Derro

The Mad dwarf-kin of the deep.

The Derro are the mad half-kin of the dwarves.

Basic Information

Ecology and Habitats

Derro prefer to remain underground, as they have a sensitivity to light, like all creatures of the Underdark. While they can adapt to life on the surface, doing so takes up to a year of gradually increasing the amount of light they are exposed to until they can bare the feel of it on their skin and see without being blinded.

Additional Information

Social Structure

Derro live together in anything from a small band of twenty, to a massive stronghold of several thousand.
Within the smaller bands found in the Underdark they are often lead by the most vicious of the group, hiring themselves out as mercenaries and assassins to the Duergar and Drow, usually in their mutual wars against the Illithid.
Derro who choose to live together in a stronghold are lead by a elite class called Savants. Savants are Derro with extremely high levels of psionic power, allowing them to telepathically communicate, levitate at will, and unleash terrible psionic attacks against foes. Savants rule the stronghold over the clans that live there, usually somewhere between four to twenty depending on the size, deciding the laws of the stronghold, when and if it is allowed to communicate with the outside world, and conducting ritualistic ceremonies to their chosen patron, Diinkarazan. Under the Savants are the clan leaders, who decide the day to day events and rules that govern each clan.

The Derro Clan

A Derro clanhold is usually made up of a group of Derro related by either marriage or blood. They can have anywhere from twenty to upwards of two hundred members in a single clan. Each clan member fulfills a specific role within the clan, some hunting or growing the food, others cooking, cleaning, forging and repairing equipment, making garments, building the structures of the clanhold, and all other manners of occupations. Clans are also required to provide a number of their group to act as guards and warriors to defend the stronghold as a whole. Those chosen remain within the clanhold until called to act by the Savants, or until the stronghold itself comes under attack.
Perhaps the strangest of all for those outside the Derro culture is the Clan Shift. A Clan Shift happens every fifty years, in which each member from each clan in every stronghold suddenly changes their clan allegiance to a different clan within the stronghold they live. Outsiders who have witnessed the event tell tales of clan leaders of one clanhold suddenly becoming pot scrubbers in another, without the slightest misgivings of sign of being upset.

Facial characteristics

Derro have white hair, if they choose to keep it, sold white eyes without irises or pupils, and usually keep large mustaches or mutton chop beards.

Geographic Origin and Distribution

The Derro are largely found in the Underdark, though there is a substantial colony in Eltar.

Average Intelligence

To varied to average.

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

Derro have enhanced lowlight vision due to their lives spent within the earth.

Civilization and Culture

Naming Traditions

All Derro names begin with a 'D'.

To not have a 'D' at the beginning of your name is considered unlucky, or perhaps just means your not actually a Derro in which case what are you doing in my home invader?! Do you wish to die? ANSWER ME!!

Major Language Groups and Dialects

Common Undercommon Dwarven

History

The Ancient Times

When Moradin first forged the Dwarves, they stumbled into the new world around them, empty shells waiting to be filled. Some found solace in the emptiness, others found rage. The Derro found the emptiness to be a screaming void that drove them insane.

While the Dwarves were given true life and sentience by the breath of Moradin, the Derro instead were those left behind, not given true life by their creator. Instead, the Derro found a far stranger way. Much like the Duergar, they were more vicious than those who became true Dwarves, and were banished to the Underdark by Moradin for it, where they were immediately discovered by the Illithid. The Illithid saw their empty vessels, searching for meaning and after enslaving them, began to experiment on their mind using their psionic powers, warping and molding them to become a perfect slave race from their very creation. For much of their existence this worked well for the Illithid, the Derro were unerring in their servitude, even willing to execute themselves at a simple command from their masters. While they followed commands well, and did all a truly living being would do, (eating, breeding etc), they still possessed no true spark of consciousness, denied that by the terrible control the Illithid place upon them to keep them cowed and easy to control. All changed when the Duergar rose up against the Illithid, freeing themselves from their terrible grasp, and allong the Derro to break free almost as an after effect.
For the Second time in their existence, the Derro found themselves lost, cast away from the only stability they had known for their entire lives. Where the Duergar found exaltation in their freedom, the Derro only found suffering.

For what is a slave without a master? Take the fish from the water and place him upon the land and call him free from its oppression and you will understand the Derro after the breaking of their bonds.

The Derro now with nothing to guide them fled out deeper and deeper into the Underdark, to parts so deep they had been forgotten about even by the denizens of that dark abyss. One group lead by a Derro called Diinkarazan fled down into the depths of the earth itself. What to them next is still uncertain, some believe the Derro found their way directly into a Ley Line node and the raw natural magic of that place suffused itself into their very being, others think they spiraled deeper and deeper, the dark nature of the Underdark warping their minds further and further with each step. The truth of what happened is unknown even to the Derro themselves, but all they know is that after a time Diinkarazan reemerged into the world, alive, sentient, and completely insane.

The Derro Awakening

Like a spark runing through the pitch black, the awakening of the Derro was felt by nearly every being with the capacity of psionics in the Underdark. With a sudden painful moment of clarity, all Derro, those still enslaved and those free wandering were thrown into true sentience as Diinkarazan reemerged. Forced to face the truth of what had been done to their minds and bodies at the hands of the Illithid, and the abandonment and banishment of their creator and father Moradin drove them insane. Derro in all parts of the Underdark began a frenzied attack on everything and anything that they found, all the while being urged on by the psionic instruction of Diinkarazan. entire Illithid colonies, Deurgar strongholds, and Drow cities were said to have been wiped out almost overnight as the mad dwarf-kin rampaged throughout the Underdark. Thousands of Derro died in the process, but for each that died, two slipped free to wander toward the psionic beckoning of Diinkarazan. With each death of their kin, the Derro as a collective became stronger, as pathways of through and experimentation carved into their minds by the Illithid were filled with Diinkarazan's will and awoke psionic abilities within themselves. Diinkarazan also grew stronger with each death pledged to him in the name of revenge and freedom, and subsumed enough power to become a demi-god, blessing his people with further and further gifts even as his blessing drove them further into madness. As his power grew, he came to understand further and further the mistreatment, torture, and pain that was inflicted on his people, which he in turn used to fuel their madness and fury. In the end, all Derro had won freedom from enslavement and had begun to make their way to congregate at the feet of their new God, even if they were to far past sanity to understand why.

Crafty, Not Craftsman

While Derro do possess some of the innate craft skill and inventiveness of their true dwarven kin, they lack the mental stability to craft works of beauty as can be found in Dwarven settlements and keeps. Instead, their crafts tend to have odd uses, not often understood at first, if at all by non Derro. In no way is this better represented than in their strongholds: Doorways that are to small to move through, stairways build along walls that lead to nowhere, and homes built on a scale that either dwarfs those around it, or are to small to be lived in by any Derro are a common sight within their fortified walls. Large winding tunnels, reminiscent to those found in Illithid colonies can be found worming their way through the structure as well, which are used exclusively by the ruling Savants to move about the structure using levitation.

Derro In Vel'Kora

Today, Derro can be found in the Underdark of Vel'Kora living in small bands throughout its vastness, but can also be found within their massive strongholds of Diinkarazan, Deephome, and Daagthakta. They still retain the insanity of their past, and an innate cruelty spawned from their mistreatment during the early days of their race, but are not xenophobic like the Duergar, simply preferring to remain among their own company and kind.
Some Derro are known to leave their clanhold and the Underdark to wander the surface world. While often misunderstood by those around them, and in some cases shunned, they are none the less highly sought as trackers and hunters due to their single minded dedication to a task once given. Some even choose to remain as isolated hermits on the surface, delving deep into their minds to unlock the full potential of their mystical psionic abilities.

Interspecies Relations and Assumptions

Derro have a deep distrust of other species in the Underdark, seeing them as either former oppressors that should be crushed for their crimes, or lesser beings that should be enslaved for their weaknesses. Those Derro who have contact with the surface find surfaces species to be deeply disturbing, with followers of Lathandar being especially mad. They will trade with other species, as long as the other species understands the terms of agreement they provide. These terms are often pointless to disturbing, such as being required to tie all their weapons together during the trade, or to dress their trade animals in the finest silks before th Derro will even acknowledge them.
Derro do not usually have interspecies relationships, it is usually the other species that has an issue with being with a Derro.

Playing a Derro

Derro

Ability Score Increase +1 to Dexterity and Wisdom

Size Medium

Speed 30

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Age
Derro live to be around 250, and are considered adults at 15.
Alignment
Due to their racial madness, Derro are required to be some sort of Chaotic.
Size
Derro stand around 4 ft. tall. Your size is Medium.
Darkvision
Derro have superior darkvision out to 120 ft.
A Mind of Madness
Derro have advantage on being charmed and feared and can choose to refuse telepathic communication.
Lightfooted
Derro have advantage on Stealth checks.

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Derro can choose to take the following racial feat when ever they gain the option to take a feat or gain an ability score increase
See Lesser Savant

Languages. Derro, Common

Lifespan

250 years

Average Height

4 ft.

Average Weight

140 lbs

Average Physique

Derro are usually more lithe than their Dwarven kin.

Body Tint, Colouring and Marking

Derro have skin of a blue-white to blue-gray tint, occasionally opalescent white.