I see post occupation Boldhome as a less Heortling, more mixed, possibly even cosmopolitan society. I have some difficulty envisaging pre-occupation Boldhome, so I will explore it here.
All in my opinion...
Pre-occupation Boldhome is a place where all tribes and many clans have at least a longhouse. Compared to a metropolis (Glamour, Nochet) it is slow-paced but to the clans from the countryside, it is fastpaced and dangerous. Foreigners and non-humans are seen regularly (even frequently) and many live permanently in Boldhome.
Even pre-occupation, there are a significant presence of "clanless" Heortling humans, from beggars to rich adventurers. People live in grinding poverty (but they think it better than living in the sticks) through to ostentatious wealth (only go to the countryside to hunt).
Many Heortlings will spend only 1 or 2 seasons in Boldhome, representing the clan or tribe interests at the longhouse - in particular the ambitious. Many will spend a few years in Boldhome, particularly artisans and merchants, to experience/learn things not possible in their home clan/tribe.
There are several clans whose home is Boldhome (including the small Sartarings clan of the royal house). These clans would be the majority those with overlapping boundaries that Greg described in a recent Q&A. The poorer members of these clans have a sharp accent and speak much more quickly than the folks upcountry. They love to visit their kin in the countryside once per year for a week, in Fire Season but can't imagine living there (nothing ever happens there and there isn't a market every day or even every week). The richer members of these clans maintain contact with kin from Esrolia to Tarsh to Pavis and their accent, while obviously from Boldhome is much rounder.
Money is more in evidence than in the country. While hospitality is still a sacred duty, there is more pressure on the guest to deliver money, goods or service in return (country folk can afford to take the longer term view, plus they are hungrier for recent news). Kin are expected to bring meat and vegetables from back home ("you just can't get the same fresh quality here"). There is a far wider variety of goods and services than can be obtained anywhere else in Sartar.
While it is possible to live quite anonymously in Boldhome, this is only possible by avoiding social contact. It is a town full of gossips, where everyone you meet already knows someone else that you know well. All of the thanes and nobles in permanent residence are well know to all and most of the carls too.
Possibly there are many more women among the artisans than men because the conservatism of the upcountry folk pushes out all young women that do not want to be steadwives (this was true of Dublin in the 1940s through to the mid 1970s and I have heard hints that one of the causes of Kallyr's downfall was the conservatism upcountry that could not accept her as "King").
Jonstown, Wilmskirk etc. are far less cosmopolitan. While each may have their own specialisation, that is relatively unavailable in Boldhome, life in these towns is much more in contact with their surrounding countryside. In the decentralised world of the Heortlings, these are market and "administrative" centers where the confederations of tribes meet and order their own inter-tribal affairs. Very few foreigners or non-humans are found here.
regards,
Charles
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