Early Floridian History c. 2000 BC
The first parts of Floridian recorded history emerge from tales of the War of the Two Cities. As far as we can tell, prior to this event the Floridian culture existed among a variety of feuding factions, lacking an unified government. The center of Floridian culture before the war was the holy city of Tampa, a center for local religious rites and worship. No other major population centers are believe to have existed outside of Tampa, and there is no record of how or why the city was founded, as it did not sit on any major routes or have any remarkable terrain feature. Tampa was ruled by a collection of priests of the temples in the city, usually as a coalition, and the government lived upon the wealth brought in from the various villages across the peninsula and islands. From approximately a thousand years before the war, Tampa stood as the sole symbol of Floridian culture and civilization.
The focus of Floridian civilization upon Tampa would change when the town of Orlando, a city which sat on a multitude of trade and pilgrimage routes, rose to challenge it for supremacy. The wealth coming through this town allowed the chief of Orlando to assume great power and prosperity. He showed his thanks to the gods by building a great temple for the god of wealth, the first to be constructed outside of Tampa. When word reached the council in Tampa, the priests were outraged and they felt the focus of their power was threatened by the upstarts to the east. They feared that Orlando would supplant them as the religious bastion of the Floridian religion and therefore they soon began denouncing the chief and demanding that he halt the construction of the new temple. In response the chief cut the main routes of food and supply to Tampa, hoping to starve the city into surrender. This proved to be the start to the War of the Two Cities.
In response to the blockade of the trade and supply routes, the priests assembled a makeshift army of pilgrims and farmers, hoping to overwhelm the Chief’s bodyguard in a surprise attack. They also hoped to obtain the support of the people of Orlando, by portraying the leader as a heretic and blasphemer. This soon backfired, as many believed that there was no logical way that the construction of a holy place could possibly be looked down upon by the gods. The war would be decided between the two cities on the plains of Orlampa, where two major battles were fought. In the end the bodyguard, which had seen experience against bandits who preyed on the pilgrims, emerged victorious over the army of the priests.
The Chief, knowing that he had an insurmountable advantage over the holy men, declared that he would not pillage or attack Tampa itself and pledged to allow them to retain their positions and titles. He also promised to leave the pilgrim routes open and to never shut them again. In exchange he demanded to be given the title of King of the Floridians, recognizing him as the absolute ruler of the Floridian people. In this manner he brought a unified single government to the peninsula and people of Florida. The palace of Orlando soon became the center of Floridian government.