Pantheon: Gnome Deities

Pantheon: Gnome Deities

Here we have gnome deities presented in Races of Stone.

Garl Glittergold

Greater deity
Alignment: Neutral Good

Symbol: a nugget of gold

Home plane: Bytopia

Portfolio: gnomes, humor, wit, illusion, gemcutting, jewelrymaking

Domain (-30%): earth spells, illusion spells

Worshipers: gnomes, illusionists, jewelers, practical jokers.

The deity of gnomes, Garl Glittergold, appears as a handsome, golden-skinned gnome with glittering gemstones for eyes. He is well dressed, usually in a silk jacket with long tails and silk hose. He always wears lots of gold jewelry and accoutrements. Garl Glittergold discovered the gnomes and led them into the world. Since then, he has been their protector. He is renowned for the jokes and pranks he pulls on other deities, though not all his victims laugh off his jests. Garl once collapsed the cavern of Kurtulmak, the deity of the kobolds. Since then, the two deities have been sworn enemies.

            Dogma: Garl promotes a doctrine of practicality tempered with humor. Ignorance and complacency are dangerous, warns Garl, and he urges his people to explore not only the world around them but new ways of doing things. Garl also emphasizes brains over brawn, and he teaches that befuddling or embarrassing a foe can be just as complete a victory as slaying or capturing that foe.

Gelf Darkhearth

Intermediate deity
Alignment: Chaotic Neutral

Symbol: a black anvil split in half

Home plane: Bytopia

Portfolio: entropy, revenge

Domain (-30%): earth spells, breaking spells, malicious mind control spells

Worshipers: rebellious gnomes

Gelf is Garl Glittergold’s brother, and rarely have two brothers been more bitter rivals. Gelf, depicted as a grayskinned dwarf with a black beard, takes obsessive delight in opposing everything his brother attempts. This compulsion puts Gelf in the tragic position of tearing down the gnome society he loves, just to thwart Garl Glittergold. Gelf is not evil, but he feels compelled to destroy everything Garl holds dear. Gelf is an angry, sorrowful deity, and he attracts followers of similar temperament.

Dogma: Make lives of Garl Glittergold’s worshipers miserable. Oppose Garl’s church. Look for new initiates, give them a chance to join your cause. Always avenge harmful actions performed against you or your comrades.

Callarduran Smoothhands

Lesser deity
Alignment: Neutral

Symbol: gold ring with star symbol

Home plane: Elemental Plane of Earth

Portfolio: stone, mining, secrecy, svirfneblins

Domain (-20%): earth spells, illusion spells, making and breaking spells

Worshipers: svirfneblins

Callarduran Smoothhands is by nature solitary and thoughtful, and he rarely consorts even with other gnome gods. He is a benign but secretive deity, caring only for his own people and their defense against drow and the other dangers of the Underdark. He intercedes to defend his followers from such dangers, and his appearance is heralded by a loud huming which can be heard through solid rock.

Largely ignored by the other gnome subraces, the Deep Brother is venerated primarily by the svirfneblin as their patron deity, with a strong emphasis on his protective aspect and his oversight of the all encompassing earth and the treasures to be found within.

Dogma: Callarduran led his chosen people into the deepest depths of the earthso that they might discover the joyous beauty of rubies and other gems. Beware the dangers of the Underdark, and guard against evil races such as the drow who employ any means necessary to seize what is not rightfully theirs. Protect and serve your community. Celebrate the beauty of minerals and gems and understand their value in craft, art, and magic.

The Glutton

Lesser deity
Alignment: Chaotic Evil

Symbol: gaping, fanged mouth

Home plane: Abyss

Portfolio: disaster, greed

Domain (-30%): earth spells, breaking spells, food spells, spells that improve physical characteristics

Worshipers: gnomish cultists

Usually depicted as a massive, ravenous badger or wolverine, The Glutton figures prominently in the bedtime stories gnomes tell naughty children—“Go to sleep or The Glutton will get you!” The Glutton is blamed whenever a burrow collapses or another misfortune befalls the gnomes. It is said that The Glutton was once a gnome who was cursed with a hideous form and a desire to consume the gnomes and all they hold dear.

            Dogma: Destroy everything the gnomes hold dear. Do not restrict your eating habits, gluttony is a virtue.

Rill Cleverthrush

Lesser deity
Alignment: Lawful Neutral

Symbol: a ruby

Home plane: Mechanus

Portfolio: invention, creation, sky

Domain (-10%): air spells, enchantment spells, making and breaking spells, movement spells

Worshipers: inventors, artificers

Rill is the epitome of the absent-minded gnome artisan, always busy in his workshop polishing a newly cut gem or putting the finishing touches on a “living statue” to be given to a worthy mortal. Appearing as an elderly, bespectacled gnome, Rill is always shown holding Rill’s Ruby, a gem that has a facet for each living gnome.

            Dogma: Be professional when crafting or enchanting items. Do not break any complex mechanisms – analyze them, use them, or preserve them for later use. Do not rush with decisions - gnomes make decisions with harmonious minds.

Sheyanna Flaxenstrand

Intermediate deity
Alignment: Chaotic Good

Symbol: a crown and two cups

Home plane: Arborea

Portfolio: love, beauty, passion

Domain (-20%): healing spells, communication and empathy spells, fire spells

Worshipers: gnomes

It is said that Sheyanna is the source of the rivalry between Garl and Gelf, for both woo her in many gnome legends. Sheyanna doesn’t commit to either brother, however, choosing instead to encourage matchmaking and passionate affairs among the mortal gnomes in her care. Thus a romantic triangle is formed—a triangle that has launched a thousand folk tales. Sheyanna is said to be the ideal of gnome beauty, a delicate blonde princess with a smile that melts even Gelf’s icy heart. Sheyanna is often depicted with Hearthlight, a golden torch that can spew a fountain of flame wherever she aims it.

            Dogma: Always try to look the best. Tend to the wounded and the sick, always help your community or group. Let mutual romantic relationship bloom, prevent others from homewrecking.

Baervan Wildwanderer

Intermediate deity

Alignment: Neutral Good

Symbol: raccoon’s face

Home plane: Bytopia

Portfolio: travel, nature, forest gnomes

Domain (-20%): animal spells, plant spells, movement spells

Worshipers: druids, rangers, forest gnomes

Baervan is a deity of outdoors, forest-dwelling gnomes and their communities, and also of thievery. He is a good-natured god of mischief, slightly more relaxed in alignment than Garl, and a friend of several sylvan deities and races.

Baravar Cloakshadow

Lesser deity

Alignment: Neutral Good

Symbol: cloak and dagger

Home plane: Bytopia

Portfolio: illusion, deception, traps, wards

Domain (-40%): illusion and creation spells

Worshipers: gnomes, illusionists

Baravar Cloakshadow, known as the Sly One, is the gnome deity of illusion and deception. His dogma primarily concerns the protection of the gnome race through the art of illusion.

Flandal Steelskin

Intermediate deity

Alignment: Neutral Good

Symbol: flame-wreathed hammer

Home plane: Bytopia

Portfolio: mining, physical fitness, smithing, metalworking

Domain (-30%): body control spells, metal spells

Worshipers: artisans, fighters, miners, smiths

Flandal Steelskin is the gnomish god of mining and smithing, an excellent craftsman with an unerring nose for finding metals in the earth.

Gaerdal Ironhand

Lesser deity

Alignment: Lawful Good

Symbol: iron band

Home plane: Bytopia

Portfolio: vigilance, combat, martial defence

Domain (-40%): protection and warning spells

Worshipers: judges, monks, paladins, soldiers

The sternest and most serious of gnome deities, Gaerdal is the patron of warriors and protectors of gnomish communities. As such, he is honored in some manner by nearly all good-aligned gnomes, and one or two crusaders would be found in most sizable settlements.

Nebelun

Intermediate deity

Alignment: Neutral

Symbol: a toothed metal, bone, or wood cog with four spokes

Home plane: Bytopia

Portfolio: artifice, construction, craft, smithwork

Domain (-20%): fire spells, making and breaking spells, technological spells, metal spells

Worshipers: blacksmiths, crafters, engineerins, inventors

Nebelun iss the gnomish god of craft, smithing, and inventiveness. The Lord of All Smiths pushes for innovation and imaginativeness, sometimes to a dangerous degree, as a result of his short-sighted desire to create.

Segojan Earthcaller

Intermediate deity

Alignment: Neutral Good

Symbol: glowing gemstone

Home plane: Bytopia

Portfolio: earth, nature, the dead

Domain (-20%): earth spells, fungus spells, necromantic spells

Worshipers: druids, fighters, gnomes, merchants, miners

Segojan Earthcaller is the gnome deity of earth and nature. Unlike his ally Baervan Wildwanderer, who is a god of the plants and forests of the surface world, Segojan's area of concern is the deep earth and the life within it. Segojan s also seen as the gnomish god of the dead, for the forgotten folk interr their fallen kin into his domain.

Urdlen

Intermediate deity

Alignment: Chaotic Evil

Symbol: white mole

Home plane: Abyss

Portfolio: greed, bloodlust, evil, hatred, spriggans

Domain (-30%): earth spells, breaking spells, spells that improve physical characteristics

Worshipers: assassins, spriggans, rogues, gnomes

Urdlen, also known as the Crawler Below, is a chaotic evil gnome deity. It takes the form of a white mole, blind, hairless, sexless, but with claws of steel. A mindless force of evil and destruction, Urdlen was one of the two evil gnome deities. It was allowed to remain part of that pantheon by its leader Garl Glittergold as a reminder to all gnomes of the dangers of greed and bloodlust.