Middhold
The Wolf of the North Wind
A relatively small kingdom made up of seven other small holds, Middhold broke off from Arandell centuries ago and lives in quiet and peaceful independence from them. Windswept and hilly, Middhold is situated along the Green Sea Coast, with the Orthon to their north, Arandell to their west and south, and the islands of the Velemin to their east.
Politically, each region (known as a hold) is a pseudo-independent monarchy, paying tribute and providing military forces for Middhold, but being able to rule its own people the way it sees fit. Each hold is ruled by a Jarl, who has near absolute power within his hold. There are strong protections of trade throughout Middhold, and merchants, while nowhere near as wealthy as those from the Velemin, still wield a reasonably large amount of power within Middhold.
Middhold’s poor nature and separatist origins causes even the nobility to be very down to earth, with most working the land alongside their workers. No one is free from the law, and even the Jarl’s may be brought to justice if their people are pushed to it, though thankfully that has only ever happened a handful of times in Middhold’s history. What few people Middhold has are scattered between even fewer villages, with most of its disparate population living out in the countryside far from the safety of cities and fortified towns.
Middhold’s economy is almost exclusively agrarian, with few skilled blacksmiths or artisans. There are a handful of merchants who travel the countryside buying and selling wares, and while they have some political power, they are overall poor travelers who spend a lifetime to gather even a small fortune. No large schools exist, and most native-born mages are self-taught.
The Old Gods are the most worshipped deities in Middhold, but even they have only a few small shrines scattered across the land. There is a small chapel to the Thalador in Middhold’s capital of Skyhold and another in Fort Carrac, but otherwise few worship them. Due to its sparse and harsh environment, survival is a key aspect of all of Middhold’s religious beliefs, with the practice of martial weapons forming a core tenet to all their faiths.
Middhold has no formal military because it needs no formal military. Each citizen is capable of fighting, regardless of age or gender, and all are skilled and rugged fighters. This is especially true in the north, where years of warfare against the Orthon tribes have left the Middhold inhabitants as one-man armies, capable of going toe-to-toe with a dozen orcs on their own. Inhabitants of Middhold are skilled both on foot and in the saddle, and with both melee and ranged weapons.
Structure
The government of Middhold exists more for emergencies than it does to actually create laws. There is a central authority vested in the king, but his power is primarily used to negotiate and regulate between the Çeña. The king's primary duty is to lead the army in times of war, but thankfully, that hasn't happened for over a decade.
The Çeña oversee the day to day lives of their citizens and organize the defense of their holds against both wild animals, and Orthonic raiders. They are also tasked with settling disputes between their citizens, and deciding which of their Hold's champion(s) will serve in the White Wolves, an elite band of warriors based out of Fort Carrac.
History
Born of revolution, Middhold declared its independence four centuries ago after Arandell's Great Moot failed to reinforce the north against the encroaching Orthon tribes. Unifying the citizens of eight moots together, Eorl The First led a force of three hundred on a counterattack north against the Orthon, driving them nearly four hundred miles in just nine days before stopping at a lonely hill that became known as Fort Carrac, marking Middhold's most northern boundary.
Arandell did not take well to the "usurpation" of Eorl (neither he, nor any of his lieutenants held seats on any of the Moots) and moved against him, bringing a force of twenty-six hundred militia and four-hundred rangers to march north and crush his warband. Wheeling his force south, Eorl gathered more volunteers from every farmstead and village he passed through, by the time he had returned to the Rover marshland his force had swelled to over six thousand.
Though most of his troops were lightly armed, they had fighting spirit, so when Arandell's army brought them battle at Nabaçe island, Eorl's forces made quick work of them, forcing Arandell's army to surrender within an hour. A formal peace treaty between the two sides was signed five weeks later, formally separating the eight Moots into independent holds under Eorl's guidance.
Unfortunately, Eorl died just a few years later. Without the dynamo that was Eorl the First leading them, the future of the new confederation was thrown into question. Fearing re-annexation by Arandell, the Holds reorganized themselves from internal timocracies into monarchies under the direct(ish) control of the most powerful hold (Skyhold). This system has stood almost unmodified for four hundred years, through war, famine, plague, and dissent, the independence of Middhold has lasted against threats from the north, and the south.
Beware the White Wolf
Founding Date
Year 1025 of the current age
Type
Geopolitical, Country
Capital
Alternative Names
The Frozen Kingdom, The Wall of the North
Demonym
Middlander
Leader
Head of State
Head of Government
Government System
Monarchy, Absolute
Power Structure
Feudal state
Economic System
Barter system
Currency
| Copper Duma | 25 |
| Gold Çiv | NA |
Legislative Body
The King and his councilors make the broad-stroke laws, but they have little real central power
Judicial Body
The Çeña (under-kings) write the day-to-day laws and have the real power
Official State Religion
Location
Controlled Territories
Neighboring Nations
Notable Members
Related Ethnicities
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