Berath SteelShadow, eighth son of Deep King Horgar SteelShadow, grew up in the city of

Gracklestugh in the Underdark. Raised in the King’s shadow, and the shadow of his seven other
siblings, Berath had difficulty standing apart from his brothers and sisters. Despite considerable
combat prowess, most duergar are capable of similar feats of strength, especially dwarves of the
royal family.

In an attempt to make something of his life, Berath left his home on his 88th birthday to wander
the cities of the Underdark. During his travels, he had a chance encounter with a mindflayer. The
mindflayer pierced Berath’s mind with psionic probes, to soften and tenderize the brain for
devouring; however, in the process, a primal ability was awoken in Berath. Turning the power of
psionics against the mindflayer, Berath overpowered the fleshy squid with strength of arm and
strength of mind.

Returning to the city, Berath used his psionics to rise in the ranks of the military and noble court.
In his spare time, when he wasn’t fighting or meditating, Berath practiced smithing. His weapons
were powerful, but a little too ornate for duergar taste, so he predominantly sold his craft to the
surface dwellers. From these trade contacts, he met Kushana. As time passed, he yearned for an
adventure, not content to mindlessly craft and fight as is the duergar way.

One day, Kushana was returning from a heist in Waterdeep flush with cash and sporting new
arms and armor. Kushana felt guilty leaving her party to themselves, but she had work to do
raising a mercenary army to reconquer her city. So she decided to contact Berath, he always
seemed jealous of her adventures.

She proposed he take her place in the party. Kushana was more accustomed to greatswords than
the longsword Zephyr she currently possessed, so she traded it to Berath in exchange for his
finest greatsword. She also bequeathed the blackskull ring to him. The ring seemed to play with
her mind from time to time, and this was not a moment in her life to lack clarity. Berath was
made of sterner stock than most, and with his psionic mind, he did not fear the strange whispers
of the black ring.

Berath set off for the city of waterdeep, to go on his first real adventure at the age of 200. His
goals are to kill more mindflayers, partly to see if it would uncover more psionic abilities, also
because the duergar naturally hate mindflayers.