Kingdom of Holden

Logo of the Kingdom of Holden faction in the Romance of the Nine Empires card game

The Kingodm of Holden is one of the nine empires vying for control over Countermay. During the 2012 national Romance of the Nine Empires championship, both semi-finalist Natalie Warner and champion Sean Cassidy played a Holden deck.

History

The smallest of the empires is also one of the youngest. Throughout the wars and tribulations of the past century, the Valley of Holden has become a refuge of sorts for the free people of Countermay. Home to free thinkers and individuals from all regions, this refugee camp grew into a city that grew into a ragtag nation of adventurers, militarily weak but cunning and resourceful, an X factor the rest of the world could not ignore. In the War Against the God-King, Holden’s greatest hero, Simm Buxtehude, played a critical role. He forged an unstable alliance between Malchior, Arcanix, the Seelie of the Tuatha, the Ord and the newly arrived Displaced against the might of the God-King’s forces. With the help of the Seelie prince Dundareel, Buxtehude tricked the God-King into committing his forces, allowing their alliance to sneak the Displaced’s city-killing bomb into His presence. The resulting explosion vaporized Shad-Hujem and buried the Godhead Seat—his source of power—under a mountain of stone. Simm’s final action before he died of a strange wasting illness—“radiation poisoning,” the Displaced called it—was to crown Queen Genevieve and force the other empires to recognize Holden as their equal. Holden now has a permanent place in the Circle of Nine, though many are there who would see this upstart pretender nation of smashed and scattered.

Notable citizens

• Elbeth the Weeping Duchess