What is the status of the Iron Hills after Dain relocates?

[Looping]

Before starting this post, I should preface it by stating that I have been away from my C7 sourcebooks and materials for quite some time now (yeah, i know, i know... Booh, shame on me!). However, I am still working on my campaign so I figured I may be able to pick your brains a bit. I have done a quick search on the forums but could not find what I wanted.


My question is the following:
What happened in the Iron Hills after Dain relocated to Erebor following the death of Smaug and battle of the five armies?
Tolkiengateway.net contains a short, relevant segment:

In 2941 Lord Dáin Ironfoot led his warriors in the Battle of Five Armies near Erebor. The battle won but Thorin slain and Dáin became the new King under the Mountain and King of the Longbeards as Dáin II.[8][10] He relocated to Erebor with many of his people, and re-established it as Durin's folk's greatest and strongest dwelling in the north.

The Iron Hills pass out of history after this relocation, but probably were not wholly deserted.[5]

[5] ↑ 5.0 5.1 Robert Foster, The Complete Guide to Middle-earth, p. 212

(http://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Iron_Hills, accessed 12/10/2014)

Now, I am no Tolkien buff, and there may be other relevant content out there. if so, do you know where I should look?
If there isn't anything cannon, has C7 addressed the following?
With Dain and the Dwarf court relocating, what is the relative importance of the Iron Hills?
Of course I have a few ideas of interesting things to see and do in the Iron Hills, but has C7 provided us with hooks for adventures and such?
Is there good fan content you can suggest?

Thanks in advance.

Looping

[shipwreck]

I don't have any sources to provide you with, but we can use Ered Luin as a point of comparison. Even after Thorin and Co. left their settlement there, and even after the reestablishment of Erebor, the halls of the Blue Mountains were still in use mostly for its mines and quarries. There are multiple references to dwarves who traveled back and forth between the Lonely Mountain and the Blue Mountains (including characters in some of C7's stuff).

It's safe to assume that, although many dwarves returned to Erebor, quite a few stayed behind in the Iron Hills.

[ThrorII]

I would agree that although Dain relocated to Erebor, and a sizable number of his folk may have followed him, the halls of the Iron Hills would still be occupied.

It is my recollection, that the kingdom of the Longbeards at one point stretched from Khazad-dum to Erebor, to the Grey Mountains, to the Iron Hills. When Khazad-dum fell, the other three points remained and Erebor then became the focal of the kingdom (TA 1999). That focus moved to the Grey Mts. in the 2200's, then back to Erebor in the 2500's). After the fall of Erebor, the Dwarf kingdom did not relocate to the Iron Hills, rather it went in to dispora.

This can be inferred to mean that the Iron Hills was always a smaller, or poorer (or both) outpost (compared to KZD or Erebor, or even the old Grey Mtns. holds). Nonetheless, the Iron Hills were valuable, and were manned (dwarved?) for something like 3000 years (remember, the Old Forest Road and the Old Ford [once a dwarf bridge] were built to get Khazad-dum Longbeards to their holdings in Erebor and the Iron Hills).

Perhaps the Iron Hills actually does mine primarily iron, and the surrounding lands/humans could not support a larger population of dwarves. Dwarves and Men since the 2nd Age have always had a symbiotic relationship of wealth for food.

[Majestic]

Though it's probably the only book of the Decipher game I don't own, my buddy got the Dwarves boxed set and it had quite a bit of useful information. Of course that's more in the RPG non-canon realm, but it could be a big help in fleshing out any Dwarven settlements.

[Tolwen]

I would agree that although Dain relocated to Erebor, and a sizable number of his folk may have followed him, the halls of the Iron Hills would still be occupied.
...
This can be inferred to mean that the Iron Hills was always a smaller, or poorer (or both) outpost (compared to KZD or Erebor, or even the old Grey Mtns. holds).

I agree that this is the most reasonable option. The Iron Hills retain their dwarvish settlement, but since the re-establishment of Erebor, it is severly deminished in size and importance.

It is my recollection, that the kingdom of the Longbeards at one point stretched from Khazad-dum to Erebor, to the Grey Mountains, to the Iron Hills. When Khazad-dum fell, the other three points remained and Erebor then became the focal of the kingdom (TA 1999). That focus moved to the Grey Mts. in the 2200's, then back to Erebor in the 2500's). After the fall of Erebor, the Dwarf kingdom did not relocate to the Iron Hills, rather it went in to dispora.

That's in the HoMe 12 (the extent of the territory claimed by the Longbeards). An interesting detail (mentioned in the Appendices in the LotR) is that the Halls at Erebor were only established in TA 1999 when Thrain I. went there. From the wording it might be suggested that before this time Erebor might be claimed by the Longbeards as their territory, but that it was not actually settled and used more like a mining facility (i.e. without great importance).

Most of these that escaped made their way into the North, and Thráin I, Náin's son, came to Erebor, the Lonely Mountain, near the eastern eaves of Mirkwood, and there he began new works, and became King under the Mountain. In Erebor he found the great jewel, the Arkenstone, Heart of the Mountain. LotR.Appendix A
...
1999 Thráin I comes to Erebor and founds a dwarf-kingdom 'under the Mountain'. LotR.Appendix B

Cheers
Tolwen

[BobusX]

For whatever reason, I have always found the Dwarven history to be very interesting. The idea of their different holds being lost, then recovered, and their slow decline, with brief periods of ascendancy, intrigues me. Especially with the Grey mountains, and the Drakes encountered their and the lost holds. I definitely would like to see more adventures focused around those lost holds, and the Dwarven fight to reclaim lost territory.