Of Tinkers and Treachery

Laucian scanned the library shelves looking for the information requested. The young gnome’s maroon vest indicated his affiliation with the Academy, the guild for magic users and tinkerers. The black and yellow sash at his waist denoted him as apprentice, archivist class. He was currently doing a rotation with the Cataloguer, director of the library for the Scholars Guild. It was his first week and the Cataloguer had given him the difficult task of finding everything available on ways to delay spell casting and the various major and lesser Houses of the guilds of Zavah. For the disgraced Grand Tinkerer, Mariasha Smudgenose, no less!

He had been at it for most of the morning. Due to the sensitive nature of the tomes, neither magic nor most mundane objects were permitted in this section of the library. Instead a single glow ball, powered with bioluminescent fungi hung from the ceiling provided murky, green tinted illumination. 

The lighting turned the gnome’s creamy complexion a pale, sickly color. His tawny blonde hair was disheveled from hours of running his hands through it as he tried to decipher the ancient texts. The combination made him look like he’d be more at home in a swamp hag’s lair than the internationally renowned library of the City of Zava.

He wasn’t sure exactly why Mariasha needed this information but he assumed it had something to do with the two deaths that had occurred in the past two weeks. The first death happened during the King’s coronation. An apprentice of the Benevolent Society for Masterworkers had died while holding a small statuette gifted to the King. 

He had heard that the Grand Artificer was tasked with determining if a trinket was responsible for the death and posed a danger to the King. In the end, the inquiry found no connection. The case was closed. But then a second body was found with the trinket, apparently dying of a heart attack while in the process of stealing it from the Grand Artificer’s own workshop. 

According to gossip in the Academy Halls, things got heated. Accusations were thrown around. Master Tinkerer Orose, head of the Society, claimed that the Grand Artificer had failed in her duties. Old arguments resurfaced about her fitness for such an exalted station due to her age and lack of connection to a recognized House. Some even hinted that she had planted the object as an assassination attempt on Orose. The Grand Artificer accused Orose of orchestrating the theft, lying to the council about where she was during the coronation,  and undermining her authority.

In the end, Mariasha was reprimanded for making inflammatory statements about a House matriarch and suspended until a full investigation could be done to determine if she had indeed failed in her duties. Last anyone heard, she had left the city for her family’s home in the northern plains. 

Officially, she was persona non grata until the investigation was complete. But Mariasha was respected by many of the apprentices and lower members of the Academy and it was known that Grand Scholar Egide Kingmaker was fond of her. That’s how Laucian found himself alone in the depths of the biggest library in the five kingdoms of the land of Jaqor with such a monumental task.

Laucian found the text he was looking for. Pulling it down from the shelf he retreated to a desk in a small room off the main area. On it sat the journal in which he was diligently recording his findings, a regular modern lamp, and a statue made up of metal and gears designed to look like a sleeping cat. 

As he entered the room, the cat’s ears shifted forward. Its eyes opened and it uncurled into a stretch. Laucian paused to watch the cat in amazement. Its sleek body was made of various gears and metals, so finely wrought that their workings were almost imperceptible as the cat completed its stretch and repositioned itself so that it sat on its haunches. He had never seen such a perfectly crafted tinker. Its craftsmanship rivaled that of the ancient gnomes whose knowledge was lost generations ago.

The cat’s eyes glowed with intelligence and bemusement. “Took you long enough. I was beginning to think you had died in the stacks.”

Laucian finished putting down the book and sat. “Do you know how hard it is to decipher Ancient Gnomish in this lighting?”

“Well if you’d let me go with you…”

“Absolutely not! Many of the books in there are highly sensitive to magic. Goodness knows what kind of havoc you being in there could create. It’s risky enough having you this close to them.”

“So you say. But how will you know if you don’t try?”

“No. Just no Vaserius. I’m in enough trouble if word gets out that I’m helping Mariasha, nevermind what would happen to me if they knew I let you in here.” Laucian slid the book in front of the cat and picked up his pen. “Just stay put and I’ll bring things to you.”

***

Night had fallen by the time Laucian and Vaserius ended for the day. The cool evening air was a relief after hours in the dry, dusty ancient tomes section of the Library. The journal was full of notes jotted down by Laucian as Vaserius translated. Laucian was astounded. What would’ve taken him a week to decipher, the cat was able to read as if it was one of those fluff novels some of his fellow apprentices read in their spare time. 

Laucian stretched and looked down at the tinker standing beside him. “If you don’t mind me asking, how is it that you’re able to read Ancient Gnomish?”

The cat’s ears twitch as if shrugging. “Smudgenose often works on projects that require translation. We tressyms are quite adept at languages, even if my flesh and bone cousins are limited in their ability to speak. So I figured I’d make myself useful by learning a few of the most common ones she comes across.”

“How many languages can you read then?”

“Oh 15 or so by last count. It would probably be more but Llordok provided me a text from his own world that I’m finding quite difficult to figure out. It’s from a species he calls ‘humans’. So unnecessarily complex.” Vaserius laid his ears back and flicked his tail to show his annoyance.

Laucian shook his head in amazement. “Well let’s get you home and go over what we’ve learned so far.”

They crossed the empty square and turned down a road to the old industrial district, now a neighborhood of posh lofts in what were once abandoned factories. Laucian and Vaserius entered one of the more modest buildings and made their way to Mariasha’s apartment. As the door opened, they were greeted by the tantalizing smell of grilled auroch and fresh baked bread. In the kitchen was a gnome not much older than Laucian. Her red hair was pulled up in a practical bun but in keeping with its owner, several unruly curls had escaped. 

The gnome turned and a bright smile spread across her face. “You’re just in time. I figured you’d be coming back soon for Vaserius’ adjustments. Knowing him, you haven’t eaten all day. So I made dinner.”

Laucian blushed, “Grand Artificer, that’s too kind but really-”

“None of that Grand Artificer nonsense.” Mariasha cut him off with a wave. “I’m suspended, remember?” Her smile faltered and her voice hitched on the last part. It only lasted for a moment before she visibly pulled herself together. “Now sit down. We can go over what you both learned after you eat and Vaserius is adjusted.”

Over dinner Mariasha kept the conversation light, asking for the latest gossip in the apprentice quarters and discussing her research into Orcish engineering. “Right now our elemechanical systems work separate from their mundane engineering. The amount of hassle it causes, especially when one system breaks down causing the other to fail. Imagine a truly integrated system with failsafes in place so it can keep working no matter the situation.”

Laucian listened in fascination as she and Vaserius bantered about the pros and cons of different options. Laucian’s knowledge of tinkering and the elemechanical was rudimentary at best. As an apprentice of archives, the Academy thought it  was more important for him to learn how to find and interpret texts than to actually understand how to apply the information he cared for. 

In the short time he’d been working with the two of them, he realized how woefully myopic that view was. How could he be expected to support researchers if he didn’t understand the information he was giving them? As the conversation continued, he would ask a clarifying question or throw out a suggestion. His companions were brilliant, patient, warm, and kind. Nothing like he expected from the rumors that flew around about the Grand Tinkerer and her questionable “pet.”

Dinner over and Vaserius working smoothly again, the three made themselves comfortable in the sitting area, Laucian and Vaserius’ notes in front of them. “Ok, tell me what you got.”

Laucian opened the journal, “Well, it seems there are some theories about what’s known as a programmed spell. The idea is that some spells can be designed to trigger only under certain conditions.”

Vaserius chimed in, “Like a ward but even more limited and precise.”

Laucian nodded, “Most of the texts warn about the use of such things though. Apparently the few mages that attempted to create such a thing ended up blowing themselves up.”

“What kind of triggers are we talking about?”

Laucian flipped through the notes, “Mostly patterns or the introduction of a specific element, like a gem. The goal was to create an integrated lock and ward that would incapacitate anyone that tampered with it that even someone without magical ability could open.”

“The problem is, it’s incredibly difficult to dial in the ward’s power and there is no redo. Even something as simple as knocking out someone who typed in the wrong passcode could result in death to the user if they brushed against the lock. Or be useless if a robber was immune to the power.”

Mariasha nodded, “The more unpredictable the thing you’re trying to mimic. The less likely the outcome. Artificer’s Third Rule,” Her eyes grew wide, “That’s gotta be it! The illusion spell. It must be programmed to go off when certain people touch it. But instead of setting off a cute little illusion, it’s killing the person.”

Both Laucian and Vaserius looked at each other before looking back at Mariasha. Laucian began, “Two problems with that theory. One, these programmed spells are one use only. There is no record of anyone making one that could be used multiple times…”

Vaserius continued, “And there is no mage in the Academy rolls that is powerful enough to safely pull this off.”

Mariasha’s shoulders slumped and she placed her head in her hands in defeat. After a moment, she gasped, when she picked her head back up there was a sparkle in her eye, “Vaserius, what is the Second Rule of the Artificer’s Code?”

Vaserius responded, “Gnomes are the best at most things, but not everything. New perspectives bring new knowledge.”

Mariasha nodded, “And the Fifth, Laucian?”

Laucian had to think for a moment. It had been years since he took TInkering. “Umm, Never assume you know how something works until you actually see it work.”

Mariasha leaned forward, “You said most of the mages that attempted it blew themselves up. You’d have to be a special kind of crazy to touch the item again, correct? Then how would we know the spell only works once? And why are we assuming it’s a gnome that programmed the spell. We know of at least one mage in this town that is as powerful, if not more so than any gnomish mage in Jaqor.”

***

The next evening Laucian found himself in street clothes heading to The Credge, a tavern by the docks that mostly catered to laborers, non-gnomes, and the clanless. It was also the place where a group of young, well-to-do gnomes that called themselves “The Thinkers'' were known to hang out. These Thinkers would spend hours in deep discussions about the loss of gnomish self-expression and the oppression of the guild system. All while running up tabs paid for by the very Houses they railed against. Laucian found the whole thing ridiculous. 

One of those gnomes was Aymeric, nephew to Egide and one of Mariasha’s closest friends. Egide had arranged for Aymeric to introduce Laucian to one of the other members of the group, a non-gnome by the name of Llordok.. 

Llordok just appeared in Zava one day. Rumor had it that he claimed to be a planar traveler that was trying to learn everything possible about magic. Most Academy archivists and Guild scholars rolled their eyes at such nonsense. It was generally accepted that he was probably from one of the less civilized people that inhabited the northmost fields of Jaqor. While his origin may be in question, his skill with magic was not.

He set up shop as a sorcerer, or non-academy mage not long after his arrival. His reputation as a powerful magic user grew and he was known to produce results that some of the best mages in the Academy were unable to reproduce. Generally he kept himself to minor magic - healing wounds, casting blessings on ships, and helping ward off beasts in the farms outside of the city. He was also well known for his skill with plants and apothecary, a field gnomes usually left to their “less technical minded” neighbors.

“He’s the only one I can think of that could even try to pull this off.” Mariasha explained before Laucian left her place last night, “Once Aymeric introduces you two, try to get information from him about spell triggers. If possible, see if he’ll agree to a meeting with me. Tell him I’m curious about plants and their possible uses as lubricant. But be careful, if he’s our killer he could be dangerous.”

Laucian arrived at his destination and stepped in. The Credge was a large, two-story building, with a facade made of dark wood and stained glass that loomed over the workshops in the port district. The first floor was dominated by a long bar running down the center. Tables and chairs were scattered around, and a few booths were tucked away in the back. The walls are decorated with nautical charts, old photographs, and paintings of ships and sea creatures.

The second floor was his destination. Laucian ordered an ale and made his way upstairs. This area was set up for entertainment, with more tables and chairs, a fireplace, and a small stage, where Aymeric was currently holding court as he recited an old tale of a corrupt King and a hero that saves the people from the King’s cruel rule. 

Laucian had met Aymeric on a couple of occasions. He wasn’t terribly fond of the guy, finding him lazy and insincere. After spending time with Mariasha, he couldn’t understand how the two could be friends. He also found it preposterous that he was the heir apparent to the Scholars Guild. He shrugged his shoulders, Maybe I misjudged the guy. 

Aymeric wrapped up his oration to cheers and clapping. The loudest came from a small group seated in the tables closets to the fireplace. Laucian recognized a few from various gatherings put on by the Houses. With them was a man with purple-black hair and skin only slightly lighter. He was almost as tall as an Orc but with a nearly willowy thin frame that Laucian had only come across in ancient folklore describing a species long gone that the ancient gnomes called elves.

Aymeric stepped down from the stage and waved Laucian over as he walked toward the group. “Laucian, my friend, come join us.”

Laucian cocked his eyebrow. That was not how he expected this to play out but he can roll with it. He smiled, made his way over to the group and sat down. “Thank you. It’s good to see you too.”

Aymeric introduced Laucian to the rest of the group, leaving Llordok for last. “Llordok, Laucian is a mage with the Academy who is currently working with Aunt Egide.” Laucian shook Llordok’s hand. “I invited him here because he’s come across some interesting texts regarding creating spells that can be programmed to go off with a specific trigger.”

Laucian looked around, confused. How did Aymeric know what he was studying? Did Mariasha tell them? That didn’t make sense. Why would she send him here then? Alarms were going off in his head. Something was wrong, he needed to get out of there. But when he went to stand, his legs refused to work. His eyes grew wide as panic set in. He started to feel sleepy. The last thing he heard before darkness overtook him was Llordok’s clipped voice, “Really now? How fascinating…”