Laduguer

Laduguer is the lawful evil dwarven deity of the duergar. The Exile harbors a bitter resentment against the rest of the Morndinsamman ever since he was cast out, although he maintains he left voluntarily. The Gray Protector is a xenophobic god with a doctrine of empowerment through slave exploitation and protection through an unforgiving military program, urging his followers to avoid contact with other races save for limited trade and slave raids.

Description

Laduguer appeared as a bald, gaunt, 6 feet (1.8 meters) or 13 feet (4 meters) tall duergar with skin that changed from gray to brown to match his environment and a perpetual frown.

Personality

As a rule, Laduguer is grim, gloomy, and absent of joy. He is supremely lawful, but while doubtlessly also evil-inclined, much of this is evil turned inwards, bitterness towards rejection and underappreciation. Despite viewing his peers as obsessing with tradition at the expense of progress, he is not a free-thinker himself but a harsh and unbending taskmaster who adheres strictly to his own brand of intolerant discipline. He demands his duergar to engage in constant toil under harsh conditions, but does reward their diligence through his protection and teachings on how to craft magical items.

Worshippers

The duergar might worship Laduguer, but even they did not love their severe god, stoicly following him (among other reasons) out of the belief that only the strong were worthy of life.

The duergar did not differentiate between secular and religious authority, so Laduguer's clergy served as the nominal rulers of society. They were known as the thuldor ("those who endure") and they kept the race united and powerful against the other races of the Underdark. They were expected to serve in the military.

Many temples included large stables used to care for and breed steeders: large, monstrous riding spiders.

Relationships

Laduguer viewed the rest of the dwarven pantheon most unfavorably, despising them as indolent and feckless layabouts bound to outdated conventions.

Laduguer was at best tolerated by Dugmaren and Sharindlar — the rest of the pantheon held him in deep scorn.

Deep Duerra, thought to be his daughter, was his only true ally - even she hatched many schemes against him. His race's dominance over the trade of steeders gained him the enmity of Lolth and he had ancient disputes with the demon prince Orcus.

History

Laduguer had been exiled from the Morndinsamman. The gold and shield dwarves claimed he committed unspeakable crimes and was only saved from Moradin's wrath by Berronar Truesilver. The grey dwarves, however, said he was an advocate of righteous, innovative philosophy that offended Moradin so much that he cast him out.

In 1383 DR, Laduguer and Deep Duerra were both destroyed and their home plane of Hammergrim dispersed into the Astral Plane. Most Worshipers of Laduguer did not realize this, however, as Asmodeus took up the guise of Laduguer in an effort to gain more followers. Duergar began making pacts with devils as a result, securing infernal power for themselves.

Following the Second Sundering, Laduguer was once again present and revered by the duergar, although the circumstances of his return were unknown.

Laduguer

Intermediate deity

Basic Information

Titles

The Exile
The Gray Protector
Master of Crafts
The Slave Driver
The Taskmaster
The Harsh

Adjectives

Ladugueran

Pantheons

Morndinsamman
Duergar

Served By

Deep Duerra

Attributes

Alignment

Lawful Evil

Symbol

Broken arrow
Broken crossbow bolt on a shield

Realm

Infinite Battlefield of Acheron/Thuldanin/Hammergrim

Portfolio

Artisans, Gray Dwarves, Magic, Magic Weapon Creation

Favored Weapon

Grimhammer (warhammer)

Following

Worshippers

Dwarves
Fighters
Loremasters
Soldiers

Alignments

LN, LE, NE

Domains

Artifice (Construct, Industry)
Law (Slavery)
Magic (Arcane)
Protection (Fortifications)

Favored Aspects

Animals/Plants

Werebadgers

Razorvine

Monsters

Ash mephits
Azers
Baatezu
Baku
Dark ones
Banelars
Bone nagas
Brain moles
Cerebral parasites
Chaggrins
Crawlers
Dark nagas
Demaraxes
Earth elementals
Earth mephits
Earth weirds
Fhorges
Gray oozes with psionic ability
Hammer golems
Helmed horrors
Hook spiders
Intellect devourers
Ironmaws
Imps
Incarnates of anger and pride
Living steel
Maelephants
Meenlocks
Mineral mephits
Observers
Reaves
Rust dragons
Rust monsters
Sandmen
Shadowdrakes
Steeders
Stone wolves
Sword spirits
Su-monsters
Tso
Xavers
Yugoloths

Minerals

Adamantine
Black sapphires
Bloodstones
Diamonds
Hizagkuur
Mithral
Silver

Colors

Gray
Steel

Manifest- ations

A flickering dark aura