Brandan Earthshaker
by Marco Dalmonte English translation by Gary DaviesPatron of the Snartan, Patron of Progress and Conquest, Creator of the Earthshaker
Level, Alignment, Sphere: 3rd (Initiate), LN, Matter
Symbol: a fire red cogwheel
Portfolio: progress, invention, conquest, fire, technomancy, Snartan gnomes
Worshipped in: Davania (Vulcania)
Appearance: a gnome of martial aspect, with a golden helmet on his head, protected by a cuirass of mesh with a white P incised on the chest above the image of a red cogwheel (the symbols of Snarta and Brandan).
History: PROBABLE THEORY: Brandan was a gnome that lived in the Republic of the Similars (Vulcania) around the III century AC. The greatest thinker and inventor, he was the first to willingly push into the Forbidden Lands, a mountainous region near to the Republic that was believed to be inhabited by terrifying creatures of fire, in order to better study the proprieties of them that he regarded the noble element par excellence and exploit them to create new weapons that could give the victory to his compatriots in the war against the other gnomish clans. During his exploration he discovered the existence of fire elemental pupae, extremely docile but equally powerful elemental creatures, and after some constant experiments that the energy produced by them was able to power operatively many of his devices. Afterwards he came across an ancient Blackmoorian relic, a sort of enormous self-propelled machine used by the Grunland elves as a means of transport and digging. Fascinated by the magnitude and the complexity of the artefact, spent the following ten years to studio it unable to reproduce the original construction plans. However, the source of power that fed the machine was hopelessly corrupted and Brandan was not able to understand the original, not having studied the Blackmoorian nuclear technology. Thus, with the ingenuity typical of the gnomes, exploiting the discovery of the fire elemental pupae and redesigned the machinery to make it function powered by these creatures. After another five years of toil, Brandan was in a position to repair the artefact renamed Earthshaker for the incredible shakes that it generated all around. The Immortal Garal admired his genius so much that he appeared and proposed a challenge: if he was able to reconstruct and recover all the pieces of his invention for at least three times in three different incarnations, that would help him to continue on the path to Immortality. Brandan accepted and was successively reincarnated as a gnome mage, fighter and cleric, and each time was able to again find the artefact, redesign it and make it function always in the same way. At the end of his efforts, exploiting all the knowledge learnt until that moment, Brandan decided that for completing the Path of the Polymath he needed to do only one thing: creating a perennial monument to his genius. So he returned among his people and with the name of Dorfin succeeded to soon become a powerful general of the republican army thanks to the martial skills acquired in one of his past lives. Guiding an expedition in the Forbidden Lands, Dorfin convinced his men that an Immortal by the name Brandan had revealed to him the location of a powerful weapon, and here he revealed the Earthshaker that he previously rebuilt. Using his soldiers for recovering other fire elemental pupae and new materials, Dorfin was in a position to upgrade the Earthshaker and finally make it move to his liking. After having placed his followers in the strategic points for operating the machinery, Dorfin guided the Earthshaker to his homeland, where victory after victory it became the symbol of the hoi gnomes and was renamed Proboscidaemon (the symbol of the Snartan Empire is indeed a white “P” in memory of the Proboscidaemon). The last act that consecrated Brandan to Immortality was the abolition of the Republic and the institution of the Empire of Snarta (from the gnomish word for victory), proclaiming himself Emperor Dorfin I in the VI century AC. After having destroyed the opposition of the old, Dorfin concentrated the Snartan resources in the construction of Earthshaker and in the combining of some of them to create a true self-moving city, Snartapolis, his everlasting monument to his own greatness. It was at this point that, finishing his path, Brandan could finally become Immortal in the Sphere of Matter.
Personality: From the moment of his ascension, Brandan has been exclusively interested in the Snartan gnomes, exhorting his descendents to a more aggressive military policy and to stimulate the technological and scientific research for the production of new Earthshakers. Unfortunately the secret of the technology of the Earthshaker has been partially stolen by some rival gnome clans when a pair of Snartan artefacts fell into enemy hands, and this has made the war in Vulcania much more competitive. Brandan thinks that the Snartans need to have total control of the territory for disposing of new resources with which to advance their culture, and that war is the only means which he deems suitable to his aim. Due to his belligerent nature he has entered into competition and in open contrast both with his ancient patron Garal, who hasn’t appreciated the escalation brought by the Snartans in the conflicts among the Vulcanian gnomes, and with Zugzul, patron of the fire giants who is convinced that Brandan has stolen his protégées who should be his by right (the domination of the fire elemental pupae and Vulcania).
Patron: unknown [presumed: Garal]
Allies: none
Enemies: Garal, Zugzul
Alignment of followers: Lawful or Neutral
Favourite weapon: short spear (allowed all small weapons)
Clerics’ skills and powers: +2 bonus to one general skill (not free) from the following list (cleric’s choice) technomancy, magic arcana, fantasy physics or fantasy engineering.
Domains: Matter, Law, Fire, War
Preferred weapon: half spear
Source: CoM (as Brandan Earth-Mover)