Lesser Dwarven Peoples

## The Iron Hand

Black Peak is a mighty dwarven hold to the east of Kerabar, carved into the mountains on the southern edge of Ahzdun-Grum, a vast mountain range separating dwarven lands from The Wild North, and the western edge of The Frozen North. Ahzdun-Grum is notorious for its swathes of unusually fierce Mountain Goblins that remain an ever-present threat to dwarven lands. Black Peak Hold was built centuries ago to combat the goblins towards the end of a long war against the goblins.

Since then, Black Peak Hold has only grown, and has become an independant force despite initially being under the rulership of Kerabar. Instead of a king or a thane, Black Peak Hold is ruled by a powerful military organization called The Iron Hand; a very unconventional group that functions much like a clan, but isn't technically counted as such. The Iron Hand seeks to fight for the good of all dwarf-kind, primarily focusing their efforts on crushing goblin incursions within dwarven lands. While joining them fully requires one to either be clanless or to undergo the rite of Baraz-Dum, they welcome any and all of their kind regardless of clan as their allies in battle, and many young dwarves travel to Black Peak to temporarily join their ranks and experience real combat.

## Red Hill Clan

The Red Hills are one of the most important locations in both dwarven and elven history; not only was it the site of the final battle between the allied dwarves and elves against the Fomorian empire (and the bloodiest battle in known history), but it was also the last military effort made by both races before the divide between them appeared.

Its name stems from the legendary battle that was fought there; the land ran red with blood in such vast quantities that rivers and streams were formed. After the battle, multiple massive monuments were built in honor of the thousands that fell during the battle, upon which thousands of names are written, all the names of those that fell; even so however, many suspect at least a fourth of the names are not written due to sheer inability to identify every single fallen warrior upon the battlefield.

A dwarven hold that had been built in the region to serve as a base of operations was named Red Hill Hold, and ended up becoming a popular destination for those who wanted to travel to the region to pay their respects to the fallen. To this day, Red Hill Hold remains populous, if not grim, with hundreds of dwarves traveling there each year to honor the fallen. Much to the surprise of elves and dwarves alike, the local population honor the fallen elven warriors as much as the fallen dwarves, and the region is also visited by many elves from Elohil that too seek to pay their respects. Due to the common trend of both elves and dwarves visiting these monuments, the relationship between the Red Hill Dwarves and the elves of northwestern Elohil is far better than with most of their kind.

Like Black Peak, Red Hill Hold was originally under Kerabian control. Over centuries however, the Kerabians' grip on it slightly loosened due to a lack of interest, and they eventually stopped ruling over it entirely; though they still remained allies. Later, the Thane of the Red Hill Clan swore allegiance to Black Peak, and they remain under Iron Hand rulership to this day.