The puny sister city of Lautus, Mucatus, and the decadent sister city Cambrius, had been crushed by Lautus and Celsinus. After the surrender of each city, all that had remained was to divide the possessions of the two losers among the victors. The city of Mucatus had been previously agreed upon to go to Lautus, to give them a port, and in return, the city of Cambrius to Celsinus. The question had remained of what to do with the land in between. Mucatus had held the smallest amount of territory before the war, and Cambrius the largest. Simply keeping the borders as they were would be unacceptable to the Lautians, who considered themselves the driving force behind the plan. To consider as well was the status of the Dindaram tribe who had pledged fealty to the Cambrians, as it would make sense for either of the two remaining cities to claim the tribe's ownership loyalty.

Meeting in the capitol building of Cambrius, after nearly three days of debate and negotiation, mutually agreed upon borders were drawn up. It was agreed that in addition to the administration of Mucatus, Lautus would be taking nearly a third of the lands of Cambrius, while Celsinus would be taking the scattered Dindaram tribes directly to their north. If they could have viewed the deal from the top down, they would have seen that the border was a relatively neat line that divided the Arthe lands into north and south.

The next few years passed by quickly as the cities established control over their dominions, the conquered lands largely given out to sons, brothers, and nephews of the oligarchs to run for their familial patriarch. Lautus in particular was very pleased with their acquisition, as they began to make a small navy on their new beachfront property. And of course, all of the new taxes flowed into the greedy hands of the oligarchs enriching them even more. Yet unease gradually crept into the minds of many who ruled, as they looked towards their neighbor. The code which kept the peace before the conquest had been shattered, and there was nothing stopping constant warfare between the two cities once rivalry replaced their current complacence. Messengers were sent out, and a new meeting of the oligarchs was called, this time in Lautus.

The world around them had changed, and the situations which allowed the four cities of the Arthe to exist were quickly changing. Predators surrounded every corner of every people, as they had seen their legendarily great Panagakam allies driven from their own land, and the Bagarakam empire torn asunder from within and without. The hills and mountains that intersected the land were naturally defensible, their granaries and walls tall, but if they stood divided, then divided they will fall, one by one. Lautus and Celsinus themselves had been proof of that. A new proposition was drawn up, a call for unity and cooperation between the two cities. To stave off war and external destruction, the two cities shall be bound together, their destinies intertwined from this day forward.

Such cooperation would have been impossible generations ago, but now, with the iron still hot, the Arthe peoples and government could be remolded. Such advancements as accounting, a standardized weight system, currencies, and a highway system brought the Arthe closer together and made their peoples easier to manage. The agreed upon system of governance was thus: there should be a great council that would meet every year, alternating between the two eponymous cities. This great council would determine any large decisions facing the fortunes of the two cities, such as famine, plague, war, or any other natural disaster. This great council would be time for voting on binding resolutions to these problems. Fifty oligarchs would represent the interests of each city, and no more. Even if each city parceled up their land to have two hundred, only fifty would be available to attend. Beyond those large encompassing problems, each city would be self-autonomous in terms of taxes and the organization of soldiers to fight in the wars of the Arthe. The world must no longer view them as four squabbling cities, but two united centers of civilization.

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Would also like to request a claim name change to Arthia.