Merchant

a clockwork alchemist

• Classic Era

Gnome merchant selling alchemy supplies. ===Lore=== The pride of gnome tinkerers, clockwork constructs come in several shapes and sizes suitable for the many roles they play in gnome society: from guards to cargo haulers to sewer cleaners. Made of metal and mechanical parts and powered by magic and steam, clockworks seem very alien to most of Norrath's denizens unaccustomed to the oddities of Akanon's gnomes. Clockworks show no emotion, going about their business with relentless precision. Every movement, every action they take, has a machine's calculated exactitude. Every clockwork has a particular job and place in gnome society as well as the skills and construction to match the job. Rat-like clockworks clean the streets and sewers. Large spider-like clockworks haul cargo overland. Clockworks built in the image of gnomes serve as guards and even automaton merchants. Well, that is how it all works in theory. In reality, many gnome tinkerers can hardly be bothered with getting every detail of every clockwork just right; there are so many other interesting things with which to fiddle. After being in service for some time, a few clockworks go rogue, distorting their intended functions in gnome society, sometimes with hazardous consequences. Some gnomes suspect that a force is actually at work within their society vandalizing perfectly functional clockworks and causing them to go rogue certainly a better explanation than faulty craftsmanship! Gnomes take clockworks with them when they travel across Norrath, so the machines are found wherever one encounters gnomes, while defective clockworks might be found wherever gnomes have passed by.