Mykros and Rhaeses
The legendary duel between the princes of Styae and the founders of many of the royal houses of old Mykra.
Summary
Mykros and Rhaeses, sons of the god Tarvon and each a prince of the old city of Styae. Older Mykros was the renowned favorite of their divine father while Rhaeses was the favorite of their mortal mother Calmina. With this rift formed between them, the two brothers grew to rival each other in pursuit of glory. Mykros, in his day, would become famous for his bringing down of Astyan bull which was rampaging in the nearby city of Astyana. Rhaeses, never one to be outdone by his brother, wrestled the immortal giant Falgus to a draw and came home with the belt of this famed figure. In later times, when the throne of Styae was left vacant by the passing of their maternal uncle, the two princes each vied for this throne among other claimants. In tests of valor, strength, courage, and skill the brothers easily led the pack of men who all abandoned their own claims to the throne leaving the brothers as the only remaining claimants. Now directly opposing each other, the two brothers began preparing for their next challenge which was to see the Oracle of Mt. Denibas in order to learn which of them would be king. On the journey, the brothers quarreled and each led a differing party to the base of the mountain with Mykros and his party arriving first after tricking Rhaeses' companions into becoming too drunk by posing as wine merchants the night before. On Mt. Denibas, Mykros and Rhaeses demanded to learn which one of them would become king, the Oracle responded with the infamous prophecy which stated,
"Oh sons of the great shaker, your kin have lured you into the jaws of fate. One shall go south and the other north, each shall be the father of a great nation but the crowned shall be coronated within sullen silence."
With this prophecy in their minds, the brothers agreed that a duel between them would come and that the winner would be the first to draw blood. So the duel was formalized and a great number of rulers from across the land braved the raging seas to watch this duel for the crown of Styae as the brothers met outside the walls of their city to face destiny. The fight was arduous and long. The two brothers fought from sunrise to sunset and pushed through immense and aching pain to continue to dodge and parry the other's blows. Further and further frustrated by his own inability to pierce his brother's unshaking defenses, the elder Mykros in a rage, kicked sand into his brother's eyes and rang his spear through his exposed foot, winning dishonorably. After his victory proved to come with little fanfare by the witnessing populace, Mykros berated his wounded brother for not yielding and giving him the victory to which Rhaeses told him that he had bought his crown through dishonor and would rule dishonorably for it.
From here, the brothers separate and never reunite as Mykros would go on to reign as king of Styae and prove unable to produce an heir with dozens of wives and mistresses giving him girl after girl, unable to inherit his throne. King Mykros' daughters would eventually prove to be the mothers of dozens of future kings in the region and soon, he was the grandfather of many royal houses in Mykra, a land that now bears his name. Rhaeses on the other hand, disgruntled and in a rage after being denied a crown of his own, set out to the south and established a new town sprung from the root of an old olive tree. This town would bear his name, Rhaesia, and would go on to become the largest city of the Rhaesseos, the peninsula which now bears his name. The Rhaesseos would prove to be the center of southern Mykran culture and all the kings of this land would claim descent from Rhaeses with the most notable being King Gordian who would go on to unite the entirety of the region after returning from the Sacred War. The Sacred War would in fact be a clash between the Akragan and Mascyrian leagues, alliances containing all of Mykra's kings all of whom descended from the two brothers who fought for a crown outside the walls of their home and began royal lines that would only end in the time of the Rasennan invasion.
From here, the brothers separate and never reunite as Mykros would go on to reign as king of Styae and prove unable to produce an heir with dozens of wives and mistresses giving him girl after girl, unable to inherit his throne. King Mykros' daughters would eventually prove to be the mothers of dozens of future kings in the region and soon, he was the grandfather of many royal houses in Mykra, a land that now bears his name. Rhaeses on the other hand, disgruntled and in a rage after being denied a crown of his own, set out to the south and established a new town sprung from the root of an old olive tree. This town would bear his name, Rhaesia, and would go on to become the largest city of the Rhaesseos, the peninsula which now bears his name. The Rhaesseos would prove to be the center of southern Mykran culture and all the kings of this land would claim descent from Rhaeses with the most notable being King Gordian who would go on to unite the entirety of the region after returning from the Sacred War. The Sacred War would in fact be a clash between the Akragan and Mascyrian leagues, alliances containing all of Mykra's kings all of whom descended from the two brothers who fought for a crown outside the walls of their home and began royal lines that would only end in the time of the Rasennan invasion.
Historical Basis
Like the Sacred War, the tale of Mykros and Rhaeses has some backing as it seems that the city-states of Mykra all did have complicated familial interconnection with one another before the Sacred War. This may be attributed to marriages made over the course of time as cities rose and fell frequently but eventually this must have coalesced into a simple story detailing the background of the founding fathers of many of these royal lineages.
Spread
Proudly told throughout all of Mykra to this day, the tale of the brother's duel remains as a sort of prequel to the story of the Sacred War. As such, for a long time, the story was told before the main story began with the marriage between Skiron and Roana. This was dropped as eventually, the knowledge of the feud between the spawn of the two brothers was so widely known that it didn't need to be included before the main story.
Cultural Reception
Generally, the duel between the brothers is seen with a sorrowful eye. The rivalry between the brothers doomed them to oppose each other in a manner leading to their eventual clash for the crown of Styae. Their descendants would continue this familial conflict as they waged war on each other all the way to the marriage between Prince Skiron of Akragus and Roana of the Mascyrians. The Akragai were proud descendants of Rhaeses while the Mascyrai were the most renowned as they came from Mykros' oldest child, his daughter Mascya who founded the city. When King Kaneas, Roana's brother, slew Skiron in his bed chamber, it ignited a war that brought all the cities of Mykra to one side or the other and would see a titanic clash of heroes culminating in the ascension of the Gordia, the rulers of Rhaesia, the city of Rhaeses.
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