A few centuries ago, near the Shining Sea, there was a large influx of duergar refugees, leading to many displaced duergars in the Petty Kingdoms, following a massive routing by the Northmen and the more goodly dwarves of the area. In desperate circumstances, they were willing to work for coppers on the gold, which one up-and-coming lord had seen as an opportunity.

The lord had an eye on the borderlands of Al-Qashqa and Zweistrum–an inhospitable stretch of desert that neither the the Kingdoms looked into mainly due to its hostility. The lord had been interested in the mineral rights of the place–a surreptitious caravan of gemstones and metals that he could use to bolster his own home