Deep Duerra (DWAIR-uh)
Deep Duerra, or simply Duerra, was the duergar demigoddess of conquest, expansion, and psionics, and was venerated by those dwarves skilled in the mysterious Invisible Art. Ever the imperialist, the Axe Princess of Conquest was a resolute believer in the supremacy of psionics and the manifest destiny of the duergar to rule all the Underdark.
However, it was not the actual possession of territory that Duerra enjoyed, but the act of obtaining it; the Axe Princess was always plotting, planning, and strategizing for her next glorious conquest. Never content, Duerra was ruthless in her pursuit of assured victory, having no tolerance for anyone, no matter who they were, that didn't meet her expectations, and considering no sacrifice too great for her continued success.
Under the surface, Duerra's specific worshipers were known as norothor, (norothar singular) a dwarvish word roughly translated as "those who seize enemy land", and the exact opinion of them widely varied within duergar communities. While younger gray dwarves admired their confidence and assertiveness, the norothor preached their expansionist philosophy so heavily that they were considered a nuisance by older dwarves that favoured Laduguer. Elder dwarves viewed the norothor as cocky upstarts whose aggressiveness would bring down the collective wrath of the drow, illithids, and aboleths (as well as other Underdark races) on their heads, and indeed other Underdark races viewed the emergence of Duerra's faith as a threat to their own lands. While in theory the norothor focus on psionic discipline would make them ideal ambassadors to beings like illithids and aboleths, in practice their inherent brashness meant diplomacy often went awry, the illithids in particular loathing the dwarven adepts that dared to use psionics against its rightful masters.
The vast majority of her clergy (97%) were female, and before the Time of Troubles they were entirely so. Novice members of Duerra's faith were called the Closeminded, while full priests were known as Mindaxes. In ascending order of rank, priests were known by the titles of Psionic Blaster, Mind Thruster, Ego Whipper, Id Insinutor, Psychic Crusher, and Thought Conqueror, with High Old Ones of the church having individual titles and being collectively known as the Axe Princes and Princesses of the Invisible Art. Around 75% of all her clerics were psionicists and in general members frequently trained as psions and fighters. Norothor could wear metal armor if they pleased, though helms not made for psionics tended to interfere with their powers. Being lawful evil wasn't a requirement to become one, with lawful neutrality also being an option.
A secretive order of Duerran psionic priests known as the Mindstalkers of the Invisible Art had cells in most northern duergar settlements in the Realms, their goal being to unify the Northdark duergar kingdoms into an empire ruled by their collective consciousness. Though centuries from being finished, their invisible tendrils had already extended, secretly controlling much of duergar trade in the Savage Frontier and, in recent decades, acting from Skullport to cull psionic talent from slaves and steal surface dwellers with skill in the Invisible Art to breed with their own kind.
Personality
Duerra was a pompous and arrogant authoritarian with the expectation that her every whim be immediately attended to. She dismissed arcane magic as inferior to psionic power, viewed the duergar as a unique race whose ancestral relation to other dwarves as an irrelevant piece of best forgotten trivia, and was resolute in her conviction that it was her inalienable right to rule.However, it was not the actual possession of territory that Duerra enjoyed, but the act of obtaining it; the Axe Princess was always plotting, planning, and strategizing for her next glorious conquest. Never content, Duerra was ruthless in her pursuit of assured victory, having no tolerance for anyone, no matter who they were, that didn't meet her expectations, and considering no sacrifice too great for her continued success.
Worshipers
Like Laduguer, Duerra was venerated by the duergar to the near-exclusion of all other Morndinsamman members, the rest being only revered in name. Duerra's worshipers were primarily duergar that studied psionics and the militant warriors among the gray dwarves that chafed at the defensive ways of Laduguer's priests, those that sought to conquer much of the Underdark and would rather crush than cooperate with their neighbours. Though a few rare surface dwellers called upon the Queen for help in understanding, and more importantly concealing, the Invisible Art that was so often viewed with fear and suspicion, few outside the Underdark had heard of Duerra or her followers. Even hill and mountain dwarves were unlikely to have heard of her, although a handful of hill, mountain, and jungle dwarves skilled in psionics secretly served her (making up less than a percentage of her followers), and the more recent efforts of Duerra's priests had made them the talk of underground waystations and trading communities.Under the surface, Duerra's specific worshipers were known as norothor, (norothar singular) a dwarvish word roughly translated as "those who seize enemy land", and the exact opinion of them widely varied within duergar communities. While younger gray dwarves admired their confidence and assertiveness, the norothor preached their expansionist philosophy so heavily that they were considered a nuisance by older dwarves that favoured Laduguer. Elder dwarves viewed the norothor as cocky upstarts whose aggressiveness would bring down the collective wrath of the drow, illithids, and aboleths (as well as other Underdark races) on their heads, and indeed other Underdark races viewed the emergence of Duerra's faith as a threat to their own lands. While in theory the norothor focus on psionic discipline would make them ideal ambassadors to beings like illithids and aboleths, in practice their inherent brashness meant diplomacy often went awry, the illithids in particular loathing the dwarven adepts that dared to use psionics against its rightful masters.
The vast majority of her clergy (97%) were female, and before the Time of Troubles they were entirely so. Novice members of Duerra's faith were called the Closeminded, while full priests were known as Mindaxes. In ascending order of rank, priests were known by the titles of Psionic Blaster, Mind Thruster, Ego Whipper, Id Insinutor, Psychic Crusher, and Thought Conqueror, with High Old Ones of the church having individual titles and being collectively known as the Axe Princes and Princesses of the Invisible Art. Around 75% of all her clerics were psionicists and in general members frequently trained as psions and fighters. Norothor could wear metal armor if they pleased, though helms not made for psionics tended to interfere with their powers. Being lawful evil wasn't a requirement to become one, with lawful neutrality also being an option.
A secretive order of Duerran psionic priests known as the Mindstalkers of the Invisible Art had cells in most northern duergar settlements in the Realms, their goal being to unify the Northdark duergar kingdoms into an empire ruled by their collective consciousness. Though centuries from being finished, their invisible tendrils had already extended, secretly controlling much of duergar trade in the Savage Frontier and, in recent decades, acting from Skullport to cull psionic talent from slaves and steal surface dwellers with skill in the Invisible Art to breed with their own kind.
Divine Domains
Arcana, Knowledge, War
Divine Symbols & Sigils
Physical Description
Specialized Equipment
The Axe Princess of Conquest's weapon was Mindshatter, her enchanted battleaxe that, upon striking an enemy, could steal psionic strength and transfer it to its wielder. The enchanted, everbright chainmail armor she was clad in was both shimmering and ornate.
Mental characteristics
Personal history
Duerra's deeds in the ancient past had long since become myth, spoken as legend in stories told by elderly duergar mindwardens. Long before she ascended to the ranks of the divine, Duerra was the greatest queen of the duergar, both an empress and warrior who ruled over an immense subterranean empire with dark ambitions to expand. Her domain (and the place her faith would become especially strong) was the Underspires, an ancient city of giant stalactites in the Northdark founded millennia earlier when the duergar first freed themselves from mind flayer enslavement. Under Duerra's centuries long dominion, she had expanded the duergar empire to include the vast reaches of the Underdark, bringing the race to the pinnacle of their power.
In -1850 DR, with her at the front of the forces, the grim duergar soldiers of the Underspires launched a series of strikes against their many foes. These including the drow of Undreath and the illithids of Oryndoll, the latter of which captured and transformed them long ago around -8100 DR to -8080 DR. It was on one of these occasions, according to dubious tales and legends, that Deep Duerra's forces overran the city of Oryndoll, shackling the resident mind flayers that had once done the same to them. Over the course of the next century, Duerra and her surgeons supposedly wrestled the many secrets and powers of psionics from the minds of the captive illithids, stealing the Invisible Art and transferring it to her clan's bloodline. So great was her psionic might, so the legends said, that she turned the entire illithid colony into her thralls.
Some doubted the accuracy of this myth, notably the mind flayers themselves. In their telling of the story, Duerra was the leader of a slave rebellion, the duergar psionic abilities being done by the illithids themselves to create more efficient slaves. However, while the illithids did indeed modify the duergar, performing generations of countless, gruesome breeding experiments, psychic surgeries, and physical alterations to warp them into a unique subrace, the duergar invasions of Oryndoll had occurred, and any potential embellishments aside, Duerra did at some point steal much energy and many of the psionic secrets of Ilsensine.
Sometime around -1800 DR, Duerra's forced turned their simmering hate to the remnants of Deep Shanatar: Ultoksamrin, Holorarar, and the caverns of Alatorin. For her many successes, Laduguer rewarded Duerra with divine ascension, right before her immediate exile from the Morndinsamman. Since Duerra's departure, the Underspires fell into a centuries-long decline, fragmenting and contracting in her absence. Regardless of the questionable veracity of her legends, Duerra was honoured by the duergar as the progenitor of their psychic powers, which not only established the gray dwarves as separate from other dwarves, but also enabling them to hold their own against drow magic and illithid psionics. The ancient queen was further worshiped for the uncompromised ambition she displayed to increase duergar dominion, and was revered as a symbol of duergar dominance through expansion and enslavement.
The Queen Mother was serving as regent for her young son Olorn Ridaugaur, who ascended to the Underthrone upon her disappearance. The Queen Mother and her son (as well as his children) were the last remnants of the original Shanatar bloodline, though only distantly so, being over a hundred generations down the line. The 12 ft (3.7 m), self-styled War King had strange powers, including the ability to hurl heavily armoured duergar into walls with crushing force using only gusts of winds from his gestures. He also wielded the Barakuir sceptre (although he could only use it as a magic club) and was seeking the words of power to help him claim Wyrmskull Throne. He claimed to be Duerra's son, (a debatably true sentiment) and since his mother's departure, he had initiated a great military crusade to expand to the north, an attack so fanatical it was thought Duerra had granted him a warband quest spell.
Over twelve years, his holy warriors had gathered for strikes against the underlands of Dragonreach held by the drow and studded with a few isolated dwarven and svirfbelin settlements. In little time, he had managed to crush many of the enclaves and overrun at least one minor drow city. At the same time, he had also sent his armies against the mind flayers of Oryndoll to the west beneath the Shining Plains. Despite their enthusiasm, the actual successes of these quick conquests had been few and far between, and the awakening empire had quickly created for itself a wide number of rivals and foes, potentially making it vulnerable to a concerted strike.
In -1850 DR, with her at the front of the forces, the grim duergar soldiers of the Underspires launched a series of strikes against their many foes. These including the drow of Undreath and the illithids of Oryndoll, the latter of which captured and transformed them long ago around -8100 DR to -8080 DR. It was on one of these occasions, according to dubious tales and legends, that Deep Duerra's forces overran the city of Oryndoll, shackling the resident mind flayers that had once done the same to them. Over the course of the next century, Duerra and her surgeons supposedly wrestled the many secrets and powers of psionics from the minds of the captive illithids, stealing the Invisible Art and transferring it to her clan's bloodline. So great was her psionic might, so the legends said, that she turned the entire illithid colony into her thralls.
Some doubted the accuracy of this myth, notably the mind flayers themselves. In their telling of the story, Duerra was the leader of a slave rebellion, the duergar psionic abilities being done by the illithids themselves to create more efficient slaves. However, while the illithids did indeed modify the duergar, performing generations of countless, gruesome breeding experiments, psychic surgeries, and physical alterations to warp them into a unique subrace, the duergar invasions of Oryndoll had occurred, and any potential embellishments aside, Duerra did at some point steal much energy and many of the psionic secrets of Ilsensine.
Sometime around -1800 DR, Duerra's forced turned their simmering hate to the remnants of Deep Shanatar: Ultoksamrin, Holorarar, and the caverns of Alatorin. For her many successes, Laduguer rewarded Duerra with divine ascension, right before her immediate exile from the Morndinsamman. Since Duerra's departure, the Underspires fell into a centuries-long decline, fragmenting and contracting in her absence. Regardless of the questionable veracity of her legends, Duerra was honoured by the duergar as the progenitor of their psychic powers, which not only established the gray dwarves as separate from other dwarves, but also enabling them to hold their own against drow magic and illithid psionics. The ancient queen was further worshiped for the uncompromised ambition she displayed to increase duergar dominion, and was revered as a symbol of duergar dominance through expansion and enslavement.
Time of Troubles
During the Time of Troubles in 1358 DR, when Ao forced the gods to walk Toril in avatar form, Duerra took the body of the Queen Mother of Underspires to be her mortal form. Duerra's return sparked a new age of empire-building, helping the city to emerge from its long torpor. The army of elites which she had assembled and trained had made attacks against the outlying settlements of Ironfang and Undreath, helping them to reach their highest level of readiness in centuries. The empire managed to expand their rule to Underdark tunnels beneath the Cloven Mountains, reaching the deepest mines of Tathtar. When the Time of Troubles concluded that same year, Duerra disappeared to the southernmost reaches of the Underdark, her Queen Mother aspect's fate being unknown.The Queen Mother was serving as regent for her young son Olorn Ridaugaur, who ascended to the Underthrone upon her disappearance. The Queen Mother and her son (as well as his children) were the last remnants of the original Shanatar bloodline, though only distantly so, being over a hundred generations down the line. The 12 ft (3.7 m), self-styled War King had strange powers, including the ability to hurl heavily armoured duergar into walls with crushing force using only gusts of winds from his gestures. He also wielded the Barakuir sceptre (although he could only use it as a magic club) and was seeking the words of power to help him claim Wyrmskull Throne. He claimed to be Duerra's son, (a debatably true sentiment) and since his mother's departure, he had initiated a great military crusade to expand to the north, an attack so fanatical it was thought Duerra had granted him a warband quest spell.
Over twelve years, his holy warriors had gathered for strikes against the underlands of Dragonreach held by the drow and studded with a few isolated dwarven and svirfbelin settlements. In little time, he had managed to crush many of the enclaves and overrun at least one minor drow city. At the same time, he had also sent his armies against the mind flayers of Oryndoll to the west beneath the Shining Plains. Despite their enthusiasm, the actual successes of these quick conquests had been few and far between, and the awakening empire had quickly created for itself a wide number of rivals and foes, potentially making it vulnerable to a concerted strike.
Death and Revival
In 1383 DR, Moradin assembled other members of his pantheon to crush the forces of Hammergrim. Though Gorm Gulthyn and Haela Brightaxe died in the battle, Clangeddin Silverbeard dispatched Duerra while Moradin slew Laduguer. Hammergrim dispersed into the Astral Plane to the sound of victorious battle hymns. She seemingly returned after the Second Sundering.Social
Contacts & Relations
For as long as Duerra had been a divine being, she had been exiled (though not stricken completely) from the Morndinsamman, and she had shown no interest in trying to remedy the relationship. She had no friends among the dwarven gods, though Sharindlar had managed to forge working relationships with her despite loathing her principles and the wandering Dugmaren had no true foes among dwarven gods, tolerated as he was by lawful members of the pantheon due to the beneficial aspects of some of his inventions, though he found Duerra's company trying at the best of times. If some rumours were to be believed, she was the granddaughter of Moradin and Berronar and the daughter of her superior and only ally, Laduguer.
Though thought of by many as Laduguer's daughter, whether in the literal sense or perhaps because he raised her from a mortal to a demigod, the two had a very poor affinity for one another and showed a remarkable lack of compassion towards each other. While Duerra enforced the principles of ambition, greed, might, and stoicism that Laduguer had set for the duergar race, and though she both respected and obeyed him, acting as his chief lieutenant, their alliance was completely nominal.
The Axe Princess secretly felt restricted by her patron, regarding her "father" as a man whose bitterness and spite had wasted centuries of opportunities to claim the duergar birthright, and whereas Laduguer was fixated on feelings of rejection and unappreciation, Duerra was indifferent to the duergar's distant heritage. Duerra endlessly schemed against Laduguer and he did the same in kind, and, in more recent times, Duerra was said to be only a hair away from trying to depose him as the primary gray dwarf deity.
Though thought of by many as Laduguer's daughter, whether in the literal sense or perhaps because he raised her from a mortal to a demigod, the two had a very poor affinity for one another and showed a remarkable lack of compassion towards each other. While Duerra enforced the principles of ambition, greed, might, and stoicism that Laduguer had set for the duergar race, and though she both respected and obeyed him, acting as his chief lieutenant, their alliance was completely nominal.
The Axe Princess secretly felt restricted by her patron, regarding her "father" as a man whose bitterness and spite had wasted centuries of opportunities to claim the duergar birthright, and whereas Laduguer was fixated on feelings of rejection and unappreciation, Duerra was indifferent to the duergar's distant heritage. Duerra endlessly schemed against Laduguer and he did the same in kind, and, in more recent times, Duerra was said to be only a hair away from trying to depose him as the primary gray dwarf deity.
Divine Classification
Lesser deity
Religions
Alignment
Lawful evil
Honorary & Occupational Titles
Queen of the Invisible Art
Axe Princess of Conquest
Daul/Daughter of Laduguer
Axe Princess of Conquest
Daul/Daughter of Laduguer
Children
-1800 DR
Comments