Duerkas Gemhammer

The first and only son of Kalrum Greatforge and Dueria Gemhammer. His mother kept him hidden from Kalrum, and trained him as an apprentice from an early age until she felt like she could 'reveal him'. She never got that chance, and Duerkas nearly died trying to save her from a failed experiment involving felfire... hence the heavy burn scars.

## Duerkas Gemhammer

The image was edited a bit to make it look closer to Duerkas... You still have to imagine the left side of his face being extremely burned, his eyes have red iris's, and his beard is black and he has NO sideburns.

### Aliases

Former Twilight Cultist, The Fel-Scarred, Occultist, Shadowlord

### Relatives

phttps://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1\_U7\_C7e9tLJuFPyW0-LxlrwnxyMDdxrc2CRN22qWaJ8 Kalrum's clans]

## Physical description

### Eye color

His right eye is similar to a Bronzebeard's but with a red iris, his left eye stares blankly ahead, gray and dead. Although, pinpricks of fel are visible if one looks closely.

## **Characteristics**

He's fairly young for a dwarf, standing just an inch taller then his father but weighing far less then him. He's simply skinny for a dwarf! Although, he has a certain... wiry strength to him, he's not a pushover, but he is also a cripple. The left side of his body is horribly burned, and while his left leg and arm function, they do so painfully and slowly, permanently damaged from this early injury.

He has a rather powerful shadowy aura that surrounds him, clinging to his pale gray skin. Duerkas is certainly no 'High Priest of Shadow or Void' or anything like that, but he's not someone you underestimate.

### **Physical Appearance**

The single most defining feature you would notice straight off the back is his mixed heritage and the severe burn wounds. That, and the shadows that cling to his frame!

His skin is of a pale gray color, and his right eye has an iris akin to a forge's ember. It doesn't dominate his entire eye like a dark iron's, but it is the same color as one of there burning eyes. This marks him clearly as a half dark iron dwarf! Oh, he also has void-infused tattoo's on the right side of his face, that glow twilight, purple and black, when he casts spells, or are simple dark purple when he isn't. His one good eye also glows purple when he casts spells, but that's beside the point.

Burn scars disfigure his face and most of the left side of his body. Leaving his left eye gray and dead, pinpricks of fel still visible in the iris as the scar's do down his cheeks and ear to his left shoulder, thoroughly engulfing his left arm and the left side of his torso. To note, it's not half and half, it's about a fourth of his chest and stomach area. It keeps going down to his waist, and further down his left leg, rendering it barely functional. Even his left foot wasn't spared the damage and it hurts to walk with, leaving him with a severe limp and thus, a cripple.

Duerkas's beard is pure black, a feature common among the Gemhammer and Darkmine families, but unlike most dwarves, its the only hair on his head besides his right eyebrow and the mangled left eyebrow. He has no sideburns as he cannot grow hair on his left cheek, so he shaves the hair that grows on his right cheek. Similarly, he shaves his head hair to remain bald! Thus, his beard is a long goatee and mustache combo, his chin hair is longer then his mustache hair (the ingame model has the mustache as longer).

His entire body is also usually covered in a shroud of darkness. Like a layer of clothing almost, it makes it nearly impossible to see him at night, or while in shadow, and even in broad daylight it makes it difficult to discern his features... although, his limp will usually give him away to those who know him.

#### **Personal Items**

Duerkas wields a staff of darkness, a rather simple object of power that is a long rod of a shadow-touched metal, umbral to be specific. At the top of the staff, a void crystal is set and pulses pure darkness every few seconds, some of that energy leaks down the staff's length, covering the upper part of the staff in a spider's web of darkness that blends seamlessly with Duerkas's hand when he holds it.

His robes are largely mundane in nature in terms of magical properties. However, they are of an old design among Dark Iron culture, outdated from the time of the War of the Three Hammers but tailored for nobility! It was once worn by one of his uncles or forefathers during that time period.

At his side, attached to his belt by durable dinosaur leather (taken from the Searing Gorge) and latched tight by a dark iron latch is a book of relatively pure evil. A book of shadow, the scrawling on the cover speaks of madness and the void as shadowy energy seems to weep from the purple gem adorning the front cover. The energy coats the book entirely and bonds seamlessly with Duerkas's own shadowy aura, enhancing it like his staff does. The book itself was once said to be a possession of Cho'gall, but the validity of that rumor is unknown, however, the book is likely the most powerful object in Duerkas's possession and was once the book of his mother.

Duerkas also wields two enchanted rings his mother once wore, one of protection, the other of radiant resistance to help fight Light wielders. In terms of jewelry however, his most cherished possession is a small trinket, a well crafted locket of the Gemhammer Clan symbol with the image of Duerla, his grandmother on one side, and his mother on the other side when it's opened.

### **Personality**

Like both his parents, Duerkas is exceedingly intelligent and cunning, with a sharp and inquisitive mind prone to curiosity. Unlike his father however, Duerkas inherited his mother's penchant for self interest, caring far more about himself then others and being more then capable of committing evil acts for his own benefit. Despite this, it's not to say he's evil, far from it, he struggles to try and make something of himself since his misplaced allegiances with the Twilight Hammer cult without showing his weakness or inner turmoil.

It should also be noted, that he has a tendency to insult others, listen in on conversations without a second thought, and if you thought he might have gotten better from being burned as he was, more humble from his injuries, you'd be half right. He is more humble, but he's also FAR more cynical and darkly humored then previously!

## **History**

No one knows who Duerkas is, his mother kept his birth hidden from Kalrum, his father, and he grew up in relative isolation from society. He was trained from an early age in brutal trials of wit and quick thinking and began to wield the same powers as his mother, proving naturally attuned to the shadow and a fast learner. However, despite seemingly despising his mother, he loved her.

### **The First and Second War**

During the First and Second War, between them actually, his mother engaged in a risky experiment involving an orcish warlock she mind controlled. She wanted to learn how to wield the destructive power of fel and without realizing the danger of mixing void and fel, her spell literally blew up in her face. The void clawed at her mind, tearing at her soul as felflames literally ate at her body. The orc warlock died instantly as well, his mind suffering from the spell's failure due to the link Dueria had formed with him, and it was Duerkas who was nearby when it happened. The explosion seared the left side of his body in the chaotic fire, and it was only a miracle the fire's died out relatively quickly... he tried to save his mother, and failed. He passed out, and was later found by a dark iron trade ambassador who decided to save the young dwarf, after finding Dueria's corpse and figuring Duerkas was her son or cousin, and wanting to repay a debt he owed to the Gemhammer clan.

Once he was recovered as best he could, the ambassador promptly kicked him out with his mother's items, a final 'gift'. Using the locket's symbol, he located his clan's home and broke in. It had been vandalized and broken in, as no living Gemhammer's resided there anymore, the house was chilling as well. Duerkas later learned the undead spirit of his grandmother resided in the tombs beneath and he made sure to stay out of her way...

### **The Twilight Hammer Cult**

After the Second War, when the Twilight Hammer Cult began spreading among other races, the dark iron's were one of the first major non-orc races to join up. Duerkas included. He accepted their doctrines and their gifts, nearly losing his mind for awhile in his religious brainwashing. However, he would eventually regain his sanity when most of the cult was routed from Shadowforge City during the events of Classic World of Warcraft. Somewhat disillusioned, he swore fealty to Moira, and in a show of loyalty, he led her forces to one of the last main compounds for the Cult and personally aided in their defeat. As a result, she gifted him his clan's home and despite lacking proof of his true linage, she named him the last remaining Gemhammer. It was then he met Crura Darkmine, his cousin on his mother's side. The two said nothing, they didn't really know or care for each other and parted ways afterwards. He set about earning gold in various ways, to slowly rebuild his clan's home and hire staff, but it was next to impossible with his disabilities. Thus, he took to politics and schemes... and he was very good at learning what others wished to keep secret, and exploiting that information. Eventually, he was as rich as a poor Senator and his home had been mostly restored, although the wing and entrance to the tombs was left untouched due to the ghost of his grandmother freezing any workers who made too much noise near her crypt.

Duerkas however, did not truly leave the cult. He was still a member, and had agreed to act as a spy, the lesser members being forced to act as sacrifices to allow Duerkas to remain in the city as a relatively trusted member of Moira's court.

### **The Cataclysm**

Duerkas was eventually contacted again to aid his Twilight kin in bringing about the End Times, and he heeded their call, giving them information on Shadowforge City and in's to the city, he wasn't the only spy they left, but he was one of the higher up ones... then, he left the city, to aid in their other endeavors elsewhere. It was around this time he received his staff of darkness and began getting disillusioned with the cult as they started to suffer from a string of defeats. Culminating in the deaths of Cho and Gall, and later Deathwing. The latter sealing the deal for Duerkas who promptly left the cult, returned to Shadowforge City, killed any cultist he discovered as a show of loyalty again, and began truly serving his Queen.

#### **Beyond Deathwing's Death**

Since this, he has technically joined the Alliance, and does aid them while exploring the world, recently joining an order of knowledge seekers and teachers called 'NECROTICA' after defeating one of their strongest champions known as Garius. The order is led by a Shal'dorei known as Euphemia Crowsong. Ironically, he has met his father, Kalrum, but neither of them know each other or their blood ties!