Goran: Prayers and Holy Days

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.