Duergar

== Overview==

The Duergar are a race of people, closely related to the Dwarves. In fact, they are considered a derivative of Dwarves, the Gray Dwarves, for their gray skin and similar physio/social traits. They are a joyless people, partly due to their race-wide worship Laduguer, god of toil; and also because of the grim environment which their society evolved. The Duergar nation is based in the Girn mountain range, nearly as deep underground as the mountains are tall. There are very little natural resources available aside from minerals, so the Duergar are heavily reliant upon the Drow which live in a more verdant section of the mountains; a reliance which the Drow abuse habitually.

Despite the fact that the Duergar culture seems geared toward perpetual melancholy, there is little distension, or signs of the society bordering collapse, perhaps due to a powerful anesthetic that the Laduguer are rumored to give out freely. Their smithing and crafting skills are less refined than the Dwarves' methods, but are incredibly more resilient; some artifacts having survived exposure to molten rock.

The Duergar government is a theocratic monarchy, with the head of state and the leader of the Laduguer clergy being the same person without fail throughout Duergar history.