Duergar Pantheon

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Duergar Pantheon

Whilst the majority of the Morndinsamman reside in Dwarfhome under the leadership of Moradin, creator of the dwarves, Duerra and Laduguer live in Hammergrim, having been exiled by Moradin. Collectively these two exiled dwarves are known as the Morndinsamman in Exile.

• Deep Duerra
  
• Laduguer
  

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Deep Duerra
Queen of the Invisible Art, Axe Princess of Conquest

Dwarven Demigod
Symbol: Broken illithid skull
Home Plane: Hammergrim
Alignment: Lawful Evil
Portfolio: Psionics, conquest, expansion
Worshipers: Dwarves, fighters, psionicists, travelers in the Underdark

Domains: Dwarf, Evil, Law, War, [Mentalism]

Nature Deity: No
Cleric Alignments: LN, LE, NE

Favored Weapon: "Mindshatter" (battleaxe)

Elderly gray dwarven mindwardens speak of an ancient time, when a great queen named Duerra (dwair-uh) ruled a dwarven empire of immense subterranean territory and dark, expansionist ambitions. The queen herself stood at the front of her armies, on one occasion dominating a huge illithid city. Duerra ordered her underlings to shackle the mind flayers, who once had enslaved the entire duergar race. Over the course of a century, Duerra and her surgeons wrested the power of the mind from the captive illithids, transferring it to her brood and hence into her clan's bloodline. Though mind flayers tell the story somewhat differently, casting Duerra as the leader of a slave rebellion and attributing the psionic powers of the gray dwarves as their own invention in order to create a more efficient slave stock, many duergar nonetheless honor their ancient queen as the progenitor of the psychic abilities that established the gray dwarves as a distinctive subrace and as a symbol of the dominance through enslavement and expansion that shall establish the duergar as the preeminent political force of the Underdark.

Few surface dwellers know of Deep Duerra or her clerics, known below the surface as norothor ("those who seize enemy land"). Their recent efforts in the Underdark, however, have made them the talk of underground waystations and trading communities. The norothor preach expansionism to such a strong degree that they have become a nuisance to the older, more staid duergar, who prefer to serve Laduguer. The norothor nonetheless serve an important role in society, training young gray dwarves in the development of their natural psionic abilities, attending to and controlling the slaves who form the underclass of duergar society, and scouting and clearing out nearby tunnel systems that the community might grow. Lastly, their focus on the mental disciplines makes them ideal ambassadors to psionic races such as the illithids and aboleths, though the inherent brashness of the faith means that many such missions end in utter disaster. Duerra's temples are constructed in visually appealing symmetric patterns, featuring an empty seat at the center of the centermost room. Called the Daul's Throne, the chair serves to remind the norothor that as Queen of the Invisible Art, Deep Duerra is always present and watching.

Norothor pray for spells at night. On Midwinter eve, they celebrate a perverse festival known as the Rallying wherein clerics commemorate the triumphs of the past year and announce their expansionist intentions for the next. To the sound of hammering and war chants the norothor pass around the freshly severed head of an enemy whose territory will be taken before the next Rallying. On the 5th of Mirtul, Duerra's clerics gather in temples for the Melding, a psionic ceremony in which the norothor contact the Axe Princess herself. The resulting communal mind grants all clerics greater insight in their endless quest for power and territory. Norothor frequently multiclass as fighters or (if the Psionics Handbook is used) as psions.

History/Relationships:

Moradin immediately exiled her upon her apotheosis; Deep Duerra has no friends among the Morndinsamman. Certain myths suggest Laduguer was her father, but the two share remarkably little compassion for one another. Nominally allies, they scheme against each other endlessly, with Duerra chafing at Laduguer's bitterness and resentment. After centuries of only middling success under his patronage, Duerra is a hair away from attempting to depose him as the prime deity of the gray dwarves. The illithid god-brain Ilsensine hates Duerra for the many thefts of psionic energy and information the Axe Princess has stolen from it.

Dogma:

The children of Laduguer shall conquer the earth and stone from which they sprang and the voids in which they dwell. The seizing of new lands, new wealth, and new servitors is the manifest destiny of those who mine the Night Below. Magic is weak, unreliable, and unsubtle when compared to the powers of the mind unless bequeathed and steadied by the will of the gods. By means of the Invisible Art, the duergar shall destroy or enslave all those reliant upon petty magics to survive.

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Laduguer
The Exile, the Gray Protector, Master of Crafts

Intermediate Dwarven Deity
Symbol: Broken crossbow bolt on a shield
Home Plane: Hammergrim
Alignment: Lawful Evil
Portfolio: Magic weapon creation, artisans, magic, gray dwarves
Worshipers: Dwarves, fighters, loremasters, soldiers

Domains: Dwarf, Evil, Law, Magic, Metal, Protection, [Craft]

Nature Deity: No
Cleric Alignments: LN, LE, NE

Favored Weapon: "Grimhammer" (warhammer)

Ever since the duergar branched from their dwarven cousins, Laduguer (laa-duh-gwur) has harbored bitter resentment. The Gray Protector views his cousins in the Morndinsamman as indolent layabouts more concerned with maintaining outdated traditions than with progress and artifice. That's not to say Laduguer is a free thinker - he clings to his own brand of intolerant discipline, weaving a doctrine of obedience to one's leader, empowerment through the exploitation of slaves, enrichment through the creation of magical weapons, and protection through an unforgiving program of stern military preparedness. Strongly xenophobic, Laduguer urges his charges to avoid contact with other races except for limited trade and slave raids.

The duergar recognize no difference between religious and secular authority, making Laduguer's clerics (known as thuldor, a dwarven term meaning "those who endure") the nominal rulers of gray dwarf society. The duergar see their existence as a constant struggle against other Underdark races, and the thuldor form the single constant that has kept the race united and powerful ever since the days when Laduguer's clerics first led the gray dwarves away from their surface brethren. Many temples include sizable stables used in the care and breeding of steeders, large monstrous hunting spiders used as transport by many Underdark races. The duergar, under the guidance of the thuldor, have cornered the market on these highly trainable, versatile beasts of burden, granting the race considerable financial clout it the Night Below. The clerics are expected to serve in the military.

Thuldor pray for spells in the morning, usually before dedicating at least an hour to concepting, creating or improving of a magical weapon. The duergar enjoy few religious ceremonies of note, as celebration offers a dangerous break to the toil upon which the duergar owe their protracted existence. Clerics of Laduguer seldom multiclass, occasionally becoming divine champions, fighters, or loremasters.

History/Relationships:

No mortal knows the exact reasons behind Laduguer's exile from the Morndinsamman. The gold and shield dwarves claim that he committed unspeakable crimes against his brethren and was only saved from Moradin's great Soulhammer by the temperance and forgiveness of Berronar. The gray dwarves explain the story somewhat differently, painting the Gray Protector as an advocate of a righteous, innovative philosophy that nonetheless so offended the Dwarffather that Laduguer was cast from the pantheon forevermore. Regard less, the Exile is at best tolerated by Dugmaren and Sharindlar; the rest of the Morndinsamman hold him in deep scorn. Deep Duerra, thought of by many as Laduguer's daughter, is his only true ally (and even she hatches multiple schemes against him). His race's dominance of the steeder market has gained him enmity from Lolth, and an ancient dispute with the demon prince Orcus simmers healthily to this day.

Dogma:

The children of Laduguer have rejected the feckless and feeble gods of their forefathers and withdrawn from their lazy once-kin so as not to be tainted by their weaknesses. Strict obedience to superiors, dedication to one's craft, and endless toil are necessary to achieve wealth, security, and power. Nothing is ever easy, nor should it be. Suffer pain stoically and remain aloof, for to show or even feel emotion is to demonstrate weakness. Those who are weak are undeserving and will suffer an appropriate fate. Adversity is Laduguer's forge, and the harsh trails through which the duergar must pass are his hammer blows - endure all and become stronger than adamantine.