DWARF

RACIAL SUMMARY:

As enduring as the earth from which they were shaped, the Stout Folk once ruled vast empires that sprawled on and beneath the surface of Faerûn. After centuries of decline, most dwarven kingdoms are gone, but the fruits of their labors survive, unbowed by the passage of time. In recent years, the Thunder Blessing has sparked a dwarven renaissance that might one day restore the Stout Folk to their former glory.

RACIAL HISTORY
Most nondwarven scholars believe that the Stout Folk are an interloper race, not native to Abeir-Toril, who arrived so long ago that they have become one with the earth and stone of Faerûn. However, the collective dwarven racial memory holds that their ancestors sprang fully formed from the heart of the world itself, fashioned of iron and mithral in the Soulforge, shaped by the All-Father’s hammer, and then given life by the breath of Moradin. The oldest myths claim that the first dwarves fought their way up from the world’s core to the mountains above, overcoming many dangers along the way through strength, skill, and force of arms.

The first dwarven settlements appeared in the great mountain range known as the Yehimal, which lies at the juncture of the three great continents of Faerûn, Kara-Tur, and Zakhara. From there, the earliest dwarves migrated into all three lands. Those who came to Faerûn settled beneath modern-day Semphar before spreading westward, founding innumerable settlements along the way. One isolated branch of this great migration settled amid the isolated peaks of the Novularond, and eventually became known as the arctic dwarves.

The first great kingdom of the dwarves of Faerûn was centered in the great cavern of Bhaerynden deep beneath the Shaar. The first great schism of the dwarves of Bhaerynden began more than twelve thousand years ago when Taark Shanat the Crusader led a great westward migration. These emigrants eventually became known as shield dwarves and established the great empire of Shanatar beneath the lands of Amn, Tethyr, Calimshan, and the Lake of Steam. From their number, Dumathoin created the urdunnir, who moved into the depths and became creatures of legend. Meanwhile, Bhaerynden fell to the drow after the elven Crown Wars and the descent of the dark elves, and the dwarves of southern Faerûn were driven into exile.

In the millennia that followed, new divisions appeared among the Stout Folk. The mind flayers of Oryndoll, deep beneath the Shining Plains, enslaved the shield dwarves of Clan Duergar. Their descendants became known as gray dwarves after throwing off the shackles of their illithid masters and spreading throughout the Underdark. Some dwarves who fled Bhaerynden’s collapse reached the Jungles of Chult, where they abandoned their subterranean homes. Members of this isolated branch eventually became known as wild dwarves. After the first drow kingdom of Telantiwar tore itself apart in civil war, the great cavern of Bhaerynden collapsed to form the Great Rift. Those dwarves who resettled the caverns of the Deep Realm surrounding the Great Rift eventually became known as gold dwarves. As Shanatar declined, the shield dwarves migrated north to settle the great kingdoms of the North and
eventually migrated eastward along the shores of the Moonsea and into the mountains of northcentral Faerûn.

Today, dwarves are found all across Faerûn, although the greatest concentrations are found in the North, the Cold Lands, the Great Rift, and the nderdark. Although the Stout Folk are easily segregated into distinct subraces with distinct racial traits, such distinctions by no means reflect the entirety of dwarven diversity. Numerous cultural, historical, political, and social divisions remain even within the ranks of a specific dwarven subrace.

This chapter details six dwarven subraces dwelling above and below the surface of Faerûn, whose cultural, linguistic, physical, and religious traits predominate in large regions of the land.

Shield dwarves are known for their skill in warfare, their ability to withstand physical and magical punishment, their hard work, and their capacity for drinking ale. Dwarves are slow to jest and suspicious of strangers, but they are generous to those who earn their trust. They stand just 4 to 4 1/2 feet tall, but are broad and compactly built, almost as wide as they are tall. Dwarven skin varies from deep tan to light brown, and their hair is black, gray, or brown. Dwarven men value their beards highly.

The dwarven kingdoms of long ago became locked in eternal wars with goblin-kind and other dwellers in the Underdark. One by one, the dwarven empires of the north failed, leaving only scattered survivors in the mountains or unconquered sections of the Underdark. The clans that survived these battles are the shield dwarves, and they are the most common type of dwarf seen throughout the Realms.

Regions: Damara, Dwarf (shield), Impiltur, the North, Silverymoon, Vaasa, the Vast, and Western Heartlands.
Racial Feats: Azerblood, Batrider, Hammer Fist, Oral History, Stoneshaper.
Racial Prestige Class: Battlerager.
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Found largely in the northern reaches of western and central Faerûn, shield dwarves are the dominant northern branch of the Stout Folk. Renowned for their smithwork and craftsmanship, shield dwarves have endured a centuries-long decline in the face of never-ending wars with orcs, goblins, giants, and trolls.

Shield dwarves are descended from the founders of Shanatar, a legendary dwarven empire that once ruled the caverns beneath modern-day Amn, Tethyr, and Calimshan. After Shanatar fell, the shield dwarves migrated north, founding kingdoms such as Ammarindar, Delzoun, Gharraghaur, Haunghdannar, Oghrann, and Sarbreen. Although those kingdoms have also largely fallen, the Stout Folk of the North endure. The Thunder Blessing has served as a welcome reprieve for the beleaguered shield dwarves, giving hope that the descendants of ancient Shanatar may one day reclaim the glory of their forebears.

Taller by half a foot than their gold dwarf cousins, shield dwarves average 4 1/2 feet tall and weigh as much as an adult human. The skin of a shield dwarf is fair or lightly tanned, and her eyes are usually green or silvered blue. Both genders wear their hair long, and males (and a very few females) have long, carefully groomed beards and mustaches. Hair color ranges from light brown to red, with all shades fading to silver or white as time progresses.

Shield dwarves keep to their word, whatever the cost, and are incredibly stubborn, unwilling to concede an inch unless there is absolutely no alternative. Such intransigence has enabled dwindling shield dwarf populations to hold on to ancient strongholds with just a fraction of their original defenders. However, it has also led to clan feuds and long-standing misunderstandings with other races that have sapped the strength of the Stout Folk. Shield dwarves love worked beauty, seeing the world as raw material to be forged and shaped into something more than the original.

Shield dwarves have the life expectancy and age categories defined for dwarves in Tables 6–4 and 6–5 of the Player’s Handbook, but use the following random height and weight characteristics instead of those described on Table 6–6:


HISTORY
Shield dwarves trace their history back to Taark Shanat, third son of the great ruling clan of Bhaerynden. In the legendary times more than twelve thousand years ago, the Great Crusader and his eight sons led a great westward migration of dwarves from Bhaerynden in hopes of founding a new homeland. The Cloaker Wars pitted the dwarves who followed Shanat against the mysterious inhabitants of Rringlor Noroth, who rose from the depths of a great chasm in a battle for control of the caverns of Alatorin. The Stout Folk eventually prevailed, after Taark slew four blue dragons who claimed the Rift of Dhalnadar as their demesne. By the hand of one of the dwarven gods, probably Dumathoin, the skulls of the four wyrms came together with a throne that emerged from the cavern floor to form the Wyrmskull Throne. Taark renamed the wyrms’ lair Brightaxe Hall and founded of the kingdom of Alatorin. Shield dwarves mark the founding of Alatorin as the beginning of the First Great Age of Shanatar.

Once Alatorin was established, the eight sons of Taark Shanat set off to found their own kingdoms in the caverns to the north (beneath modern-day Tethyr and Amn). Each son claimed one of the children of Moradin as his patron deity and so each of the subkingdoms they established became tightly linked with the church of that particular god or goddess. Around –9000 DR, skirmishing broke out between the eight northern kingdoms, as each fought to extend its borders at the expense of its neighbors. Over time, the skirmishes evolved into open warfare, pitting thousands of dwarves against one another.

While these wars raged, the drow of Guallidurth took advantage of the dwarves’ distraction to attack the caverns of Alatorin, which were far removed from the frontlines of the fighting. The First Spider War was fought from –8170 DR to –8150 DR and ended with the capture of Brightaxe Hall and the collapse of Alatorin. Aghast at their folly, the eight reigning kings of that era forged an armistice, and turned their armies against the drow. The Second Spider War raged from –8145 DR to –8137 DR, and ended with the drow retreating from the caverns of Alatorin.

In triumph, the eight kings marched their armies back into Brightaxe Hall, pledging never again to fight one another. Seeking to reclaim the vision of Taark Shanat, the eight kings pleaded with their gods to pick one of them to sit on the Wyrmskull Throne. In response, the gods revealed the visage of the reigning king of Ultoksamrin, high priest of Dumathoin. Shield dwarves mark this event as the beginning of the Second Age of Shanatar and the elevation of Dumathoin as patron of their race.

Despite their newfound unity, dissension still lurked within the breasts of many of Shanatar’s citizens. The kings of both Barakuir and Drakkalor both thought that they were entitled to sit on the Wyrmskull Throne, backed by the whisperings of their gods who had sought to have Moradin name them the patron of the shield dwarves. Before such dissent could erupt into open strife, the illithids of Oryndoll attacked the eastern subkingdoms in –8100 DR, beginning a conflict that came to be known as the Mindstalker Wars to the dwarves and the War of Cloven Thoughts to the mind flayers. The illithids were driven back by –8080 DR, but in their wake the surviving Stout Folk discovered that the caverns of Barakuir, which had been cut off in the early days of the fighting, lay empty. Clan Duergar had been carried back to thralldom in the mind flayers’ realm.

The Second Age of Shanatar lasted for nearly 1,800 years. Around –6150 DR, the drow of Guallidurth once again attacked the caverns of Alatorin. The Third Spider War lasted nearly thirty years but ended with the Stout Folk abandoning Brightaxe Hall to the drow. The dwarven refugees brought the Wyrmskull Throne with them, marking the end of the Second Age of Shanatar.

As the Third Age of Shanatar dawned, the emperor of Shanatar made plans to establish a new subkingdom in the Realms Above. Dwarven scouts were sent up to the surface around –6100 DR, where they allied with the humans of the region to oust the remaining djinni despots. The alliance between the dwarves and the humans quickly foundered because the rulers of Coramshan turned to evil gods. In response, the dwarves claimed the surface lands north of the Marching Mountains as their own, establishing the kingdom of High Shanatar around –5960 DR.

High Shanatar flourished for centuries under the rule of House Axemarch, but the seeds of its destruction were planted within a century of its establishment. A conflict over a looted tomb led to skirmishing and eventually open warfare. The First Kingdom of Mir was established after Iltaker fell to Murabir Mir of Coramshan in –5330 DR, marking the beginning of the centuries-long expansion of Calimshan at the expense of High Shanatar. By –2600 DR, the last known dwarves of High Shanatar had fallen on the northern banks of the Sulduskoon River, and High Shanatar was no more.

As High Shanatar struggled to hold on to its territories in southwestern Faerûn, Deep Shanatar struggled with challenges of its own. Successive waves of emigration led many young dwarves north to found new realms but also depleted the ranks of those who remained. Over time, the northern kingdoms of Drakkolor, Korolnor, Sondarr, Torglor, and Xothaerin slowly dwindled away as their inhabitants migrated north. The kingdom of Oghrann was established beneath the Plains of Tun in –5125 DR. The coastal realm of Haunghdannar was established in the northern Sword Mountains and along the northern Sword Coast in –4974 DR. Ammarindar was founded beneath the Graypeak Mountains around –4160 DR, and Delzoun, the Northkingdom, rose beneath what is now the Silver Marches around –3900 DR.

Unfortunately for the shield dwarves, their conquests in the North proved illusory, and the glory of Shanatar was never reborn. Oghrann fell in –3770 DR, and Haunghdannar in –3389 DR. Delzoun and Ammarindar lasted many more centuries, but the Northkingdom eventually succumbed in –100 DR, and Ammarindar was overrun in 882 DR by lingering horrors unleashed by the Netherese of Ascalhorn.

In the South, after centuries of decline, the final fall of Deep Shanatar was precipitated by the Stout Folk themselves. Impelled by centuries of bitter resentment, Clan Duergar invaded Ultoksamrin and Holorarar around –1800 DR in a series of conflicts known as the Kin Clashes. Only Iltkazar survived the gray dwarf invasion, leaving Shanatar fallen in all but name.

OUTLOOK
Despite their centuries-long decline and deserved reputation for dourness and cynicism, shield dwarves have never succumbed to fatalism. Shield dwarves have traditionally been divided into two camps—the Hidden and the Wanderers—although such divisions have begun to fade since the Thunder Blessing. While members of the former group have literally hidden themselves away from the outside world, content to pursue their traditional way of life, members of the latter group have gone out into the world, unbowed by their race’s relentless decline.

Shield dwarves are traditionally slow to trust and slow to forget slights, but a dawning realization of their race’s plight has left many willing to seek out new ways of doing things unconstrained by traditional prejudices or practices. Shield dwarves have a long and proud tradition of adventuring, and many shield dwarves follow this route simply in hopes of equaling or exceeding the deeds of those who have come before. Others seek to recover long-lost strongholds and treasures that have fallen to orcs or other beasts. Since the Thunder Blessing, the question for many young shield dwarves is not why they should become adventurers, but why they should not.

SHIELD DWARF CHARACTERS
Constant warfare with orcs, goblins, trolls, and giants have imbued a strong martial tradition in shield dwarf culture. Most dwarves learn to defend their homes and clan, with fighters, paladins, and martial clerics being commonplace. Other shield dwarves focus on time-honored skills, following the path of the expert or the rogue. Arcane spellcasters are quite rare, with few of sorcerous inclination. Common multiclass combinations include fighter/cleric, fighter/paladin, and fighter/expert.

Favored Class: A shield dwarf’s favored class is fighter. For centuries shield dwarves have fought a war of genocidal destruction against the orcs, goblins, trolls, and giants of the North. Fighters have always served at the core of shield dwarf armies, ever defiant in the face of overwhelming odds.

Prestige Classes: Battleragers are legendary dwarven warriors who can enter a divine battle frenzy through ritualistic singing. Given to drinking, rowdy and boisterous singing, and drunken dancing, battleragers love to plunge into close-quarters battle, heedless of any danger. See the battlerager prestige class in the appendix.

Shield dwarves of some accomplishment frequently adopt the dwarven defender prestige class, and many of their clerics become runecasters.

SHIELD DWARF SOCIETY
Although clan and class divisions were once strong among shield dwarves, generations of decline have largely broken their oncedominant influence. While shield dwarves are still incredibly proud of their bloodlines, individual accomplishment now counts for more than longstanding tradition or the dictates of clan elders. Shield dwarven life among the Hidden is still dominated by craft and forge, but increasing numbers of shield dwarves are making their own way in the world as adventurers or as craftsfolk dwelling in human-dominated communities.

Shield dwarves are raised in tight family units, with clan elders playing a diminishing role in overseeing their upbringing. Book learning is common, and most children are apprenticed to learn a trade as they near maturity. Adult shield dwarves are expected to support themselves and their family as well as bring honor and riches to the clan. While shield dwarves do not shy away from displays of wealth, they avoid ostentatious or decadent behavior. As shield dwarves age, they are honored for their wisdom and accorded respect for their past accomplishments. Families and clans are expected to honor their elders in death with solemn funereal rites and tombs befitting the deceased’s reputation and accomplishments.

Generations of Wanderers have created large and thriving dwarven enclaves within most human settlements, with all shield dwarves welcome as part of the loosely knit dwarven “clan.” Shield dwarves occupy the roles of smith or craftsmen in many human communities and are well respected for their skill as artisans. Few shield dwarves turn away from veneration of the Morndinsamman, but most are quick to learn the local trade tongue and make friends with other races.

LANGUAGE and LITERACY
Like all dwarves, shield dwarves speak Dwarven and employ the Dethek rune alphabet. They also speak Common. The primary shield dwarven dialect, Shanatan, dates back to the founding of Shanatar and is still spoken by dwarves along the Sword Coast from the Shining Sea to the Spine of the World. To the east, in northcentral Faerûn, most shield dwarves speak the Galenan dialect, strongly influenced by the Damaran human tongue.

Common secondary languages reflect the extensive trading contacts maintained by shield dwarves with their neighbors in the North and include Chondathan, Illuskan, and, to a lesser extent, Elven and Gnome. The shield dwarves of northcentral Faerûn are more apt to learn Damaran than Illuskan as a secondary language. Many shield dwarves also learn the languages of their traditional foes, including Draconic, Giant, Goblin, and Orc. All shield dwarf characters are literate except for barbarians.

SHIELD DWARF MAGIC and LORE
Shield dwarves have been engaged in a perpetual war against goblinoids and giants for centuries, so their magic reflects a martial bent. Anything that helps slay more giants is a welcome addition to the shield dwarf arsenal.

Among the Hidden, magic from the Illusion and Abjuration schools are immensely important, because they guard a dwarf clan from discovery and attack. The Hidden create layer after layer of protective spells to guard every entrance to their strongholds. Many an invading orc horde has been tricked into leaving or frustrated into exhaustion without ever seeing the shield dwarves they’re fighting.

SPELLS AND SPELLCASTING
Shield dwarves have a strong divine spellcasting tradition, with many of the Stout Folk called to serve the Morndinsamman as clerics, paladins, runecasters, or runesmiths. Arcane spellcasters are much more rare, but increasing in number.

Spellcasting Tradition: Shield dwarves often take the Shield Dwarf Warder feat (see the appendix), which reflects their knack for creating armor and shields with magic.

Unique Spells: Shield dwarves have created many divine spells over the years, including mindless rage and shape metal (see the appendix).

RACIAL MAGIC ITEMS
Shield dwarves favor magic items that aid in combat, whether offensively or defensively. Whether magic is best employed to protect or attack is a centuries-old argument among the shield dwarves, with Wanderers favoring magic weapons and Hidden favoring magic armor. In any case, all shield dwarves revere any magic item that facilitates craftwork, because the urge to create flows strongly in dwarven blood.

Axes and other blades are commonly crafted with keen, holy, lawful, flaming, flaming burst, mighty cleaving, sundering, and stunning special abilities. Hammers and maces are commonly crafted with holy, impact, lawful, returning, shock, shocking burst, stunning, sundering, and throwing special abilities. Armor is typically crafted with fire resistance, fortification, and invulnerability special abilities, reflecting a long tradition of battles against orcs, goblinoids, trolls, and giants, and a deep understanding of metalworking.

Common Magic Items: Common examples of items favored by shield dwarves include anvils of the blacksmith, belts of dwarvenkind (often given as gifts to nondwarves who help a dwarf clan), boots of the winterlands, forges of smithing, hammers of the weaponsmith, tongs of the armorer, and whetstones of keen edge.

Iconic Magic Items: Shield dwarves have fabricated many unique magic items as well, such as doorbreakers, hammers of staggering blows, and stonereavers. They are justly famous for foesplitter axes, which are +1 keen battleaxes.

SHIELD DWARF DEITIES
Shield dwarves have venerated the dwarven deities of the Morndinsamman since the dawn of Shanatar, although their mythology has evolved significantly over the millennia. Taark Shanat and his followers in Alatorin venerated Moradin and Berronar, but worship of those two deities receded as Taark’s eight sons set out to found their own kingdoms, each choosing a patron deity of his own from among their eight children: Dumathoin, Laduguer, Abbathor, Clangeddin Silverbeard, Vergadain, Sharindlar, and the twins Diinkarazan and Diirinka.

When the eight kings came together to choose who would first sit on the Wyrmskull Throne, Moradin selected the king of Ultoksamrin, who was also the high priest of Dumathoin. This act cemented the Silent Keeper’s position as patron deity of the shield dwarves but strongly disappointed Dumathoin’s chief rivals, eventually leading to Laduguer’s bitter exile and Abbathor’s enduring corruption. By the fall of Shanatar, the shield dwarves had abandoned the worship of Laduguer, Diinkarazan, and Diirinka, while younger gods such as Thard Harr, Gorm Gulthyn, Marthammor Duin, Dugmaren Brightmantle, and Haela Brightaxe had arisen.

Dumathoin is considered the patron of shield dwarves, and his church has by far the most adherents among shield dwarves. Miners and smiths venerate the Silent Keeper, but he also has a small following among those good- and neutral-aligned shield dwarves seeking secrets of arcane lore. The Mountain Shield is also considered the guardian of the dead and is propitiated by most shield dwarves during burials. Dumathoin’s clerics take charge of all burials, inter the dead in secret vaults, and guard the funereal wealth of great shield dwarves.

Marthammor Duin, the Finder-of-Trails, is venerated by those shield dwarves who consider themselves Wanderers. He watches over good-aligned adventurers, craftsfolk, explorers, expatriates, travelers, and wanderers. Marthammor has a secondary aspect as the dwarven god of lightning, which curiously has attracted a small but growing number of wizards and sorcerers who specialize in evocation magic.

RELATIONS with OTHER RACES
Shield dwarves get along well with most other dwarven subraces, although they regard gold dwarven arrogance as naive and have little understanding for their barbaric wild and arctic dwarven kin. Shield dwarves have a longstanding enmity for the descendants of Clan Duergar, dating back to the Kin Clashes that marked Shanatar’s final chapter, and they attack duergar on sight.

Despite centuries of squabbling with elves and half-elves, shield dwarves have always managed to put aside their differences with the Tel-quessir in the face of outside threats. Shield dwarves have always gotten along well with gnomes, particularly
rock gnomes and deep gnomes. Colored by their experience with lightfoots, shield dwarves find halflings to be somewhat unreliable but easy to get along with. Shield dwarves get along well with most humans, particularly Illuskans, Tethyrians, Chondathans, and Damarans.

Shield dwarves see half-orcs as little better than their hated brethren, although exceptions do exist. The Stout Folk of the North associate most planetouched with the horrors of Hellgate Keep and view them with suspicion. Earth genasi are a notable exception and are commonly welcomed in dwarven delves across the North.

SHIELD DWARF EQUIPMENT
Shield dwarves commonly employ equipment such as armor lubricant, mobile braces, rope climbers, thunderstones, and sunrods.

ARMS AND ARMOR
Shield dwarves favor a wide range of weapons, including battleaxes, crossbows, gauntlets, handaxes, heavy picks, light hammers, light picks, longswords, halfspears, short swords, mauls, throwing axes, and warhammers. More unusual weapons include dwarven urgroshes, dwarven waraxes, horned helmets, spiked chains, spiked gauntlets, spiked helmets, and spike shooters. Typical forms of armor include breastplates, chainmail, half-plate, full plate, large steel shields, and small steel shields. Less common forms of armor include dwarven plate, grasping shields, and large mithral shields. Whenever possible, shield dwarves fashion their armor from mithral; their love of the metal matches the gold dwarves’ admiration for adamantine.

ANIMALS AND PETS
Shield dwarves favor bats (especially the common bat), canaries, and small lizards such as the spitting crawler as pets and familiars. They use pack lizards and mules as beasts of burden. Shield dwarves commonly employ ponies or war ponies as steeds, except in Iltkazar, where riding lizards are still the norm. Favored breeds include the Island pony, the Nether pony, and the Whiteshield (war pony). The shield dwarves of the Far Hills employ dire bats as steeds (fitted with exotic military saddles) to navigate the subterranean wells they call home. Shield dwarf barbarians and battleragers often employ dire boars as steeds.

The gold dwarves maintained their great kingdom in the Great Rift and managed to survive terrible wars against evil humanoids. While they practiced some magic, they never acquired the hubris that caused the downfall of some human nations. Confident and secure in their remote home, the gold dwarves gained a reputation for haughtiness and pride. Since the Thunder Blessing, many young gold dwarves have left the Great Rift and are exploring the rest of the region. The folk of other lands have learned that while some gold dwarves are aloof and suspicious, for the most part they are forthright warriors and shrewd traders.

Regions: Dragon Coast, Dwarf (gold), Unther, Western Heartlands. Gold dwarves native to the Great Rift should select the gold dwarf region.
Racial Feats: Hammer Fist, Metallurgy, Skyrider, Stoneshaper.
Racial Prestige Class: Battlerager.

Found largely in the South in the immediate vicinity of the Great Rift, gold dwarves are the dominant southern branch of the Stout Folk. Renowned not only for their smithwork and craftsmanship but also for their military prowess and legendary wealth, gold dwarves have maintained their empire for millennia, unbowed by the passage of time.

For generations, the Deep Kingdom of the gold dwarves has stood unconquered, dominating the surface lands and subterranean caverns that surround the Great Rift. As their numbers never declined in the face of endless warfare like their northern cousins, the Thunder Blessing has actually filled the great caverns of the Deep Kingdom beyond their capacity. As a result, for the first time in many years, large numbers of gold dwarves are setting out to establish new strongholds across the South and the rest of Faerûn, including the Smoking Mountains of Unther and the Giant’s Run Mountains of the Shining Plains.

Averaging 4 feet tall and weighing as much as an adult human, gold dwarves are stocky and muscular. The skin of a gold dwarf is light brown or deeply tanned, and her eyes are usually brown or hazel. Both genders wear their hair long, and males (and some females) have long, carefully groomed beards and mustaches. Hair color ranges from black to gray or brown, with all shades fading to light gray as time progresses.

Like their northern kin, gold dwarves harbor a great deal of pride, both in their own accomplishments and those of their ancestors. They also share the philosophy that anything worth doing is worth doing well, and that the natural world is but raw material to be worked into objects of great beauty. Unlike the long-beleaguered shield dwarves, gold dwarves have not faced a serious challenge to their way of life for thousands of years. Confident and secure in their isolated realm, gold dwarves do not share the pessimism or fatalism of their shield dwarven brethren. To the contrary, having seen the rise and fall of countless elven, human, and shield dwarven empires, their endurance has fostered a deep-seated belief that their traditions and culture are superior to those of all other races.

Gold dwarves have the life expectancy, age categories, height, and weight defined for dwarves in Tables 6–4, 6–5, and 6–6 in the Player’s Handbook.

HISTORY
Founded more than sixteen thousand years ago, the original dwarven homeland of Bhaerynden occupied a vast cavern deep beneath the southern plains ruled by the elves of Ilythiir. Bhaerynden claimed great swaths of the Underdark, but remained largely unknown in the Realms Above. Little is known about the history of Bhaerynden except that a great exodus of dwarves led by Taark Shanat the Crusader left to found a new kingdom in the west about –11,000 DR. The end of the elven Crown Wars and the Descent of the Drow in the years after –10,000 DR directly precipitated the fall of Bhaerynden. The first drow civilizations arose in the southern Underdark around –9600 DR, but the drow quickly directed their anger against the Stout Folk. Within the space of six centuries, the Stout Folk had been scattered and the drow empire of Telantiwar ruled supreme in the dwarf-carved halls of fallen Bhaerynden.

The collapse of the cavern of Bhaerynden destroyed Telantiwar and created the Great Rift, scattering the drow around –7600 DR. Gold dwarves believe Moradin destroyed Telantiwar with a blow of his axe, but scholars of other races have suggested that the drow weakened the cavern roof through excessive tunneling and reliance on magic to support the ceiling’s weight. In the aftermath of Telantiwar’s fall, there was a great scramble to claim new territory in the Underdark. The Stout Folk quickly returned to their ancestral home and established the Deep Realm, occupying lesser caverns and miles of tunnels spreading out under the Eastern Shaar. Drow refugees claimed lesser caverns to the north, south, and west of the Great Rift, establishing cities in nearby lands.

In the millennia that followed, the Stout Folk of the Deep Realm became known as gold dwarves. Once the borders of their realm were firmly established and defended, they set about building great subterranean cities and harvesting the bounty of the earth. While external threats from the drow and other Underdark races such as aboleths, cloakers, illithids, ixzans, and kuo-toa never entirely abated, no other race could match the unity of purpose evinced by the gold dwarves, and the sanctity of the Deep Realm was never challenged. The dwarves profited in trade with each successive human empire that reached their Great Rift, including ancient Jhaamdath, the folk of Mulhorand and Unther in their heyday, the Shoon Imperium at its height, and in more recent centuries the mercantile Chondathan nations of the Inner Sea.

In 1306 DR, the Thunder Blessing shook the gold dwarves out of their millennia-long quiescence. In the decades that followed, a burgeoning population forced the gold dwarves to seek out new caverns to claim and settle across the South, upsetting the longheld status quo of the southern Underdark. The largest exodus to date from the Deep Realm began in 1369 DR, when the Army of Gold set out on a great crusade to reclaim the caverns of Taark Shanat and restore the glory of Shanatar, the ancient kingdom of the shield dwarves. That expedition has become bogged down in warfare with the Army of Steel, dispatched by the gray dwarves of Underspires. Fierce battles rage in the tunnels beneath the Lake of Steam and the Cloven Mountains.

OUTLOOK
Gold dwarves measure others by how much honor and wealtheach individual garners as well as the status of his or her bloodline and clan. To gold dwarves, life is best lived through adherence to the ancient traditions of the Deep Realm. The very persistence of their own way of life indicates that other shortlived cultures are inherently flawed. As such, those who lack a meaningful cultural tradition or reject their elders’ dictates are untrustworthy and possibly dangerous.

From birth, gold dwarves are taught to conform to the traditional strictures of their society. Every important decision, from choice of profession to their mate, is dictated by the circumstances of their birth. Those who do not act honorably in their dealings are shunned from an early age, breeding a tremendous societal pressure to fit in.

Gold dwarves lack the longstanding tradition of adventuring found in their shield dwarf cousins in the north. However, population pressures induced by the Thunder Blessing have given birth to a new generation of gold dwarf adventurers. Most gold dwarves who wander beyond the familiar confines of the Deep Realm do so in order to found new strongholds of their own, but many find the lure of adventuring hard to ignore once it has entered into their blood.

GOLD DWARF CHARACTERS
Gold dwarves are painfully aware that many once-proud empires have been brought low, and they are therefore vigilant about maintaining their own. The keen awareness gold dwarves hold of the dangers to their eternal rule ensure that all gold dwarves are trained to fight from a young age. Most are trained as fighters, although clerics, paladins, rangers, rogues, and even the occasional arcane spellcaster play important roles in defending the Deep Realm. Gold dwarf sorcerers usually trace their ancestry back to a powerful dragon or some creature of elemental earth or fire. Common multiclass combinations include fighter/cleric, fighter/paladin, and fighter/expert.

Favored Class: A gold dwarf’s favored class is fighter. Only a strong and fierce military tradition has kept the Deep Realm secure from its enemies above and below, a result of generations of gold dwarves training as fighters.

Prestige Classes: Battleragers are legendary dwarven warriors who can enter a battle frenzy through ritual singing. Given to drinking, rowdy and boisterous singing, and drunken dancing, battleragers love to plunge into close-quarters battle, heedless of any danger. Most battleragers are shield dwarves, but a small number of gold dwarves rebelling against the discipline and tradition of their society have joined the ranks of the berserkers. More disciplined gold dwarves lean toward the dwarven defender or divine champion classes.

GOLD DWARF SOCIETY
Gold dwarf culture does not exhibit a great deal of variability, the result of generations of gold dwarves insulated from outside influences. Class and clan divisions are strong among gold dwarves, and great importance is attributed to bloodlines when ascribing social status. However, the Deep Realm is so swamped with petty, decadent royals and nobles that little real power is invested in anyone but the governing council of clan elders. Commerce and craftsmanship both play an important role in gold dwarf society, as does the never-satiated grasping for more riches. Pride and honor play an important role in all aspects of daily life, for disgrace applies not only to oneself, but also to kin, clan, and long-dead ancestors.

Gold dwarves are raised in tight family units, but the clan elders play an important oversight role in the upbringing of every child. Book learning is common, as is an apprenticeship to learn a trade. All adults are expected to support themselves and their family as well as bring honor and riches to the clan. Ostentatious displays of wealth are important for maintaining one’s prestige, so poorer gold dwarves often scrimp and save to keep up appearances. As gold dwarves age, they are accorded increasing respect for their wisdom. Clan elders form a ruling gerontocracy that strongly enforces traditional practices. Families and clans are expected to honor their elders in death with elaborate funereal rites and tombs befitting the deceased’s reputation.

Outside the Deep Realm, gold dwarves hold themselves apart, forming small, insular enclaves that attempt to replicate traditional clan life. Few gold dwarves have any interest in adopting local practices except where it furthers their ability to hawk their wares.

LANGUAGE and LITERACY
Like all dwarves, gold dwarves speak a dialect of Dwarven and employ the Dethek rune alphabet. They also speak Common, the trade language of the Realms Above. The primary gold dwarven dialect (sometimes referred to as Riftspeak) has changed little since the glory days of Bhaerynden. Gold dwarves dwelling in the colonies in Unther and the Giant’s Run often learn the languages of the nearby lands.

Common secondary languages reflect the extensive trading contacts maintained by gold dwarves with their neighbors in the South and include Shaaran, Untheric, and, to a lesser extent, Durpari, Dambrathan, Mulhorandi, Halfling, and Halruaan. Gold dwarves who have extensive contact with other subterranean races often learn Terran, Gnome, or Undercommon. All gold dwarf characters are literate except barbarians (who are very unusual among the folk of this ancient civilization).

GOLD DWARF MAGIC and LORE
Gold dwarves have a strong divine spellcasting tradition, with many of the Stout Folk called to serve the Morndinsamman as clerics, paladins, runecasters, or runesmiths. Arcane spellcasters are much rarer, but they do exist.

SPELLS AND SPELLCASTING
Gold dwarves favor spells that aid their abilities in combat or assist in craftwork or mining. Most are divine spellcasters, but the gold dwarves’ millennia-old civilization has ensured both ancient libraries of wizardry and strange, sorcerous bloodlines.

Spellcasting Tradition: Many gold dwarves take the Gold Dwarf Dweomersmith feat (see the appendix), which grants them advantages when creating or enhancing weapons with magic. Unique Spells: Gold dwarves have created many spells over the years, many of which are now employed by the Stout Folk across Faerûn. One such example is detect metals and minerals (see the appendix).

GOLD DWARF MAGIC ITEMS
Gold dwarves favor magic items that aid in combat, facilitate craftwork, provide personal protection or comfort, guard against theft, or are adorned with fine metals and gems. Blades and axes are commonly crafted with keen, holy, lawful, mighty cleaving, sundering, and stunning special abilities. Hammers and maces are commonly crafted with holy, impact, lawful, returning, stunning, sundering, and throwing special abilities. Armor is typically crafted with fortification, invulnerability, reflection, and spell resistance special abilities, reflecting a long tradition of battles against the drow and other creatures of the Underdark.

Common Magic Items: Magic items particularly prevalent in the Great Rift and the trade cities at its edge include anvil of the blacksmith, belt of dwarvenkind, forge of smithing, hammer of the weaponsmith, and tongs of the armorer. These items can be purchased at a 10% discount in the Great Rift.

Iconic Magic Items: Gold dwarves have fabricated many unique magic items, but they are best known for the stonereaver greataxes (see the appendix).

GOLD DWARF DEITIES
Gold dwarves have venerated the dwarven deities of the Morndinsamman since the founding of Bhaerynden, but centuries of relative isolation and security have made their culture far less religious in nature than their shield dwarven kin. Among gold dwarves the churches of Moradin and Berronar are so predominant and have been for so long that many lesser dwarven deities enjoy little more than token obeisance. High-ranking clerics of both faiths command a great amount of institutional authority in gold dwarf society. The clerics of Berronar’s faith are responsible for preserving records of the extraordinarily ancient genealogy of the noble families and serve as the guardians of tradition in the home and community.

All gold dwarves revere the Soul Forger as the founder of the dwarven race, and his church is the predominant faith of the Deep Realm, centered in the monastic city of Thuulurn. Moradin’s clerics sponsor many craftsfolk, particularly armorers and weaponsmiths, and serve as the principal judges and magistrates of gold dwarf society. The Soul Forger’s faithful are drawn primarily from those who labor as smiths, craftsfolk, or engineers, but he is also seen as the protector of the entire dwarven race and is thus worshiped by many lawful good dwarves regardless of profession.

RELATIONS with OTHER RACES
Confident and secure in their remote home, gold dwarves have a well-deserved reputation for haughtiness and pride. They look down on all other dwarves, even shield dwarves and gray dwarves whose achievements and kingdoms have matched the glory of their own. Gold dwarves regard elves and half-elves with suspicion after generations spent battling their deepdwelling cousins. Gnomes, particularly deep gnomes, are well regarded and welcomed as trading partners. Their impression of halflings is shaped by the strongheart inhabitants of Luiren, whom gold dwarves find to be suitably industrious and forthright.

Gold dwarves know little of half-orcs, but usually lump them in with the rest of orc and goblinoid scum. Gold dwarves are very cautious in their dealings with humans, having found great variability in their dealings with Chondathans, the folk of Dambrath, Durpari, Mulan, Shaarans, and Halruaans. Planetouched are almost unknown but are usually viewed in the same light as the Mulan, since most planetouched the gold dwarves encounter are either Mulan aasimar or earth genasi followers of Geb.

GOLD DWARF EQUIPMENT
The gold dwarf craft guilds have had centuries to master their artisanship, so almost any finished good has some filigree, runic mark, or other decoration that marks it as unmistakably the work of the gold dwarves. Even a simple bucket will have carefully marked gradations along the inside, graven runes identifying its owner, and a curved handle shaped to fit a thick dwarven hand.

Common Items: Sunrods, thunderstones.

Unique Items: Gold dwarves commonly employ wellengineered equipment such as mobile braces and rope climbers. The hippogriff-mounted skyriders of the Great Rift are known to employ drogue wings (see the appendix) and exotic military saddles.

ARMS AND ARMOR
Gold dwarves favor a wide range of weapons, including battleaxes, crossbows, gauntlets, handaxes, heavy picks, light hammers, light picks, mauls, throwing axes, and warhammers. More unusual weapons include dwarven urgroshes and dwarven waraxes. Typical forms of armor include breastplates, half-plate, full plate, scale mail, large steel shields, and small steel shields.

Common Items: Battleaxe, light crossbow, heavy pick, dwarven urgrosh, scale mail, full plate armor. The gold dwarves manufacture adamantine heavy picks and battleaxes for those who can afford such things; adamantine weapons are available at a 10% discount in the Great Rift.

ANIMALS AND PETS
Gold dwarves favor small lizards such as the spitting crawler and shocker lizard for pets and familiars. Deep rothé are the preferred type of livestock. They employ pack lizards and mules as beasts of burden, usually breeding the latter from Lhesperan or Meth horses crossed with donkeys. Gold dwarves commonly use riding lizards as steeds in subterranean locales, and war ponies for travel in the surface lands. The gold dwarf skyriders of the Great Rift employ hippogriffs as aerial mounts.

Long ago, mind flayers conquered the strongholds of clan Duergar of the dwarven kingdom of Shanatar. After generations of enslavement and cruel experimentation at the hands of the illithids, the duergar (or gray dwarves) rose up against their masters and regained their freedom. They emerged as a new subrace of dwarf with limited mental powers. The gray dwarves are an evil and bitter race, but retain the superior skill and workmanship of dwarvenkind. They have found themselves a niche in the Underdark, creating armor and weapons to trade with the warring races of that realm.

Duergar on the whole are evil, but some turn their backs on their fellows and seek a different sort of life. Male and female duergar are bald, and women do not grow beards. They are much thinner than other dwarves, with severe facial expressions, gray hair, and gray skin.

Regions: Dwarf (gray), The North, Turmish, Vaasa, Vilhon Reach. Most duergar characters have little contact with other cultures and choose the gray dwarf region.
Racial Feats: Arachnid Rider, Hammer Fist, Iron Mind, Stoneshaper.
Level Adjustment: +2. Refer to the FORGOTTEN REALMS Campaign Setting entry for gray dwarf racial abilities.

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 light or dark gray, and his 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.

Gray dwarves have the life expectancy and age categories defined for dwarves in Tables 6–4 and 6–5 of the Player’s Handbook, but use the following random height and weight characteristics instead of those described on Table 6–6:


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 flayers’ 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 (from whom Duerra is said to have wrested the secrets of the Invisible Art), 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 adventure simply in hopes of surviving. Adventuresome duergar are usually focused on the acquisition of material wealth, caring little for the plight of others.

GRAY DWARF CHARACTERS
The ever-present dangers of the all-enveloping darkness are taught to gray dwarves from a young age. Most receive some training as fighters or rogues to better defend their homes against those who would steal their hard-earned wealth. Clerics are common as well, for those who serve the duergar gods claim positions of relative influence within their clan. Experts who combine traditional smithcraft with skill in the arcane arts are also much respected. Wizards are much more common than sorcerers among the gray dwarves. Common multiclass combinations include fighter/cleric, fighter/expert, and fighter/rogue.

Favored Class: A gray dwarf’s favored class is fighter. (If your DM uses the Psionics Handbook in your game, this could be changed to psychic warrior at the DM’s option.) The Underdark is a harsh and unforgiving environment, where only the strongest can survive. Gray dwarf fighters have formed the bedrock of duergar armies for generations, enabling them to hold off such varied threats as aboleth, drow, illithids, kuo-toa, and svirfneblin.

Prestige Classes: Gray dwarves gravitate toward prestige classes such as assassin and blackguard. A few become dwarven defenders. As with their cousins, the shield dwarves, the gray dwarves have a tradition of rune magic, and so a number of clerics become runecasters.

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 Realms Above often learn the trade tongue Common. All gray dwarf characters are literate except for barbarians.

GRAY DWARF MAGIC and LORE
Gray dwarves have a strong divine spellcasting tradition, withmany of the Stout Folk called to serve Laduguer or Deep Duerra as clerics, runecasters, or runesmiths. Arcane spellcasters are much rarer, but wizards skilled in the crafting of magic items are much respected.

SPELLS AND SPELLCASTING
Gray dwarves favor spells that aid their abilities in combat, assist in craftwork or mining, or facilitate stealthy movement.

Spellcasting Tradition: Some gray dwarves take the Duergar Mindshaper feat (see the appendix), part of the lore they stole from the mind flayers.

GRAY DWARF MAGIC ITEMS
Gray dwarves favor magic items that aid in combat, facilitate craftwork, shield the mind, or enable stealthy movement. Blades and axes are commonly crafted with bane, keen, lawful, mighty cleaving, sundering, stunning, unholy, and wounding special abilities. Hammers and maces are commonly crafted with bane, impact, lawful, returning, stunning, sundering, throwing, and unholy special abilities. Armor is typically crafted with etherealness, shadow, slick, silent moves, and spell resistance special abilities that facilitate stealthy movement.

Common Magic Items: Cloaks of arachnida, dust of tracelessness, rings of mind shielding, and whetstones of keen edge. Duergar are notoriously suspicious of outsiders, but duergar merchants trade throughout the Underdark. These items are commonly available at a 10% discount in any duergar settlement of at least large town size.

Iconic Magic Items: Gray dwarves have fabricated many unique magic items, such as absorbing shields, bolts of battering, and stonereaver axes (see the appendix).

DUERGAR DEITIES
Laduguer, the Gray Protector, is the harsh taskmaster of the duergar and the patron of their subrace. Although the duergar nominally venerate all the dwarven deities of the Morndinsamman, in truth they venerate only Laduguer and his daughter, Deep Duerra. Before the rise of Shanatar, each of the shield dwarven subkingdoms had its own patron deity. The kingdom of Barakuir, dominated by the dwarves of Clan Duergar, honored Laduguer and never accepted the ascension of Dumathoin as the patron deity of shield dwarves. The ancestors of the gray dwarves continued to honor Laduguer during their long enslavement by the illithids of Oryndoll. Unlike their shield dwarven brethren, the duergar did not evolve their religious practice toward the veneration of the pantheon as a whole.

Deep Duerra, the Daughter of Laduguer, is said to have been a great warrior queen who stole many secrets of the Invisible Art (psionics) from Ilsensine, god of mind flayers. Deep Duerra is venerated primarily by duergar who study the Invisible Art and by those militant gray dwarves who would rather crush their subterranean neighbors than trade with them. Her faith is particularly strong beneath the Osraun Mountains of Turmish, where her followers rule Dunspeirrin, the City of Sunken Spires.

RELATIONS with OTHER RACES
Dour and suspicious of outsiders, gray dwarves have uniformly bad relations with all other races, including other dwarven subraces. The duergar regard their shield dwarf cousins with particular bitterness, dating back to the shield dwarves’ failure to succor Clan Duergar during the Mindstalker Wars. The Kin Clashes forever cemented the mutual animosity between the two dwarven subraces, a hatred that continues today. Gray dwarves regard their gold dwarf cousins as arrogant rivals and potential threats, but trade is possible between the two groups.

Gray dwarves view the surface-dwelling races—elves and halfelves, gnomes, halflings, half-orcs, and planetouched—with suspicion but willingly trade with those who are foolhardy enough to venture into the depths. The duergar harbor a longstanding hatred of their subterranean rivals, the drow and the svirfneblin. Nevertheless, they regularly trade with both groups, pitting them against one another whenever possible.

GRAY DWARF EQUIPMENT
Duergar carve and emboss scenes of bloodshed into many items they craft. Though they have a fierce appreciation for fine craftsmanship, they are pragmatic enough to shun ostentatious decoration (such as glittering gems) when it prevents them from creeping unseen through the Underdark. Duergar traders may be richly appointed or seem poorly equipped, depending on the sort of bargaining advantage they seek. Common Items: Exotic military saddles, thunderstones, and
any poison.

Unique Items: Gray dwarves have perfected armor lubricant to assist armored warriors in stealthy maneuvering (see the appendix).

ARMS AND ARMOR
Even more so than other dwarves, duergar favor weapons clearly derived from the craftsman’s tools. They favor hammers and picks of all sorts. Common Items: Heavy pick, light crossbow, light pick, maul, warhammer, breastplate, chainmail.

ANIMALS AND PETS
Gray dwarves favor common bats, hairy spiders, osquips, and spitting crawlers as pets and familiars. Deep rothé are the preferred type of livestock. They employ pack lizards as beasts of burden. Although gray dwarves are known for their use of steeders (see the appendix) as mounts, some clans employ riding lizards as well.