Kings Brothanon and Tagili were twin duarchs of Makotako. Their father ended the meritocracy of Makotako’s leadership by introducing traditional inheritance of the crown. The brothers joint rule led to disagreements and civil war. Tagili took his followers to found Gazeara. The two continued to fight until a climactic duel provided a cathartic release. The two brothers continued to rule their separate kingdoms, but as allies instead of enemies.
When King Sistro of Makotako died his last will broke with tradition. Rather than nominating the most competent citizen of Makotako to be his successor, Sistro nominated his twin sons, Brothanon and Tagili. The two were to rule jointly as twin Kings of Makotako.
Almost immediately Kings Brothanon and Tagili began to argue over the future of Makotako. Tagili wanted to make reforms to benefit the peasants, apprentice tradesmen, and laborers of the city. Brothanon wanted to preserve the status quo which benefited the merchant class. King Tagili accused King Brothanon of accepting bribes from merchants. Tagili appealed to the common people and began traveling throughout the city with an armed guard of peasants. King Brothanon countered Tagili by traveling with an armed guard of Phoenix mercenaries. Opposing groups of armed people in close proximity reached the inevitable conclusion and violence consumed the streets of Makotako.
The street fighting in Makotako went on for months. King Brothanon suffered multiple assassination attempts. His mercenaries arrested King Tagili in response. Tagili worked out a deal with Brothanon for his release. Tagili would identify leaders within the revolt in exchange for his release. Tagili did so, but rather than execute these people, he fled with them into banishment.
King Tagili founded a new settlement east of Makotako he dubbed Gazeara. He called for the people of Makotako who valued their freedom to emigrate to Gazeara. The common people of Makotako left the city in masses. Soon, Makotako’s population was halved. Makotako felt the economic strain of losing half its population. Furious at the commoners for abandoning the city, King Brothanon declared war on Gazeara.
The war reached its climax when King Brothanon and King Tagili met in battle. They struck each other from their horses and dueled on the ground. Tagili knocked the sword from Brothanon’s hand and then Brothanon tackled Tagili to the ground. The twin brothers wrestled in the dirt, punching and kicking each other as they’d done as boys. Reminded of their youth, anger dissolved into laughter. The brothers picked each other up and announced a truce. Both Makotako and Gazeara would continue forward as peaceful partners.
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