Government House
This wooden-framed, mud brick structure is currently the colony’s only two-story building, as well as one of the largest structures. It has the appearance of a rural courthouse or city hall rather than that of a residence. The front features a small porch supported by rough log pillars, with double wooden doors facing west. Numerous window frames with shutters, some of them open, wrap around the building on both floors. The roof is not thatched, but has wooden shakes instead. The construction suggests this building was intended to be a source of community pride, but it still has a rough, unfinished appearance due to lack of paint and coarse materials. A few small shrubs have been planted around it.
The doors are unsecured, although they can be barred from within. When the PCs enter, read or paraphrase the following aloud.
Through the main doors is a foyer opening to a large chamber that occupies most of the main floor. This room is open to the second floor, and two flights of stairs lead to a gallery that overlooks this space, supported by columns on the main level. At the rear of the chamber against the east wall is a raised desk, like a podium. Tables and chairs are arrayed in front of it like a courtroom. The gallery above has simple wooden chairs so that citizens can observe whatever business is conducted here. Doors at the north and south ends of the main floor lead to what appears to be separate offices.
This main chamber is intended for community meetings and future government and legal proceedings. The building has not been used recently, as evidenced by a light layer of dust throughout. This main chamber contains little of interest except the clockwork spy described below.
The makeshift offices have simple wooden tables, chairs, and writing equipment including stationery, ink, and quills. The northern office also has a locked wooden coffer that requires a successful DC 20 Disable Device check to open (the key is not present). Inside are multiple journals and logbooks. The logbooks record various types of events, such as the sea journey to Ancorato, daily work details for construction and farming, a master tool inventory, records of the daily weather, and so on. This information is mostly pedestrian in nature, but might serve as the basis of a future almanac. All of the books date back to approximately 1 month ago, whereupon the entries become sporadic and stop altogether a week later. If the PCs discovered the charter in area A9, this is where it normally would have been stored.
One logbook details daily events in the colony since landfall, and it’s the one book that contains something of particular interest. A PC who succeeds at a DC 12 Perception check while carefully examining the colony logbook notices that it is missing three to four pages after the last entry, as evidenced by a razor-sharp incision along the binding where the pages were carefully cut out. If subjected to detect magic, the book radiates a faint aura of universal magic. This aura originates from two invisible arcane marks inscribed on the inside of the back cover. The arcane marks are normal words and spell “plum tree.” This is a reference to area A17.
Creature: A clockwork spy monitors the main chamber of the building from the second-floor gallery, peeking down through the railing and shifting position when necessary while it records what the PCs say. The clockwork spy is programmed to attempt escape if the PCs’ actions suggest it has been spotted. In this event, the clockwork spy runs to the closest window, climbs partially up the wall, and opens the shutters with the intention of flying away. Though there is no map provided for this location, assume that it takes the clockwork spy 3 rounds to reach the window, and it flies away on the fourth round. A determined PC moving at full speed can intercept it 1–2 rounds before it takes flight.
This elegant construct is the product of sophisticated craftsmanship; it belongs to Jazradan, and has an extra feature that standard clockwork spies lack: it can extract its own key from inside its body and wind itself. This key cannot be discovered until the clockwork spy is captured, restrained, and a PC performs a successful DC 25 Disable Device check.
Treasure: The clockwork spy is worth 125 gp if captured and reprogrammed.
Development: If the PCs capture the clockwork spy and find its key, a successful DC 25 Disable Device check allows one of them to unwind and then reprogram it. The internal mechanism that allows the clockwork spy to wind itself can be removed, but this requires a separate DC 25 Disable Device check, and failure means that the clockwork spy is reduced to 0 hit points and its self-destruct mechanism activates. Success means the spy can no longer wind itself, but the PCs have a working key that they control rather than the clockwork spy being able to wind itself.
If they unwind the construct, the PCs can also review its current orders: to maintain position, keep itself wound, await the arrival of humanoids other than monkey goblins, record any conversation, and return to a predetermined location for further instructions. The clockwork’s recording gem is blank, except for whatever it may have recorded of the PCs conversations.
If the PCs follow the clockwork spy to the location it was last programmed to return to, it leads them partially across the island to area L, where it presents itself to the permanent projected illusion of Jazradan and awaits further orders.
The doors are unsecured, although they can be barred from within. When the PCs enter, read or paraphrase the following aloud.
Through the main doors is a foyer opening to a large chamber that occupies most of the main floor. This room is open to the second floor, and two flights of stairs lead to a gallery that overlooks this space, supported by columns on the main level. At the rear of the chamber against the east wall is a raised desk, like a podium. Tables and chairs are arrayed in front of it like a courtroom. The gallery above has simple wooden chairs so that citizens can observe whatever business is conducted here. Doors at the north and south ends of the main floor lead to what appears to be separate offices.
This main chamber is intended for community meetings and future government and legal proceedings. The building has not been used recently, as evidenced by a light layer of dust throughout. This main chamber contains little of interest except the clockwork spy described below.
The makeshift offices have simple wooden tables, chairs, and writing equipment including stationery, ink, and quills. The northern office also has a locked wooden coffer that requires a successful DC 20 Disable Device check to open (the key is not present). Inside are multiple journals and logbooks. The logbooks record various types of events, such as the sea journey to Ancorato, daily work details for construction and farming, a master tool inventory, records of the daily weather, and so on. This information is mostly pedestrian in nature, but might serve as the basis of a future almanac. All of the books date back to approximately 1 month ago, whereupon the entries become sporadic and stop altogether a week later. If the PCs discovered the charter in area A9, this is where it normally would have been stored.
One logbook details daily events in the colony since landfall, and it’s the one book that contains something of particular interest. A PC who succeeds at a DC 12 Perception check while carefully examining the colony logbook notices that it is missing three to four pages after the last entry, as evidenced by a razor-sharp incision along the binding where the pages were carefully cut out. If subjected to detect magic, the book radiates a faint aura of universal magic. This aura originates from two invisible arcane marks inscribed on the inside of the back cover. The arcane marks are normal words and spell “plum tree.” This is a reference to area A17.
Creature: A clockwork spy monitors the main chamber of the building from the second-floor gallery, peeking down through the railing and shifting position when necessary while it records what the PCs say. The clockwork spy is programmed to attempt escape if the PCs’ actions suggest it has been spotted. In this event, the clockwork spy runs to the closest window, climbs partially up the wall, and opens the shutters with the intention of flying away. Though there is no map provided for this location, assume that it takes the clockwork spy 3 rounds to reach the window, and it flies away on the fourth round. A determined PC moving at full speed can intercept it 1–2 rounds before it takes flight.
This elegant construct is the product of sophisticated craftsmanship; it belongs to Jazradan, and has an extra feature that standard clockwork spies lack: it can extract its own key from inside its body and wind itself. This key cannot be discovered until the clockwork spy is captured, restrained, and a PC performs a successful DC 25 Disable Device check.
Treasure: The clockwork spy is worth 125 gp if captured and reprogrammed.
Development: If the PCs capture the clockwork spy and find its key, a successful DC 25 Disable Device check allows one of them to unwind and then reprogram it. The internal mechanism that allows the clockwork spy to wind itself can be removed, but this requires a separate DC 25 Disable Device check, and failure means that the clockwork spy is reduced to 0 hit points and its self-destruct mechanism activates. Success means the spy can no longer wind itself, but the PCs have a working key that they control rather than the clockwork spy being able to wind itself.
If they unwind the construct, the PCs can also review its current orders: to maintain position, keep itself wound, await the arrival of humanoids other than monkey goblins, record any conversation, and return to a predetermined location for further instructions. The clockwork’s recording gem is blank, except for whatever it may have recorded of the PCs conversations.
If the PCs follow the clockwork spy to the location it was last programmed to return to, it leads them partially across the island to area L, where it presents itself to the permanent projected illusion of Jazradan and awaits further orders.
Uncommon N Tiny Clockwork Construct Mindless
Senses Perception +8; low-light vision
Skills Acrobatics +5
Str -1, Dex +3, Con +0, Int -5, Wis +2, Cha +0
Record Audio [one-action] The clockwork spy records all sounds within 25 feet onto a small gemstone worth 1 gp embedded in its body. The clockwork spy can record up to 1 hour of sound on a single gemstone.
Once it begins recording, it can’t cease recording early, nor can it record onto a gemstone that already contains a recording. Some clockwork spies contain multiple gemstones to allow for a series of recordings. Since clockwork spies are not intelligent, they must be given simple commands regarding when to start recording sounds. A clockwork spy can differentiate between different kinds of creatures but not between specific individuals.
The spy can start or stop playback of recorded sound by spending a single action.
Removing a gemstone from or installing a gemstone into a clockwork spy requires a successful DC 14 Thievery check to Disable a Device; on a failure, the gemstone is undamaged, but any recorded sounds are erased and the gemstone still can’t be used to make another recording.
Wind-Up 24 hours, DC 14, standby
AC 17; Fort +2, Ref +7, Will +4
HP 8; Immunities death effects, disease, doomed, drained, fatigued, healing, mental, necromancy, nonlethal attacks, paralyzed, poison, sickened, unconscious; Weaknesses electricity 2, orichalcum 2
Self-Destruct [reaction] A clockwork spy must use this reaction unless specifically programmed otherwise by its creator; Trigger The clockwork spy is reduced to 0 Hit Points; Effect The spy thrashes around and emits a tinny scream followed by a steady ticking sound. At the beginning of what would have been its next turn, the clockwork spy explodes, dealing 1d10 piercing damage in a 5-foot radius (DC 16 basic Reflex save). Its gemstone is destroyed, along with any information contained inside it. An adjacent creature can cancel the self-destruct sequence by succeeding at a DC 16 Thievery check to Disable a Device.
Speed 25 feet, fly 25 feet
Melee [one-action] spherical body +7 (finesse), Damage 1d6-1 bludgeoning
