Deep Dwarves

"Oh no, you got it all wrong. They are fillin' your mind with garbage if you believe WE abandoned THEM. It was THEY who abandoned US!" - An enraged duergar

There is a rare justification for a civilization built on resentment and hate. Although the exact specifics are unknown to most surface-dwellers, the tale behind the birth of the duergar clan is a tale of great shame to the dwarves.

Basic Information

Anatomy

Deep dwarves [duergar in Dwarvish] have a much more grey tone to their skin than others of their kin. This is most likely due to long years spent in the deepest cravasses of the world. Their eyes are often pale white or grey and their hair has very simplistic colours - ranging from grey to black. Anatomically otherwise they resemble an average dwarf in their life span, weight and height.

Civilization and Culture

History

Duergar, the clan of the betrayed. The clan of the forsaken. The far-dwelling clan. The Clan of Hate.

Defence of the Depths

The fall of the duergar clan began so long ago, that it is ancient history even from the perspective of the long-lived elves. The clan that would become the duergar had seen what creatures had taken the surface world. These strange, otherworldly entities had twisted the horizon into their own image. The deep dwarves did what every other dwarf clan did, and they hid. They remained in their own, distant kingdoms and mighty realms in hopes of the strange beings never spreading so far from the surface soil. No other clan was as wrong with this as the deep dwarves.
Discovering some of the most abysmal tunnels and cave-networks in the known world, the masters of the elves began their long descent down into the depths of the world. Down, into the home of the deep dwarves. Battles, according to the duergar legend, were gruelling and they fought bravely as they sent the request for aid to other dwarven clans. It was then that the alien conquerors began using their psyche against the strong duergar. As brother clashed against brother, and sisters pushed each other into giant underground ravines, the creatures made their advances.
No clans replied. No answers came through. No dwarf would lend an axe in defence of their deep brothers. Instead, what came would be centuries and generations of slavery.

Bitter Slaves

Most of the slowly building resentment inside of the duergar was not focused against their captors, but rather at their brothers who had failed miserably and left them to the mercy of these strange creatures. In their years of servitude, the duergar performed admirably due to their innate fondness of stone and different minerals and their ability to wield a pickaxe with impressive precision. It was then, that a Queen rose among the slaves (Using the moniker at the beginning as an alias to not reveal her true identity to the duergars masters).
The Queen of the duergar had experienced strange headaches, but still took care of her people the best she could. Through time, she learned she could hear some of the most surface-level thoughts of those around her. Rumors circulating this "Queen" figure state that she experienced a deeply traumatic event related to the conquerors psionic powers, which might've "infected" her with similar minor abilities. Through this strange "gift" the Queen learned of what the deep elves - another race bound to serve the otherworldly masters - were planning. It was not through cooperation, but through careful manipulation and coercion that the two slave parties rallied at the same time they did.
The deep elves were merciless - Allowing the duergar to take their blows for them as they summoned dark beings from other worlds to assist the slave rebellion, the clan of the deep dwarves shrunk to a quarter of what it used to be. Seeing as the dark elves could not be trusted with their new "Dark Mother", the duergar deserted their masters lofty metallic halls in search for something new - something for them to own.

Uncelebrated Return

The clan of the duergar returned to find silence. Even as news spread, only a handful of dwarven diplomats ever visited them and even they came armed and cautious. Wishing to have nothing to do with the clan that was "tainted" by these foreign creatures, the diplomats pleaded for a safe return which the duergar granted them. Outnumbered to nearly every other faction lurking in the depths, the duergar began mass-production of arms and armor and even citadels were crafted with minimal effort. As the new High Queen "Deep Duerra" (Who had erased all of her earlier names to befit her new clan) began teaching her clan on how to use psychic powers for their own benefit, the duergar cut their last ties to the other dwarven clans. Since then, it is not unheard of for dwarven traders of other clans to go missing in the depths, or to be found with a rough-edged cast-iron axe jammed into their skulls.

Genetic Ancestor(s)

• Dwarves