"I don't know what made you think coming here was a good idea, but I'll make this next part simple for you: throw down your weapons and submit to your new masters, or be slaughtered. And remember, there are fast ways to kill and there are slow ways to kill. If you choose to fight, it'll be slow for the lot of ya'!"
-Warlord of Fort Haegarin, Vondrick af Haegarin
Duergar Culture
Raiders of the World Below
In their pursuit of wealth below Adra's surface, the dwarves dug greedily and dug deep. As they did so, they would search out natural caverns far underneath, or where waters flowed naturally. They would use these features, and expand upon them, digging out in all directions, digging shafts, even at times using magic to speed the process up, or ingenious mining machines. Over time, and with more mining constantly occurring, these deepest mines eventually had structural issues; the weight upon them revealed the strongest structures possible, as boxy mine-shafts gave way to circular chambers, sometimes spanning miles. This became known as the Underdark, the World Below, and in the beginning, it was a world controlled almost entirely by the dwarves. However, it was too vast and too maze-like a place for this to last for long. Most dwarves stayed in their higher mountain fortresses, only coming into the Underdark to move about or to mine, but some dwarves migrated there to form permanent settlements, building camps, settlements, and eventually fortresses within which to live. At first, and for a time, these dwarves retained their normalcy, and their dwarven culture. However, over time something changed in them. It is debated endlessly what that is; never seeing the daylight, differences in the air and water, or foul corruption from sources of evil then unknown. Whatever it was, the dwarves of the Underdark changed forever. They grew tired of the crafts and labor that defined the dwarves for thousands of years. They became aggressive, almost feral, and not just in matters of war, but in matters of everything. And yet, their hunger for wealth did not decrease, and if anything, with a decrease in their love of other pursuits, the Duergar, or in dwarvish, Under-Dwarves, began to look to other means to gain wealth. Under the nose of their surface masters, the Duergar took secret pathways which they dug out to the surface, and there, usually under the cover of night, would begin raiding small towns and settlements, taking coin, goods, food, and prisoners captive. They would enslave those they caught, and either put them to work in their own settlements, or otherwise traded them with those who had the coin to pay. In particular, the Duergar favored, at least in their early years, the capturing of elves; these long-lived creatures would work for hundreds of years, and once caught, fetched enormous prices to those who payed for Duergar slaves. As they remained endlessly in the blackness of the Underdark, their sight enhanced, and their skin turned sallow and grey, unable to take more than a little natural light without extreme discomfort. Eventually, the Underkingdoms found out about just how far their brethren had fallen. They cast them out, banishing all Duergar forever to the Underdark. They would lead some campaigns into the Underdark to try to round up the Duergar, but to no avail; the Duergar built mighty fortresses which they would not be taken out of easily, and the dwarves, in their own caution, did not wish to lose too many men and resources taking these fortifications. So, the Duergar remained, and overtime, formed a rival with an accidental creation of theirs, the Drow. They would come to compete directly with their former slaves for resources in the deep, and as the Drow became known for their staggering cities in the Underdark, with traderoutes spiraling out in all directions, the Duergar became known for raiding these Drow trade routes. There were many creatures, monsters, and races which prayed on these routes, but none were more organized or skillful at it than the Duergar, who could slip up to well-guarded caravans completely unseen, and while their guard was down, seed chaos and discord in their ranks, running off with anything they could carry. More or less today, this dynamic still holds true. The Duergar are not a united people, instead being even more divided than the drow, usually with only a single or at most a few clans inhabiting a fortress, and these clans constantly compete with each other for territory and gold, often clashing violently.
The Duergar have lost most of the characteristics of their dwarven ancestors. While the dwarves were always comfortable underground, they also rarely stayed underground for more than a month or so without seeing the surface, and most dwarves loved pastimes in the outdoors, like hunting, fishing, hiking, or climbing. Duergar however have a detestation for the sun, the sky, and even the stars. More than just being unpleasant for them, in particular the burning and unforgiving sun, it represents a constant reminder of a world they can never control; not just the surface of Adra, but the many planes beyond. The Duergar attempt with each day of their existence to dominate and enslave all the races of the Underdark, but to be reminded that even dominating all of the Underdark would not make them masters of the universe is something they actively try to forget. The Duergar have no care for labor, construction, or the crafts of artisans, and as such, steal and raid for almost everything they use, everything from food to coin to mundane tools. They will, when it is necessary, forge their own weapons and armor, but when they can avoid it they do, stealing weapons and armor from dwarves or other Duergar clans when possible. While the first Duergar retained a keen mind for masonry and construction, this has long since gone in this people. As such, there is simply a finite amount of Duergar strongholds in the Underdark, as few are keen to build new ones. When they can manage, the Duergar will enslave people to build fortresses for them, but usually this goes poorly, and often the slaves die before the project is completed, leaving many unfinished constructions throughout the territories of the Duergar. This constriction on the lands they may securely inhabit puts severe pressure on the Duergar clans, and due to their devious nature, rather than work together to share this finite resource, they fight violently to possess as much of it as possible. A united Duergar empire would be terrifying for the people of the Underdark and the Surface alike, but it will likely never be possible. Furthermore, when their rivals the Drow, or else Mind Flayers or Aboleth or any number of enemies of their own which inhabit the world below strike out against them, they make it a priority to destroy, rend, and raze the old Duergar forts, leaving the supply of forts to dwindle even further. The Duergar once had a sustainable and highly successful slave empire, but since then the Drow's slave trade has overshadowed their own. Unable usually to grab up prized Drow and Elven slaves, the Duergar in the current age often resort to capturing the weak, the stupid, and the defenseless. Goblins, Troglodytes, and Humans will toil in unending misery, and tend to die long before their natural life-spans. This has forced the Duergar to keep a constant and ready supply of fresh blood flowing to their forts to keep their vital industries going. That along with their need to steal most of what they need has driven them to become pirates of the land, constantly waging a war on any and all people and creatures both in the Underdark and on the surface. They can be reasoned with, but only if you can offer them more than what they could gain from killing you; even then, their greed often clouds their minds, leading them to do what is quick and violent, rather than taking the slow and prudential path. While the Duergar still live in clans, as their ancestors did, the role of the clan is completely different in Duergar society. Whereas the dwarven clan is the center of all life, as members do their best to do pride by their family, and often form vast networks of friendships and relationships with their clan-members, Duergar clans can hardly be called families at all. Rather, they are dominance hierarchies, with the highest members of the clans reserving all luxuries and rights, and the lowest members of the clan serving as grunts in their armies. Duergar will kill clan-mates without hesitation to get what they want, or to rise higher in the clan, and so even in the most intimate of Duergar relationships, treachery, violence, and cruelty are common.
The Duergar people are most highly concentrated in their Underdark fortresses, and within some other Underdark settlements. They are very rarely found elsewhere in the world, and when they are, they are often distrusted or hated. The races of the Duergar are most predominately Duergar Dwarves. The cases of non-duergar becoming members of the Duergar culture are extremely rare. The most popular gods among the Duergar are Goretawn, The Old Ones, Erethelon, Sorthal, Marzedon, and Mirkatakatar, though in general the religious zeal of Duergar is almost always half-hearted and as a means to grasp power. The dead god of the dwarves, Oerack, is forsaken and blasphemed against by the Duergar. Duergar tend to be strong-willed, formidable, and cunning. They also tend to be violent, sadistic, and domineering. The Duergar speak almost exclusively Undercommon in their day to day lives, though the proud and powerful among the Duergar practice speaking old Dwarvish as a way of garnering prestige.
If you choose the Duergar Culture, you gain the following:
~A +1 to your Strength score~
~Either a -1 to your Constitution score or a -1 to your Intelligence score~
~As a known language, either Undercommon or Dwarvish~
~A Sub-Discipline in every knowledge skill on checks relating to Duergar Culture~