(Wonderbringer, the Lord of All Smiths, the Inspiration Divine, the Holy Maker of All Things)
Intermediate Power of the Plane of Concordant Opposition, N
PORTFOLIO: Artifice, craft, construction, smithwork
ALIASES: Zionil (Durpar, Estagund, and Var the Golden)
DOMAIN NAME: Outlands/Wonderhome
SUPERIOR: Oghma
ALLIES: Lathander, Oghma, Waukeen (missing), Tempus
FOES: Talos
SYMBOL: A shining toothed wheel or cog with four spokes, in ivory, bone, or metal
WOR. ALIGN.: Any
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.
Gond serves Oghma along with Deneir and Milil. He 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. In Durpar, Estagund, and Var the Golden, Gond is worshiped as a part of the Adama, the Durparian concept of a world spirit that embraces and enfolds the divine essence that is part of all things. Here he is known as Zionil, patrion of inventors, craftfolk, and creators.
Gond is always making new things. He often presses Oghma for their release into the mortal world without thinking through completely the impact they will have. He is fascinated with making the theoretical real and either does not consider or often does not care about the implications for the use of his inventions and discoveries. He has a constant need for bizarre components as well as raw materials for his work, and so may overlook shady sponsors for specific jobs provided that they pay well in materials, knowledge he can use, or future favors. He can be distracted, businesslike, sarcastic, or patronizing as well as incredibly helpful and brilliant. He is dedicated to his faithful, and though he sometimes does not immediately respond to them because he is busy, he always ensures that their needs are met.
During the Time of Troubles, Gond, in the avatar of a gnome, washed ashore on Lantan. His true nature was quickly discovered, and the deity was revered and worshipped there until the crisis passed. As a result, Gond gave the secret of smoke powder to the Lantanna, and arquebuses, stamped on the butts of their stocks with the symbol of Gond, have been shipped at a steady trickle to western ports since 1358 DR.
Gond's Avatar (Mage 27, Cleric 20, Thief 19, Fighter 15)
Gond's avatar is rarely seen by mortals outside his temples; he much prefers to manifest in a lesser manner. His avatar sometimes appears as a short, slight man with straw-blond hair, at other times as a burly, red-huged smith, and at yet others a gnome. In any form, his sharp, bright, dark eyes stare out of a forge-scarred face that always bears an alert, inquiring expression. He wears a scorched smith's smock over nondescript leathers, and at will can summon into being around himself glassteel plate armor that hovers over his body at a close distance, piece by piece, rather than actually encasing his form. He has a mighty hammer that he uses at his divine forge and as a weapon when necessary. He can draw spells from any school or sphere, and casts alteration spells at double effect in all respects and a -2 penalty to applicable saving throws.
AV -5; MV 15; HP 188; THAC0 6; #AT 5/2*
Dmg 2d4+27 (hammer of thunderbolts [+11], +12 STR, +2 spec. bonus in hammer) or 1d10 (arquebus)
MR 65%; SZ L (10 feet)
STR 24, DEX 19, CON 21, INT 25, WIS 20, CHA 16
Spells P: 12/12/11/10/7/5/2, W: 6/6/6/6/6/6/6/5/5
Saves PPDM 2, RSW 3, PP 5, BW 4, Sp 4
*Only one attack per round is possible with the hammer of thunderbolts, but normal melee attacks apply for a hammer +3.
Special Att/Def: When he uses a weapon in combat, Gond often uses a hammer of thunderbolts. He can strike with it or hurl it once a round and never tires of using it. His hurling range is 360 feet, and he strikes with the hammer as if he were wearing a girdle of giant strength and gauntlets of ogre power (+5 hammer damage bonus and +6 gauntlet damage bonus; his actual Strength equals the girdle). It strikes dead any giant it hits, along with ogres, ogre magi, trolls, ettins, and clay, flesh, and stone golems. When it hits, it stuns all creatures within 90 feet for one round. Gond also loves to use arquebuses and can instantly summon a fully loaded and ready to fire arquebus into his hands whenever he desires, dismissing an old one and summoning a new one every round. He has also been known to use an assortment of magical staffs and a hammer +3, and he can summon any nonunique magical item in the PHB, DMG, Tome of Magic, or any FORGOTTEM REALMS campaign setting product that is not an artifact or in the possession of another deity to his hands in one round.
Metal weapons and weapons manufactured through smelting, forgin, or working with metal tools cannot harm Gond. Once per turn he is able to disjunct all magical items in his vicinity (as the 9th-level wizard spell Mordenkainen's disjunction). Normal metallic items striking him are disintegrated automatically (no saving throw); magical metallic items must succeed at an item saving throw vs. disintegration at a -5 penalty or be disintegrated. In either case, the metallic item does Gond no damage. Golems and animated constructs will not lift a hand against Gond, neither can he be harmed by firearms such as arquebuses.
Other Manifestations
Gond appears most often as a forge hammer wreathed in gray smoke. He has also manifested as a pair of black, piercing eyes in a gray cloud accompanied by the faint rining of distant forge hammers. Either manifestation can speak or cast spells, issuing spells forth as a bust of smoke that changes into the spell effect or touches the target of the spell to affect him or her. Most often he inspires ideas for new inventions or new applications for old inventions in his faithful. He laos gives out magical or normal items geared to aid worshipers in particularly sticky dilemmas, though he often does not explain why the item he gives someone is suitable. Frequently the items he give out evaporate in smoke after serving their purpose. Gond also sends baku, holy ones, einheriar (who were in mortal life inventors), golems, lightning mephits, maruts, pseudodragons, steel dragons, crystal dragons, and animated furniture or equipment to aid mortals or to show his favor or presence.
The Church
CLERGY: Clerics, specialty priests
CLERGY'S ALIGN.: Any
TURN UNDEAD: C: Yes, SP: No
CMND. UNDEAD: C: No, SP: No
All clerics and specialty priests of Gond receive religion (Faerûnian) as a bonus nonweapon proficiency.
Since the Time of Troubles, 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. Gondarism is the official state religion of the island nation of Lantan, which is also a hotbed of invention and new devices. Men tend to outnumber women in both Gondar clergy and laity, but there is no impediment to or prejudice against females rising in the ranks of the Gondar. Members of the Gondar faith are mainly human, but more and more gnomes are being accepted into the church, especially in the wake of the form that Gond's avatar took during the Gondswar.
In most of Faerûn, the proportion of clerics to Gondsmen (as his specialty priests are called) is 15:1. In Lantan, this proportion is neatly reversed, and there are about 20 Gondsmen for every Gondar cleric. Most specialty priests of the faith are Lantanna, and most Lantanna merchants encountered in the Realms outside Lantan are specialty priests of Gond.
Clerics of Gond are called Krii, a Lantanna term meaning disadvantaged. Despite the implied slur, many clerics hold senior positions within the state religion in Lantan. 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 in Lantan. There are a number of northern branches of the Gondar faith, including a budding temple complex in Tilverton.
Clergy refer to themselves as the Consecrated of Gond, and may speak of other Gondar priests as "fellow Consecrates," but their titles of rank are simple: 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), and High Artificer (the supreme priest of the faith). Though Gondar may act independently in their duty of encouraging inventions, their religious hierarchy is ordered and obedience to a superior is unquestioning.
Dogma: The beliefs of the Gondar can be summed up as "Actions count." Intentions and thought are one thing, but in the end it is the result—what remains after the sword is forged, the battle is fought—that is the most important. Talk is for others; those who truly serve Gond do.
All Gondar are to strive to make new things that work. All of Gond's clergy should become skilled at forging, casting, or tempering, and practice various means of joining and fastening until they are adept at making things to fit a space or situation with which they are confronted. To venerate Gond is to continually question and challenge the unknown with new devices and items. Elegance and usefulness are the two legs any new making should stand on.
Gondar must practice experimentation and innovation in the making of tools and implementation of processes and encourage these virtues in others through direct aid, sponsorship, and diplomatic support. They should strive to make farmers, hunters, and others think of new tools, improved ways of crafting and using their existing gear, and new ways of doing things.
The Concecrated must keep records of their strivings, ideas, and attempts, so that others can continue where they leave off when gathered at death to the Holy Maker of All Things. Gondar are instructed to observe, acquire, and store safely the makings of others, and show what they have learned to other Consecrated of Gond. They are to discuss ideas and spread them so that all may see the divine light that is Gond.
Day-to-Day Activities: Gondar keep the formulas for smoke powder and various sealants, cleansers, and lubricants secret. They sell small jars of all of these as they travel Faerûn, making a lot of money thereby as well as by selling buckles, small brass bells, mortars and pestles, and various monocles and lenses. The special glass jars they use to store smoke powder and other formulas were formerly made only in Lantan. They have proven so popular that rival makers have sprung up in Calimshan and the Tashalar. 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 Waterdeep, Athkatla, Suzail, or—formerly—Zhentil Keep. Making a handsome personal living while one serves Gond is encouraged, however, for who better walks upon Faerûn 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. Who else would know the secret ways of a rival temple than the builder?
Holy Days/Important Ceremonies: Gondar have only one calendar-related festival: the Ippensheir. The Ippensheir is the name given to the 12 days immediately followering Greengrass. It is named for Ippen, the first great cleric of Gond, who sometimes appears to clergy in need these days as Gond's First Servant. During the Ippensheir, all clergy members of Gond's faith and his devout worshipers gather at a temple, abbey, or holy site of Gond to share innovations and show inventions and innovations they have made or witnessed with and to their fellow Gondar. (Many cavern networks and remote towers where capable inventors once dwelt are revered by Gondar as holy sites.) It is a time of feasting, drinking, and revelry, and some Gondar make much use of personal teleport magics and the network of gates maintained by the priesthood to link major defensible holy houses to visit as many gatherings of the faithful as they can during this time.
Daily rituals to Gond are simple: muttered prayers upon rising and retiring that are often scheduled as part of dressing or disrobing so that they are not forgotten, a longer prayer of thanks at the main meal of a priest's day, and a special prayer of thanks and dedication of their work before commencing any work of new making (as opposed to repair or maintenance).
If a new tool or machine is seen or made by any Gondar, that Gondar is charged to make two copies of it if possible. One 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—while a prayer of offering to Gond, the Sacred Unmaking, is chanted. The ceremony reinforces Gond's dominion over both constructive and destructive engineering.
Major Centers of Worship: The heart of the Gondar faith is located at the High Holy Crafthouse of Inspiration in the city of Illul in Lantan. This large, walled monastery is run by Danactar the High Artificer, Most Holy Servant of Gond, the highest-ranking mortal priest of the Wonderbringer.
The House of the Wonderbringer in Tilverton, formerly known as Gharri's House, is the most prominent temple of Gond in the Heartlands. It is led by High Artificer Burlan Almaether, who directs over 40 priests in devising new inventions in Gond's name.
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.
Priestly 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.
Adventuring Garb: 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 (1d3 points of damage) and can also produce the equivalent of a cosh from their gear (1d4 points of damage) 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. Increasingly, GOndar priests have also taken to carrying small metal flasks of smoke powder sealed against sparks and damp and appropriate wicks to use with them to make explosive missile weapons when trouble arises. (The average smoke powder grenade prepared by a Gondar priest has a range of 10/20/30 feet and does 2d4 points of explosive/fire damage within a 5-foot-radius of where it strikes. It takes one round to prepare and light the wick; the missile can be thrown the second round. Roll on the Scatter Diagram in the Grenade-Like Missiles subsection of the Missile Weapons section of the Combat chapter in the DMG for missiles that miss their target.)
Specialty Priests (Gondsmen)
REQUIREMENTS: Dexterity 14, Intelligence 14, Wisdom 14
PRIME REQ.: Dexterity, Wisdom
ALIGNMENT: NG, LN, N, CN
WEAPONS: All bludgeoning (wholly Type B) weapons, crossbows, and firearms, such as the arquebus, if
available
ARMOR: All armor types up to and including plate mail; no shields
MAJOR SPHERES: All, astral, combat, divination, elemental, numbers, protection, sun, wards
MINOR SPHERES: Charm, creation, guardian, healing, necromantic
MAGICAL ITEMS: Same as clerics, but also all magical staves, wands, and rods
REQ. PROFS: Armorer, artistic ability, blacksmithing, carpentry, leatherworking, engineering, mining,
pottery, stonemasonry, or weaponsmithing (pick one)
BONUS PROFS: Gem cutting, engineering, reading/writing (Common)
2nd Level
Wieldskill (Enchantment/Charm)
Sphere: Charm, Thought
Range: Touch
Components: V, S
Duration: 1 round/level
Casting Time: 5
Area of Effect: One being
Saving Throw: None
This spell temporarily gives any one creature proficiency in the use of a specific weapon or tool seen and mentally chosen by the caster at the time of casting. The spell recipient may be the caster or another being touched by the caster during casting. The magic bestows temporary but complete familiarity with the use, care, and handling of the weapon and all accouterments. For instance, a wizard temporarily given proficiency in the use of a crossbow knows how to wind or cock it, which nearby implement is the necessary windlass (if it is that type of crossbow), and the different uses and proper loading of a variety of quarrels (if an array is present). Similarly, a scholar suddenly made familiar with a pickaxe would know how to use it to cleave rock along a plane, how to avoid striking sparks, how to strike so as to blunt the tool very quickly or as slowly as possible, what care to give it, and so on.
This magic does not confer any added Strength, reach, body weight, or other physical adjustments to allow the spell recipient to wield the weapon or tool most effectively; it just instills the precise and complete knowledge of how to do so. When the spell ends, this knowledge is forgotten, although memories of particular things done with the weapon or tool remain.
5th Level
Probing Arm (Alteration, Evocation)
Sphere: Creation
Range: 5 yards/level
Components: V, S, M
Duration: 1 round/level
Casting Time: 8
Area of Effect: Special
Saving Throw: None
This spell creates a weightless mechanical arm of steel that has an upper arm 3 feet in length, a ball-swivel elbow joint, a forearm 3 feet long, a ball-swivel wrist joint, and a fully articulated hand with four fingers and a perfectly opposed thumb (that is, the thumb is centered opposite the fingers across the palm, not located to one side). The shoulder of the arm always floats in midair closest of any part of the arm to the caster's head, and the spell range refers to how distant the shoulder can be from the caster before the arm either does not form or dissipates into nothingness.
This arm has an effective Armor Class of 1, a Strength of 19, moves at MV Fl 12 (A), and can lengthen either or both of its arm segments from 3 feet to 30 feet—or any length in between—in response to the caster's silent will. Thought it is most often used to reach distant objects or beings and grab them or pick them up, a probing arm can function as a weapon.
The probing arm can punch for 2d4+7 points of damage, launch weapon attacks at distant foes at a THAC0 one point better than the caster's own, and grapple with a foe at a +3 bonus to hit. A successful grapple causes 1d6 points of bruising and jostling damage, ruins spellcasting, cuts movement in half, causes opponent missile attacks to be launched at a -3 penalty to attack rolls, and forces item saving throws vs. crushing blow on all fragile items worn, carried, or wielded by the foe.
A probing arm can also reach into a guarded area to spring traps or to grab, recover, or move objects the caster dare not touch or approach, such as diseased or fungus-covered corpses, burning items, and poison-using monsters.
A probing arm can open locks by touch, acting as the 2nd-level wizard spell knock cast by a 12th-level mage. To use this ability, the probing arm must be commanded by silent will of the caster. If the unlocking succeeds, the arm vanishes when the locked door opens, since at this point the spell is exhausted immediately. A probing arm could unlock a massive door and then drag it wide open, fading away only when the opening motion was stopped by the caster of the probing arm, but such an arm would vanish instantly if used to unlock a small door that then fell open by itself. The spell is not exhausted if the arm is used to unlock a door by turning a key or otherwise opening it by using its usual mechanical means.
The material component of a probing arm are two short sticks or small straight rods, two smooth wooden or glass balls (or a real socket joint from any dead creature), and two human hairs.
6th Level
Fantastic Machine (Alteration, Evocation, Illusion/Phantasm)
Sphere: Creation
Range: 10 yards/level
Components: V, S
Duration: 1 turn
Casting Time: 6
Area of Effect: Special
Saving Throw: Special
This spell creates an illusory, many-armed, noisy mechanical construct of impressively massive appearance that floats about as the caster wills at MV Fl 4 (C) and attempts one of the following tasks as determined by the caster: It pushes, pulls, lifts, digs, throws, or thrashes and flails with a tool or weapon.
The material components of a fantastic machine are a drop of water, a fragment of adamantite or adamant (the ore adamantite is derived from), a cog or toothed wheel fashioned of any metal, and a strand of spiderweb.