Religion

Gnomes believe there are many Gods, but the leaders are the four most powerful, which correspond to the four most common specialties. The Gods are not feared and do not punish their subjects. They freely give blessings to the Gnomes and provide them with their magic. The Gnomes believe that during birth each baby is blessed by their God. It’s believed that deaths in infancy occur when a baby is not blessed by the Gods, who foresaw a dangerous future.

Each God has their own prayer that Gnomes use when they want to contact them, and only the corresponding specialty of Gnome can learn it. However, a noble request from a dependable Gnome could be passed on to the other Gods. Although the Light Gnomes were banished after the Light Betrayal, the common belief is that the Gnomes were tempted to disobey the Light God when they attacked. Even though the remaining Gnomes cannot pray to this God, they are treated with the appropriate respect.

On rare occasions, a child born to parents of different specialties will have a unique specialty. It’s believed that this happens when the most powerful four allow one of the lesser Gods to bless a baby. This typically happens when the Gnomes are in need of a blessing. The first case of this occurred when Zioragn was first built. The ground was very hilly and the rivers often flooded the land and destroyed houses. After years of struggling, the first child born there, Luna Raine, developed her Earth specialty powers. She helped restructure the land and reroute the rivers to the ideal layout we have now. Since then, many of the children born with other specialties are dangerously powerful. This has been a leading factor in why marriage between specialties is discouraged.