Holdfast

A **holdfast** was the center of patrimonial governance and administration for a Mikaean household prior to the days of the Unification Wars. Home the High Patron and the primary creche of a household, holdfasts were the Mikaean equivalent to a government capital, where all major business and affairs of state regarding the needs of the patriarch and his offspring where taken care off. The first holdfast established was the city of Princeton, founding during the Blossoming era, and became home to House O'Neill, the eldest of the existing thirty-seven households. Historically, holdfasts were the largest centers of population prior to industrialization, and almost all other cities existed to fuel the needs of their respective holdfasts and the High Patron residing within. Following the unification of Xyon in 3752 YM, all holdfasts were re-established as sectorial capitals following the abolishing of patrimonial rule on the planet.

## History

### Origins

*See also: Patron Accords*
The need for holdfasts can be linked to the Embryonic era, shortly after the time when the creator of the Mikaeans walked the planet. At the time of the death of Mikael O'Neill in 40 YM, the Mikaean population was largely concentrated in and around the city of Blackstone along the Mikaean Coast. Some quarter of a million Mikaeans belonging to seven households resided within the area, and as the various house patriarchs began to contest one another for control over the coveted position of "Highfather", tensions throughout the city's vast population began to develop. Mikaeans once loyal to Mikael himself, no longer had her unifying influence to look toward, and thus, logically shifted their loyalties to their fathers, who were now fighting over control of the entire population. Infighting soon erupted, and brawls and riots broke out in the streets of Blackstone.

Recognizing the danger this posed, not only to himself but his offspring as well, the first High Patron of House O'Neill, Xavier O'Neill, opted to simply leave the city altogether and found a new home for himself and his children in the recently explored Verdant Plains. Though the Council of High Patrons had been established in 53 YM to help share power, Xavier found the compromise to be short-term at best, and wisely utilized the period of stability to begin searching for a new home outside of the capital city. One of the benefits of the Patron Accords which founded the Council, was the acknowledgement of holdfasts as possible homes for the patriarchs outside of Blackstone. Pushed through by the High Patron of O'Neill, the other High Patrons agreed with the sentiment, and accepted the establishment of holdfasts for permanent residence.

Some forty years later, Ashland was founded as the first city beyond the Mikaean Coast, and was a massive shock to the rest of the population, which believed that leaving the lands Mikael left to them has a form of blasphemy. So as to protect their investment in the system of the accords, the High Patrons, and Xavier in particular, justified their actions by explaining that all of the planet was given to them, not just a narrow strip of land. This would led to the other households to begin exploring and settling the lands beyond the Mikaean Coast, and free reign for the households to continue looking for a permanent home outside of Blackstone. As it was acknowledged that having a new creche established in a region would close off the rest of the surrounding territory to other households, it became one of the first races between the families to found and claim a new home and the land it sat on.

### Establishment

*See also: First Great Diaspora*
In the wake of the First Great Diaspora, hundreds of thousands of Mikaeans were spread throughout the explored lands of Xyon's Western Region, and numerous settlements built in the likeness of Ashland. However, all of the households were still administered from the city of Blackstone, as High Patrons were plotting their next course of action and where they wished to stake their claim. Conflict had given way to opportunity during the War of Usurpation, with the various house leaders now keen to declare the borders of their lands by physically moving into them. Unlike their distant cousins on Earth, the High Patrons patiently waited to make their move, allowing their daughters stake their claims throughout the western extent of Xyon, and fight over lands they wished to see their fathers control. None wished to be the first to move, given that if there were several competing claims, some of the households might ally themselves against one, and overwhelm them, rendering their decades' long patience moot.

Eventually, the mountains and coastlines blocked any further expansion of the Mikaeans moving away from the center of population at Blackstone, and the time to made a choice had arrived. The first to act were the O'Neills, who had been the first to establish a presence between the Blackstone Mountains, and the primary backers for the Patron Accords which gave legitimacy to the idea of settling the lands beyond the Mikaean Coast. As such, in 218 YM, House O'Neill established the settlement of Princeton as the new holdfast for the household. Almost immediately, the other households began to do the same, with House Morgan declaring Aspera as their holdfast, and House Duran moving to the settlement of Rane as their holdfast. As expected, the declarations resulted in a spat of conflicts and skirmishes between the households, seeking to legitimize their territorial claims, and push rivals away from their new centers of administration.

### Abolishment

Following the introduction of the Treaty of Chernaya in 3752 YM, the role of the holdfast as the administrative center of the households was abolished once all were converted into non-patriarchal capital cities. Though the High Patrons of the Mikaeans did maintain a vast amount of power for the next fifty years under the institution of the Blackstone Constitution, the holdfasts had fallen out of their traditional roles and were now relegated to the status of mere administrative centers. However, for the majority of the now-defunct holdfasts, many of the local High Patrons did maintain the primary residences in the districts as a sign of their sticking to the old traditions of the Mikaean patriarchy. There were various attempts by later Supreme Directors throughout history who moved to further severe the High Patrons from the holdfasts of their houses, seeking to transfer more social and cultural power to the federal government. In spite of these attempts, most High Patrons have maintained their right to live where they please, and have established many grand estates where the ancient holdfasts once stood.

## See also

* High Patron
* Household
* Creche