Flandal Steelskin

Flandal Steelskin: Master of Metal, Lord of Smiths, the Armorer, the Weaponsmith, the Great Steelsmith, the Pyromancer

Symbol: Flaming Hammer
Home Plane: Dothion/the Golden Hills (the Mithral Forge)
Alignment: NG
Portfolio: Mining, physical fitness, smithing, metalworking, weapon smithing, armoring
Domains: Good, Craft, Gnome, Metal
Worshipers: Artisans, fighters, miners, smiths
Aliases: N/A
Cleric Alignments: LG, CG, NG
Favored Weapon: "Rhondang" (Warhammer)

History/Relationships: Flandal Steelskin (FLAN-dahl STEEL-skin) is a master of mining and one of the finest and strongest smiths in creation. The Forgotten Folk hold that he helped create the craft of metalworking along with several of the dwarven powers. In particular, Flandal devised an alloy first employed by gnomes known as telstang, and he was the first to discover the properties of arandur, a legendary metal once known only to the Forgotten Folk. Flandal is physically the strongest of the gnome gods, and his prodigious nose gives him an uncanny ability to sniff out veins of metal that thread the earth. The Master of Metal is the patron of gnome miners, artisans, craftsmen, and all smiths—not just blacksmiths, but goldsmiths, silversmiths, and all other workers of metal. They venerate Flandal in the hope of gaining a fraction of his skill. A large number of gnome warriors venerate Flandal the Armorer as well, for his skills help ensure their continued survival.

Flandal has excellent relations with the other gnome powers, with the notable exception of Urdlen. It was Flandal who helped forge and enchant Arumdina, Garl Glittergold's battle axe, and the Master of Metal is a trusted advisor to the head of the gnome pantheon. Flandal is friendly toward Segojan Earthcaller, for both oversee the safety of gnome miners. Similarly, Flandal and Nebelun (Gond) share a strong bond as fellow craftsmen, though the Master of Metal despairs that the Meddler will ever get his projects to actually work. Flandal is also closely allied with many of the good aligned deities of the dwarven pantheon, and he shares a particularly strong bond with Moradin the Soul Forger. Like all gnome powers, Flandal opposes the various humanoid powers, particularly the kobold pantheon. The role the Master of Metal takes in combating them is indirect, for his primary focus is to pass on secrets for forging armor and weapons to the Forgotten Folk, so that they may defend themselves.

Flandal is a true master craftsmen. He is ever-demanding of his own work and strives tirelessly to increase his skill. He is also a patient tutor; only lazy and indifferent craftsfolk draw his ire. The Master of Metal is often found traveling with one or two of the other gnome powers in search of new ores and veins of metal to use in his forges.

Dogma: The treasures of life were buried within the earth's embrace at Segojan's hand, and only hard labor, dedication, and great craftsmanship, as taught by the Master of Metal, can reveal their hidden beauties and wonders. Dig mines, extract ores, and forge suits of armor, weapons, and other items of metal. Strive to refine known techniques of metalworking, invent new processes for tempering and refining it, and discover new alloys and test their potentials. Finally, stay physically fit to enable you to pursue the rigors of the forge and mine with your whole heart.

Avatar/Manifestations: When Flandal is not traveling, he can be found in his workshop, planning or making a new magical weapon. He is no stranger to battle, trusting in the creations of his forges to see him to victory. Although Flandal's war hammer Rhondang is capable of conversing with all fire-using creatures, its language proficiencies in no way means that Flandal is friendly toward those beings. Still, this god is pr ne to talk first in preference to combat. On rare occasions, Flandal dispatches an avatar to instruct gnomes in some very tricky smithing process or to guide them to hidden veins of ores. He may also send an avatar to deal with any disputes between gnomes and firedwelling creatures.

Flandal may manifest as flares of fire in a forge or hearth or jets of flame dancing about a bare floor or earth. Such naming manifestations can erupt into a fireball, flame strike, or pyrotechnics effect or serve as a pyromantic scrying device.

Agents/Petitioners: Flandal is served by earth elementals, fire elementals, helmed horrors, iron golems, khargra, living steel, metal masters, mineral quasielementals, rust monsters, steel dragons, xavers, and xorns. He demonstrates his favor through the discovery of precious metals of any sort (particularly arandur and telstang), beljurils, fire agates, fire opals, flamedance, and mellochrysos. The Master of Metal indicates his displeasure by causing small tremors in the earth and by causing metals to crack or shatter as they cool or are struck by a hammer.

The Church of Flandal : The church of Flandal is highly regarded by most gnomes, for its priests are typically master smiths, a very respected occupation in the societies of the Forgotten Folk. They are known to share the secrets of their crafts with gnome artisans and craftsfolk without prejudice. The Stout Folk also hold the Master of Metal in high regard, and Flandal's followers are considered on the average to be the equal of dwarven smiths, a high compliment from the proud children of Moradin, and the followers of Flandal Steelskin are seen to embody nearly everything dwarves-like about the gnome character. Humans, elves, and half-elves respect the workmanship of the Forgotten Folk, but their work lacks the mystique that enfolds dwarven smithcraft, and as a result, Flandal's faith is less widely known than that of Moradin.

Temples of Flandal are typically subterranean forges that serve the faithful as both houses of worship and working smithies. Most temples are built atop the mines from which the ore for the priesthood's smithy is brought to be smelted. Novices of Flandal are known as the Unworked. Full priests of the Master of Metal are known as the Tempered. In ascending order of rank, the titles used by Flandalian priests are Tinsmith, Bronzesmith, Brasssmith, Coppersmith, Silversmith, Electrumsmith, Goldsmith, Plarinumsmith, and Steelsmith. High-ranking priests have unique individual titles. Specialty priests are known as pyrosmiths.

Day-to-Day Activities: Members of Flandal's priesthood are in veterate miners and smiths. They continuously hone their skills in underground environments, seeking an intuitive understanding of the earth and stone. Many serve as teachers, instructing other gnomes in the art of detecting veins of ore, unsafe environments, and the presence of hostile creatures. Priests of the Master of Metal oversee the safety of gnome miners and inspect the output of gnome smithies. Nearly all members of the clergy are considered master smiths when working with one or more types of metal, and they produce fantastic weapons and suits of armor whose quality rivals that of priests of Moradin. Flandal's priests are expected to undergo regular strength and stamina training, a practice that keeps them physically fit for mining, smithing, or battle, as needed.

Holy Days/Important Ceremonies: Members of Flandal's priesthood assemble annually on Midsummers Day in great moots to celebrate the holy day known as the High Forge. The faithful gather in the morning to make offerings of forged metal weapons to the god and offer praises to him through rhythmic, percussive hammer hymns culminating at midday with a brief period of utter silence. In the afternoon and evening, the participants exchange ideas and new techniques and exhibit the finest of their wares, and by evening the gathering is overwhelmed by merchants seeking to acquire new trade goods.

Major Centers of Worship: In the Cold Lands north of the Moonsea, a small mountain range runs east-west along the northern edge of the Border Forest, dividing the Tortured Land from the Ride. On the southern flanks of the White Peaks, as the snow-capped range is known locally, lies the small town of Whitehom. Like Ilinvur to the south and west, Whitehom is an outpost of Melvaunt and Thentia where the ore brought from nearby mines is crudely smelted before shipment to the cities to the south. Although individual gnome and dwarven miners are a regular, if infrequent, presence in Whitehom, the humans who make up the majority of the town's population believe they are simply a handful of isolated miners who eke out a living by trading ore for food and equipment. Unbeknownst to the merchants of the Moonsea, the White Peaks are home to a large city of gnomes (as well as a few dwarves) named Forham.

Forham was founded over five centuries ago by an order of Flandalian priests after their leader, a gnome priest known only as the Arandhammer, discovered a massive vein of arandur in the heart of an ancient volcano. Begun as a temple-foundry consecrated to the Master of Metal, the Vitreous Forge has since grown into a city of over 10,000 gnomes and nearly 500 dwarves. Forham is ruled by the Hammers of Flandal, a ruling council composed of senior miners, master smiths, and the Arandhammer (the seventh high priest of Flandal to hold that title). Arandur from the city's mines is smelted and forged into iron-plated trade bars and then sold to allied merchant concerns in Whitehom by gnomes and dwarves pretending to be miners from isolated iron mines in the surrounding mountains. When Forham's trade bars reach Melvaunt or Thentia, they are repurchased discreetly by traders in the employ of gnome-owned trading companies and shipped to communities of the Forgotten Folk throughout the southern Realms. By this means, the followers of Flandal are able to ship great quantities of this legendary metal across the Realms from mines right under the nose of the Zhentarim.

When the occasional caravan carrying the trade bars of Forham is lost, an elite company of gnome warriors and priests is dispatched to recover the lost trade bars before anyone discovers their arandur cores. A fact that would greatly alarm the human miners of Whitehom, if they only knew, is the presence of a young red dragon and an adult blue dragon in the catacombs of Forham. Raised from birth by the temple's clergy, both wyrms have reached a mutually beneficial agreement with the city's smiths in which they lend their breath weapons during the smelting of arandur in exchange for a significant tithe of the profits.

Affiliated Orders: The Fellowship of Steel is an order of fighters, clerics, fighter/clerics, and specialty priests that defend the mines of the Forgotten Folk. Members of this order serve their god by guarding miners and clearing regions of tunnels which gnomes are planning to mine of any dangerous creatures.

Priestly Vestments: The ceremonial garb of Flandal's priests is a steel helm and a suit of metal armor, typically chain mail or plate mail. Senior priests tint their metallic vestments the redorange hue of the forge. The holy symbol of the faith is a miniature steel hammer engraved with a flame.

Adventuring Garb: Priests ofFlandal favor the most durable metal armor available when adventuring, trusting their safety to the quality of workmanship and strength of materials. They only employ weapons made at least in part of metal, and solid metal weapons are always preferred.