Gray Dwarf (Duergar)
Dwelling in great subterranean cities of the Underdark, the gray dwarves are deep-dwelling cousins of shield dwarves, known for their cruelty and bitterness. Like their surface-dwelling kin, gray dwarves are famed for their smithwork and craftsmanship, but unlike their brethren in the Realms Above, the duergar are grim and cheerless, living lives of endless toil. Like their gold and shield dwarf kin, the duergar have forged great empires, founding such realms as the Deepkingdom of Gracklstugh and the Steel Kingdom of Dunspeirrin in the endless darkness of the Realms Below.
Averaging 4 feet tall, gray dwarves weigh nearly as much as an adult human. While other dwarves tend to be round-bodied and stoutly muscled, duergar are wide of shoulder but wiry and lean, their limbs corded with tough muscle. The skin of a gray dwarf is a light or dark gray, and their eyes are dull black. Both genders are usually bald, with males having long gray beards and mustaches.
Gray dwarves are consumed with bitterness, feeling their race has forever been denied what was rightfully theirs. The duergar expect and live lives of never ending drudgery. While their work rivals that of shield and gold dwarves, they are relentless perfectionists who take no pleasure in their craftsmanship. Only cruel jokes and petty torments bring a moment's smile to most gray dwarves, and they delight in tormenting the weak and the helpless.
History
Gray dwarves trace their history back to the establishment of Barakuir, one of the eight kingdoms of Shanatar. The Iron Kingdom was dominated by the shield dwarves of Clan Duergar, who venerated Laduguer as their kingdom's patron. Although they swore allegiance to the Wyrmskull Throne, the rulers of Clan Duergar thought their king should have been selected to rule Shanatar at the conclusion of the Second Spider War. Consumed with bitterness, the dwarves of Barakuir largely turned away from the rest of the empire. The foolishness of this action was quickly proved when war broke out with the illithids of Oryndoll, a city that lies deep beneath the Shining Plains, around -8100 DR. Although Shanatar battled the illithids to a stalemate, the enemy's armies managed to cut off Barakuir from outside reinforcement. By the time the Mindstalker Wars had ended, Barakuir had fallen to the illithids, and most of its inhabitants had been enslaved as thralls.
After millennia of enslavement and countless illithid breeding experiments, the descendants of Clan Duergar were transformed into a new dwarven subrace: the gray dwarves. Roughly four thousand years before the start of Dalereckoning, the duergar rebelled against their illithid masters and eventually freed themselves of the mind flayer's dominion. These newly liberated gray dwarves carved out their own holdings in the northern Underdark beneath the Orsraun Mountains and in isolated caverns deep beneath the Great Glacier.
In the North, gray dwarves founded Gracklstugh, City of Blades, in -3717 DR. As the first city of their kind in the North, its holdings grew without rival throughout the upper and middle Underdark. The Deepkingdom reached its peak around -2600 DR, but in -1803 DR, the kingdom fell into a slow decline after smashing the quaggoth nation of Ursadunthar which lay deep beneath the Spine of the World. For centuries thereafter, the overextended duergar battled barbaric quaggoths (who were incited by the drow), as the Deepbear Battles raged until -1350 DR.
In the heart of Faerûn, gray dwarves founded Dunspeirrin, City of Sunken Spires, beneath the Orsraun Mountains. In time, the holdings of Underspires, as the city was also known, grew to encompass the Underdark of Turmish and the Dragon Coast, and the gray dwarves grew strong. In -1850 DR, under the leadership of their greatest queen, Duerra, the gray dwarves launched a series of attacks against the drow of Undraeth, the illithids of Oryndoll, and other Underdark races. Duerra's armies turned their simmering hatred against the remnants of Deep Shanatar sometime around -1800 DR. The gray dwarves overran Ultoksamrin and Holorarar and conquered the caverns of Alatorin for themselves. Laduguer rewarded Duerra with divine ascension. Afterward, Dunspeirrin fell into a centuries-long decline, from which it has only recently begun to emerge. the return of Deep Duerra during the Time of Troubles has sparked a new age of empire building, but the city's Army of Steel now finds itself locked in a three year old conflict with the gold dwarf Army of Gold over control of the caverns of ancient Shanatar.
Outlook
Gray dwarves view the world with bitterness, convinced family, clan, other dwarves, and the rest of the world have cheated them of their birthright and their due. They see life as nothing more than endless backbreaking labor, a torment from birth through death. The duergar evince little mercy for the helpless or the weak and enjoy tormenting those they can prey upon. From a young age, gray dwarves are quickly schooled in the harshness of the world, taught that their lot in life is nothing more than never ending labor accompanied by betrayal and then death.
Gray dwarves rarely adventure out of choice. those who are exiled or flee imminent banishment often gravitate to the life of an adventurer simply in hopes of surviving. Adventuresome duergar are usually focused on the acquisition of material wealth, caring little for the plight of others.
Language and Literacy
Like all dwarves, gray dwarves speak Dwarven and employ the Dethek rune alphabet. Gray dwarves also speak Undercommon, the trade tongue of the Realms Below. The primary gray dwarven dialect, Duergan, is an offshoot of the shield dwarven dialect, heavily influenced by drow and illithid words and language constructs found in Undercommon.
Common secondary languages reflect those spoken by traditional foes, including Draconic, Elven (the drow dialect), Giant, Goblin, and Orc. Those who have extensive dealings with creatures of elemental earth often learn Terran, while those who trade with inhabitants of the Realm Above often learn the trade tongue Common.
