Asbjarsholt

Asbjarsholt is a Varlish town lying on the border with Ulgard.
The settlement was founded during the 3rd Century BCE by the pioneer Asbjar Hrolfssen after he found it to be a prime defensive position - in the chaos of the pre-Varhold Trade Lake coast, this made the town relatively safe. The original fortress stood on a high, flat-topped hill surrounded on three sides by a slow-running but deep glacial stream.
Asbjarsholt was not named by its inhabitants, but by those who attacked it. Raiders were commonplace at the time, and it was only after the town had easily repelled raiding parties seven separate times that it gained the nickname 'Asbjar's Holdfast'. This was bastardised over the years, becoming Asbjarsholt.
The settlement quickly became a highly-sought strategic location in the area, and the pre-Varholdian warlords of the region, especially Vasse of Nidvelr and Halach of Enbjornfjord, poured considerable resources into conquering the fortress. This only strengthened the resolve of the defenders, and in the 1st Century the town's Yarl Olaf decreed a counterattack. The lands to the rear of the town were large and fertile, protected almost completely from the outside by the town itself. This meant that though raiders thought they were merely attacking a town, Asbjarshold had the size and infrastructure of a small country.
Yarl Olaf rallied the levies from his northern holdings and struck out south, along the path of the alpine stream that defends Asbjarsholt. In the year 74 Olaf founded another fortress in the river valley, Olafsvellir. This strained Asbjarsholt's resources, and in 89 the warlord Karel of Nidvelr struck the river between the two, sieging and capturing Olafsvellir and Yarl Olaf along with it. Olaf's fate is uncertain, but there was no longer a Yarl ruling Asbjarsholt and the town fell swiftly when Karel put it under siege in 91.
From here Asbjarsholt fell into decline. The infrastructure north of the town was forcefully moved south by Karel to strengthen his hold on the area. The walls around Asbjarsholt were dismantled and the town inevitably sprawled over the stream, making it impossible to defend.
Category:Varland
Category:Varhold
Category:Settlements