Goran

[hellspawn]

•Aliases: Father Invention, The Master of Metal
•Race: Gnome
•Worshippers: Mostly gnomes and humans.
•Governs: Engineering, Invention, Inspiration, Scholarship, Mining
•Mantras: Idealistic, Scholarly, Serious, Technological

Discuss and spread ideas of new innovations. Strive to refine known techniques, invent new processes, and tell others about them. Once you begin to work on a new invention, do not stop until it is finished and working. If you think something can be improved, try improving it till you succeed.
Question the impossible with new devices. Sacrifices must be made for the glory of science. Try to keep and share records of your strivings, ideas, and sample devices so that others may follow your work and improve on what you leave behind. Encourage others to think of new tools, improved ways of crafting, new ways of using their existing gear, and new ways of doing things. Acquire and store the inventions of others and share their secrets with others.

[hellspawn]

Clerics of Goran prefer the light hammer as a weapon because it is also a useful tool for creating and fixing things. Technical weapons are preferred over enchanted ones, but those can be useful as well. They prefer practical, durable clothing and armor that can be worn while working. Robes with numerous pockets for tools and scrolls are popular among Goran's clerics. They prefer metal armor in combat, and they do not show any preference toward color in their choices of clothing and armor.

[hellspawn]

From the Master of Metal himself to the lowliest tinker, every member of each academy knows his or her place. It begins with Goran. His chosen on Layonara is the Chief Engineer. Below the Chief Engineer are the first engineer to the chief, the second engineer to the chief, and the third engineer to the chief. Then there is the second engineer to the first engineer to the chief, and the second engineer to the second engineer to the chief, and the second engineer to the third engineer to the chief. Next is the third engineer to the second engineer to the first engineer to the chief, and branching from there are his or her assistants, the first assistant to the third engineer to the second engineer to the first engineer to the chief and the second assistant to the third engineer to the second engineer to the first engineer to the chief, and under that are the first through fifth tinkerers to the first assistant to the third engineer to the second engineer to the first engineer to the chief and the first through fifth tinkerers to the second assistant to the third engineer—well, it’s given that only someone within the organization will know exactly where he or she stands. In fact, it is said that only a born gnome has a chance to truly grasp all the levels of the hierarchy of the academies.
Elections and Organizations
The organization of Goran can only be understood if one acknowledges that the temples, which are referred to as academies, exist independently but linked—often in good-spirited competition. There are no elections in the voting sense; a new Chief Engineer and his three runners-up win their positions in the Stupendous Competition of Layonara’s Most Innovative Inventions for the Glory of Goran. This contest is held every 20 years on 13 Oclar. Members of the three largest academies and gnomes (and occasionally other races) from all over the world gather at the Clockwork Academy on Mistone to explain their inventions and compete for the honor of being the Chief Engineer. The inventions are displayed and points are awarded by the contestgoers. From this, the top 10 inventions are selected. Then the current chief, and the first, second, and third engineer to the chief, review them and select winners to succeed them based solely on the inventions shown. To curb favoritism, these four are not given the identities of the inventors. After the new chief and runners-up have won, applications for the positions below them up to assistant are submitted and they select their choices from those applicants. The remaining tinkers are the inventors who form the bulk of the academies.

It is possible for someone to apply for and remain in their position every contest cycle. The third engineer to the second engineer to the first engineer to the chief, Wibblie Gizwhack, has been in his position for 199 years running. However, while a chief engineer and runners-up can win their positions more than once, they may not compete in the years they leave office, forcing a 20-year skip between stints. In the event of a death in the hierarchy, everyone is bumped up a notch until the next contest.

[hellspawn]

Just about any group devoted to Father Innovation forms an academy of sorts. Most are only as large as the family or community they serve. Only two groups of worshipers have so far gained notoriety on a larger scale.



Clan Whistlebang’s Astonishing Items of Great Size
Gnomes and other inventors tend to be a solitary bunch. The science or art of creation, as some would argue, frequently needs quiet to focus thoughts and ideas. Not so in Clan Whistlebang! From Papa Theddy Whistlebang all the way down to second- cousin-once-removed Tibby Vergewire-Whistlebang, this clan thrives on noise, excitement, and large family gatherings to spawn ideas and move projects. Started by Great-Grandpapy Felodus Whistlebang over 300 years ago, the family tradition is to work together to create massive structures: buildings (twice), a wondrous air machine (once), a mechanical carriage (twice, still in progress), double-reinforced pulley-system iron doors for a fortress (twice, once at home), and numerous other projects both successful and not. Often called the Whistlebangers, the clan is currently working on a specialized sailing vessel. In seclusion while the top-secret ship is built, the details are unknown. But when a project is public, the sight of dozens of gnomes of all ages and sizes swarming over a huge object, supported and moved by the Whistlebang Skysuspension Scaffolding, hammering, painting, engraving, and ratcheting is not to be missed. Felodus has recently passed on at the ripe age of 341and the leadership of the clan has passed to Theddy, his brother’s grandson, a near fanatical follower of Goran. The majority of the clan worships the Master of Metal as well.
Felodus Whistlebang was both a visionary in terms of inventing and building. He invented the original Skysuspension scaffolding, an intricate series of pulleys and ropes on a six-point frame built over the object being created. Family members and help can be whizzed up or down and side to side to any height between the ground and the top of the framework. As the centuries have gone by, the system has been refined and is now quite safe. Felodus died having seen his greatest invention come to fruition—a sky ship, but (perhaps thankfully) before its maiden voyage, which was exactly 56 seconds long.

Theddy Whistlebang has the enthusiasm to fill Felodus’ shoes and has even improved on the original scaffolding by adding a counterweight system so that even heavier pieces can be lifted into place as well; used when the iron fortress doors were built. He is a cheerful gnome, still young, with newborn triplets and a wife who is second assistant to the third engineer to the second engineer to the second engineer to the chief.

Secret Society of Gnomes for Evil Maniacal Purposes
Once a thorn in the side of adventurers, the SSGEMP has bubbled once again to the surface like methane gas in tar. The group specializes in golems and world domination. Run now by Connundra Compressa, a powerful cleric of Goran formerly of the Windmill Academy, the SSGEMP has been sequestered in a Belinaran hideout near the west coast. Reports of golem attacks have been trickling in from small settlements along the continent. Golems capable of expelling fire and lightning and a golem that sucks strength and vitality from everyone it touches have been sighted or experienced by a small handful of survivors. Their exact location is not known and could only be narrowed down by tracking the attacks. Their numbers and identities are similarly hidden with the exception of their leader. Connundra Compressa is a stunning blonde, middle-aged gnome. Well-known as a tinker in the Windmill Academy, she was not well-liked; she was imperious and proud and fully convinced of her superiority. After several mishaps with her constructs, she was asked to leave and disappeared for over a decade. She has resurfaced in communications sent through the Hound’s Tooth, and through those communications her leadership of SSGEMP was discovered. Several Branderbackian Houses are watching for further messages with great interest.

[hellspawn]

Temples to Goran are always called academies. Various academies exist; most of them tend to be very much like workshops full of tinkered devices with plans for more. Clerics can constantly be seen planning or experimenting. Many experiments are dangerous; for this reason, the temples are often in isolated places and do not get many visitors other than the faithful of Goran.

Clockwork Academy
The masterpiece of the academies is the Clockwork Academy near Vandery on Mistone. Often called the Beehive, this mound of a building is roughly cake-shaped with each successive layer indented from the previous. It forms what looks like a precariously balanced metal edifice surrounded by hills. The Chief Engineer resides here but not on the top floor as one would suspect but on the bottom workshop closest to his Tinkers.
Being the largest and oldest of his academies, the Beehive is the crown jewel of Goran’s faith. About 200 years ago, it was even more impressive. The entire structure was designed to rotate like a clock with a shaft down the center of the building catching light and reflecting sharp beams off the notched walls. This made every level its own clock. Inventors busy in their work could simply look at the wall to see what time it was since each level is open around the center shaft with steam-powered gnome risers and de-risers moving the faithful between levels. The power supply was a wonder of magic/technology fusion. Created by the gnome who designed the Clockwork Academy, Nibblit Steamwhistle, this power source, called the Waveril, was a compact mithril triangle suspended between three magnets with a number of conduits snaking off the base and throbbing with Al'Noth energy. Unfortunately, it was stolen by Branderbackian thieves; the Beehive has remained still from that day. (It's a common joke around the halls of the Beehive when asked what time is it to respond half past two since that's when the clock stopped.)

Gnomes being gnomes, the theft was seen as an opportunity to improve the original until it was discovered that the plans had been partially destroyed in an accident. Since then, many gnomes have tried to recreate it, but the exact magical incantations that powered it remain unknown. Unlike the other two largest academies, the Clockwork Academy does not lean toward one area; it’s open to all who would revel in the miracle of technological creation. Like the other two academies, special fire- and explosion-proof rooms have been added for safety because of the numerous and often jested about accidents of experimentation, which have been deemed unnecessary with a little precaution.

Chief Engineer Mogwogin Thibble is an aged gnome serving his first time as chief. He is a quietly devoted cleric of Goran and very introverted for a gnome. His inventions speak for themselves— literally. His winning invention is a plate-sized sundial that is powered by a small but complex pendulum system combined with a permanent magical mouth spell to speak the time when one steps close enough to it. While of marginal use to most, to the blind it has proven to be of real value. Chief Engineer Thibble has spent the last 18 years working on improving and finding other uses for his device.

Third Engineer to the Chief Ballyhoo Schematican is the assistant to Engineer Thibble. A tall, broad gnome, he reviews plans, recommends rewards, and does a great deal of paperwork. Perhaps in anticipation of winning his position, his invention was an automatic paper filer that grasps the paper handed to it and deposits it in its proper slot. He is the fifth Schematican to work in higher office and is proud of it.

Windmill Academy
The Windmill Academy, second oldest and second largest of the academies, sits by the Rusty River on Alindor. The Rusty River owes part of its name not just to the colors from the leaves that drop in but also from the metal parts that dip in its flowing waters. The academy draws power both from the everpresent windmills and from water power as well. The Windmill Academy has the first engineer to the chief at the top and a unique reputation as the academy with the best defense of any. Gnomes interested in offensive and defensive capabilities have been drawn here since Second Engineer Gaugen Bushinghook started it a half millennia ago. His specialty was war machines, and his influence has remained in the lethal automated ballistas that are timed to shoot through the windmill blades and the mighty shields of slab iron that can rise from shallow depressions in the grounds to surround the academy. The academy is not coincidentally home to some of the more strong-willed, militant gnomes—not all of them good-natured.

First Engineer to the Chief Madgegit Chimehammer has tinkered with weapons since she was a small girl. Her specialty is finding ways to add damage to seemingly ordinary weapons. Her winning invention is a club using very small and very sturdy gyros to power rotating spikes and specially reinforced to provide maximum bludgeoning damage. Ending a hundred-year span of defensive research, she has shifted the focus to offensive capacity in light of the darkness around the world.

Second Engineer to the First Engineer to the Chief Sniggs Pinclick is the most fanatical of the New Offensives as the younger gnomes inventing weaponry tend to call themselves. He’s been working hard on projectile weapons having spent the first 48 years of his training improving crossbows. It was his creation that allows the Windmill to shoot between the blades without damaging them. He will preach both Goran and self-defense through offensive firepower at the drop of a hammer.

Mistone Academy of Innovation
Headed by the second engineer to the chief engineer, this small but bustling academy is located in the White Horn Forest. Originally a temple to Prunilla built partly into the ground, the Academy of Innovation came about a century ago when the forest encroached and the halflings moved their temple to more cultivated lands. Some clerics of Goran moved in to use the space. After a few dozen years, they had grown to where they needed more leadership. There was tension between the chief engineer at that time and his second engineer over the use of magic with machines. The solution was to send the second engineer to this fledgling academy to help it get started. Since then, the Mistone Academy of Innovation has become a hub of magical invention— fusing the mechanical with the arcane. Many of those working to re-create the Waveril work and pray here. Of the three large academies, this is the one most prone to violent explosion and other catastrophic events. It has become tradition to send the second engineer to the chief to oversee.

Second Engineer to the Chief Engineer Mecha Fobrivit is a young female gnome from a family without a history in the academies. She is motivated and divides her time between divine studies of Goran (inventing) and arcane studies; she often meshes the two. Barely an adult for a gnome, she was considered a prodigy when her age was discovered because of her invention: a water heater that contains and channels both steam and hot water via a medusa-like nest of pipes on the top. The water is heated with a bespelled piece of lava rock that casts a small fireball spell in a chamber underneath the water upon verbal command.

Second Engineer to the Second Engineer to the Chief Kebbin Gongwire the Third is a middle-aged gnome from a long line of mages. He is in fact the first inventor in his current extended family. He is a pure cleric of Goran but has a knack for finding new uses for, and modifications to, old inventions, and he is often consulted when inventors need inspiration or help getting out of a rut.

Maintenance Engineers
While Goran smiles upon those who create and invent, he also extends his love to those who keep the inventions working. A small but hugely important part of each of the three academies (and indeed any community of Goranites) are the men and women who specialize in repair. Not inventors themselves, they take the time to learn an invention and how to maintain and fix it. They have a natural aptitude for the workings of machines and what drives them, but they don’t enjoy the creative process like a tinker would. There are roughly a dozen in each academy and at least one in each community, but they all call themselves maintenance engineers. It’s not uncommon for a tinker or engineer to turn to them for advice, especially regarding function. There is no leadership per se' in this organization. Those that fix, fix.

[hellspawn]

Prayers
Followers of Goran pray at the noon meal—one of the few quiet moments in their day. Prayers are often spontaneous while tapping metal and sketching ideas, sounding something like: "Father Innovation, aid me in designing this thingamagog. Allow me the insight to fix the problem with the second metal rod that taps the first so that it will not rock off the table when I spin this wheel."
There is one prayer that the clergy all recognize and is used in some form universally: The Imprecation of Insight.

"Master of Metal, guide our hands. Unbind our eyes and minds to what is and let what can be shine through. Where we see a rod of metal, help us to see a device that runs an abacus by itself. Where we see water, help us to see a river-powered cow milking machine. And where we see fire, help us to remember where the alarm is, because we don’t want to burn down the Academy. Your inspiration is our devotion."

Holy Days
There are two days celebrated by the children of Father Innovation; though, individual celebrations happen every time a working prototype is finished. A completed and functional invention is cause for showing, telling, spreading food for onlookers and admirers, as well as prayer to the one who started it all.

•Day of Shared Inspiration
First Augra is the Day of Shared Inspiration, a day of gathering and information sharing, boasting, and demonstrations in every gnome community. Even followers of allied gods (especially Dorand and Beryl) will sometimes show up for the festivities since it is a time of the best wine, the tastiest food, and the marvels of mind, metal, and hammer. Each of the academies hosts a huge meal, starting midday and running long into the night. Tables are set up for tinkers and engineers to display their inventions. An invention finished on this day, that works as intended, is considered especially blessed.


•Spring’s Rivet
The other universal day of celebration is 10th Mai, called Spring’s Rivet. With winter over by most calendars, Goran’s followers leave their homes and burrows to visit other communities and fix things broken by winter’s neglect and harsh weather; all the while spreading the word of their god. In their well-intended enthusiasm, however, more often broken items are improved, sometimes to the point where a farmer or tradesman does not recognize it anymore! Shovels have been modified to have vibrating heads to better break up dirt (making them too heavy to pick up), carts have been given suspension systems to navigate rutted roads (causing cargo to bounce out due to the springiness of the bed), and the good people near a gnomish community will often hide already working items on this day to prevent any improvisations.

[hellspawn]

•Allied:

◦Az'atta
◦Beryl
◦Deliar
◦Dorand
◦Prunilla

•Friendly:

◦Aragen
◦Ilsare
◦Toran
◦Vorax

•Neutral:

◦Aeridin
◦Folian S'pae
◦Grannoch
◦Kithairien
◦Lucinda
◦Shindaleria

•Unfriendly:

◦Baraeon Ca'Duz
◦Corath
◦Grand
◦Mist
◦Pyrtechon
◦Rofirein
◦Vierdri'ira

•Enemy:

◦Branderback
◦Katia
◦Shadon
◦Sulterio
◦Xeen

[hellspawn]

•Alignment:
◦Chaotic Good



•Cleric Alignments:
◦Neutral Good
◦Chaotic Neutral
◦Chaotic Good



•Domains:
◦Earth
◦Fire
◦Good
◦Knowledge