Shadrach
Shadrach is a lesser known Gnomish Deity who watches over a sphere that is very difficult to translate outside of the Gnomish Tongue. The closest we get is an uncharacteristically unclear snippet in Hello Younglings Papa Garl Here:
“Now listen here, younglings. Here’s a story about Proto, the first of my children to be blessed with a Lifework. Well, let me tell ya, it didn’t come easy. He spent many a ten-year trying to find a fit. He played with sticks, but they didn’t burn. He played with logs, but they never rolled, and don’t get me started on when he put two ginny billys in a pen expecting kids. Now, Proto was no quitter, and he knew he was onto something special when he clapped his hands. But the other gnomes didn’t take to it. Scared away too many of the ginnys. So he tried waving, but that didn’t work at night like clapping did. The look on his sister, Shadrach’s face encouraged him just to give up. His clapping didn’t work. The waving was all wrong.
But did Proto give up? (for proper nuance, imagine here a chorus of NO!s, it’s very important)
Did Proto stop with his Lifework? (more gnomish younglings crying NO! in unison)
What did Proto say to his sister younglings? (NO! shouted loudly by all the clan’s children)
That’s right younglings, and with that, Proto invented the first word ever spoken.”
—Extract from Hello Younglings Papa Garl Here by Penindra Stillwater
In some early versions of the book, Shadrach is erroneously left out and the name Proto is repeated. Scholars (both Gnomish and Human alike) are eager to argue that this is the correct interpretation. While others point to the fact that although Proto’s name is repeated, it seems to have been written in a different hand (not Penindra’s). Modern re-prints by the Cherrybinder Clan offer two different versions, one for each interpretation (the translation above, and an “old” version). The Cherrybinder re-prints replaces Proto’s name in the “old” version with Proto imprinted in a different typeface. Many scholars concede that these “proto-type” versions probably more accurately define Shadrach’s role in Gnomish Religion.