Race: Rock Gnome
Class: Artificer (Tinkerer / Mechanist)
Faction Links: @GlasswrightCircle | @CrowbellMessengers | @LanternRats | @OrderOfTheDeepEcho | @GrusksGuildAndForge
Finrow Tinkfoot grew up in the ceaseless clatter of the Gnomish Quarter, where gears turned faster than the clock that governed them. His fascination with motion and sound began early—by twelve, he’d disassembled his mother’s loom to make it sing. By fifteen, he’d blown half his eyebrows off trying to build a kettle that brewed and whistled at the same time.
A late-night experiment involving volatile resonance crystals left both his arms badly burned but his spirit intact. His hands were replaced by intricate brass prosthetics of his own design—each finger capable of unscrewing itself for precision work. The city guild, impressed by his recklessness and genius in equal measure, hired him to maintain B.E.A.K., a temperamental siege automaton now housed at @GrusksGuildAndForge. Finrow treats it like a favorite child, one that occasionally tries to kill him.
A compact, wiry gnome perpetually smeared with soot and polish. His hair is a nest of bronze curls tied back with copper wire; his goggles leave pale rings around bright green eyes. Brass filigree runs along both forearms, where clockwork fingers twitch even in sleep. His toolbelt is less an accessory and more a second spine, bristling with screwdrivers, coils, and the occasional pastry.
Finrow talks faster than most people can think, interrupting himself with “wait, better idea!” every third sentence. He often gestures mid-thought, accidentally activating some device that whirs, sparks, or bursts into song. When concentrating, he hums notes of an unfinished melody—a habit from his collaboration with the @OrderOfTheDeepEcho. He writes on any available surface, including walls, plates, and occasionally @MarnieCopperpot’s table.
Finrow is equal parts savant and chaos. His mind runs like an untested machine—beautiful in design, catastrophic in practice. He sees the world as a collection of problems begging to be solved with louder, faster, more complicated answers. To him, explosions are proof of progress.
He has no sense of hierarchy and will argue with anyone about “optimization,” including @GruskIronveil mid-forge. Yet beneath the manic energy lies genuine empathy: Finrow repairs broken tools, armor, and sometimes people simply because “nothing that tries to work should stay broken.”
Automaton Engineering: Maintains and modifies the B.E.A.K. unit (Ballistic, Excavation, and Assault Keeper). It occasionally follows him like a loyal but clumsy pet.
Resonance Theory: Works with the @OrderOfTheDeepEcho on sonic propulsion and soundwave weaponry. Half of these devices are banned in city limits.
Glasswright Optics: Trades with the @GlasswrightCircle for crystalline lenses used in prosthetics and alchemical focus arrays.
Improvised Mechanics: Can repair nearly anything using scraps and sheer willpower—results vary.
Contraband Acquisition: Uses the @CrowbellMessengers to smuggle restricted components through coded “gift parcels.”
@GruskIronveil – The only person who can make him stop talking by raising an eyebrow. Grusk saved Finrow from exile after a workshop explosion, offering him a forge and a chance to rebuild. Their friendship is built on grudging admiration and mutual exasperation.
@MarnieCopperpot – Primary taste-tester for his nutritional alchemy devices. He once invented a self-stirring cauldron for her that still chases cats.
@LysandraKettlemire – Constant source of irritation and inspiration. She provides him with bio-reactive materials; he provides her with headaches. Their projects often start as collaborations and end as explosions.
@CrowbellMessengers – Trusted smugglers and black-market delivery agents. Finrow owes them several “favors,” most of which he hopes involve engineering rather than blood.
@LanternRats – Salvage suppliers who bring him scrap and relics from the sewers. He pays fairly but never asks where the parts come from.
@OrderOfTheDeepEcho – Sponsors of his acoustic experiments. They believe his “resonance engines” could reshape mining and warfare; he just likes the noise.
Though never formally employed by the @ArcaneRegistry, @Finrow Tinkfoot Finrow Tinkfoot has appeared in Registry incident reports for over fifteen years. His name is attached to numerous investigations involving unauthorized resonance experiments, unstable constructs, alchemical detonations, and several incidents that remain heavily redacted.
Officially, Finrow is classified as a Persistent Low-Level Thaumaturgical Hazard.
Within the Registry, opinions regarding him vary wildly. Some auditors have argued he should be imprisoned before he causes a catastrophe. Others have suggested recruitment, believing his brilliance outweighs the risks. A few have quietly noted that several of Finrow's "reckless" theories later proved correct.
None of these recommendations have ever resulted in action.
The prevailing opinion within the Daggerfall branch is that Finrow is simultaneously too dangerous to ignore and too useful to remove.
Magister Vephra Lys of the @ArcaneRegistry maintains an active file on Finrow that has been amended so frequently that junior archivists have nicknamed it:
The Finrow Problem
The file contains observations on his resonance research, construct development, experimental alchemy, and repeated interactions with organizations already under Registry scrutiny, including the @OrderOfTheDeepEcho.
Vephra herself has reportedly described Finrow as:
"A mind that routinely arrives at the correct conclusion by means that should not work."
Despite her concerns, she has never issued a formal warrant for his arrest.
Finrow is fully aware that the @ArcaneRegistry monitors him.
He finds this amusing.
On multiple occasions he has intentionally mailed research notes, prototype schematics, and incomplete theories to Registry offices simply to see how quickly an auditor would appear demanding explanations.
His current record is three days.
He considers this a personal achievement.
Registry agents occasionally visit @GrusksGuildAndForge under the pretense of routine inspections. In practice, most are there to determine whether Finrow has recently discovered something dangerous.
Grusk has learned to recognize these visits immediately.
His first question is almost always:
"What did Finrow do this time?"
The Registry has yet to determine whether Finrow Tinkfoot will one day save the frontier or destroy part of it by accident.
Finrow insists these outcomes are not mutually exclusive.
Finrow maintains the Tinker’s Loft, a cluttered mezzanine above @GrusksGuildAndForge’s main workshop where he builds, breaks, and rebuilds everything from prosthetics to siege cores. It smells of oil, ozone, and honey—thanks to Lysandra’s bees constantly sneaking in for warmth. B.E.A.K. stands nearby, humming softly, its metal frame scrawled with Finrow’s sketches.
He acts as quartermaster and artificer for the guild, upgrading members’ gear and occasionally testing unapproved devices on them. His “improvements” range from miraculous to mildly sentient.
Finrow believes creation is redemption. Every failure, scar, and broken gear is a step toward something that might finally work. He dreams of crafting a perpetual engine powered not by fire or fuel, but by motion itself—“a machine that never stops wanting to go.”
He despises stagnation and bureaucracy, which makes him allergic to the @ForgehandGuild’s paperwork and beloved by the guild’s more rebellious members.
Keeps a shard of a resonance crystal that sings when moonlight touches it; claims it “remembers the Umberwood.”
Has an unfinished schematic labeled “B.E.A.K. II: Improved Friendship Protocols.” It may or may not involve weaponized compassion.
Accidentally caused a blackout across half the city during an experiment—@CrowbellMessengers helped cover it up.
Needs adventurers to retrieve a fallen resonance core from a collapsed tunnel before the @OrderOfTheDeepEcho finds it.
Offers free gear upgrades—if the party agrees to “live test” new prototypes.
Requests help gathering @Ambercap resin for insulating delicate circuits.
Rumors claim one of his prosthetic arms occasionally moves before he does.
“Innovation’s just curiosity wearing burns. If it didn’t almost kill you, you didn’t build it right.”
—Finrow Tinkfoot