Corruption | Creation | Justice | Knowledge | Murder | Protection | Thievery | Trade
Gond Wonderbringer , Wonderbringer, Lord of All Smiths, The Inspiration Divine, the Holy Maker of All Things
Holy Symbol: A shining toothed wheel or cog with four spokes, in wood, bone, or metal
Actions count. Intentions are one thing, but it is the result that is most important. Talk is for others, while those who serve Gond do. Make new things that work. Become skilled at forging or some craft and practice making things and various means of joining and fastening until you can create devices to suit any situation or space. Question and challenge the unknown with new devices. New inventions should be elegant and useful. Practice experimentation and innovation in the making of tools and the implementation of processes and encourage these virtues in others through direct aid, sponsorship and diplomatic support. Keep records of your striving, ideas and sample devices so that others may follow your work and improve on what you leave behind and encourage others, such as farmers and hunters, to think of new tools, improved ways of crafting and using their existing gear and new ways of doing things. Observe, acquire and store safely the makings of others and spread such knowledge among the consecrated of Gond. Discuss ideas and spread them so that all may see the divine light that is the Wonderbringer.
(You need to abide by these as clergy, not as a worshiper)
-
Bard, Cleric, Commoner, Fighter, or Wizard
-
Any Race
-
Non-Cleric Initiation: You must invent a new device, or dramatically improve an existing one (it must still use technologies and materials available to "medieval" characters—no ray guns or spaceships)
(You need to abide by these as clergy, not as a worshiper)
- None. Gond does not restrict the creativity of his servants.
(If you wish to become clergy of this god, take three of these as your vows—if you violate them you lose any moves, spells, and any other benefits granted by this god until you atone.)
-
Implement (You must make something you've never made before once a week, or as circumstances permit; then give it away, donate it to the church, or destroy it and rebuild it better)
-
Communicate (You must discover and collaborate with other creators, forming networks of information, ideation, and supply, to strengthen the produce of the whole)
-
Record (You must study, record and detail the characteristics of any device or item you don't understand or have never seen before, then submit this to the church of Gond)
-
Disseminate (You must spread all knowledge known to you regarding the techniques of creating items; offer it freely)
Gond (GOHND) Wonderbringer is the god of blacksmiths, woodworkers, inventors, and engineers. In religious art, he is most often portrayed as a burly, red-hued smith, with a mighty hammer and a forge and anvil that allows him to craft the stuff that stars are made of.
Home Plane/Realm
House of Knowledge/Wonderhome
Portfolio
Artifice, craft, construction, smithwork
Favored Weapon
Craftmaster (warhammer)
Myths
-
History
Since the fall of Aer Arnad, interest in and worship of Gond is on the rise, but this has brought increased attacks from both rival clergy and those who simply fear new inventions. Members of the Gondar faith are mainly human, but more and more gnomes are being accepted into the church.
Relationship with other gods and churches
Gond gives the ideas that Oghma holds in his portfolio concreate form and inspires others to make new things. He has grown very independent as his own power waxes, and his relationship to Oghma is already only dimly remembered at times by mortals. Gond had a close alliance with Moradin, but as he has come to tolerate and accept Laduguer, Moradin has grown distant from him. As nearly all people require crafting of some kind, no gods call him their foe, though some resent or have become jealous of him.
Associated lesser deities
-
Blacksmiths, crafters, engineers, gnomes, inventors, and Woodworkers pray to Gond when they undertake any new creative project, especially if they are uncertain to what degree they may succeed or fail.
A cleric occupies the post of Most Holy Avenue for Spreading the Faith, which is (in title at least) the supreme authority for all worshipers of Gond. There are a number of northern branches of the Gondar faith, including a budding temple complex in Beleri. Clergy refer to themselves as the Consecrated of Gond, and may speak of other Gondar priests as "fellow Consecrates."
Hierarchy
Though Gondar may act independently in their duty of encouraging inventions, their religious hierarchy is ordered and obedience to a superior is unquestioning. They are in ascending order Wonderer (novice), Seeker Postulant (priest in training), Seeker after Small Things (confirmed priest), Greater Seeker, Seeker of the Twelfth Order, Seeker of the Eleventh Order and so on up to Seeker of the First Order, High Seeker (a title held by all senior clergy), Master (leader of a religious community or one who tends a holy site), Artificer (one who has been personally rewarded and named by Gond for special service), High Artificer (the supreme priest of the faith)
Vestments
Gondar clergy members wear saffron ceremonial vestments with a crimson collar and stole. Over their right or left shoulder they wear a leather sash ending in a large pouch. The sash is dotted with small metal tools, gears, wire, cord, locks, hooks, hasps, buckles, and bits of steel, tin, and wood that might prove interesting or useful in a pinch (including, for Gondsmen, their lockpicks). Their vestments also include belts of large, linked metal medallions and enormous sun hats. They wear Gond's holy symbol as a pendant fashioned of bone, brass, bronze, or ivory.
In dangerous situations, Gondar wear standard armor (along with their leather sash), but generally they prefer the protection of 10 or 12 big Fighters. Most often they wear practical clothing hung about with baldrics and pouches crammed with useful supplies. Most priests of Gond wear bulky rings that function as knuckledusters and can also produce the equivalent of a cosh from their gear and three or four knives of various sorts. (Removable boot-heel knives are a great favorite among the Gondar.) Few Gondar priests would steal, but most have and can use files and bolt cutters, and Gondar are proficient with lockpicks.
Rites and Duties
Daily rituals to Gond are simple: muttered prayers upon rising and retiring, which are often incorporated into dressing or disrobing and a longer prayer of thanks at the main meal. Clerics offer a special prayer of thanks and dedication of their work before commencing any new creation (As opposed to repair or maintenance).
Their one holy festival is the Ippensheir, named for Ippen, Gond's First Servant and celebrated during the twelve days immediately following Greengrass. All clergy of Gond and his devout worshipers gather at a temple, abbey, or holy site where a famed inventor or craftsmen once worked. IT is a time of feasting, drinking and revelry, during which they show inventions to and share innovations with their fellow Gondar. Some visit as many gatherings of the faithful as they can during this time, using a network of portals maintained by the church to link major defensible holy houses.
One strange practice of the faith requires that Gondar make two copies of any new machine or tool they discover, if possible. One copy is hidden away against the prying eyes of thieves or vandals for later display to fellow Gondar and the other is smashed – or preferably, burned – as part of the Sacred Unmaking, a prayer of offering to Gond. This ceremony reinforces Gond's dominion over both constructive and destructive engineering.
Gondar keep the formulas for various sealants, cleansers, and lubricants secret. They sell small jars of all of these as they travel Orben, making a lot of money thereby as well as by selling buckles, small brass bells, mortars and pestles, and various monocles and lenses. They have proven so popular that rival makers have sprung up in Sulgate. To protect church trade secrets, Gondar priests are charged to work against these rivals by sabotage, diplomacy, and financial influence, whenever they can covertly do so.
As they travel, Gondar clergy establish caches, investments, and alliances and grab samples of any new inventions they come across. It is their duty to assist inventors and innovators and to file regular reports to the nearest Master by means of messenger envoys of the faith as they travel.
Settling in one place is frowned upon unless a priest can show his or her superiors that their prospective home is a locale where much innovation occurs that bears need for constant watching such as Loamport, Reggio Aedi, Mairmithon, or Maedia. Making a handsome personal living while one serves Gond is encouraged, however, for who better walks upon Orben to demonstrate the rewards of following the Way of Gond!
Priests of Gond are much in demand as builders, especially of vaulted and buttressed temples dedicated to other gods. Because of these temple engineering and construction contracts, the faith of Gond is growing in wealth and influence, but also in foes.
Affiliated Orders
The church of Gond has no affiliated knightly orders. It does have a great many honorary orders and societies within its ranks. These are usually founded to recognize the works of Gondar working in a particular specialty and to promote the easy exchange of ideas between those qualified in a field while preventing trade or church secrets from leaking out to competitors. Just a few of these societies include the Order of Puissant Stonemasons and Stonecarvers, the Holy Order of Most Skilled Architects and Bridgemakers, the Armorers of the Wonderbringer, the Most Arcane Order of Gearmakers, Clockmakers, and Automationists, the Society of Creative Castle Design and Construction, and the Industrious Brothers and Sisters of Carpentry, Cabinetry, Puppetry, and Toymaking.
Gond's temples often appear either as enormous workhouses or warehouses, staffed by dozens of clergy who are concerned entirely with overseeing the production or storage of various items. Even larger complexes are hidden below these temples, where clergy produce and distribute the church's various secret products. Although the workmanship of even the most hidden corner or the lowest basement closet is exquisite and finely detailed, much of the walls and floors of any temple of Gond are littered with various discarded items of dubious purpose, which are cast aside and forgotten, but maintained there in the event they might be useful later.
For Cleric/Wizards
When you gain a level from 2–5, you may choose a single Domain. A full list of domain spells and moves is under Choosing a God in Advanced Play Guides.
When you gain a level from 6–10, you may choose a second Domain.
If you choose the primary domain for your god, you also get the Primary Domain Move of that domain and take +1 to cast spells from the domain.
Clerics/Wizards
If you are a Cleric or Wizard (and your god permits your class), choose from the following domains. You add all spells of the chosen domain to your spell list, up to level 7 (once you meet the mana requirements) or up to level 9 (if it's the primary domain and once you meet the mana requirements).
Primary Domain
Creation (Gain this domain's level 1-7 spells, this Primary Domain Move, and this level 9 spell)
Primary Domain Move
Arts & Crafts
Choose one of the following professions; you get +1 to all non-combat attempts to utilize the skill of that profession.
-
Artist
-
Carpenter
-
Clothier
-
Inventor
-
Jeweler
-
Smith
-
Watchmaker
Level 9 Spell
Creation | Level 9
You create a nonmagical, unattended object of nonliving, vegetable or metal matter. The volume of the item created cannot exceed 9 meters. Attempting to use any created object as a material component in a ritual or other magical procedure causes the spell to fail. The object can be as complex as you wish, but it can have only moving parts: no furnaces, steam, lasers, or anything technologically more advanced than cranks, pins, sails, hinges, and joints.
Secondary Domains
Knowledge (Gain this domain's level 1-7 spells)
Trade (Gain this domain's level 1-7 spells)
For Non-Cleric/Wizards
When you gain a level from 2–5, you may choose a single Domain. A full list of domain spells and moves is under Choosing a God in Advanced Play Guides.
When you gain a level from 6–10, you may choose a second Domain.
If you choose the primary domain for your god, you also get the Primary Domain Move of that domain and take +1 to cast spells from the domain.
Non-Cleric/Wizards
If you are not a Cleric or Wizard, you gain access to all spells of your chosen domain up to level 3 and can cast them using the Cast a Spell Cleric move (you do not however gain any spells from the Cleric spell list). You can also gain a secondary domain move from that domain, in addition to the domain spells.
Primary Domain
Creation (Gain this domain's level 1 and 3 spells, this Primary Domain Move, and a Secondary Domain Move)
Primary Domain Move
Arts & Crafts
Choose one of the following professions; you get +1 to all non-combat attempts to utilize the skill of that profession.
-
Artist
-
Carpenter
-
Clothier
-
Inventor
-
Jeweler
-
Smith
-
Watchmaker
Secondary Domain Moves (choose 1):
Hattori Handiwork
You can smith a weapon of superior quality; it cannot be destroyed, it bears your mark, and anyone who wields it cannot use it against you. You can only maintain one such weapon in existence at a time, and a fighter cannot use it for their signature weapon.
It’s a Miiiiiracle!
Select one item you’ve made; it can’t be a weapon or armor. It becomes unbreakable by anyone but yourself. This can be applied to only one item at a time.
Secondary Domains
Knowledge (Gain this domain's level 1 and 3 spells and this Secondary Domain Move)
Secondary Domain Move:
Knowtographic Memory
If you have read or heard something said before in play, you can recall it perfectly. You must have RPed reading or hearing it.
Trade(Gain this domain's level 1 and 3 spells and this Secondary Domain Move)
Secondary Domain Move:
Gold to Lead
If you spend several minutes studying an item of great alleged value, you will get a gut feeling if it's a fake. Ask a storyteller to confirm the validity of an item; you will know immediately if it’s counterfeit, though you may not be able to prove it.