Guides · The world
The Hold
Somewhere near where you start stands a great castle with banners on its towers. This is the Wanderers’ Hold, and people live there: 16 of them, each with a name, a job and a day of their own. They will give you a bed, heal you, trade with you and send you on errands. Treat them well and the Hold is the friendliest place in the world.
Finding the Hold
Every world made of open land has one Hold. In a new world it stands between 250 and 600 blocks from where you first arrive, and the game picks a start where you can usually see it. Sky Islands, One Block and flat worlds have no Hold.
The first time you come close, Rivet notices it too: “People live behind that wall.” Walk in through the gate and you are in the court, the big open yard in the middle. The rooms around it are the great hall, the kitchen, the library, the map room, the infirmary and more.
In newer worlds the Hold stands in a lake behind a moat, with a drawbridge over the moat. In the newest, a town stands beyond the lake, joined to the gate by a causeway.
The court
The people of the Hold are called its court. Walk up to anyone and use them (right click, or tap on a phone) to talk. Everyone can tell you about the Hold. The ones with a job for you add it to the choices. Here is who you will meet and what each one does for you.
| Name | Title | What they do for you |
|---|---|---|
| Orla Firstcairn | Castellan | Runs the Hold, gives an errand and starts the Hold’s tale |
| Corwin Longwatch | Captain of the Wall | Guards the gate and takes the Hold’s Call, which starts a siege |
| Hale Stoneward | Wallguard | Keeps watch at a door |
| Dessa Gatehand | Wallguard | Keeps watch at a door |
| Tobren Lampwright | Wallguard | Keeps watch at a door with his lantern |
| Ilse Windwall | Wallguard | Keeps watch at a door |
| Dunmar Anvilward | Smith | Mends your fishing rod, trades and gives an errand |
| Wenna Hearthkeep | Cook | Cooks, trades food and gives an errand |
| Isaure Palmgrace | Healer | Heals you and gives an errand |
| Tavian Farwell | Cartographer | Hands you a Wayfarer’s Atlas, trades and gives an errand |
| Selwyn Ledgerman | Steward | Gives you a bed, trades and gives an errand |
| Lirael Tallhorn | Herald | Announces who comes and goes at the gate |
| Ansgar Pagebinder | Rollkeeper | Keeps the Hold’s records and gives an errand |
| Maud Lensward | Rollkeeper | Keeps the Hold’s records |
| Eadric Grey | Elder | Remembers the old days, and has a part in the Hold’s tale |
| Hesper Stonehand | Elder | Remembers the old days |
The court keeps a daily routine. The smith works at his forge by day, the cook goes back to her kitchen in the evening, and everyone heads to bed at night while half the guards keep watch. When rain, snow or a storm rolls in, the court goes indoors, but the guards stay at their posts with their hoods up. Wave, bow, salute or cheer at someone within 7 blocks, and they answer you in kind.
What the court does for you
A bed. Ask Selwyn Ledgerman for a bed, and from then on you wake up in the Hold’s Rest whenever you respawn.
Healing. Isaure Palmgrace brings you back to full health on the spot. Wait about 90 seconds before you ask again.
Mending. Dunmar Anvilward mends a worn fishing rod as good as new. A fishing rod is the only thing in the game that wears out, so it is the only thing he mends.
The Atlas. Tavian Farwell hands you a free Wayfarer's Atlas, the map that fills in as you explore. You get one a day, and only when you are not carrying one already.
Trading at the Hold
Four of the court trade goods for goods. Choose Trade when you talk to them. Each trade can only be made a few times a day in the whole world, and each time it is made again that day it asks for half as much more. Their stock is full again every morning.
| Who | You give | You get | Times a day |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wenna Hearthkeep | Wheat ×10 | Bread ×4 | 4 |
| Wenna Hearthkeep | Riverfish ×4 | Roast Beef ×2 | 3 |
| Wenna Hearthkeep | Wheat ×8 and Honey ×2 | Recipe Card ×1 | 1 |
| Dunmar Anvilward | Coal ×6 | Iron Ingot ×2 | 3 |
| Dunmar Anvilward | Iron Ingot ×3 | Bucket ×1 | 2 |
| Tavian Farwell | Seamcord ×6 | Glass ×8 | 3 |
| Tavian Farwell | White Wool ×4 | Glass Pane ×8 | 3 |
| Selwyn Ledgerman | White Wool ×6 | Bread ×3 | 3 |
The cook’s Recipe Card teaches you one of the Hold kitchen’s own dishes. See Cooking and fishing.
Errands
Choose Hear the errand and someone asks you to bring them something. Bring it back and they pay you on the spot. Each errand can be done once, your Journal keeps track of it, and none of them is needed to finish anything else. They are a good way to earn a little food early on.
| Who asks | Errand | You give | You get |
|---|---|---|---|
| Selwyn Ledgerman | Lampblack | Coal ×4 | Hedgeberries ×4 |
| Wenna Hearthkeep | Bread for the road | Wheat ×12 | Bread ×4 |
| Dunmar Anvilward | Iron for the forge | Iron Ingot ×3 | Coal ×6 |
| Isaure Palmgrace | Linen | White Wool ×4 | Hedgeberries ×6 |
| Tavian Farwell | Cordage | Seamcord ×4 | Glass ×6 |
| Ansgar Pagebinder | The last gallery | Coal ×2 | Bread ×2 |
| Orla Firstcairn | Rations for the wall | Roast Beef ×6 | Bread ×6 |
The Roll’s Last Line
The Hold has a story of its own, and its people are slow to tell it. Once Rivet has told you his secret, or once you have found the first 16 Torn Pages, Orla Firstcairn offers you the Hold’s tale, The Roll’s Last Line.
It takes you through the Hold one step at a time:
- Bring Coal ×4 to Ansgar Pagebinder for his ink.
- Talk to Eadric Grey after dark, when he remembers more.
- Put down 3 hostile creatures, anywhere you find them.
- Go back to Orla Firstcairn.
At the end she gives you Torn Page XXV, the Hold’s own page. See the story for the rest of the Torn Pages.
The court also notices what you have done out in the world. After one of the 4 greatest deeds, like breaking the Crowned Wyrm, everyone in the Hold has something to say about it, and some of them see it differently from others.
Calling a siege
When you have finished the Hold’s tale and found 20 Torn Pages, Corwin Longwatch will take The Hold’s Call. He asks for Coal ×16, Iron Ingot ×6, and Bread ×8. Hand them over and he lights the beacon. An army marches on the Hold about 60 seconds later, in 3 waves. You can make the call once a day, and only one siege can happen in a world at a time.
Anyone at the Hold can help defend it. The enemy brings ladders, rams and catapults. Load the ballistas on the walls, pour fire from the braziers over the gate, and keep the Hold’s Standard standing. Up to 6 of the court climb the walls with bows to help you. Walk away and the army gives up and leaves.
Hold out to the last wave and you earn the Holdfast achievement and the title Holdfast, which you can wear from Looks. A siege never breaks the Hold’s walls: a battered gate mends itself. Sieges only happen at the newer Holds, the ones with a moat and a drawbridge.
Feasts
Set a feast out on the great hall’s table, and at dusk up to 10 of the court come in, sit down and share it. It is the best dinner party in the world, and nobody even asks you to wash up.
Keeping the peace
The court cannot be hurt, but they remember a blow. Hit one of them, or set them on fire, and you get a warning. Do it again within a day and the Hold is closed to you for 2 days: nobody will talk to you, trade or help until then. After that, the Hold forgives.
Want a Hold of your own? You can build rooms and restore wings on your own land: see The Hold on your land.
Next: Folk and Waysteads. All sections: the guides.