the child as an apprentice. In time, if accepted, the child may advance to a position of power within the guild, which is one of the only means of social climbing available to those not born to nobility. Being accepted as an apprentice is not common, but it happens frequently enough that many parents hope for it, dreaming that when the time comes, their child will be able to provide his children with the education his own parents could not.

Aside from a career in the military, another option available to the sons of Argos is the sea. It is a difficult life, but one which can lead eventually to riches or to a painful death on an unnamed beach. The final option is a life as a farmer in the interior.

Women and men mix more freely in Argos than they do in many other Hyborian nations, although not by much. In Argos, women, whether noble or peasant, hold a difficult position in society. Often assigned such tasks as cooking, baking bread, sewing, weaving and spinning, Argossean women are also expected to use weapons to defend their homes and families. Argossean women, although few ever become masters, do learn to use weapons to defend their homes and castles. Regardless of the normal positions society attempts to pigeonhole women into, some Argossean women hold occupations typically reserved for men. Women outnumber the men in Argos, so it is not unheard of to encounter well-respected female blacksmiths, merchants, apothecaries, midwives, field hands, writers, musicians, dancers and painters. Many learn a trade from a father or husband and simply carry on the male’s work when he dies. Women tend to have an easier time in rural settings. Urban Argossean women tend to be more pigeonholed, as many guilds will not admit women save via their husbands. As a result, establishing oneself as a single woman in a field is difficult and many young women who move to the cities and fail to find domestic situations turn to prostitution.When peasant girls reach the age of eight years, they work with their mothers doing such tasks as sewing, cleaning and tending livestock. During harvest time the peasant girls join their brothers or husbands in the fields. Girls of the merchant or craftsmen classes are often apprenticed out when they are eight. Usually these girls are apprenticed to another woman but it is not uncommon to apprentice a girl to a man. These girls learn their master’s or mistress’s trade until they earn the right to perform on their own or find a husband. Girls of the noble classes are often fostered out to other wealthy homes and estates to learn sewing,embroidery, manners, music and other leisure skills. Regardless of class, all of these activities revolve around one single goal – marriage

Women are under the control of their fathers until they marry. Although peasants have more free choice in marriages because their dowries are either small or non-existent, aristocratic women are subject to arranged marriages. Their lands and potential children are too important to noble
families to be given away indiscriminately.

Land and property are sources of wealth and social prestige, thus Argosseans have a high regard for property laws. Doubtless a result of their mercantile mindset and their dogmatic adherence to fair pay for fair work, they consider theft of another man’s property a terrible sin. This does not extend to canny trading which amounts to theft, nor does it extend to smuggling, which has a long and storied history in Messantia, but rather is limited to the traditional definitions of theft: burglary, robbery, mugging, banditry, shoplifting, pocket-picking, purse-snatching and the like. Most Argossean thieves tend to be assassins, confidence artists, embezzlers, forgers, smugglers and kidnappers. Argosseans tend to turn a blind eye to piracy but not to banditry.

Houses
Houses in Argossean cities and towns are laid out in streets with sewage lines located under the roads to avoid disease. The Argosseans also reticulate water by means of underground water pipes and pressure boxes, although some areas continue to use aqueducts. They also possess a form of under-floor heating for the winter months. Pillars and arches are a common sight in Argossean houses and public buildings.

Upper class Argossean houses have a wide central courtyard entered from a type of ‘harbour,’ as they call it, or an atrium. Rooms lead off from the central courtyard. The houses are typically single story and use stone for the foundation, with frames of wood and clay plastering to build up the walls.

Ships
The merchants employ merchant ships, usually coasters, cogs and other small and intermediate craft to transport goods far cheaper and far safer than those same goods could be sent overland, piracy notwithstanding. The trading vessels are not equipped for extended sea voyages, and usually move within sight of shore. Argos’ economy is extremely dependent upon a trading season that 6
Life in Argosstarts in late spring and ends in the early fall. It is during this season that fair weather can be expected. Also, Stygian ports are temporarily open to Argossean trading ships during this season.

However, merchant galleys are not uncommon. These larger and more seaworthy craft, including galleons, carracks and caravels, can embark on longer voyages and operate in nearly any sort of weather. Most of these craft, however, have limited cargo space, so their use is usually limited to compact or especially valuable goods. These larger craft are primarily used as warships or, of course, by pirates.

Slavery
Slavery is still quite alive in Argos, though it is not so prevalent as it once was. The majority of slaves attached to Argos rarely see the city; they spend their days chained to the oaring benches of a ship, either in Argos’ mighty navy or aboard one of her larger trading vessels. Other slaves are used as labourers; most of Argos’ coastal cities were built via slave labour.

Most Argossean slaves are taken from the lands of Kush and the Black Kingdoms, and are used for menial, dangerous labour. Those not chained to an oar are likely working the croplands, vineyards and orchards that surround the city or are assigned as labour to the Order of Engineers to spend their days hauling stone and timber for the Order’s current project. Their labour is ensured with the chain and lash and the occasional threat to sell them upriver to Athos.

The average Argossean owns no slaves, primarily because he has little need of them. In Argos, the philosophy of ‘a day’s wage for a day’s work’ is a nearly religious dogma, and slavery stands in stark contrast to that. The free farmers of the interior usually cannot afford to feed slaves, so they merely have large families to help work the farms.

The average Argossean of a Merchant House or noble family, on the other hand, has never done a day’s work and feels no compunctions regarding ownership of other human beings. More than that, however, they consider slavery a necessity. No free man works the oars of their trading ships like a slave can be made to, and no free man works their farms and orchards from before dawn until afterdusk for a wage low enough to maintain profits. As much as for the practical reasons, though, many nobles own slaves simply because they enjoy doing so. Maintaining a small seraglio or a staff of footmen gives them yet another of the trappings of power so many of them crave. Slaves generally live squalid lives beneath the houses of the wealthy in cave-like warrens of rooms with no natural light or amenities of any sort beyond a straw pallet. Other than gladiatorial slaves, Argosseans tend to prefer females and children for slaves because they are easier to control. Most male slaves are children who have been brought up as slaves and have little concept of a different way of life and little martial skill.

The life of a slave in Argos is horrific. Slaves are at the beck and call of their masters in all ways, including sexual. However, an Argossean master cannot kill a slave unless the slave has previously tried to escape. A recaptured, escaped slave is branded and his life belongs then to the master in all ways – including the slave’s death.

The people of Argos generally assume everyone should be employed by the age of fourteen or fifteen. Some occupations require skill at some craft. For example, people may craft their own goods and sell them themselves from storefronts built in front of their own homes or in moveable carts or by hawking their goods in the streets. Some occupations merely require a reputation. For example, anyone who can attract students can set himself up as a teacher. Regardless of what it is a person does to earn a living, people are expected to earn one.

Women in Argos also practise trades and many work more than one trade at a time. Many midwives also are weavers, for example. Knowing a profession or craft practicable at home adds to a woman’s value in the marriage market because any extra money brought into the home by the wife only helps the household. Many of the cottage industries are run by the women of Argos, which angers the local guilds and occasionally can lead to exclusion.

Craft Guilds
As Argos’ specialisation of industry became more and more prominent, the city’s bakers, cobblers, stone masons and carpenters associated with one another and banded together for mutual trade protection. As these associations, or guilds, grew larger and more important in Argos, the guild leaders petitioned the king of that era for more rights, which were granted to them in order to protect Argos against outsiders so long as the craftsmen upheld some measure of civic service and duty.

The guilds protect themselves against outsiders by barring or restricting trade, forcing merchants and traders in foreign goods of a type made by a local guild to pay a stipend or tariff
for the right to sell the goods in that particular Argossean city. The tariff is then split between all the relevant craftsmen in the guild with a portion given to the feudal lord for the right to charge the tariff. The only exception to this is during annual fairs or on established market days, when anyone can buy and sell to the public. Women generally join guilds when their fathers or husbands join. They become independent guild members with the death of the male that sponsored them.

Guilds often use secret signs to communicate basic information to other members, as well as mysterious gestures to identify fellow guild members and their ranks. Many guilds incorporate religious and philosophical concepts and traditions into their meetings, making them mystery cults of a sort. During festivals the guilds often put on trademark plays to emphasise their preferred themes and religious stories. For example, every year the Goldsmiths may put on a complex play illustrating the creation of gold myths present in the religious traditions of Mitra.

Guild Craftsmen:The craftsmen usually live in neighbourhoods of similarly skilled craftsmen, although this may vary somewhat depending on the size of the city. Often the master craftsmen of a particular craft all belong to the same family. They share apprentices between them, working together to regulate competition and promote prosperity for the entire family and, by extension, the prosperity of Argos as a whole.

Apprentices:Most apprentices live in the attic of the master’s house, furthest away from the valuable tools and raw materials of the shop located on the ground floor. Apprenticeship is not without its dangers, especially for girls. Female apprentices are easy prey for the sexual advances of their masters and they might even be sold into prostitution by their mistresses.

Journeymen: Once the master has given his approval of the apprentice’s overall work and skill level, the apprentice leaves the home of his master and goes out into the world as a hired hand, carrying a letter of recommendation from his master. He is called a journeyman because he journeys from town to town, working for master after master to learn different techniques.

Masters: A master is a full citizen of a town. Masters are allowed to establish their own workshops, hire journeymen and train apprentices. Most guilds have a restriction on how many masters can operate in the city, so some journeymen are denied the position for economic reasons until an opening is available.

Merchant Houses
Merchants early in Argos’ history had difficulties because of feudal obligations. Difficulties in procuring the right to leave a manor or fief was but one of the hurdles faced by early merchants. This resulted in foreign merchants dominating the marketplace. Obviously, a career in trade
was hampered by feudal obligations, so many merchants sought to become free. This, however, had its own problems. The price of freedom from a feudal lord was that the merchants and their property were no longer protected by the feudal lords. Without that protection, merchants risked more than they could reasonably recover in profit. Thus the merchants found they needed to band together to achieve the protection they had lost in gaining their freedom. Seeing the accomplishments of the craft guilds, the merchants used the same model, creating their own Houses for the same privileges of protection and support. However, these Houses have their own opportunity costs, for they can set prices, arrange trade and regulate working hours. In much of Argos, a work day is up to 16 hours in the summer and 12 hours in the winter; essentially House members work during all available daylight hours. High-ranking members of Houses usually wear medallions on silver chains.

Members of Merchant Houses are considered to be of noble blood, as all of them claim barons, counts and sometimes dukes throughout the nation of Argos among their number. In Argos’s feudal society, the lands these men control give them as much influence on the throne as the family’s great wealth.

The forebears of the various Merchant Houses laid claim to the trading routes, the seaports and the caravan trails Messantia still uses today. It was a claim that could not be defended except through power and secrecy. The early trading vessels of the Houses were more like warships than trading galleys, armed to the teeth and ready to turn on and destroy any who followed them to find the trading lanes. Their caravans moved across the countryside like small armies. This secrecy and jealous protection of the trading ways could not last long; too many others were charting their
own routes and carving their own caravan paths.

Those years of sole ownership of the trade routes brought the fledgling Merchant Houses tremendous wealth. They did not sit idly on this, but rather used it to expand their influence ever farther. They bought land and businesses and ships, they signed trading agreements with distant kingdoms and insinuated themselves into Argossean nobility. They grew civilised and patient, protecting and acquiring wealth no longer with just the sword, but with intrigue and scheming as their favoured weapons.

The lives of the members of Merchant Houses are taken up conniving and plotting to increase the House’s wealth and power. Some are purely evil and corrupt, others merely avaricious, but all are deceitful and insidious people who rarely give more care to those not of their House.

Argos has a prime location. Not only does the wide Tybor river channel a lot of trade from the interior Hyborian nations into Messantia, but Argos has a central location on the coasts of the charted continent, allowing it to dominate trade – the Barachan pirates, who tended not to prey upon Argossean vessels, easily intercept trade moving toward Argos’ ancient rival, Zingara. From its central location, Argos trades not only with Shem and Zingara, but also with Stygia, and, to a lesser degree, with the Black Coast.

Clearly, Argos’ economy thrives on trade. But what, exactly, is traded in the cities? The short answer is everything. Everything is needed, and everything is available. Argos’ citizens say they live in the trading capital of the world, and they are not boasting idly. Although Argos has good soil in some parts, the nation has never been a rich agricultural region. Wheat, olives and grapes are its primary agricultural products although it does little trading of its produce. Argos’ wealth comes from its unique location at the hub of at least three major trade routes. It is an anchor at one end of the Road of Kings. It lies at the mouth of the Khorotas River. Throughout trading season, its quays host a constant stream of ships, both of Argos and other nations, importing and exporting goods at a dizzying pace.

Most of Argos’ sea trade is with Shem and Kush, as well as Argos’ old rivals Zingara and Stygia. Messantia itself is rightly famed for its clockmakers and finesmiths, who craft some of the most intricate and delicate jewellery available in the Hyborian Age from the gold mined in Argos’ hills. The Argosseans have perfected the technique of fixing hundreds of gold granules on jewellery. With Shem, Messantia trades mirrors, silk clothing, armour, weapons and shields. With Kush, the trade consists of beads, silk, sugar and weapons in exchange for ivory, copra, copper ore, slaves and pearls.

In addition to the items listed above, Argos offers ships in trade. Acknowledged throughout the sailing world (except by the Zingarans) as the best ships to ride the waves, Argossean vessels are always in demand. Though many nations might wish otherwise, the only Argossean vessels for sale are simple merchant craft of varying descriptions. The making of Argos’ warships is a more carefully-guarded secret than most any in the world.Up and down the Khorotas River and along the Road of Kings flows Argos’ trade with Aquilonia and the lands beyond. Goods of most every description, from vats of pickled fish to velvet-wrapped jewels, travel north to hungry mouths and eager hands.

Cities with the size and wealth of Messantia and the other coastal cities have tremendous demands, however, and importing goods is the only way to satisfy them. Indeed, the only staple the coastal cities have in abundance is fish. The farms and ranches in outlying areas produce, at most, the minimum required to feed the cities’ hunger, so the arrival of herds of cattle or long wagon trains laden with grain is not an uncommon sight along the coast. From the northern forests of Argos comes a steady stream of timber, bound for the coastal cities to repair damaged ships and build new ones.

While the Argossean military is most famed for its indomitable navy, King Milo can also field an army that all but the mightiest of nations would fear. Argos is a feudal land, and Milo must call upon his nobles to provide troops in time of war, swelling the standing army’s ranks to tens of thousands.

An Argossean coastal freeman is required to receive some level of military training and, provided he has no dependants and is not a business owner, to spend two years as a soldier or sailor. The man’s rank and where he serves depends upon his social standing. The sons of the wealthy serve as knights and cavalry or aboard the great Argossean warships. The sons of the middle classes become infantrymen or serve aboard transport vessels. The sons of the poor become archers and auxiliaries or serve on a support ship or riverboat. Argossean men are liable to be summoned for military service from the age of 17 to the age of 60. With as little as one day warning, King Milo could field an army of 5,000 to 10,000 men, though most of the troops would be militia.

The Guardians
Argos maintains a relatively small standing army known as the Argossean Guardians through levees from the feudal barons to help patrol its borders, while guardianship of each city usually falls to regular soldiers. All told, there are some 700 to 800 active soldiers in and around Messantia at any given time and the other coastal cities boast similar numbers. The merchant Houses are required to give some portion of their wealth to the support of the Guardians, for defence of Argos is a concern to all. These mercenaries, chosen from the population by lot to serve for a term of several years, owe no loyalty, in theory, to any one House, but rather to Argos itself.

Navy
While the standing army of Argos is small, the country maintains a huge navy, which is constantly in operation. Ships ply the Argossean seas up and down the coast, endlessly patrolling the water to guard against hostile pirates and nations, and to provide assistance to any trading ship that needs it.

The Argossean navy is made up of more than 500 ships. Many of these are support and transport craft, but the nation still boasts more than 200 deadly warships, based out of every city along the coast. Most of these are out on patrol at any given time, but a few remain in port to defend the cities should any enemy force slip past the navy’s screen. In Messantia, there are often as many as a score of warships ready to defend the capital and its vital shipyards.

Though the Argossean army can be a formidable foe, it is the nation’s sailors that truly terrify an enemy. Unlike the army, which is mostly composed of conscripts and militia, many of these men have made the navy their career. Adept at fighting on the deck of a ship or the sand of a beach, they are rigorously, even mercilessly, trained in ship-boarding and small-unit combat. Any enemy ship that comes to grips with an Argossean warship, its decks swarming with stocky, sure-footed Argossean sailors cutting through the enemy’s crew with a terrible, bloodthirsty efficiency born of long practice, is all but certain to lose the encounter.

Gladiator Games
Argos is famed for its gladiator games. Slaves and prisoners are forced to serve as gladiators, fighting other slaves or animals. Condemned men do not even get the opportunity to fight – they are simply slaughtered by butchers or fed to savage animals. Site of countless atrocities, the arena serves as a ritual to express man’s otherwise repressed savagery.


Typical Formats
Most gladiator games in Argos are staged in similar manners with certain events coming before other events in an almost ritualised manner. Also, music is often played during the slaughtering and fighting, usually in time with the flow and ebb of battle.

Slaughter of the Beasts
The day of a game usually begins with the slaughter of the beasts. First, starving carnivores are pitted against herbivores Later, the beastmasters are brought out, warriors trained to fight animals doing just that – fighting and killing wild animals, symbolic of the fear Argosseans feel about the wild and the unknown. To the Argosseans, wild animals are just as much a threat and an enemy as marauding Black Corsairs, so the wholesale slaughter of animals is usually immense, especially in the state-sponsored games. In some of Messantia’s games, anything between 700 and 1000 animals might be killed in the opening ceremonies. The killing of the animals symbolises Argos’s ability to win against nature and the elements. In smaller towns and cities, the death toll of the animals is usually kept down to the hundreds Private games usually forgo this tradition due to the expense, although some of the wealthier families insist on displaying this to prove their wealth and their own ability to tame and/or destroy nature.

Slaughter of the Criminals
After the morning ceremonies, all non-elite criminals are brought out, usually at lunch-time, and executed, usually by burning at the stake, crucifixion or leaving them defenceless against wild animals (considered the most shameful way to die by Argosseans). Note that none of these criminals are killed with swords – a death by sword is a fate left for noble or wealthy criminals. This is held at lunch-time so that those with weaker stomachs can politely excuse themselves for a meal. Those caught practicing sorcery or illegal religions are often slaughtered during these lunch-time executions. More elite criminals are then given weapons (no armour, though) and forced to fight each other until everyon is dead. If one criminal remains alive, he may be held to fight another day or perhaps given a pardon. Each local government has its own rules concerning such matters.

There is generally no way to escape this death penalty. Staff dressed as demons come out at the end to poke each downed criminal with hot metal rods to make sure they are dead, then the corpses are dragged away to the underworld of the arena. If anyone is found to be feigning death, his head is crushed with a heavy war mallet wielded by another demon-dressed staff member of the arena.

The Gladiator Matches
After lunch the gladiators are brought out. They are identified by their fighting styles (which are given ethnic names), not their true ethnicity. A Corinthian slave might be trained in the Stygian style, for example, and would be introduced as a Stygian gladiator, using Stygian weapons and armour. These fights may be matches between single warriors, team matches, chariot race matches and even full-fledged tiered elimination tournaments. The larger, more expensive games feature some of each.

Captured soldiers are favoured as gladiators because they already know how to fight and are more likely to win than some trembling slave given arms and armour and thrust into the arena. Most fights are not to the death unless they are state-sponsored because the sponsor of the fight has to reimburse the gladiator trainers for any deaths. Usually, when one gladiator decides he is defeated, he throws his shield and/or weapons to the ground and kneels. The victorious gladiator stands triumphant next to him and, unless the sponsor had decreed otherwise prior to the games,the defeated gladiator is allowed to leave the arena. If he is not allowed to leave the arena, he may die with honour by grasping the thigh of the victor while kneeling, lowering his head and submitting to the death-blow.

The victors of the gladiator fights are awarded cash prizes. If a gladiator has served a long and distinguished career, he might be awarded a wooden sword by the sponsor of the fight. The wooden sword means the gladiator no longer has to fight with real weapons and is granted freedom from his oath.


Racing
Argosseans love races, especially boat-races, although among the interior peoples, horse-races, chariot-races and foot-races are favoured. If the rivers are wide and deep enough to be navigable, boat-races are also enjoyed.

SeabreakerThere is one annual two-day boat-racing event called Seabreaker the people of the coastal cities, especially Messantia, are absolutely obsessive about. It is the primary topic of conversation in the city the month before and for at least a month after it happens. Usually held in late spring, when a stiff wind is virtually assured, this event encompasses all classes of ships from almost all of the seagoing western nations. There is competition in sailing, oaring and combination The number of masts and number of oars determine a ship’s class.

Trading season or not, work on the docks, and in much of the city itself, is at a bare minimum during the two days of Seabreaker. To accommodate the fans who want the best possible view, the Merchant Houses convert all their surplus cargo barges into floating spectator stands, allowing excellent views for a cost of three silver pieces per person per day. The barges are outfitted with two curtained privies, the use of
which is free, and food and drink vendors, who charge their captive audience about four times more than their shore-bound counterparts. The barges are chained together and
towed out of the harbour to a spot near the race lanes just east of Cranetown, where they areanchored in place against the tides.

Huge amounts of money are won and lost in gambling on Seabreaker. Many Merchant Houses build and maintain private ships for the sole purpose of winning one of the events and gamble large sums in hopes of recouping the cost of the ship in a single day. The fortunes of Seabreaker can break alliances or create rivalries among the Houses as well as any trading contract.

The only people of Messantia who despise Seabreaker are not citizens at all, but slaves. The slaves manning the oars know hey will feel the lash during the races, and it is a rare year that goes by without a slave being whipped to death during Seabreaker.

Music
Argosseans love music as well. It plays a role in all the most significant parts of an Argossean’s life, including feasts (before, after and during), religious rites, funeral rites, sporting events, military drills and gladiatorial combats. Music has magical and spiritual aspects ascribed to it by Argosseans, who use music to accompany both work and play. They also use music to lighten the atmosphere whenever possible.

Typical instruments of the Argosseans include the auleta (a type of flute), tibias (another type of flute), aulos (a double flute), lyre, tuba, salpinx, lituuses (an L-shaped bronze wind instrument), cornus (coiled brass horn of huge diameter) and others.

Dancers often carry and play bells, campanella and castanets.They almost always accompany troupes of musicians. Dancers in Argos prefer subtle expressive movements. They wear diaphanous veils and/or colourful cloaks knotted on one shoulder or folded in the hands. Dancers are thought to bring out the magic inherent in the instruments played by the musicians. Although Argossean sorcerers are few and far between, most use instruments and dancers in their magic.

The military uses the tuba and the salpinx. The tuba is a straight trumpet with a long tube finishing in a bell-shape. The salpinx is similar except it ends in a tulip shape. These instruments are used by the military because of their volume and their ability to invoke fear and panic in the minds of enemies. They are also used to give signals for tactical movements during battle.

Bells are believed to repel evil presences and are often mounted on tombs so they produce sounds when the wind moves over them. Many houses and temples also have bells mounted over the doors and entrances so that either the wind or the opening of a door sounds them.

The Argossean national instrument is the aulos, a double flute attached to a double mouthpiece. The aulos is often fixed to the player by means of a strap around the head. An aulos virtuoso tends to become legendary – such is the Argosseans’ love for music. Stories are told about how Argossean flautists can use the aulos to lure wild animals out of the wilderness so they can be captured or killed.

Some instruments are believed to have magical potency. The tibia is a type of flute that is believed to counter the effects of plagues. During the Blackblood Plague in Messantia great troupes of tibia players were organised in attempts to counter the effects of the plague. Great stories are told and re-enacted about how these musicians and their dancers saved the elite of society and eventually brought an end to the plague.

Theatre
Argosseans enjoy the theatre as well, considering it to be one of the greatest joys of civilisation. Playwrights enjoy great fame in Argos, as do the performers who play the various parts. Dancers, singers and actors from all over the Hyborian world all seek the stages of Argos to perfect their craft.Each month in Messantia, a new play opens on the stage, playing every other day until the next one opens. On nights when no play is being performed, there are usually musical or oratorical performances. Entertainers from other Argossean cities, and even from other lands, come to Messantia harbouring hopes of performing at the famous amphitheatre of Messantia.

Although the amphitheatre is the most famous and prestigious of Messantia’s venues, there are other stages. Miklus’s Garden and Mariners’ Plaza both have small stages available to performers trying to make a name for themselves. Here citizens who do not wish to pay the admission price at the amphitheatre may watch for free. In addition to plays, these stages often host tumblers, jugglers, fools and musicians. In the Bazaar prefect and some of the wider plazas of King’s Prefect it is not uncommon to spot jugglers and tumblers performing for the passing crowd, and the bazaar itself has a small stage. On days when the arena hosts games, the gardens are filled with performers entertaining the waiting audience.

Feasts
Argos relishes its feasts. Banquets and meals are important aspects of Argossean social life. Feasts are part of most religious ceremonies, including funerals, and are status symbols. Feasts are given in honour of the dead (and the spirits of the deceased are believed to attend) and they are given to show that an Argossean socialite has come of age.

One cannot be wealthy in Argos and be part of the social scheme of the nation’s elite without giving sumptuous banquets to prove wealth and prosperity to all. Servants wait upon indolent nobles reclining on couches as musicians and dancers provide hypnotic music for everyone’s enjoyment. Music is played during food preparation, during the meal and during the drinking that follows the meals

.If an event is noteworthy in Argos, it almost always involves a banquet or is commemorated with a feast. Exotic foods are imported from around the world to supply the constant need of Argos’ seemingly endless banquets and the nobles’ need to outdo each other in both opulence and exoticness of their feasts. Often gladiator fights are staged in the privacy of a noble’s home, and occasionally famed gladiators are brought in for the guests to gawk over. Famous playwrights, poets and actors are often invited, as are famous travellers, captains and other honoured members of society. Some feasts are little more than orgies with food and drink provided at will.

The King’s Ear
In a departure from tradition, King Milo instituted a new practice upon assuming the throne. Concerned his advisers might not tell him everything he needed to hear, and concerned as well for the welfare of his subjects, Milo offered the citizens of Argos the opportunity to speak to him directly. On the second day of every new year, commoners from throughout Argos have the chance to speak directly to the king, in an event known as the King’s Ear.

Those who would speak their praise or grievances gather early outside the Dome of the Sea, and are chosen by lot. Inside, Milo waits for them, alone except for his guards, who have their ears plugged with wax so that only the commoner and the king know what is said. After one assassination attempt, his advisers pleaded with him to quit the practice, but Milo refused and the tradition continues. It is a simple thing, but it has endeared the king greatly to his subjects.

The Birth of Mitra
A popular feast in Argos is held on the eve of the winter solstice to celebrate the birth of Mitra. Mitra came to the earth, born of a virgin mother named Anahita the Immaculate, to teach his prophet, Epimitreus, how to fight the serpents of the world (note that in Aquilonia, Mitra is believed to have been born of the light, not of a woman; however, they do worship his birth on the same day). It is the day when the sun overtakes the night and the days begin to be longer than the nights, a symbol of light’s eternal victory over darkness, goodness over evil. Fires are burnt all night to ensure the defeat of the forces of evil, be they the black hordes of Asura or the grim voteries of Set, both serpents.

The festival involves a temporary subversion of order, when masters and servants often reverse roles. The king of Argos dresses as a commoner and changes places with a commoner, crowning him a mock king. Masquerade parties are commonplace on this night and ordinary rules of society are relaxed. Merriment is the ultimate theme of this chaotic celebration.

Argos is oneof the primary maritime nations of the Hyborian world. Under the mercantilism of the merchant Houses, Argos prospers. However, Argos does not run itself. The king of Argos can only do so much in such a large kingdom. He may be king but the management and defence of the kingdom depends on the nobility, the prosperous work depends upon the labourers, the economic expansion depends upon the burghers and the spiritual well-being of the nation depends upon the Mitran clergy. The king of Argos is primarily little more than the cord binding together all of these disparate elements into a cohesive unit that functions for the overall betterment of the whole nation, but without that cord, Argos would fall apart into civil wars between its barons. To control Argos, the king relies on a feudal form of government and a manorial form of economics in the interior and mercantilism along the coast. Argos is on the verge of becoming a true national state, as feudalism there is waning fast.

Feudal Government
Argos is more stable politically than most of the Hyborian realms. Aquilonia seems to be constantly rebelling and fighting, with provinces ceding and being reacquired. Robert E. Howard describes Messantia as being without wall, utilising the sea for defence. This indicates Messantia did not fear military action from neighbouring provinces and fiefs – its only fear was from a naval assault. Presumably if a foreign army had reached Messantia via an overland route, then Argos would already have been effectively conquered. The fighting between the various Houses, nobles and lords is largely economic and political battles and rarely involved military actions.

Argos is ruled by a king. It is a feudal kingdom and the land of Argos is split into different fiefs, counties and baronies. One of these provinces is Hypsonia, mentioned in Conan the Liberatorby L. Sprague de Camp. These provinces are ruled by counts or barons. Most of the wealth is held in the hands of the merchant Houses, which hold much of the power as well. Most of Argos’ barons and counts come from these Houses. Beneath the king, the counts and barons and the Houses are the military officers; as ship captains and generals of armies, these individuals also hold status in Argos. Slaves are at the bottom of the social ladder in Argos.

The various fief-holders beneath the king administer their own estates and exercise their own justice. Most of them mint their own money, levy whatever taxes and tolls they want and field armies. Although each pledges fealty to the king, these individual lords are supreme within their territory. Not even an emissary from the king would dare to interfere with a ship captain on his own ship. Many merchant Houses are actively engaged in acquiring fiefs, especially surrounding the cities and putting those fiefs under city law instead of traditional manorial law.

The counts and barons of Argos hold noble titles and fiefs from the king granting them official power. The granting of these fiefs is done by a patent, or contract, wherein the noble swears fealty to the king and the king grants the noble all rights pertaining to the land proffered as fief. The fief includes both private property and a noble title. These noble titles are inherited through the male line, although the king may remove a title at his pleasure. The eldest son or husband of an eldest daughter almost always inherits the noble title. The actual property of the fief, however, can be divided among the lord’s heirs however he may see fit. If a dispute over inheritance occurs, especially in a case where a nobleman produced no heir, the king may intercede and name an heir.

The whole point of this system of government is the obligation of military service to a lord. The whole reason a lord parcels out his land is to obtain warriors he does not have to support. The vassal supports those troops. Vassals who have vassals suddenly find themselves with knights they can send to their lord. Most vassals in Argos pay their military obligation in coin, allowing the lord to purchase more professional soldiers – mercenaries. A lord may accept or refuse this payment in coin, called scutage, but most accept it unless a specific military action requires a vassal’s specific talents. A vassal is also expected to provide counselto the lord. He is also obliged to appear when summoned; a vassal who ignores a summons risks losing his fief. The obligation of counsel cannot be bought with scutage. Argossean barons require their vassals to serve time in their courts as advisors. Further, most barons require their vassals to gather their own vassals and listen to their opinions.

In return for military obligations and counsel, a lord is obligated to perform certain duties for his vassals. One, a lord must keep good faith with his vassals and not act in a manner which would injure the honour, life or property of his vassals. Second, a lord must offer protection to hisvassals. The lord must come to the aid of his vassals if they are unjustly attacked. Third, a lord must offer his vassals legal protection, vouching for them and offering counsel and wealth to them if needed. Fourth, a lord must provide his vassals with a means to support themselves – a manor, a ship or bullion. This entitles a vassal to become a lord himself if his means of support is land, a captain if it is a ship or a merchant House if it is bullion. A vassal who is supported at court is called a bachelor knight. Keep in mind that the vassal of a vassal is not technically a vassal to the original lord.

Law in Argos is complex because of the multiple sources of law. The coastal cities all have their own legal systems, laws and customs, all largely set out in the original charters, freeing them from the feudal system. People living in the manors of the interior must contend with the feudal system, which has law dispensed from three different sources, all independent of each other: manorial law, temple law and royal law.

Interior Law
Argossean law differs from modern law in several ways. First of all, some men are better than others in the eyes of justice. The inherent idea of worthiness is not only socially supported but legally practised. The point of law is not to determine truth so much as it is to arbitrate disputes in a peaceful manner and generate further revenue for landowners. The laws vary depending on one’s social order. Secondly, local law derives from local custom and local mores. The specifics of law vary from locality to locality. Even powerful kings and barons are wise to follow custom more often than not, although they can decree laws at variance with local or national customs. Third, justice can be slow in Argos. Crimes intended to be tried in manorial courts must wait until the lord or his steward visit the manor, which may be once a year for some manors. The more powerful the wronged person is, the faster the wheels of justice tend to roll. Fourth, authority derives from strength in Argos. A court is only as powerful as the lord dispensing justice. The lord must enforce his will, gather fines and see to it that court mandates are followed. This becomes problematic as wealthy people are tried, as such people often have the power to ignore judgements.

Courts: Serfs and any others classified as not being free do not go to court. They must accept justice as dispensed by the lord of the manor, which is usually both swift and brutal. If the lord or court cannot settle the case, it is settled via an ordeal by combat, wherein the accused battles the accuser. Whoever wins is deemed the correct party. The other party usually dies in battle. Trials by jury are not popular in Argos, as people feel their neighbours may have a grudge against them and use the trial as a means to gain revenge.

There are three types of courts in Argos for freemen. The first type of court is the omnicompetent manorial court. A feudal lord or his steward presides, giving the court authority, but it is run primarily by villagers. This court meets once every three weeks to handle all litigation not handled by the other two courts, such as chicanery, petty theft, impositions on a lord’s rights, marriage issues, estate issues, feudal obligation issues and farming complaints. These courts hear cases ranging from being wasteful with seed to arson and murder. It is the natural venue for trials, and for a case to be heard in either the temple court or the royal court explanation and a royal order are required. Most murder, rape, kidnapping and mutilation cases are heard in the royal courts, for example, and any crime involving a Mitran priest or sorcery is tried in the temple courts. A suspect’s neighbours usually detain him until a judge arrives to hold the court, although gaols are becoming more and more commonplace in rural Argos. A manorial court usually has trial by juries composed of three to six persons with honest Reputations. The jury merely act as advisors for the most part as the final decision lies in the hands of the lord or his steward.

The second type of court is a temple court, which has jurisdiction over canon law, such as blasphemy or witchcraft. In addition, the temple courts usually claim exclusive right over mutilation, kidnapping or murder cases involving clergy. The temple courts often hold trials by ordeal. Some sample ordeals include carrying red-hot metal bars for three paces or pulling heavy stones out of boiling water. The accused’s hands are then checked after three days for clear signs of healing. If his wounds are getting worse, the accused is pronounced guilty of the crime and punished. Another ordeal is to tie the accused up, then throw him into water. If the water rejects the accused (in other words, if he floats),he is guilty. Ordeals are limited only by the imagination of
the priests of Mitra.

The third type of court is the royal court, which sees cases involving murder and treason It is a court of special jurisdiction and requires a royal command to hear a case. This court is held by the king or his steward. This court also sees any cases concerning the division of lands or seizure if the case is between the king’s barons or counts. Similar conflicts between a baron or count’s vassals are dealt with in the baron or count’s manorial court.

Overall, this system is slowly giving way to the written lawsystems of the coastal cities. The cities are controlling more and more land and many diehards complain that the entire feudal system will fall away within two generations if the king does not do anything to stop it.

Punishments: Punishments for breaking the king’s peace are harsh to the point of savagery. People found guilty of minor crimes are fined, dragged along the ground by a horse, blinded or put into stocks, but woe to those found guilty of something serious. Serious crimes can offer punishments such as being blinded, hanged, having limbs or extremities cut off or execution, often via beheading. Thieves can expect to have their hands cut off. People who hunt in the lord’sforests illegally have their ears cut off. Public executions for robbery, rustling, treason and murder are common in Aquilonia. These executions attract large crowds and most are carried out by a headsman. Executions often begin with a public display of torture (meant as a deterrent), such as being partially hung, then disembowelled, then castrated. Once the display of torture is finished, the doomed is beheaded and his head is placed on a pole while his limbs are dispatched to the places affected by his actions. Most towns have a gibbet outside of them. People are hung on these gibbets and theirbodies are left hanging for weeks as a warning. Few places imprison criminals as a punishment because upkeep is simply too expensive; it is cheaper to execute or mutilate someone. Many courts punish those who accuse others but are unable to prove their cases.

Coastal City Law
The coastal cities have their own law systems, but most are based on Messantia’s laws. It is beyond the scope of this sourcebook to discuss each and every coastal city.

It has been said before that money is power in Messantia and the city’s justice system is no exception. Over the years, the Merchant Houses have had laws written and rewritten to serve their interests, and have inculcated a culture of deference to privilege in the justice system. As envisioned, Messantia’s justice system is based on a set of laws, enforced by the Patrol and administered by magistrates; at least in theory, that is how it works. The reality is much more complex. While it is possible to receive a fair trial in Messantia, this is only true so long as the Merchant Houses are not involved.

Generally speaking, Patrolmen on the street will arrest anyone they see in commission of a crime or whom they suspect has committed a specific crime. The suspect is taken under guard to the Magistrate Hall in the King’s Prefect. Once there, a warden questions him. The warden is responsible for bringing all available evidence to the upcoming trial, including any evidence the suspect feels will help prove his innocence, including witnesses, who cannot refuse to testify before the court if charged to do so. A judge convenes the trial as soon as the warden is satisfied that all evidence which can be found is present, a process which can take hours or days.

There are no lawyers in Messantian justice, nor are there juries. The judge weighs the evidence, the words of the Patrol, the suspect and any witnesses and renders his verdict. There are no appeals, save by direct order of the king. After one unfortunate incident with a barbarian, it is now forbidden for any person other than a Patrolmen to enter the courtroom armed.

Civil cases, such as disputes over trade agreements or the rights to property or a cargo of goods, are handled similarly to criminal cases. A warden takes statements and solicits evidence from each aggrieved party and a judge decides the case. In disputes between two ordinary Messantians, the decision is likely to be fair, but ordinary Messantians have long since learned the folly of challenging the wishes of a Merchant House in court, where, barring truly overwhelming evidence, the decision always favours the House. Disputes between two Merchant Houses, on the other hand, never come to court. They are either decided between the Houses or added to the long list of grudges and vendettas nursed by all the Houses.

Messantian judges have tremendous latitude in assigning blame and ascribing punishment in the cases brought before them. The city’s law code lists a large number of crimes, categorised from First Order to Fifth Order, as well as recommended sentencing of offenders, but the judges are free to increase or decrease th punishment a they see fit. As a general rule, the wealthier and more influential the criminal, the lighter the punishment.

Though the Magistrate Hall has a number of underground cells, they are not used to house criminals who are sentenced to a period of imprisonment. Instead, a prisoner is taken under heavy guard to Three Corners Keep, the headquarters of the Patrol, and locked away in a dank cell beneath that ancient fortress. Actual imprisonment is an uncommon sentence, however, as housing, feeding and guarding a prisoner is expensive. Execution, arena combat, mutilation, hard labour, flogging, exile and fines are much more common and are indicative of Messantia’s ‘eye for an eye’ system of justice. Rarer even than imprisonment are sentences of enslavement and destitution.

Argossean law is regarded in some other nations as venal and corrupt, and that is true of Messantia as well. However, despite the corruption endemic in the system, Messantia does have a code of laws and process of judgement that elevates it somewhat above other areas of the nation. The common man on trial in Messantia is, barring the involvement of any of the Merchant Houses, almost certainly better off than the common man in rural Argos. Deeper into Argos, suchindividuals are hauled trembling before a baron with more interest in how his eggs were cooked that morning than in the life of the trembling peasant before him.

Smuggling and the Law
Messantia and the other ports in Argos are rather lax about certain laws. They make their money off sea trade and illegitimate trade is also profitable. Argos turns a blind eye to most acts of piracy. The Barachan pirates, mostly Argosseans anyway, have a safe harbour in Messantia, so the Barachans leave most Argossean shipping alone for that reason. However, Black Corsairs and any that associated with them are summarily hung if caught by the Hyborians. The Corsairs burn and destroy anything they do not want, taking anything they do want without remorse or care and they do not, in general, trade. The Corsairs and their activities are not appreciated by the Argosseans; they rather fear the Black Corsairs, including the legends of Amra, the bloodiest and most horrible of the Corsairs ever to sail the ocean. Conan (Amra himself) did manage to find a fence in Messantia, but that was an exceedingly rare exception. Few merchants will risk their necks to fence goods from the Black Corsairs, for the laws are not lax in that regard.

Laws in Argos do exist, however. Black Corsairs and those who traffic with them are hung. Killing town guards is also illegal, as is refusing to testify in court. The courts favour the rich in suits against merchants. In Howard’s The Queen of the Black Coast, Conan was nearly thrown into a dungeon for contempt of court when he refused to betray a friend. It was in escaping the wrath of the courts that Conan met with Tito, an Argossean merchant en route to the Black Kingdoms on the other side of Stygia.

Under Messantian law, smuggling is a crime that carries stiff penalties, usually including heavy fines, hard labour and/or flogging. In practice, however, these laws are not commonly applied. Coin is the engine that drives Messantia, and in turn Argos, and smuggling brings in that coin. Merchant ships bearing smuggled goods to Messantia have little choice but to dock openly in the city’s harbour. As it would be a foolish man indeed who sailed into the heart of King Milo’s realm in a laden merchant ship and declared no cargo, smugglers tend to mask their illicit goods bybringing them to port as a small percentage of an otherwise legal cargo. This practice has the twin benefits of keeping smuggling at an acceptable level and generating still more trade in the city.

Though the city turns a blind eye to most smuggling, from time to time an exception is made. Generally, this happens against a foreign merchant who has become too greedy and brazen in his illegal trafficking. Seeing a fellow smuggler stripped of his ship, goods and even the clothes on his back is usually enough of a deterrent for most novice smugglers. However, being flogged in full view of his fellows and either exiled from the city or sent to the arena serves as a poignant reminder to even the hardiest smuggler not to grow too confident.

Sorcery and the Law
Sorcery is illegal in Messantia and practising it carries penalties ranging from fines to instant death. Likewise, creating, dealing in or possessing magical items is forbidden. It is noteworthy that Messantian law does not make it illegal to bea sorcerer, only to practice the craft within the city. There are several sorcerers who discreetly make their homes in Messantia and a number of others frequently pass through on business of their own.Messantian law provides few clear rules for adjudicating the severity of a sorcerous crime. In some cases, such as veryminor prestidigitation, the crime might go unnoticed even in a crowd.

In a case where no evidence exists of any harm done or other crime committed, the punishment may be limited to a fine or possibly exile. If magic is used in the commission of a crime, the punishment for that crime is raised to the next Order. For example, a sorcerer who used his magic to change the odds in an arena match to make the combatant he bet on more likely to win would have used magic to commit theft. In this case, the sorcerer would be charged with a Second Order crime. In the most severe cases, such as sorcery that openly endangers the city, the punishment is instant death. The Patrol would kill without question any sorcerer foolish enough to openly attempt to summon a demon or raise the dead.