The Watchmaker
The World Tinkerer
The one deity of the gnomish pantheon, which has transcended the racial divide after the Concordance, the Watchmaker is thought to have designed and created the world according to innumerable hidden rules, and directs its adherents to uncover these esoteric laws to better control the watchmaker's creation.
Across the world, the Watchmaker's followers seek out knowledge and learning to better understand and harness its creation and design and help "the great clockwork" as they sometimes refer to it, continue to thrive. As head of the gnomish pantheon, the Watchmaker generally holds the strongest sway in their cities and amongst their populations, but is a patron deity of many craftspeople, scholars, artificers, and scientists regardless of their heritage.
Divine Domains
The Watchmaker is typically seen as a hands-off major deity, and is among the creators of the universe. It is frequently worshipped by followers of the the Forge, Knowledge, Life, Nature, and Order domains, though it rarely confers divine magic upon them.
Holy Books & Codes
Worshippers of the Watchmaker are each directed to produce their own manuscript known as a "Watchmaker's Codex." These pocket journals contain a small forward in which the central tenets of the Watchmaker's faith are laid out, and which conclude with a simple message which instructs worshippers to fill their codex with knowledge they gather.
For many, these codices simply serve as private journals or personal musings, but for the truly devout, these codices become true works of learning. Throughout the continents, followers of the Watchmaker compile libraries filled with donated and carefully curated codices written by the Watchmaker's devoted scholars in great halls of knowledge, containing information on such varied topics as thebest recipes for a stuffed eggplant; how to build a windmill; natural ecologies; histories of great cities and their peoples; and magic, physics, and metaphysics among a multitude of others.
Divine Symbols & Sigils
The most prevalent divine symbol of the Watchmaker is the signature codex carried by their followers. These small journals are often emblazoned with an intricate armillary sphere. This symbol is also frequently used to depict the Watchmaker, its angels and followers being crowned in halos with are reminiscent of such spheres, and a gold sphere is frequently depicted on tapestries, art, armor, clothing, jewelry, and inventions created or worn by its followers.
Tenets of Faith
Those who follow the Watchmaker are firm believers in the order of the world in which they live, and believe it is governed by innumerable esoteric and hidden laws and forces as set down by the great creator, the Watchmaker. Through these laws, the Watchmaker's grand design plays out. The most devoted followers of the Watchmaker, known as scholars, believe that by discovering these laws and setting down knowledge, they can better help the Watchmaker's plans play out and can bend the chaos of the world to the will of mortals.
Central tenets of the Watchmaker's Faith are that followers;
Life is a gift and opportunity. Protect it, cherish it, and treat it with respect, for it has much to teach you.
Seek out knowledge and learning in whatever you do. The world is full of little mysteries waiting to be explored. By mastering them we master the world and ourselves.
Knowledge comes from the freedom to discover it. Learning and intellectual exploration should never be stifled.
Knowledge is a tool of art, creation, and progress. It must never be used for cruelty, hate, slavery, or tyranny.
No one person can possibly learn all there is to know, but we benefit from one another's wisdom. Share knowledge with all who seek it.
Holidays
The most well known and widespread holiday honoring the Watchmaker is known as the Carnival of Discoveries. Although not a centralized holiday across the Watchmaker's devotees, each individual chapter puts on their own exhibition once every ten years. During this holiday, often occurring over the span of a week, various parades and fairs are held featuring the major discoveries, oddities, and advancements that community of scholars has produced. These often include particularly elaborate floats, magical and mechanical trinkets and oddities, food and drink tastings, whimsical inventions for games and entertainment, and cutting edge technologies. While less popular, the parades and festivals also feature lectures and lessons from prominent scholars, often for audiences of visiting dignitaries, scholars, and academics, and while ostensibly genial, these expositions can also serve as a way for rival states and powers to engage in not-so-sublte one-upsmanship and compete without violence (or potentially deter attack by showing off their latest military advancements). The holiday also serves as a crucial rite of passage for members of the faith, as to fully join the religious community, inductees are expected to present their studies before the community. In cities where devotion to the Watchmaker is almost ubiquitous, such as the gnomish city of Utrington, these celebrations can last an entire month in order to properly celebrate all the knowledge earned, often concluding with magnificent fireworks.
Divine Goals & Aspirations
The Watchmaker's divine goals are generally ambiguous. Thought to be a benevolent creator, adherents of the Watchmaker's faith hold that the divine being (sometimes in collaboration with the gods of the other major pantheons) created the world and set it in motion according to innumerable esoteric rules which govern all aspects of it. After creating this great working, the Watchmaker is thought to have generally shifted his attention from its creation, occasionally stepping in to make major repairs or corrections if a serious enough (often thought to be on a cosmic scale) malfunction surfaced, but otherwise simply content to let the clockwork mechanics play themselves out.
It is thought that the Watchmaker, in creating intelligent life capable of discerning some of these rules, is a benevolent deity who aspires for its creations to discover some of these mechanics and leverage them to help keep the clockwork operating without the watchmaker's interference. The Watchmaker smiles upon great scientists, philosophers, inventors, artists, and tradespeople for discovering these hidden mechanics and little wonders embedded into their world, and directs its adherents to seek out such hidden truths for themselves and share them so that others might benefit from them.
Divine Classification
Major Deity
Religions
Alignment
Lawful Good
Church/Cult
Children
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