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Kingdom of Bolten

The Kingdom of Bolten is a small Kingdom located in the southern region of the Westros regions of Central Europe. The Kingdom of Bolten is controlled in its entirety by House Bolten, who use two loyal Houses in House Cole, and House Karstark to control the surrounding towns of the Bolten region.

The Kingdom of Bolten is utterly dominated by the powerful House Bolten, but officially they are ruled in a triumverate of the three great Houses of Bolten. House Bolten controls the three Houses by making the heir to the throne of the other two houses forced to live in Dreadfort, where he is controlled by House Bolten.

The Kingdom of Bolten was originally formed out of the Empire of Numeron city of Bolvia, and over time the Atlantians of the regions emmigrated away as Westros became a center of Gothic culture. With the Goths now the majority in the Bolten region the members of the influencial House Bolten transformed their personal estate into the current day city of Dreadfort and founded the Kingdom of Bolten. The Kingdom of Bolten would come to importance when during the middle of the Rise of Lucerne the Kingdom of Bolten begin to threaten the neutral but - aligned with the Kingdom of Lucerne - city of Koenisburg. These threats were taken very seriously by the Lucernians of whome sent massive numbers to Koenisburg in order to defend the city, and this has led to a build up on the two's borders.

History

Early History

Empire of Numeron

Main Article : Empire of Numeron


Downfall of Numeron

Main Article : Downfall of Numeron


Jornin Bolten

Rise of House Bolten

Main Article : House Bolten

With the Downfall of the Numeron passing by the next influencial moment for the region was the Great Migration of Germanic tribes fleeing the coming of Chaos. Due to this migration the once completely Atlantian people of the region were slowly outnumbered by Goths who swelled the regions numbers.

In these coming Gothic families was the family that would come to be known as House Bolten, and at the time it was led by the first great member of the House in Jornin Bolten.

Growth of Dreadfort

Jornin Bolten saw that with the departing Atlantians the Goths were going to have a home of their own, and in this way he begin marshaling his personal thralls in his estate to build farms in the surrounding regions, and he offered goth families the chance to farm these lands the only cost being they swore loyalty to House Bolten. For poor goth families this offer was beyond great, and the region around his estate swelled with the coming families. With the farm land all taken he began inviting them to start businesses, and industry in the estate that he now renamed Dreadfort.

In his 45 year life he would turn his small estate of only 120 people into a town of 1200 and a surounding farmland loyal to him of hundreds more.

The Harp
War of the Harp

Main Article : The war of the Harp

While travelling between Dreadfort, and Karhold Roose Bolten and his gaurds were stopped by a single man who stood in the road blocking their path. The gaurds threatened him with death, and he moved, but the disrespect was too much for Roose Bolten who bolted off his horse and ran at the man. As he was about to kill the man the mysterious man told him that if they went to Pontus then they would gain perhaps the most powerful object in the entire region called the "Harp". The Harp was a legendary item of unimagineable power which could if used by someone with enough Dragon's blood be used to litterly call dragons to its sound.

Unfortunatly for House Bolten, and the Kingdom of Bolten they were not the only ones offered this deal as the mysterious man was a servent of Malekor, and was attempting to cause the destruction of Westros through the destruction of Pontus, which would weaken the entire region. Following his meeting with House Targaryan he used other servents to offer the same deal to the leadership of Harrenhall, Iron Islands, Kingdom of Bolten, and the Easterlings. With all these parties now obsessed with the hope of getting the "Harp" from Pontus the armies of these nations headed towards Pontus.

Conflict with Lorderon

Dreadfort Meeting

Rodrik Cassel
I wanted him to stop. I spoke to him with all the love I had in me for my brother, and yet all it did was make him believe I wanted him dead. What was there left for me when he refused reason.
Domeric Bolten

Domeric Bolten would travel to Hornwood so that he could attend a tournament they were holding there, and also so that he could see Halys Hornwood and his family of whom he knew very well and loved as his own family. Arriving there Halys would tell him that he had sent some of his men to follow Ramsey Bolten around, and from this had discovered that Ramsey had a small keep north of the Dreadfort and would use it to capture, chase, and then rape and kill women. Learning this as well as the plans that Ramsey was beggining to form alongside the power he was gaining Domeric would return to the Dreadfort with Halys, and several of the Hornwood vassals. Domeric and his party would meet Rodrik Cassel a little west of Hornwood where he was awaiting more boats for transport for himself and his vassals, and from Rodrik they learned that followed Domeric leaving the Dreadfort Ramsey had called a meeting of the Kingdom of Bolten, and Rodrik was already running late.

When we met Rodrik Cassel on the road it was a chance meeting. We weren't moving at a very high speed, and had we not of we would have taken the land route instead of the boat with him, and we would have missed the meeting.
Domeric Bolten

Taking a ride with the Cassel force Domeric and the Hornwood forces would reach the Dreadfort days before they would if they had been marching, and would arrive just hours before the meetings were to begin. Domeric would have a long talk with Josh Cole of whom warns Domeric that the Karstark's and the Urnet's are solidly behind Ramsey and that he and his forces will not follow Domeric into a conflict they cannot win. Hearing of the Karstark's joining with Ramsey Domeric meets with Halys Hornwood but finds he has come with a sickness and can barely move forcing Daryn Hornwood to join the meeting as the head of House Hornwood. Arriving at the meeting Ramsey, and Mallador Locke would taunt Daryn over the sickness of his father and would carefully make it known that they were the reason behind the sickness. The arrival of Trevor Hayford would stall the argument and they all entered the Dreadfort Keep where the meeting took place.

Domeric Bolten Cover
Ramsey was chaos, while Domeric was order. It will forever be the great shame of this land that we allowed chaos to grow. We all stood and watched as Domeric resisted, and was struck down. We all sat and we all watched as Chaos was allow to do that. We should be ashamed.
Daryn Hornwood

Entering the meeting the assembled noblemen would hear a speach from Roose Bolten which to the shock of many inside the room was praising towards Ramsey, and slightly insulting towards Domeric. This speach did much to turn many of those who might have followed Domeric, and turned them towards listening to Ramsey instead. Following this Rickard Karstark spoke of growing attacks by Dragonoph fanatics sent by the Kingdom of Lucerne against the western border of the Karstark lands, and Domeric would stand during this and tell the assembled that these attacks were not happening. Ramsey would attack Domerics honor and call him a liar who was secretly in the pay for the Lucernians which noone believed but turned the attention away from the lie about the Lucernian attacks on the Karstarks. Daryn Hornwood did his best to speak on the side of Domeric but was shouted down by the Locke's and Urnets of whom laughed at Daryn and rediculed his lands, and his weakened father. As things broke down and it became clear that Ramsey was going to have the war he wanted, Domeric would look across at Josh Cole and saw him smiling sadly at him, and as the meeting ended Domeric went after Josh Cole and spoke with him alongside Daryn Hornwood. Josh Cole told Domeric once again that the Cole's were not willing to die for some wasted war that the insane Ramsey Bolten wanted, and that Josh Cole was not going to do it, and Domeric realizing this could mean turning to the Lucernians, or staying neutral attempted to persaude him, but despite respecting Domeric there was no agreement from Josh.

I could litteraly feel the moment when hope died. He stood and he told everyone there a giant lie, and they all believed him. I knew the truth, and I knew what would happen if we did this. I knew their numbers. I knew their quality. I knew a lot about the Kingdom of Lucerne, and I knew that we were not a match for them. Not now.
Domeric Bolten

Domeric in that moment knew things were darkening in Bolten, and warned Daryn to take his father and their vassals and return to Hornwood and prepare the army because he would need them when the time came. Doing this Domeric was left alone and went to see his father of whom would be in his throne room with Rickard Karstark. Speaking with the two of them Domeric got the sence that neither agreed with Ramsey, but couldn't get them to tell him why they had sided with him, but Roose did tell Domeric that he needed to follow Ramsey this time, or else. When he resisted this Roose would command it as his king, and knowing the honor bound Domeric would follow this he left the room with the horrifying thought of having to follow Ramsey and his madness.

Conflict in Westros

Main Article : First Bolten-Lucerne War

Domeric Bolten1
"The Kingdom of Bolten was the first time we were ever met agressively by an oponent, and at first we were shocked at their actions. I determined quickly that they had to be stopped at any cost, and this led to our promise to defend our two major allies in the region, and a massive influx of our troops into the region."
-William Lovie III.

With the taking of Westbrige the region of Bolten became more interested in its own growth and in particular they really wanted to get the Lucernian army involved in pitch battles which they had the numbers to survive. In order to do this they begin threatening several allies of Lucerne in western Westros in the form of Koenisburg, and the town of Jeutenburg. While these threats rancheted up the Kingdom of Lucerne did exactly what the Boltens hoped they would do when they brought huge forces to bear on the defences of the Westros river crossing of Levin. The Lucernians also made it known that any action taken against their allies in Koenisburg, or Jeutenburg would be deemed a decleration of war against Lucerne itself. This promice to defend meant a lot to the two towns, and most believed that with that the conflict would be ended before any blood was spilled. This idea changed quickly when the Kingdom of Bolten sacked Jeutenburg in a massive siege that took place in the guise of a peace mission.

Sack of Juetenburg
"Jeutenburg was still on fire as the army of the Boltens moved towards the city of Koenisburg, and if not for our earlier speed it would have been the white marble of Koenisburg burning next."
-Jon Snow

Jeutenburg was given very little quarter with nearly half the city killed, and the survivors forced to live under the occupation of House Urnet of whom spent their time ransacking the city of its ancient wealth and history. As the army of Bolten did this their was devision as the forces under the command of Domeric Bolten, and House Hornwood would protect several areas within the city, and were the main reason the entire city wasn't massacred. With conflict between this force, and the more chaotic forces of Ramsey Bolten looking likely a raven arrived from Roose Bolten who tasked them with quickly moving towards Koenisburg before the Lucernians could react. Following this the army of the Boltens moved very quickly to camp itself outside the walls of Koenisburg thereby threatening the survival of the city for the first time in its history.

Siege of Koenisburg

Main Article : Siege of Koenisburg

Hedrik Clegane III 4

Hedrik Clegane III. would arrive with some five hundred men while he awaited the rest of the House Clegane army.

"I think to a man we all thought that the Bolten's would have listened to our warnings. Noone at the top thought they were actually going to call our bluff and burn an entire town to the ground."
-Hedrik Clegane III.

With Jeutenburg fallen this was a huge indicator that the diplomatic message wasn't going to be enough so William ordered House Starke, as well as House Clegane to send their forces to assist in the defence of Koenisburg if it came to it. At the same time as this was going to happen William sent one of his greatest generals in Jamie Lannister to the small town of Grandlen where if the Boltens besieged the city of Koenisburg Jamie was to move southwards from Grandlen and hit them from behind and destroy the Boltens before this got out of hand. Jamie would arrive a week after leaving in Grandlen alongside a force of some two thousand cavalry, and they would make camp a days march east of Grandlen and await word from Koenisburg. While this was happening Jon Snow, Tyrion Lannister, and Hedrik Clegane III. would arrive in Koenisburg well ahead of their full forces but with a large contingent of flags, and honor gaurd that mounted themselves all along the walls of Koenisburg, and gave a very clear impression that House Starke, Clegane, and Lannister had arrived in force. 

Devision

House Karstark1

Rickard Karstark had arrived at Koenisburg with his force well after the siege was underwent but he had been ordered by Roose to finish the siege quickly.

"I think that was one of the last strings to go that let Domeric really go about ending Domeric. While from my point of view, and anyone who had a sane mind, what Domeric was saying was completely correct, that wasn't the equation. It was always his great weakeness that Domeric couldn't ever accept that rational behavior would get him no where in a land filled with ingrates, and morons. Domeric would have spent his entire life having statues built to him if he was born a few weeks march away from Dreadfort in any direction. But fate fortold that he was going to be born to House Bolten, and it was in that birth that he was fated nearly at birth to die. I told him once that he needed to kill his brother at some point. I tried to make him understand that being known as a kinslayer was the only way he would survive, but he was adament that his brother had something inside of him that was good. He probably believed that all the way up to the moment when his brother pushed the sword into his chest. Good men die quickly in Bolten."
-Rickard Karstark

The moment the flags went up on the walls of Koenisburg their was a severe amount of panic amongst the leadership of House Bolten, and Ramsey Bolten would call the commanders together and go on a mad rant about the need for the army to retreat before they were overwhelmed. In this moment Domeric would step forward and heavily push that they should attack the city right away as he argued their was no way that the Lucernians could

Britt Lancave Large1

have massed enough troops in the city to stop them. As he was almost finished talking Ramsey would take a knife out and lunge at Domeric attempting to kill him. Domeric was the more skilled warrior and dodged the knife before wrestling Ramsey to the ground, and only the interference of the other commanders stopped Ramsey from being killed right there. With Ramsey losing his mind in the tent it was Rickard Karstark that would suggest that they meet with the Lucernians and atleast gauge the forces of the Lucernians from the meeting. Ramsey would reluctantly agree to this plan, and with that a messenger was sent to the wall making it known that they wanted a meeting.

"That was the first chance I had gotten to meet the so called bastard of Bolten and I had assumed that the terrible things I had heard of him were going to prove to be overblown. I was wrong."
-Britt Lancave

The two forces would meet with Ramsey and Domeric Bolten followed by Rickard Karstark, and John Cole on the Bolten side and on the Lucernian side it was Jon Snow, Tyrion Lannister, and Hedrik Clegane III. alongside Britt Lancave. As the two forces rode out it was a quiet moment for both sides as both believed the other side was going to break the honorable truce of a white flag meeting. Meeting together they would barely be starting to discuss the issues when Ramsey Bolten would intervene and begin insulting Tyrion Lannister for being a dwarf, and Jon Snow for his bastardy birth.

House Lovie
The Rise of Lucerne
I saw the destruction of the world, and knew I had to stop it. There was nothing left to do but become bigger then everyone else. The Empire was never going to be the beacon the world needed it to be. Westros was on fire. The Bretonians had reached for the stars and been burned. And the old shadow of Numeron was fading far too quickly. It was left to us in Lucerne to change the fate of all those who wished to reject darkness. We were the last hope for a world who had long since given up on believing.


I marched out onto the field, and I could see that Bolten's were already there waiting for us. Seeing the red flags of their gaurds blowing in the wind made me almost uncontiously grip my horse's reigns tighter. I looked around for a moment and saw Tyrion riding just behind me on his little pony followed closely by his squire Podrick Payne. Alittle to his left was Britt Lancave who looked like an angel riding in her white armor with nothing but her servent girl with her. I turned back and looked to my right for a moment to see Hedrik Clegane and his cousin Fredrick who looked ever piece the image of nobility. I tried to feel strong in that moment. Surrounded by so much nobility it was never more clear to me what my place was. Before I could spend another moment isolated in my mind we reached the Boltens and I followed Hedrik's suit and got off my horse.

Walkign towards them I got my first glance of the Boltens. As they walked forward I knew which one was Ramsey almost immediately by the Pink Flayed Man that adorned the brestplate he wore. If not for that there was a near aura of sheer evil that flowed from him, and seemed to mix with the air. I'd seen lots of evil men in my day. From Maron Scorpian, to Dan Scott you thought you knew it but, this man was something else. Beside him stood another man with a flayed man on his breast place, and he looked the polar opposite of Ramsey. This man had a look of elegance to him. From the regal look of his armor, to the kindness in his eyes I was confused as to why this man did not lead them.

"So the mighty Kingdom of Lucerne has so little going for it that all it can send is a bastard, a dwarf, a girl, and a child?" It was exactly the kind of a greeting I would expect from someone like him. A man with two wolves on his breastplate laughed behind him and more looked ready to laugh until Domeric stepped forward.

"This is a peaceful meeting there is no reason for this to go into hostilities." His armor was still red, but when the moment after Domeric stepped forward I knew almost immediatly that my first impression of him was right and he was something beyond his cruel brother.

"You burn a city to the ground that was protected by our realm and you speak of forgoing hostilities? I believe your house lost the right to speak of honor long ago but atleast let us speak with honesty for a moment." Tyrion was always the firebrand, and as he told me once, you had to be your own flag bearer when you had a weakeness as obvious as ours. I still remembered back to the first time we had talked and he had told me about what being a bastard really meant and I couldn't help but still feel a bond to him.

"Juetenburg is gone. That conversation is over. The only conversation to be had now is how long before we burn Koenisburg to the ground." Ramsey clearly wasn't one for tactics, and from the looks many in the party were giving eachother they wished he was reacting differently. Only a few amongst them still looked ready to fully support Ramsey while you could see the looks of hope towards Domeric.

"Behind these walls stand an army larger then your own, with more arriving each day. Koenisburg will not burn, and unless you leave your entire force will be destroyed."Britt Lancave spoke and I felt admiration for the strength of this girl. She wore the armor of a warrior, and the way she held herself left little doubt as to how confident and proud she was. She was something to be admired, and everything since the first time I met her told me that.

"There is no point in lying Ser Britt of House Lancave. We know that the city is practicly empty. Any attempts to reach Koenisburg would have taken weeks. Weeks you did not have." It was such a constrast hearing Domeric Bolten speaking that you could barely accept they were brothers.

"There are faster routes then land if you want to get somewhere Lord Bolten."After I said Lord Bolten to Domeric I knew I had stepped on a nerve of Ramsey as he practicly went red from anger.

"The Bastard of Stormwind wishes us to believe that the Frey's allowed you to pass. The Frey's are if nothing else reliable. Reliable to do nothing. Helping you would have been something, and that Bastard isn't something they would do." The man had a massive beard and the sun on his breastplate made me know immediately what house this man was from. A Karstark. The ancient betrayers of my family was standing in front of me. He held some of the looks of my family despite the long years seperated by the Rhine River, and I guess that made the historical betrayal more painful didn't it.

"Believe what you want. The truth is that there are thousands of Lucernian forces behind that wall, and unless." Tyrion breifly looked at Ramsey Bolten before contining."the bastard of the Dreadfort wishes to lose his entire army, he had best think carefully." The fume returned to his face as he was clearly not used to this kind of abuse and didn't like it one bit.

"I'm truly sorry but where I come from the freaks and women didn't speak for our houses. So unless your ready for the terms of your surrender I don't see why this should continue." Ramsey turned his back to us, and started walking back to his horse followed by several of the men who clearly were following him.

"Turn and run that is all your good for isn't it. No wonder you are such a disapointment to everyone in your land. We have had quite the laugh at how pathetic you are." Hedrik Clegane wasn't usually one for such dramatics but even he I guess had enough of Roose Bolten's bastard. The moment after he said the words though Ramsey let go of the horse, and walked back towards us followed closely by Domeric. I don't know what any of us expected but it wasn't him pulling a knife from his side, and lunging at Hedrik. As he jumped though it was Domeric that pushed him to the ground where he slammed hard against the ground before quickly getting to his feet and looking at Domeric with more hate in his eyes then I had ever seen. Ramsey would spit in Domeric's face before he stomped his way back to his horse and rode away followed by everyone but Domeric. Domeric leaned against the side of his horse and sighed.

"I don't know what I expected from this, but it wasn't this." He sounded tired, and I wasn't suprised when Britt stepped forward and rested a hand on his shoulder.

"This isn't on you. We all know who you are, and this would be the moment you should come with us brother." Her voice was caring, and held every ounce of truth that I know she felt about it, but even her kindness wasn't going to fix what was wrong.

"I'm not your brother. You just saw the only blood brother I have in this world."

"We are all the children of Glaurung and that includes you Domeric."

"I wish all of you the best. Tommarow we shall all die I suppose." With that there was nothing else to say and he mounted his horse and rode back to the Bolten lines.

With these insults the meeting begin to fall apart and it nearly came to violence when Ramsey took out a knife from his side and only the quick movement of Domeric Bolten stopped the situation from completely falling apart. Despite this Ramsey and Domeric would nearly come to blows but only Ramsey's knowledge that he couldn't defeat Domeric stopped him from attacking him right there. Ramsey would spit in his face before leaving with everyone else in the party outside of Domeric who remained behind. Britt Lancave would attempt to convinse him to come back with them, but he was loyal to a fault and returned to the Bolten lines.

Retreat

Ramsey Bolten1

Ramsey finally was prepared to do anything to end his brother.

"I returned to a camp in complete turmoil. When I got off my horse it was John Cole that approached me and told me that Ramsey had spent the ride back screaming how I was to be killed in the most violent and painful way he could devise, and that he planned to retreat back to Karhold. All that remained now was to make it there."
-Domeric Bolten

Following the fight between Domeric and Ramsey Bolten and the collapse of the meeting with the Lucernians it was Ramsey's hatred and madness that led him him to decide to put nearly the entire Bolten army into a full retreat back to Karhold. Ramsey was at this point beyond any sort of rational thought and noone dared resist him despite the fact that many believed that Koenisburg was there's for the taking and Roose Bolten wanted the city taken at all costs. While he planned to have nearly the entire army do this he would force his brother Domeric to return to Karhold from a different direction with only House Hornwood and its loyal vassals. As the armies made their retreat back to Karkhold, it was Ramsey that put into work his real plan when he split from the main army and moved north with a large force of cavalry and planned to burn the town of Pomlet to the ground and thus force Domeric to come to its aid, where he would then say he was responsible for the act and ambush his brother's force. After hearing Ramsey talking about his plan to Reek it was Jordin Bolten that snuck into the force of Ramsey as it split off from the main army, and he would send a Raven to Grandlen telling Jamie Lannister of the change.

Massacre at Green Creek

Main Article : Battle of Green Creek

Reek
"The fool camped for an entire day on the words of a man he hated. He deserved what came on him that night."
-Jordin Bolten

What Ramsey did not anticipate was the fact that the moment that Jon Snow, Tyrion Lannister, Britt Lancave and Hedrik Clegane returned to Koenisburg they sent a raven to Jamie Lannister telling him to move against the Boltens. Ramsey had not realized that Jordin Bolten had joined his army but discovered his presence and begin to plot to kill Jordin. Before he could do this Ramsey was fed falce information by Jordin Bolten about a scouting party from Grandlen nearbye which caused Ramsey to camp for an entire day and gave Jamie Lannister enough time to catch Ramsey's force on the bed of the River Creek. Jamie Lannister and his three thousand cavalry would smash into the camp of Ramsey Bolten and in less then twenty minutes nearly the entire force was massacred. It was as everything was falling apart that Ramsey Bolten would switch clothes with his servent Reek of whom he would smash the face of beyond any recegnition so that he could not be found to be not him. When Jamie entered the tent of Ramsey attempting to kill Ramsey or take him prisoner he found nothing but the supposed Reek standing over the destroyed body of "Ramsey Bolten". In that moment Jamie went to kill Reek but was stopped by Jordin Bolten who said to let Reek go as he was nothing but a slave they had captured from the Greyjoy's years past. Trusting Jordin Jamie would let "Reek" go and thus Ramsey Bolten escape the battle and made his way back to the Dreadfort.

Siege of Hornwood

Main Article : Siege of Hornwood

Ramsey Bolten Gif death
"The world was going to burn. I was going to burn it all down."
-Ramsey Bolten

Following the return of Ramsey Bolten to Dreadfort he would become obsessed with finally ending his brother and this would lead him to convinse Ondrew Locke to lay siege to Hornwood the largest city  of the east. Hornwood would come under siege without warning, but its defences were manned fully due to the fact that much of House Hornwood had already returned to Hornwood, and the scouts of the area had been skillful and had alerted the town in enough time. Now under siege they would call for assistence despite House Hornwood and its forces outnumbering the forces of House Locke quite heavily. Ramsey Bolten was by this point well dug into the area northwest of Hornwood and he alongside his cavalry force were well prepared to meet the incoming forces of Domeric Bolten of whom Ramsey knew would arrive well before the rest of his forces.

Domeric Moves

Ramsey Bolten Gif4

Ramsey would arrive well before the arrival of Domeric, and in that moment the fate of a Kingdom would be defined by the failings of a single man.

"This was still a kingdom worthy of saving. This was a land that while troubled didn`t abandon its own. If we let the Lockes do whatever the hell they wanted to do, then they would signal to the rest of the kingdom that they as well could do whatever they wanted. That was a signal I couldn`t allow to be sent. I heard the rumors that my brother was involved. That somehow he was responsible for the current situation...and despite everything...despite the fact that he was truly lost...I just...I couldn`t accept it. I refused to accept that he was past redemption. If that be the decision that dooms me then so be it. I die with a pure soul. I die happy."
-Domeric Bolten

Domeric Bolten would survive the retreat of the Bolten army and he would return to Dreadfort to meet with his father about the outcome of the first conflict with lucerne. Following this they would hear about the destruction and capture of the Bolten army at Green Creek. Domeric would at this point believe that his cousin had defected to the Lucernians and would be forced to accept that amongst his family he was now alone. Following this Hornwood would come under assault by House Locke and Domeric would resieve a call for aid from House Hornwood of whom was very loyal to him, and he knew he couldn't leave them to their own. Despite his father attempting desperatly to make Domeric stay in Dreadfort Domeric would travel with his personal forces towards Hornwood.

Ramsey Ambush
"What a twisted little bastard Ramsey was. In the end he was a failure the moment he was born. HIs failings were by his own making which was the worst part of looking at him. What though is a father to do when one of his sons is so twisted in his mind that he can barely even function. I should have put an axe in his head but in the end it was all too late...It was all too late...and now...it means nothing."
-Roose Bolten

Roose Bolten accepting that his son was heading south he attempted to locate Ramsey believing that Ramsey would be the only one capable of pulling off something of this scope. When his spies couldn`t locate Ramsey he would send Regenard Estren southward with his fastest horses in an attempt to get to Hornwood before his son Domeric. Regenard Estren was not the only other person moving towards Hornwood as Daryn Hornwood pulled the forces of House Hornwood from the army east of Karhold attempting to break the siege and also moved eastward towards Hornwood.

Arrival of Domeric

Death of Domeric
"Something felt wrong the moment he came over the hill. I ordered my men to prepare the horses. I ordered everyone to be ready to charge from the walls and meet our true king. I ordered so many things that didn`t help anything."
-Halys Hornwood

The siege went on for nearly a month before the forces of Domeric Bolten`s vangaurd arrived on the outskirts of town, but Domeric`s party would be betrayed when their white flag was ignored and they were ambushed by a cavalry force led by Ramsey Bolten. Due to his speed he had arrived well ahead of the rest of his forces and would only be assuming that he was going to be meeting with the leaders of House Locke. As he met with them he was ambushed by Ramsey Bolten who had set this entire attack up so that he could kill his brother Domeric. A fight did break out as Domeric was able to kill several of the ambushers before he was knocked on the head, and even then he still had a chance as Regenard Estren was nearbye watching from a hill and his cavalry forces could have moved against the betrayal but instead he remained on the hill and did not help Domeric. Regenard`s cowardess would be witnessed by many from Hornwood including Halys and Larance Hornwood of whom swore to kill him alongside Ramsey for what would happen next. Now captured by his sadistic brother Domeric attempted to reason with his brother but Ramsey wouldn't hear it and would hang Domeric from a tree alongside the rest of his vangaurd.

My head ached from the pain of the strike I had taken, but I forced myself to raise my head anyway. As I stared out I saw my brother leaning against the Tree with the most terrifying smile on his face. As he saw that I was awake he walked towards me carrying a small knife and a brazier. Without a word he pressed the brazier to my face, and I screamed out in pain.
"You always thought you were so much better then me didn`t you?" I could barely think as he ran the knife across my arm digging a deep gash into the skin, and then moving the brazier to my chest. "I`m the true born heir of House Bolten, and now there isn`t a thing any of you can do to stop that." I could hear him continueing to talk but the pain was so much that as he walked away towards his horse I couldn`t quite hear him.
I pushed myself through all the pain and just used every ounce of strength I had to speak. "I`m your brother...Ramsey...do not...stop...you have to stop...please...please stop Ramsey..."I could hear laughter all around me and as I was able to look for a moment I could make out Mallador Locke, and Harrion and Vatef Karstark which only made things worse. These were noble born men and they were sitting prepared to kill the heir to Bolten.
"There are no words your silver toungue can spread that change this. Harrion tie him to the tree and lets be done with this." He was sitting on his horse as he moved towards me but now there was just nothing in his eyes. Hate perhaps but mainly I just so annoyance. I felt someone tie a rope around my kneck from behind and could only assume it was Harrion.
"Harrion this is treason you need to stop. Ramsey we can work this out....stop this please brother." I looked for any sign of him changing his mind, but despite my begging he was unmoved. I felt the rope now completely around my kneck and they raised me onto a stump nearbye which without any warning I was released from and I felt myself dangling. This was the end. I never thought it would end this way.

After the death of Domeric Bolten the city of Hornwood watched the siege end as the goals of the siege were achieved, and thus Hornwood was relieved. Ramsey would return north, and House Locke and their vassals retreated as well leaving the hanged body of Domeric to be retrieved by Halys Hornwood of whom was beyond enraged about the betrayal of the prince.

Siege of Karhold

Main Article : Siege of Karhold

Siege of Karhold
It had been generations since we had been betrayed and our land taken form us. While we had rebuilt our lives and the memory had begun to fade. The anger and hatred of a betrayal never truly goes away.'
-Eddard Starke

With the fall of Jeutenburg the route into Karhold was completely open to the forces of Lucerne and they would take advantage of the shock caused on the Bolten forces by the destruction of the army at Green Creek. Moving westward the forces of House Karstark would be fed bad information from the retreating forces who told them that the main goal was the castle west of Karhold in the form of Saltwood Castle. In this way believing they would hit Saltwood first Arnolf who was in command of Karhold would send much of the Karstark forces to Saltwood which was under the command of House Saltwood of whom had already defected to the Lucernians and was thus further feeding bad information. As the Bolten forces were going towards Saltwood Castle in order to meet the forces of House Starke head on the true Starke force was now heading directly towards Karhold from the north where it found basically no resistence.

Battle of Saltwood Castle

Main Article : Battle of Saltwood Castle

Jaden Ambry1
You half felt bad for those poor fools walking into the disaster at Saltwood. We knew there would suprise and everyone who laid down a sword was going to live. It had to be that way.
-Jaden Ambry

The Secondary force from House Starke would arrive at Saltwood Castle before the forces of Bolten and would menaeuver themselves into the forests south of the castle while the Bolten forces could be devided into two distinct sections. The first section of the Bolten forces had remained loyal to House Bolten and the Karstarkes either out of honor or had not been told of other options and thus moved towards Saltwood without knowledge that most had switched sides. The second group were made of the houses of the area and from elsewhere that had switched sides to the Lucernians and these forces were prepared for the ambush as they marched. Marching forward the Lucernian loyalists would remain outside the castle while the Bolten loyalists split in a further half with one side entering the castle, and the other side heading towards the forest where the Lucernians awaited them. Once out of range of the castle the Saltwoods would reject the call to call for surrenders when they opened fire on the Bolten troops entering the castle, and nearly the entire force was massacred. Trying to flee the Lucernians turncoats that had waited outside the castle hit them from the rear and these forces were more willing to accept prisoners but the Bolten troops were destroyed or captured in their entirety. The other force led by Cregan Karstark II., and Eddard Karstark II. would find themselves moving towards the forest and seeing a now fully deployed and larger force of Lucernian troops awaiting them. Deploying into position they watched the arrival of the other forces but these forces stopped behind them with weapons drawn clearly indicating a trap. Moving forward towards these troops Jaden Ambry, and Trevor Baratheon would bid them surrender and seeing the hopelessness of their position they would surrender themselves as well.

The Attack Begins

Siege of Karhold2
We went immediatly under the assumption that the Saltwood turning would lead to our victory against their main force, and we hit the northern gate while noone was ready.
Robb Starke

Robb Starke and the main Starke force would hit the northern edge of Karhold during the night, and would spy very few sentries on the wall due to the late night and the fact that noone thought Karhold was even threatened. Robb would send Theon Greyjoy, and Gregory Estermont with a small team of troops carring ropes who would ascend the northern wall and open the gatehouse for their troops. Theon, and Gregory would be able to get onto the wall but the alarm was raised as they were opening the gates thus alerting the city to the attack. The army of the Starkes entered the northern gate either way and was able to quickly capture a large swathe of the northern section as most of the defenders were just waking up, and those that were up were either killed or disarmed by the attacking forces. Arriving at the western gate Robb Starke alongside Wilheim Martell would get inside the gatehouse, and open the gate allowing the monsterous Grey Wind to enter as well and Grey Wind would massacre Cregan Karstark and several other men before finally being restrained by Robb and together they left men at the gatehouse before moving to the Keep.

Grey Wind and Robb
They held fast at the eastern gatehouse, but they were horribly outnumbered and in most spots we controlled the high ground.
Gregory Estermont

The fighting in the eastern gatehouse was particularrly stiff as Craig Karstark, Urmen Stone, and Douglas Tisler waking to the alarm and heading to the eastern gatehouse in order to try and defend it. Urmen Stone would be struck by an arrow as the Stark men had taken the tower that overlooked the gatehouse and fired shots down at them. Retreating from view of the tower Craig would hold the inner gatehouse and fought off several men before finally Gregory Estermont got into the courtyard and would kill Craig. With the gate opening Douglas Tisler would jump from the wall into the water beneath and while badly injuring his leg he was able to swim to the Karstark side of the river to safety. The Karstarks would resist greatly in the marketplace of southern Karhold, but the main reason for the resistence being able to hold them off was the fact that Robb Starke had ordered a slow and safe conquest of the town believing he had increasingly large amounts of reinforcements incoming and didnt need to risk his forces in a battle he was already going to win.

Name Fate
Eddard Karstark
  • Killed by Robb in a duel near the western bridge after failing to surrender
Craig Karstark
  • Killed by Gregory Estermont while defending the eastern gatehouse
Urmen Stone
  • Killed by arrow while defending eastern gatehouse
Janise Karstark
  • Died trying to kill Gregory after the death of Craig Karstark
Cregan Karstark II. 
  • Prisoner following the Battle of Saltwood Castle
Eddard Karstark II.
  • Prisoner following the Battle of Saltwood Castle
Ophellia Karstark
  • Prisoner following failed attempt to flee the city during the intial attack
Metalyn Karstark
  • Prisoner following failed attempt to flee the city during the initial attack
Cregan Karstark
  • Killed by Grey Wind defending the western Gatehouse
Leysha Karstark
  • Prisoner following surrendering to the Starkes
Bodies were strewn about the streets as the Karstark forces had left disaster as they retreated into their keep. I stood over the body of Eddard Karstark his name brought shame to my fathers and for that alongwith his poor life choices he paid the ultimate price. Looking at the keep I saw four bridges and my men had told me a fifth was located on the opposite side of the island, and that made me clearly aware that we controlled three out of the five bridges. One of the bridges they controlled was so close to our lines that we would be able to destroy it with ease while the one on the east was built of stronger work then that. In the end it was clear the siege was over, and now we were fighting to see how many of them died.
Robb Starke

The Karstarks had been devestated by the fighting with nearly ten of their number either captured or dead on the field, and without much hope that they could hold the keep for long. The sheer number of Karstarks that they had prisoner meant that they were forced to house them all in the walled keep in the northern part of the city, and from there they made Arnolf very much aware of how many were prisoners. Arnolf himself was sickly and was unable to move but in an act of blind arrogance refused to hand command over to his grandson Harnolf Karstark believing that his brother Rickard was laughing at him for failing to hold the city, and thus he would die before he gave it up. Outside of the Karstarks there allies in House Urnet, and House Tisler also lost several members with only Heshen Urnet able to flee out of the city, and returning to the forces of House Urnet. With the fighting intensifying in the southern half of the city the Karstarks awaited reinforcements, but this would be a hopeless wait as well as while the fighting was dying down in Karhold the news begin filtering in that Hornwood was under siege from House Locke and House Hornwood was abandoning the area east of Karhold in order return home, and they were taking all their men with them.

Death of Roose Bolten

Roose Bolten Wide
It was the final move for Ramsey. He had always wanted to be alone in this family, and he would finally have his wish.
Roose Bolten

Following his succesful trip to the Iron Islands and then Mordor Ramsey would return to the port of Dreadfort with the knowledge that he had won the power of two massive armies, and the survival of his rule might now be possible. Deciding that his father was no longer worthy of living he would brag nearly the last few days of the trip that he was going to murder his father, and since most of "Ramsey's Bastards" were loyal to Roose they would send a raven ahead of the ship which told Roose that Ramsey planned to kill him, and asking Roose what they should do. Realizing that he could easily stop the assasination he would instead send no word back, and ordered House Marsh and their vassals to not resist his landing. 

Sandor Dregane Large2
Everyone in this entire kingdom knew exactly the person that Ramsey was. So while some may be just hateful towards Roose it is a clear distinction. Roose while twisted in the mind wants a genuinly peaceful realm. Ramsey while twisted in the mind cares nothing for the kingdom and just wants to see things burn for no reason more then watching everything die.
Daryn Hornwood

At this point with Ramsey entering the port, and along with his men making their way towards the Dreadfort it was Roose that begin to plot the final moments of what he knew to be his life. Roose firstly met with his kingsgard and one by one moved them away from him so that they would not die trying to protect him when Ramsey arrived. Three of the five kingsgard he placted this way by sending them southward to Castle Horgut where they would defend the castle alongside the commanders there. The other two in the form of Sandor Dregane, and Urren Sliten he would send to find Misha Bolten in order to get her out of the city. Wondering where they would go after that Roose told them that they were to go to Hayford and surrender themselves to the Lucernians, and from their swear oaths to Lucerne as protectors of Misha. It was around this point that Ramsey was within a few hours of the city, and thus Roose visited several nobles in the city, and commanded them to leave as well sending many on specific routes that would lead them to be captured by the Lucernian forces. In his final hours waiting for Roose to get to the city he would do these things before he finally sat alone in his throne room having dismissed all of his gaurds and sent away everyone loyal to him.

The Act

ROOSE Bolten lARGE
What he did in his final moments cannot make good what he had done before he came to his moral understanding but...but atleast he attempted to make his life somewhat less of a travesty.
Daryn Hornwood

Ramsey entered the city to no celebration, and besides the opening of gates, and the stomping of his men beside him the entire city was filled with the sounds of nothing but fear and silence. Ramsey would enter the keep where he found all the gates, and doors ungarded and was in this moment discusted by what he believed was the complete failure in his father. Entering the throne room of his father he would confront him, and make it very clear from the first moment he entered that Roose was going to die. Roose begged him to make him understand why Domeric had to die, and that infuriated Ramsey who couldn't take that Domeric was till being mentioned while in his own mind he had just went on a trip that would save Bolten. Warning his father to stop speaking of Domeric unless he wished to die sooner, his father would move closer grap him by the shoulders and say that his time was over and now he was ready to see his true son again. Upon hearing that Ramsey would murder him, and so filled with rage was he that he obliterated much of his body leaving nothing but tattered remains. Ramsey from this point would crown himself and parade throughout the Dreadfort with his Bastards controlling the resistence that might have been created in the city. As this was going on Sandor Dregane, and Urren Sliten would be forced to hide as they had yet to find Misha Bolten, and because of this they were nearly caught by brigands now swarming to join Ramsey's court. Ramsey at this point attempted to find the Roose loyalists in the city, but discovered that the day he was arriving his father had sent away hundreds of nobles, while sending away his own kingsgard. Naming five of his bastards to the kingsgard he would return to the throne room, and begin ruling over the kingdom he had now stolen from his brother, and then his father.

Goverment

The Kingdom of Bolten is utterly dominated by the powerful House Bolten, but officially they are ruled in a triumverate of the three great Houses of Bolten. House Bolten controls the three Houses by making the heir to the throne of the other two houses forced to live in Dreadfort, where he is controlled by House Bolten.

House Bolten

See Also : House Bolten

Kingdom of Bolten
House Bolten
Roose Bolten
Power Level Royal House
Kingdom of Loyalty Kingdom of Bolten
House Banner
Coat of Arms Carnation, a flayed man affronté sanguine
Words "A flayed man holds no secrets"
Vital statistics
Founder Ronnel Bolten
Current Leader Roose Bolten
Current Heir {{{Current Heir}}}
Date of Founding Placeholder
Headquarters Dreadfort
Level of Control
Level of Control The Royal House of the Kingdom of Bolten so they control the entire Kingdom of Bolten.
Loyal Houses House Hornwood
Demographics
Race Human
Ethnicity Gothic Germanic

House Bolten is an extremely powerful Gothic House located in the capital of the Kingdom of Bolten city of Dreadfort. House Bolten has run the Kingdom of Bolten since its founding, and this control comes from the fact that they basically take the heir of their opposing houses hostage as leverage over that house, and control the most powerful military in the region.

House Bolten is one of the most powerful Gothic Houses in the entire continent of Europe, and they have used this as a symbol of their power. They are not truly Gothic Nationalist but they have over the centuries used this as an excuse for gaining people and houses into their fold. Despite this laizes-Fairre approach they are extremely homogeneous in that they do not intermingle with non-Gothics as a simple rule of their household.

House Bolten has its sigil and words of which their words are "Our blades are sharp," while a common saying among the Boltons is "A flayed man holds no secrets."House Bolten has gained a reputation throughout its history as an extremely violent household that used "flaying" of its victoms as an almost obsessive hobby. Alongside this they have had a habit of annihilating the houses in the region that have come to disapoint or reject their authority.

House Bolten has a system like many other houses in that their is no discussion amongst the actual house of whom will be the heir, but instead a challenge is called out and anyone wanting to take control following the death of the current Lord may challenge for the position. The winner after this challenge becomes the new Lord, and is able to choose his heir at will without any regard to the position of others in his house. This has made for HOuse Bolten to become very bloodthirsty amongst their membership as they all know that if the chance rises even if their the current heir they could be challenged in the position and if this happens their is no taboo against kin killing if it is during a challenge.

House Bolten is an ancient Gothic House that grew powerful during the years following the end of the Numeron Empire, as the Gothic expanded into the regions of Westros. Before they grew though they were living in the vulnerable area of Andal agression which meant that they were born amongst great danger and threat. The family was constantly damaged by the agression of the increasingly angry and violent tribes of the Andals of whom were being pushed farther and farther south by the menipulations of the Chaos Gods. During this time the Goths would push out the Atlantians from the region, and take control and this is how House Bolten would take control of the region they came to call Dreadfort. This wasn't simple as during this time the Goths were constantly battling amongst themselves for power, and for dominence of the region but at the time the members of House Bolten were able to grow and control the area better then their competitor. Following this they have eventually taken control over much of the western region of Westros under the banner of the Kingdom of Bolten, and would only be stopped by the existence of the Kingdom of Lorderon to the north, and the kingdom of Tale to their east. House Bolten has led the Kingdom of Bolten into three wars over the period of Roose Bolten's reign, and these conflicts have come to a head during the end of book two where the Kingdom of Bolten led by House Bolten has basically declared war on the Kingdom of Lucerne, and in book three is going to be involved in a fight to the death over Koenisburg. With the taking of Westbrige the region of Bolten became more interested in its own growth and in particular they really wanted to get the Lucernian army involved in pitch battles which they had the numbers to survive. In order to do this they begin threatening several allies of Lucerne in western Westros in the form of Koenisburg, and the town of Jeutenburg. While these threats rancheted up the Kingdom of Lucerne did exactly what the Boltens hoped they would do when they brought huge forces to bear on the defences of the Westros river crossing of Levin. The Lucernians also made it known that any action taken against their allies in Koenisburg, or Jeutenburg would be deemed a decleration of war against Lucerne itself. This promice to defend meant a lot to the two towns, and most believed that with that the conflict would be ended before any blood was spilled. This idea changed quickly when the Kingdom of Bolten sacked Jeutenburg in a massive siege that took place in the guise of a peace mission.

Roose Bolten

See Also : Roose Bolten

Roose Bolten

Roose Bolten is the son of Kyle, and Mena Bolten making him the patriarch of House Bolten, as well as the Lord of Dreadfort, and the King of the Kingdom of Bolten. Roose Bolten has one sibling in his sister Betha Bolten who died while giving birth to her third child. Roose is married to Walda Bolten and together the two have two children in Ramsey, and Domeric Bolten of which Ramsey Bolten is the current heir to the throne of the Kingdom of Bolten, as well as the patriarchy of House Bolten, while Domeric is a truly great knight that would be perfect in almost every other kingdom but in Bolten he finds himself at odds with the ideology of the Kingdom of Bolten, and his family.

Roose Bolten was born into the relatively evil, but also supremely powerful House Bolten, and in his early years he was groomed as a perfect knight much in the way he groomed young Domeric. This changed with the death of his uncle whom had a huge effect on him, and following this Roose Bolten begin to the approach of having him self leeched which he believes cures him of all illnesses, but along with this he has become quite detatched emotionally, and he very rarely becomes angry, sad, or anything for that matter. This has slowly meant that he has become increasinly hawkish in his behavior towards those around him as he growingly does not understand the emotions of others. His main relationships have remained but he is a much more distant leader then much of the other leaders of the region, and he leads through fear more then love in most ways. Recetly he would move his forces towards aggresive conflict with the Kingdom of Lucerne when he ordered them to take control of the two allies of Lucerne in the form of Koenisburg, and Jeutenburg. While he was planning this he was watching with great fear as his son Ramsey would continuesly try and murder his heir in the form of Domeric Bolten, and only his constant efforts would keep Domeric alive in a house that was more and more moving towards Ramsey's way of thinking.

House Cole

See Also : House Cole

House Cole

House Cole is a powerful Gothic House in the western Westros Kingdom of Bolten. In the Kingdom of Bolten House Cole is one of the three Noble Houses of the Kingdom, and through marriage they have become intertwined with House Bolten the ruling House of the Kingdom. House Cole has always been the weakest of the three Noble Houses of Bolten and this has a lot to do with the fact that they exist in their ancestoral home town of Caryle which provides them with their income, and since its the poorest of the towns of Bolten it means the forces of House Cole have usualy been equipped and trained with less then the other Houses have.

They blazon their arms with ten black pellets on scarlet, and this is the color scheme that remains true throughout their houses flags and other areas. The words of House Cole are "Destiny is a rotten path" and this has to do with the fact that they have spent much of their history in less then glorious circumstances.

House Cole rose to prominence during the Rise of House Bolten who used House Cole as their most loyal, and trusted house within their growing Kingdom. For a time they existed insideDreadfort, but following the rise of the city, they were sent away to attempt to grow Caryle into a city in the same way that Karhold had been grown. Unfortunatly House Cole was struck by first a bad leader in the form of Taimen Cole who spent his generation doing little of any good during his reign. Following this the reign of his son Taimen Cole II. started off well but fell apart as he along with many of his children were killed during a plague that wrecked the city and killed more then half of the city.

House Karstark

See Also : House Karstark

House Karstark New

House Karstark is an ancient House based in the Bolten region of Westros inside the city of Karhold. The members of House Karstark and their old House members in House Starke are now mortal enemies due to the betrayal the members of the now House Karstark did against their former House in House Starke. This has led to numerous clashes between the members during trades, and other chance meetings. Once a ruler in their own right, during the rise of House Bolten the leadership of House Karstark split from the overall House Starke, and became loyalists to the forces of House Bolten. With the might of House Karstark on their side, House Bolten was able to conquer a large swathe of western Westros, and only the rise of Lorderon slowed the Kingdom's growth. Since these days the members of House Karstark are the closest House to the ruling leadership of House Bolten.

Their blazon is a white sunburst on black, and this scheme is found throughout their house and its banners. The members of House Karstark have words and their motto is, "The Sun of Winter" and this has to do with their ancient begginings in the north.

The earliest members of House Starke as they begin leaving the Empire found their way past Arnor into the region of Westros. When they arrived in Westros they kept moving south until they arrived in the Bolten region. When they arrived in Bolten they begin setting up roots, and quickly became the leading House in the region. The conflict between Brenten Starke the patriarch of House Starke and his younger brother Josin Starke reached such a point that they devided the House into those immediatly related to each of the men, and in this way the devision of House Starke was started. Josin Starke promised his loyalty to the House but in actuality he was working behind the scenes at creating an alliance with House Bolten which would allow for his half of the House to remain in control of Karhold but remove his older brother that he believed was holding back House Starke.

Other Noble Houses

Name Seat Power Liege Lord Ethnicity
House Pree South of Dreadfort Strong House Bolten Gothic German

Demographics

Ethnicity

For most of the regions history this region was dominated by the Atlantians who came from the island of Atlantis, and during the entirety of The Empire of Numeron they were the vast majority of the population. During the events of the Great Migration the region became dominated by the now majority group in the Goths.

Religion

The Goths of Bolten are followers of the Dragon, but the leadership of Bolten and especially House Bolten are extremely secular in their views, and for them religion is not only not important but it is distracting.

Culture

Points of Interest

Dreadfort

See Also : Dreadfort

Dreadfort (City)
Dreadfort
The Dreadfort11
Vital statistics
Type of Goverment Heridetary Monarchy
Allegiance Kingdom of Bolten
Ruling House House Bolten Small Icon House Bolten
Population Placeholder
Location Central Westros, Dreadfort Peninsula
Language German
Religion Dragonoph
Races, and Ethnicity Gothic Germans

Dreadfort is the capital of the Kingdom of Bolten, and the ancestoral home of the powerful House Bolten. An important part of the history of Dreadfort has been its relationship with the Iron Islands which has been something they have been forced to keep friendly as without control of the bay of Bolten the entire city would be under threat from ship based attack which it has no defence against other then the small navy of Dreadfort.

Dreadfort is a large city which surrounds a large wooded forest with the large Bolten Keep deep in the center of the forest. The city itself is large with a population over 200,000 of which nearly 70% are House Bolten loyalists so they have a very large support amongst the population of Dreadfort. All of this continues to make Dreadfort one of the most heavily populated towns in terms of total population of Goths. Of the 200,000 nearly half that population live outside the walls in the town that surrounds the walls, and this has created a sort of have`s and have nots with those inside the walls looking down historically on those living outside the walls. The port of Dreadfort has some twenty thousand people living inside its walls, and while controlled by House Marsh of whom have historically not been the most loyal of the Bolten vassals.

The region of Dreadfort was first inhabited by the members of the wealthy House Bolten, and in them the area was the home of the Bolten estate. They used the land acting like Lords of the region and were the producers of huge amounts of food, and goods for trade. Jornin Bolten saw that with the departing Atlantians the Goths were going to have a home of their own, and in this way he begin marshaling his personal thralls in his estate to build farms in the surrounding regions, and he offered goth families the chance to farm these lands the only cost being they swore loyalty to House Bolten. In his 45 year life he would turn his small estate of only 120 people into a town of 1200 and a surounding farmland loyal to him of hundreds more. During the War with Lucerne Dreadfort has become the last bastion of control for the Boltens that they can truly trust, and this has led to the city becoming the site of nearly the entire incoming Lannister army of whom wants to take control of the town.

Karhold

See Also : Karhold

Karhold

Karhold is a large city built to the south of the capital of Dreadfort, and is the ancestoral home of the influencial House Karstark, and through this connection also the home of House Starke. Karhold is built on two massive peaks with the large section of the population living at the bottom of the peaks and unprotected by the large fortifications of the castle. Karhold is one of the few lucky cities of the old Empire of Numeron that survived the downfall nearly intact. Due to this there survival the settlement is rather large by the standards of the region with nearly 300,000 people living within the region. The actual city is significantly smaller with more emphasis on defence then being a city which is why it only has 85,000 people. This matters little to House Karstark who at will can call upon one of the largest armies in Westros.

The city of Karhold truly came into existence during the rise of House Starke who travelled south from Norway during the Great Migration and settled in this region. Their numbers and intelligence during their early time here allowed them to accumulate a large amount of wealth which eventually spawned a large scale settlement in their region which slowly came to be known as Karhold. House Starke used their wealth to create the foundations of what still stands today as the keep of Karhold. The Keep stood as the center of what was at the time an independant micro Kingdom ruled by the Starkes.

Deephome

See Also : Deephome

Deephome

Deephome is a large castle in the west of the Kingdom of Bolten, that is the home base of the members of House Cole. The Castle is a new construction, and it is meant to be the first line of defence against any army of Lorderon which wishes to cross the river, and attack Bolten. While its original purpose is for defence during the rise of the Conflicts in Westros it has become a center of offense organization for Bolten.

House Cole was first ordered to construct the castle with the financial backing of the Kingdom of Bolten when Roose Bolten watched the Kingdom of Lorderon choose the Lucernians to join instead of Bolten. Roose would for a time oversee Josh Cole as he constructed the large castle. It became a source of great pride for Josh Cole who while he constructed the castle was not dreaming of a place he could hold for the Boltons but instead a place that would be the new center of House Cole outside of their poor lands. In this way Josh Cole would spend a large amount of the money's giving to him by Roose Bolten to secretly construct the makings of a proper civilian population within the castle, and farms to the south that were dominated by his vassals. As another sign of disrespect to his brother and so that he would be further protected from John he would ban John from being able to enter the castle under pain of death.

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