I'm quite interested, I would like to play as the Persians and start East of Babylon. Will I be curb stomped early on or can I survive?
No, the douche-bag Imperialist Levantines are busy. I will get some nations to guard you. Nobody is going to touch your ass as long as me and Athens have something to say about it.
Just go to thread and start. It will depend on how many provinces you have on what you can do. I will tell you about mechanics in convo.