Wintertide Vale

The following contents of this page are fanon.

Wintertide Vale is one of the many valleys located within the mountain range known as the Alterac Mountains. Entirely landlocked, and surround by mountains, the only way to enter the vale is through aptly named Wintertide Pass, a dwarven tunnel that opens up into the Northeast region of the vale.

Geography
Much like the rest of Alterac, the region is snow-capped, with a year-long winter seasons. The vale is mostly a flat basin with a few ridges that begin at the northeast pass. To the northern center of the vale, lies a frozen lake known as Rimehelm Loch by the dwarves of the region. To the southwest, lies the Icebarrow Quarry that is rich in granite and silver.

History
The vale has been home to dwarves and human alike since the later days of the Arathorian Empire. The first recorded arrival of people came from dwarves, which hailed from Clan Bronzebeard during the rule of High King Modimus Anvilmar. Soon after, the split of the Arathorian Empire came and with it, humans traveling north and founding the nation of Alterac within the snowy peaks. There was little quarrel between the dwarves and humans as the two traded frequently and got along on good terms, mostly because the dwarves kept to themselves.

As time passed, civil war broke between the three major clans of Ironforge. Little to no fighting occurred in the vale, as business carried on as usual. Sooner or later, the dwarves of the region became more or less cut off from the political ties of their southern kin and eventually became a clan in their own right, accumulating wealth from their mining and ram-breeding. These dwarves were known as the Stormpike Clan.

The humans of Alterac began to settle in the vale with little rebuttal from the dwarves, as they brought in more wealth and helped the vale grow prosperous. They founded fortified town of Havenstead and the neighboring village. The particular family of dwarves that lived nearby became close to the peopling their techniques in blacksmithing in turn for being taught a newly found magic known as The Light. Many of the dwarves in the region learned this holy magic, becoming well-taught from the humans and thus passing down the knowledge to the future generations onward. The family later named themselves the Lightbeards.

By the time of the second war, both