By the beginning of August, the principal inhabitants of Gondar held a council to select a new Emperor, and "Ras" Sanuda's nomination of Susenyos, then 24 years old, was accepted. Ostensibly, Susenyos was to gather an army and march against "Ras" Mikael, but the only noble who still who could provide enough soldiers was Fasil, who continued to temporalize over marching to Gondar until 2 November, when he arrived with 400 horse and 600 foot. At his arrival Susenyos rashly granted him a third of Ethiopia, only to find that in doing so he weakened his most loyal supporter, "Ras" Sanuda. This led to further disagreements between the pretender and Fasil, and despite Abuna Yosab III's attempts to make a peace between them, by 26 November Fasil declared his allegiance for Emperor Tekle Haymanot and left Gondar for Dengel Ber.