Backdoor

Backdoor is a small village down in the valley about 10 miles north of Ironhold. It was first mentioned in Dwarven archives in -7311 but even then it may be that that was just the first recording of that particular name for the settlement, obviously a joking reference by the Dwarves. The name seems to have stuck though and if there was an older name it is forgotten. Some scholars say that there is no evidence that the current village is on the same site as it was originally and it is true that none of the buildings pre-date the Great Darkness. It is clear, however, that a village has existed somewhere in the valley for thousands of years and that it owes its survival to the fact that it is a convenient site for the inhabitants of the Lodalf tundra to trade with Ironhold.

In current times the village is still recovering from the period of Orcish domination under the rule of the Dragon in Ironhold. Most would agree that this period of survival under authoritarian rule caused a certain increase in the largely non-human villager's skills of deception. It is certainly true also that although Orcs fleeing Ironhold tried to loot the village on their way North the villagers actually emerged from that episode mysteriously somewhat wealthier.

Backdoor's biggest ethnic group are Hobgoblins and their clan chief tried to impose his rule by force in the power vaccuum left by the retreat of the Orcs. The non-hobgoblin villagers, however, co-opted the dwarves into taking their side and the village now has an elected mayor, Maxandria, a tiefling who owns the Broken Crown Inn and the village's leading trading store.