A Closer Look Inside...

History
The Whitehorn area has never been under the total control of the Barony. On the maps it was marked as part of Northgate, but that was mostly wishful thinking on the part of the court cartographer in Gallock. Being surrounded on three sides by mountains, it was used as a buffer zone, between the Barony and The Giants and Ogres of the Mountains. Only Barbarian Tribes lives in the area for hundreds of years.

In 963 A.L., silver was discovered in the area. There was an immediate "silver rush", that brought many mining families to the area. The rush soon died out as most of the silver vein was quickly mined out. One man, Brenhart McDougall, discovered a rich area of weapons grade silver. He and his employees mine it to this day.

When the war with Servosa came to an end, someone had to be named to lead this small and unwanted shire. The only man for the job that lived in the area was Miklos Volstead. He was declared Acting Representative for the shire in 1009 A.L.

Geography
Whitehorn is surrounded on all sides but one by mountains. The side that does not have mountains is the border with the Shire of Taras, an unfriendly neighbor. So Whitehorn remains isolated. The region is dominated in the south by steep hills and rocky ground. The northern area of the Shire is a high plateau area cut by deep stream valleys. This area is known as the High Sonden, and it is totally controlled by the Barbarian Tribes.

Trees throughout the shire tend to be evergreen with few or no hardwoods. To make matters worse, there is only one serviceable road in the area, and it leads from the silver mine to the border with Taras.

Economy
Whitehorn has only one industry that does not involve the barbarians. That is the export of Weapons Grade Silver. Brenhart McDougall employees all the merchants and the miners, because he owns the mine.

There is some trade in furs, beads, etc. from the barbarian tribes in the area, however it is not enough to support any more population in the area.

Population
The Barbarian tribes make up the bulk of the population. There is a group of humans and Dwarves that are part of the Barony (paying the taxes and such). They are mostly miners for the silver mine and live in the main villages. Half ogres also appear to be well represented here, for obvious reasons.

There is a smattering of almost every race here and there in the shire, with the noticeable exception of the Elves. There are almost no Elves (of any kind, including dark), and one gets the feeling that they are not welcome here.

Continuing Trends
The barbarian tribal council seeks to hold on to its lands and limit the interference of the barony. However, each passing year they find there say in the area a little less. Long standing conflict between the Miners and the Barbarian tribes plague the area, but it has never erupted into open fighting. Whitehorn looks as though it will continue to be an isolated mining area in the future.

The Volstead Family (ruling family)
When asked about the history of the Volstead family most of the residents of the region simply say, "oh...they've been around."

Apparently, they are an old family of little note. In this current generation, Miklos Volstead has made himself a reputation as a fighting hero.

When it came time to name a representative for the area, only two names came up Miklos Volstead and Brenhart McDougall. The Barony was about to name McDougall as the representative, because he is the Shire's most influential citizen. But a representative of the Barbarian tribes approached Silar Silak and stated that they would fight if that came to pass. Due to long standing problems with between McDougall's miners and the Tribes. So Miklos Volstead appeared to be the only man with enough respect from all the tribes and the families in the area to take the position.