Clan Whitestone

 Kruk'Wyr'Graz or Whitevein Halls is a dwarf hold-fast in the white granite peaks of the Vasn Highlands, specifically Mount Vast, a gargantuan mountain which dwarfs all others in the range.

The hold-fast was settled during the peak time of the Ironfoe Empire, four thousand years before it's collapse, by the Whitestone Clan dwarfs. Of all the Gravel-Tracking clans of the Ironfoe Empire, Clan Whitestone was the most revered and acted as the empire's most trusted gravel-trackers.

The employ of the Root of the Mountain and many powerful dwarf lords built the clan's riches to the point that they sought to rise above their lesser rank and with the knowledge of the land beyond any other set out to found their own hold-fast. Twenty clans followed the Whitestones and founded their hall amidst the shadow of Mount Vast.

The going was not easy as the throng of dwarfs came into contact with a powerful shrilkul host which had ruled the Vasn Highlands for several hundred years against incursions of urks, wrot and trolls.

But these shrilkul had never encountered a dwarf, nor did they know that the mountain and forest and deep places of the earth were the dominion of the Sons of Denholm and Daughters of Ysura. After a decade of fierce fighting and culminating in three decisive engagements, the Whitestones broke the back of the hated shrilkul and scattered them down to the lowlands and beyond in the following years.

Kruk'Wyr'Graz was established during the initial conflict at a point in the mountains where the gravel-trackers could range out in every direction with relative ease, and where the dwarf throng could fortify the best entrances into the highlands. Several fortified mines sprung up, all interconnected with the Whitevein Halls in the center. The Whitestone's rose to become the royal clan with unanamous support of all those clans who had come with them.

Copper, tin, coal, and iron is an abundant supply beneath the hold-fast with other smaller mines striking small seams of silver and gold. Gold and silver fell short of what the Whitestones harvested from the surface, however. Ironwood and darkwood held sway in the middle reaches of the Highlands with other hard woods also making an appearance. In a short time, Kruk'Wyr'Graz became the hold-fast that supplied the empire with half of its precious wood supplies, and after the fall of the Ironfoe when the Root of the Mountain had no heir, the Whitestone's where far enough away from their ancestral homeland that they were able to separate themselves from the vicious war of clans that ensued.

To this day, the Whitevien Halls operates as one of the most major suppliers of Ironwood, Darkwood and other precious hardwoods, teaches new generations how to tend their vast supply of trees, and trains the best gravel-trackers in the dwarven world.