Question About the Underdark Races (D&D)

[Ra]

It's something I never got, really. The drow backstory (IIRC) was that they were once a regular line of surface elves, albeit with dark skin, that lived in the southern jungles and entered the Underdark when the other elves, humans, etc. got tired of their constant warmaking; an event known as the Descent. So, that's the explanation for why you have evil, swarty elves in the Underdark.

But what about the other races? What's with nearly every race having some evil, dark-skinned counterpart? Gnomes have the snirfneblin (which buck the trend by not being evil, but are still dark-skinned gnomes living below ground), and dwarves have the duergar. Frankly, the duergar make the least sense to me, due to the fact that dwarves are underground types already, and aren't exactly the nicest people you could come across.

What's the explanation for the duergar and snirfies' existance? Or is it just some hack going, "we got the drow, let's copy it for the other races"? I dunno... it's just hard for me to swallow the idea that everyone in the Underdark just happens to have ashen skin.

Disclaimer: Yes, as you can tell, I dislike the duergar. But the question is still valid, yes?

[B4UTRUST]

I thought it was the Deawar(or at least were in Dragonlance).

In DL I believed it was explained that they weren't so much dark-skinned, rather they were dark in the "evil" sense. Though most of this was due to apparent inbreeding of some sort and menta instability rather then worshiping of dark forces. They apparently made excellent foot soldiers, some of the mutations leading to enhanced physical strength with a complete lack of rationality.

[Ra]

Ah, that's interesting. Perhaps the duergar I mentioned are exclusive to FR?

[B4UTRUST]

I'm not familer with the FR 'verse enough to know. I just remember something about the DL daewar dwarves being more or less psychopaths, incest and being kicked about as an underclass.

[frigidmagi]

The duergar are dwarves that were enslaved by the mindflayers, developed psionic powers and broke free of their enslavement. They believe the other dwarves abandon them to mindflayer slavery willingly, without attempting to aide them, therefore they do not try to rejoin their kin. It should be noted they have a grudge over this and will attack other dwarves and races they see as being allied to them (gnomes, elves, humans). They stay in the underdark because of the alterations made to them make living on the surface less desirable than living miles underground (they can live on the surface or in the shallow caverns, it's just less comfty for them).

Their god promotes the idea of unending toil to create more wealth, unlike normal dwarves it's joyless toil. This may be a product of their millienia long enslavement.

Their skin is pale because it's hard to get a good tan with miles of rock betwen you and the sun.

[Rogue 9]

You're thinking of derro, with the insane mutated dwarf stuff. The derro are a crazy race of mutated human-dwarf crossbreeds. The duergar are a different race entirely, and quite sane.

[SirNitram]

These days, Duergar and Svinflergen(sp) are relatively benign(Though the Duergar are apparently out of favour with the Dwarf Gods: They didn't receive the Thunder Blessing), and stay down deep because it's where they live now. They etch out livings like most, with xenophobia and lots of weapons.

Illithids are down there because the sun is a bit too bright for them, having risen as a race at the end of time, when the stars were dim and red.

[Dark Silver]

the Dragonlance Deawer Dwarves were known as the Dark Tribe mostly because they were cast down, insane and treacherous. The original Deawar were suppossed to have been noble and heoric Dwarves durting the Age of Dreams, then refound the lost first Dwarven homeland, (forget the name atm) and found a group of dwarves there inflicted with some strange disease which lead to insanity. The Tribe started interbreeding with them, and soon the whole lot were infected by the madness (soon being a couple generations).

The Deawer are all batshit looney, the disease is inbreed into all of them, and they all lust for blood. Thier also treacherous bastards, and will do whatever they can for power. Since casting down, almost the entire Tribe worships at the alters of the Evil third of the Krynn Pantheon.