Clockwork Objects
Clockwork Week is coming to a close, but fear not, because today’s article contains ten exciting clockwork contraptions to stumble across in your game.
1. Clockwork writing machine. This brass box is two feet square and eighteen inches tall, and contains a single, spindly mechanical arm, which ends in an ink pen. A small detachable inkwell is affixed to one side, and on the adjacent side is a shallow brass tray, for holding paper. On the top of the box are a series of wheels, each marked with the entire alphabet and the numbers o through 9. By adjusting the dials, words, sentences, and even paragraphs can be formed (up to 300 characters at a time). Another dial allows the writing style to be adjusted from amongst several preset handwriting types. When a button is pressed, the arm whirs to life and writes out the desired phrases.
2. Clockwork chef. These odd contraptions can take a variety of forms, as each one is made to cook a single, specific dish. As a general rule, they tend to be box-shaped, and most contain an oven, in addition to numerous kitchen utensils, each on separate mechanical arms. They typically have glass cylinders or similar compartments in which ingredients can be added, after which they must simply be activated to begin performing their programmed recipe. The most impressive of these are able to clean themselves after their job is done.
3. Clockwork bird. These life-size songbirds might almost be mistaken for the real thing, if they were not made of gleaming brass and steel. Their bobbing movements are quite lifelike, and they even make little tweeting noises. Most have their winding mechanism cleverly integrated into one of their feet, making them even more lifelike, and the best of them are even capable of flight for short periods of time.
4. Clockwork door. While many would be confused by the idea of a clockwork door, this contraption is built not for convenience, but for security. This massive door weighs over 1,000 lbs., and is far too heavy for all but the most horrific monsters and determined adventurers to open, unless they use the winding mechanism on the inside of the door, and allow the clockwork to open it for them. As ingenious as the idea is, to secure the door without a lock and thereby make it unpickable, the clockwork mechanism is, sadly, just as vulnerable to thieves using Disable Device as any lock would be, and because the clockwork is slightly temperamental, there is a possibility of becoming trapped behind the door, unable to get out.
5. Clockwork card dealer. This contraption appears to be a mechanical man, made of brass, copper, and steel, except that he has no legs. Designed to be placed on a stool or just on top of a table, if a pack of cards is placed in its hands, it will shuffle them and deal them out. Bearing some magical enhancements to augment its clockwork, it responds to very specific voice commands, allowing you to specify a card game and the number of players. Some are coin-operated and dispense coins to winners, while others are for entertainment purposes only.
6. Clockwork carriage. Exactly as it sounds, this is a full-sized carriage filled with cogs and gears that allow it to move without horses. Unfortunately, being clockwork, it must still be wound up, and it can go for about a mile before it comes to a stop, and needs to be wound again, making it less than useful for all but short trips. Of course, for those who are willing to constantly wind it as it goes (or employ someone else to do so), it becomes somewhat more manageable for long trips.
7. Clockwork alarm clock. There would be nothing particularly interesting about a clock using clockwork, but this particular clock is equipped with one or more additional clockwork devices to serve as an awakening alarm. Rather than making a noise to do so, some of the more exotic ones have a pail of water that they fling in the face of the sleeper, while others may prod the sleeper with a mechanical arm (gently at first, but with more insistence until stopped), or the contraption may even include the bed itself, physically tilting to dump the sleeper on the ground.
8. Clockwork book. Bound in brass and copper, with a few visible gears, the most obvious sign that this is more than a simple book is the spindly mechanical arm which extends from the top of the spine. When it is opened, the arm automatically turns the pages, at a rate of 1 page per minute, or when a small switch on the back cover is pressed. Luxury models also serve as music boxes, with the music changing as the book is progressed through, to match the mood of the current section of the book.
9. Clockwork stag’s head. A delight at certain social gatherings, this is a blending of clockwork and taxidermy, as the inside of a stag’s head, mounted on the wall, is filled with delicate clockwork that allows it to nod, shake its head, move its eyes, and even open and close its mouth, following various pre-set patterns. The winding mechanism is typically accessible from the other side of the wall, in order to maintain the illusion of the piece. Though stags are the most common, the clockwork can be adapted for a wide variety of animal heads.
10. Clockwork circus. A favorite of small children, and often included as a curiosity to draw in crowds at clockwork shops and similar places, this is a small diorama of a circus or similarly exciting locale, contained in a brightly painted wooden box with a glass window on one side, allowing the scene to be viewed. All of the figures in the scene are attached to clockwork hidden in the box’s floor or walls, and when active, they seem to move about within the box, following a pre-set pattern.