H3. The Builder’s Plot

If the adventurers head toward the Builder’s Plot, read:

Stepping past the outer walls of the city brings you back into the dusty expanse of the Assembly Yard. Row after row of shaded construction bays and towers flank partially built catapults, heavy cannons, and other odd, experimental weaponry encircled by metal fences. Following the directions you were given to the Builder's Plot leads you toward high piles of metal sheeting and the sounds of incessant hammering.

During the day, the characters find Cleff Tinkertop and his daughter Rissa (chaotic good gnome commoners) building a prototype metallic glider. If they arrive in the evening, the area is empty except for a few patrolling Crownsguard. Asking the guards about Cleff Tinkertop sees the characters directed to Sootswallow Lodge, where he often spends his evenings after work.

Master Maker Cleff Tinkertop

Cleff is an amiable middle-aged gnome, albeit a bit absent-minded and easily distracted. Rissa is sharp and keeps her father on track as best she can. If they are asked about explosives or shown the bronze shrapnel, they direct the characters toward the Firemark Facility (area H5), the only sanctioned manufacturing den of blasting powder and black powder in Hupperdook.
If the characters show Cleff the damaged automaton, he recognizes the design as his own. Thinking at first that the device might be one of his older models, he inspects it further and scoffs at the realization that it is a poor copy. The crafting reminds him of the work of an old colleague of his—Huron Stahlmast. Talented but impatient, Stahlmast was prone to copying the work of others and executing it poorly. He hasn’t been seen in Hupperdook for years.

Treasure

If the characters are particularly interested in the functionality of the broken automaton, Cleff offers to repair it. Doing so takes a few hours and costs 15 gp for materials, whereupon the characters are the owners of a Vox Seeker.

Parent Plot

1. A Boom in the Night

Related Characters

• Cleff Tinkertop
• Huron Stahlmast

Related Locations

• Assembly Yard
• Builder's Plot
• Sootswallow Lodge