Goran: Sects

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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.