Griefnir and House Ironclaw

North of the Valley,
deep in the eastern mountains of the Dwarflands, sits a human settlement known
as Griefnir.  
Griefnir began life over
1500 years ago as a small hunting outpost. 
In past times, humans who would not or could not live in the human
civilizations fled to the dwarflands, seeking a bastion of whatever brand of
freedom they believed in.  It was these first refugees from civilization
that setup the initial hunting outpost, and these that over time swelled it's
numbers from an outpost to a town proper.  
It was during
Griefnir's early days that one particular family established trade relations
with Lundarian merchants.  Lundar was
(and is) hungry for items not found in it’s lands –mithril, and the pelts of exotic
animals.  Both plentiful in the
dwarflands.  Under these relations
Griefnir flourished, and the family became the defacto leaders of the new town.
 They took on the name Ironclaw, a dwarvish name to fit in better with
their dwarven neighbours.  They initially
chose “Blood and Iron” as their house words. 
However this was eventually deemed too off-putting to noble houses they
were trying to ally with, and they technically didn't mine iron.  After several generations the words were
changed to "Fur and Mithril", though to this day members of house
of Ironclaw are known to cry "Blood and Iron!" in the midst of battle.
   The Ironclaws cemented
their status as a noble house by intermarrying with noble families from the
valley and its surrounds, including Lycea.  In fact, the Lycean noble
family they intermarried with had itself been married into by a member of the
royal family several generations earlier. 
This meant technically the family still carried the royal blood, which
was then passed onto the Ironclaws.  At the time this was not a big deal,
but after the fall of Lycea the Ironclaws liked to talk up the relation.
 Having the blood of an extinct royal line running through your veins is
the kind of bloody, morbid story the people of Griefnir would go in for.  
These days the mining
of mithril and the hunting of animals remain the major industries of Griefnir,
and managing the trade of mithril and pelts to Lundar has remained one of the
chief responsibilities of house Ironclaw. 
Hunting and mining are also of cultural importance – joining in a boar
hunt is considered a rite of passage for all Griefnir youth, and marks the
transition from childhood to adulthood.  
True to it’s origins,
Griefnir offers a lot of freedoms, including freedom of religion, freedom of
trade, and certain unusual marriage freedoms (the current blacksmith famously
married a woodpecker.  They do not live
together).