In the days when Brannor ruled Dynkyr alone, the Derro emerged from the Durur and brought strife into the halls of Dynkyr. These were they who had pursued the Grimlock in the days of Urlem, following Urthur, brother of the Regn, into the far reaches of the deep. In that campaign many passages were sealed—whether by necessity or mischance—and the Derro were lost to sight for long years.
They came not as supplicants, but as claimants, naming the Stoneborn their debtors and demanding recompense for the wars they had waged in darkness.
The Derro were changed by their time in Durur. Their skin had turned pale as chalk and their hair had faded in the lightless depths. Their eyes were gray and dim, seeing poorly in brightness yet keen in shadow. Their arms and armor no longer bore the mark of the forge, but were fashioned from the hides, bones, and chitin of beasts that dwell in the deepest caverns. They spoke our tongue, yet with harsh cadence, and their customs had grown strange.
They were of our blood, yet no longer of our manner.
The Derro found little welcome in Dynkyr. Disputes arose in council and quarrels in the streets. Some among the Stoneborn named them heroes long abandoned; others called them wild and unfit for the order of the Dun.
At length Brannor, seeking peace within his walls, granted them charter to found Dun Dalurdig in Durur under the regency of the son of Urthur. Thus the Derro were given hold and hearth of their own, and the Stoneborn were spared open conflict—though not division.
And Brannor was Regn for thirteen and two hundreds of years before he died. He was succeeded by Kranig the Regn.
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