Iron Hills

The other major mountain range that hosted long term dwarven habitation was the Iron Hills. This range was located north of the region the Easterlings resided in. This kingdom had its most extensive cultural, Kinship and trade links with the Lonely Mountain. But it also was used as a trade and communications link for various other dwarven realms throughout time. Unlike the Blue Mountains, we actually have a population number - 20,000. Of note to the main story is that Dain II, the king of the Iron Hills, sent 500 troops to aid Thorin during the Battle of 5 Armies. He took over the throne once Thorin was killed in battle.   The Iron Hills do have decent trade links with the outside world. The Lonely Mountain being the most obvious. But the Old Dwarf Road through Mirkwood intending to connect the Hills with Moria suggests trade with the elves too. The river originating in the Iron Hills also runs down to Rhun. Given the need for iron in a warlike society like the easterlings, trade links with them seems likely as well. As would Gondor.   I doubt the Iron Hills would trade too much with Rivendel though. For one thing, Moria is closer. Rohan does not strike me as being the biggest importer of metals of any type. Mordor, the Corsairs and Southrons all would be hostile and not be interested in importing major amounts of metal.   Now, like all Dwarven Kingdoms, they would seek to balance. Unlike the Blue Mountains, there are clear groups to balance against. Primarily Mordor, the Easterlings and Mirkwood. The Easterlings and Mirkwood are not that far away. Both have impressive military forces. Mordor is relatively further away, but it also has a huge number of troops and is hostile to all forces outside its control.   While Mirkwood did not directly attack the Iron Hills, it did attack the Lonely Mountain at the Battle of Five Armies. In this same battle, the Iron Hills sent troops and Dain became the King Under the Mountain. It is not likely that this will be forgotten. The Mirkwood elves might also think that the Iron Hills are allied with the Easterlings due to the trade links. It seems the elves do tend to take a very black and white outlook on moral questions.   If I was the leader of Mirkwood, I would be interested in eliminating the supply of iron to my enemies - which calls for a strike on the Iron Hills. This has historical precedent. Britian and France had plans to attack Scandanavia to keep the iron ore in the region out of the hands of the Nazis. They also planned to bomb the oilfields of Baku for similar reasons. Mirkwood is unlikely to be able to withstand a war of attrition against the Easterlings. So cutting off its supplies preemptively might sound tempting.   At the same time, the Easterlings would likely attack the Iron Hills for similar reasons. If they feel their supply of critical resources is under threat, they would want to secure it from potential enemies. Plus, the Iron Hills are actually closer to the Easterling homeland than Gondor. Then there is the problem of the Iron Hills being effectively on the way to the Lonely Mountain. We know that Sauron wanted the Easterlings to attack the Lonely Mountain and that the Iron Hills would provide reinforcements. A strike straight towards the Lonely Mountain would leave the Easterling flank and possibly rear exposed to the reinforcements they know would be coming.   To me, Mirkwood would be a regional and short term threat. The Easterlings would remain more in the distance until the start of the War of the Ring. But their attack would be more of a global threat. Given the motives for both sides, I suspect that both Mirkwood and the Easterlings would be high intensity. Mirkwood's threat would be receding as the elves migrate westard. But the "need" for the Easterlings to expand or die would make them an expanding threat. Mirkwood is a national while we can assume that the Easterlings would be a multinational threat. Both would be military, lethal and traditional.