Grey Dwarves
The Grey Dwarves -or Duergar, as they are known in their native tongue- are a short stocky folk that are often mistaken for their cousins, the more surface-dwelling Arragoth. Having for millennia digged deeper than their cousins, the grey dwarves are extremely skilled miners, prospectors and craftsman who, due to a lack of natural light, keep to a more utilitarian design compared to the great crafts of Belgrath.
It is truly rare to see a Grey Dwarf roam about on the surface of Arethil and they are somewhat isolationist in their tendencies, choosing not to initiate relations with other species -even their cousins- if it can be helped. Due to this most clans look alike and the Duergar are indeed often mistaken of being just a single -albeit large- clan of Arragoth.
Appearance
The Duergar range between 4’11 and 5’4 in height. They’re often stocky and a thin grey dwarf is almost as rare as seeing one on the surface. Both their skins and their beards have a grey-ish appearance regardless of their age
Habitat
The Grey Dwarves of Arethil live in the underrealm and are predominantly focused in and around their three great cities; Dhunbor, Arradum and Duergod. It is not uncommon, however, to find them sneaking into other dwarven cities to steal and sabotage.
Traits
Due to their lifetime under the surface they have excellent dark vision (in fact, their eyes are so adjusted to the dark that bright light, particularly that of the sun, can cause headaches).
The Duergar have their own way of dealing with grudges and over the millennia have earned a reputation of being sly, sneaky and downright mean. In fact, whenever something in the lower regions of the Arragoth cities burns, falls apart or is stolen, it’s quite common to blame it on the Duergar.
The Duergar have their own way of dealing with grudges and over the millennia have earned a reputation of being sly, sneaky and downright mean. In fact, whenever something in the lower regions of the Arragoth cities burns, falls apart or is stolen, it’s quite common to blame it on the Duergar.
Lore
“You took what from the forge!? -sigh- Just take it to the Duergar in the abandoned lower section. Yes, I know he’s scary and you better be careful, but he’s the only one buying stolen goods in Belgrath nowadays.” - Sibbi Stronghand to his klepto sister.
“Those Duergar are sly. About fifty years ago we found this Emril deposit and overnight the wine was poisoned, shipments were lost and hot lava was diverted to one of the access tunnels. We had to give up. Two weeks ago I revisited the site in the hopes of trying again, but all emril was gone. Carved into walls was a crude runic ‘thank you’ from the Duergar. That’s the eighth mine they stole from us.” - Helseth Adlam, Drow Miner
“We executed a dwarf with an oddly grey skin yesterday. He had murdered an entire human family and the only reason he gave was some fable about their ancestor killing his father. Said his name was Mîm and this was some six centuries ago!” - Hans Gerards, Executioner of Hampstead.
“Those Duergar are sly. About fifty years ago we found this Emril deposit and overnight the wine was poisoned, shipments were lost and hot lava was diverted to one of the access tunnels. We had to give up. Two weeks ago I revisited the site in the hopes of trying again, but all emril was gone. Carved into walls was a crude runic ‘thank you’ from the Duergar. That’s the eighth mine they stole from us.” - Helseth Adlam, Drow Miner
“We executed a dwarf with an oddly grey skin yesterday. He had murdered an entire human family and the only reason he gave was some fable about their ancestor killing his father. Said his name was Mîm and this was some six centuries ago!” - Hans Gerards, Executioner of Hampstead.
History
Although you’d have to consult the personal book of grudges of the King of Dhunbor to prove or disprove this; the Duergar are said to find their origin as an exiled group of Arragoth clans some millennia ago. Before Belgrath was the great dwarven city to house millions there were clans that kept digging and laying claim to the Spine’s natural resources regardless of the King’s will. Even back then their skin was turning grey on account of never venturing outside, although some records reflect that their skin had always been greyish to begin with, and the ruling clans of Arragoth used it as a xenophobic excuse to seize their resources and banish them from the great dwarven capital.
These clans seemingly disappeared from the face of Arethil and only show up again in a human’s travel journal some six-hundred years ago when a wandering Duergar, driven mad by all the impressions of surface life, tried to attack the human’s party. They dispatched him quickly and looted him only to find a runed armring that had the word “Mîm” etched into it.
Despite the surface not having heard of these dwarves until recently, the banished clans hadn’t wasted any time since their banishment. Industrious as they are they made the underrealm their home and migrated to the north-northwest to another finger of the spine where they founded three cities: Dhunbor, Duergod and Arradum.
These three cities would grow to be self-sufficient in their own right and were each ruled over by a King chosen from the dominant clan. In all of their existence there has only been one war between the cities of the Duergar: The War of Light. Feeling comfortable in the darkness deep in the underrealm, most grey dwarves refused to have their cities reach the surface and therefore the light of the sun. Their books of grudges still bore descriptions of dragons and other threats that reaching the surface would expose them to, but the King of Dhunbor seemed set to reach the surface and replace Belgrath as the wonder and capital of all dwarven species. The Kings of Duergod and Arradum lay siege to Dhunbor to prevent this, but during the fourth assault of the second year the King of Duergod was slain and his people, disheartened by the long siege and griefing their ancient King, returned to their own city. The army of Arradum alone was not strong enough to continue and thus the war ended and Dhunbor was free to pursue its ambition.
Their foundations lay deep in the earth and it took three dwarven lifespans of expansion for Dhunbor to finally reach the surface and mark their reintroduction to the surface dwellers of Arethil.
These clans seemingly disappeared from the face of Arethil and only show up again in a human’s travel journal some six-hundred years ago when a wandering Duergar, driven mad by all the impressions of surface life, tried to attack the human’s party. They dispatched him quickly and looted him only to find a runed armring that had the word “Mîm” etched into it.
Despite the surface not having heard of these dwarves until recently, the banished clans hadn’t wasted any time since their banishment. Industrious as they are they made the underrealm their home and migrated to the north-northwest to another finger of the spine where they founded three cities: Dhunbor, Duergod and Arradum.
These three cities would grow to be self-sufficient in their own right and were each ruled over by a King chosen from the dominant clan. In all of their existence there has only been one war between the cities of the Duergar: The War of Light. Feeling comfortable in the darkness deep in the underrealm, most grey dwarves refused to have their cities reach the surface and therefore the light of the sun. Their books of grudges still bore descriptions of dragons and other threats that reaching the surface would expose them to, but the King of Dhunbor seemed set to reach the surface and replace Belgrath as the wonder and capital of all dwarven species. The Kings of Duergod and Arradum lay siege to Dhunbor to prevent this, but during the fourth assault of the second year the King of Duergod was slain and his people, disheartened by the long siege and griefing their ancient King, returned to their own city. The army of Arradum alone was not strong enough to continue and thus the war ended and Dhunbor was free to pursue its ambition.
Their foundations lay deep in the earth and it took three dwarven lifespans of expansion for Dhunbor to finally reach the surface and mark their reintroduction to the surface dwellers of Arethil.
References
A Modest Proposal (Mentioned)