DUERGAR DUERGARS

History:
In modern times, the dwarves are led by the Twelve Great Clans, who in turn
pay homage to a dwarf-king. But it was not always so. Once, the Great Clans
numbered thirteen, and the thirteenth clan, Clan Ranidon, was the wealthiest
of them all. The story of Clan Ranidon and its downfall is one of history's
more tragic tales.
 
Although dwarves are generally an honorable, straightforward, and fiercely
loyal lot, they have their flaws as well. Greatest amongst these flaws is
that of greed; dwarves are incredibly avaricious and lust for precious gems
and gold like no other race in the world. But even amongst the dwarves, Clan
Ranidon was known as an exceptionally avaricious lot. Tireless in their work,
they delved deeper and farther into the earth than any other clan ever had in
their pursuit of new mines and new sources of wealth. Many historians argue
that much of the tunnels Underdark itself was dug out over the course of
countless generations by Clan Ranidon in the course of their mining efforts.
But in time, even the wealth of the Underdark was depleted by them, and they
turned their sights to the deepest layer of the world, which had never before
been penetrated: The Elder Earth itself.
 
Alarmed when he discovered this, then dwarf-king Graven Stonebeard warned
repeatedly not to delve into the Elder Earth. He reminded them of the Elder
Codex, laid down by the legendary creators and forefathers of the dwarven
race. The Codex specifically forbade dwarves from burrowing into the Elder
Earth. "All the mountains and the caverns of this world are thine," the Codex
promised, "But delve ye not into the world's heart, the Elder Earth, lest the
ancient doom consume thee." But Clan Ranidon, confident and arrogant in their
great wealth, ignored both the dwarf-king and the Codex. They moved their
entire clan into a great city into the Underdark, which they named Gal
Ranidon, meaning Ranidon's Home, in preparation for the greatest excavation
in all of history. They even gave themselves a new name: Duergar, meaning
'Deep Dwarves'.
 
Clan Ranidon burrowed into the Elder Earth, and at first, they found priceless
gemstones beyond count. Diamonds the size of a dwarven fist, and rubies which
gave off a natural, crimson glow in the dark. Elated, they burrowed still
further, and there they found their doom. They disturbed a hive of creatures
which had never been seen in the world before; strange, bulbous creatures with
octopus-like heads who could pluck the very thoughts out of their minds.
Terrified by their discovery, Clan Ranidon launched an all out assault and
exterminated the entire hive. Despite taking heavy casualties from the
creatures' psionic abilities, they heaved a sigh of relief when the battle
ended. But unbeknownst to them, the creatures they destroyed had sent a
message to the rest of their ilk.
 
Soon afterwards, their punishment came. These new octopus-headed creatures
massed an army and launched a massive retaliatory counter-attack for vengeance
on behalf of their murdered kin. Mighty Clan Ranidon was overwhelmed in the
twinkling of an eye by these hideous creatures, which they named 'mind-
flayers', and hurriedly abandoned Gal Ranidon, trying to flee to the surface,
only to find that all of their tunnels had been collapsed. Dwarf-king Graven
Stonebeard, in accordance with the Elder Codex, had sealed them in for their
defiance of the Codex, grieving as he did so. With no place to flee, Clan
Ranidon was doomed. Three quarters of their clan were exterminated, and the
remaining quarter was psionically enslaved by these mind-flayers.
The mind-flayers took their new slaves and returned to the Elder Earth. For
many generations, the remnants of Clan Ranidon remained in servitude to these
mind-flayers, who called themselves the illithid. The illithid conducted
countless horrific experiments upon the duergar, twisting their mind and
toying with the very molecules of their body. It is unlikely that any other
race save the dwarves would have survived the experiments, but dwarves are a
tough and resilient folk, hardy and resistant. Even so, the enslaved duergar
were badly weakened and debilitated as a race from their ongoing torment.
 
It is likely that the duergar would be enslaved to this very day were it not
for an unknown upheaval in the Elder Earth. For reasons which only the
illithid know, one day all of their illithid captors simply disappeared, and
the mental prisons which they had built disappeared with them.
 
See also: DUERGAR2