Gray Dwarf

a.k.a Duergar or Dark Dwarf

Long ago, creatures of the subterranean realm conquered the strongholds of clan Duergar. After generations of enslavement and cruel experimentation at the hands mind flayers and illithids, the Duergar rose up against their masters and regained their freedom and are now call Gray Dwarves or Dark Dwarves. They emerged as a new subrace of dwarf with limited spell-like abilities & sometimes mental powers. The dark dwarf is an evil and bitter race, but retain the superior skill and workmanship of dwarvenkind. They have found themselves a niche in the creation of armor and weapons to trade with the warring races of the realms.

Personality

Gray Dwarves on the whole are evil, they are greedy, short-tempered, violent, and ungrateful, generally cruel and malevolent creatures, but some turn their backs on their fellows and seek a different sort of life. Gray dwarves have few good points aside from courage and determination. With most evil races this is as much a cultural affectation as a psychological trait. Gray Dwarves are also a sneaky, crafty people, unlike their honor-bound cousins and often excel at setting up ambushes or moving out of sight, and they are equally good at detecting hidden objects. Duergar nurse grudges for a lifetime and never stop counting the slights they have received. They believe that might makes right, and they have no pity for those who are too weak to defend their property or themselves. On the positive side, Duergar believe in minding their own business so long as other folks don’t have anything they want and working hard to excel at their chosen crafts. No obstacle daunts a Gray Dwarf who has settled on a goal. Duergar may not have much loyalty to anyone other than themselves, but they never leave a job half done.

Physical Description

Averaging 4 feet tall, Gray Dwarves weigh nearly as much as an adult Human. Male Duergar are typically bald, and females lack the capacity to grow facial hair. They are much thinner than other dwarves and have wide shoulder but come be wiry and lean, their limbs corded with tough muscle. The skin of the Gray Dwarf is light with tones to dark gray, with black or gray hair and their eyes are dull black.

Relations

Gray Dwarves are universally disliked by all other societies. Gray Dwarves alternate between working in concert with the Drow and being at odds with them, as the Drow believe they are superior even to the Duergar. But this is also because of the Duergar condescend and mock the Drow behind the Drows’ courtesies. They are ill-bred and hateful, and they have nothing to do with folk of other races unless they stand to gain something by it. Of the other races commonly encountered in the underdark, Duergar ﬁnd Deep Gnomes the least irritating, since the gnomes are also outstanding artisans who value hard work. Gray Dwarves have a deep-seated grudge and absolutely loathe against other Dwarves due to legends stating that the rest of dwarvenkind abandoned the Duergar to misery under mind ﬂayer & Illithid rule thousands of years ago.

Alignment

Gray dwarves are generally evil, placing little value on the life or the property of others. They are consumed by envy for those better off than they, and have no trace of pity for those not as fortunate. There are a fair number of Duergar that simply want nothing more than to be left alone, and these dwarves lean toward hardhearted neutrality. Few and rare is a good-aligned gray dwarves.

Gray Dwarf Lands

Gray Dwarves are scarttered across the Underdark Realm and have no true home above ground.

Religion

During their harsh captivity period in their history the Gray Dwarf, desperate and believing that Moradin one of the ancient forgotten gods had abandoned them, they turned to the worship of chaotic and evil deities, doing so cemented their ties to the fiendish races of the Underdark Realm and they even take on some of the questionable behavior. Gary Dwarves worship a wide variety of non-good and non-lawful deities.

Language

Gray Dwarves speak Dwarven among themselves and prefer to speak dwarven as much as possible, and they are literate in the languages of those races in which they trade with.

Adventures

Gray Dwarves have a long and violent history, and they respect power, but more and more Gray Dwarves are drawn to adventuring as a way to make names for themselves. Most Gray Dwarves travel outside the underdark to increase their own wealth and prestige, carving fame and honor the same way their ancestors would have. The natural abilities of the Gray Dwarf also breed adventurers who travel the world in the name of their clan. These sturdy warriors must be adept at both the social activities of the above world and the physical demands of traveling throughout the Underdark Realm. Most Duergar normally travel long distances above ground, as its faster and safer above the underdark.

Source Notes: Forgotten Realms, Races of Faerun, Expanded Psionics Handbook & Monster Manual v.3.5 D20