The Clockwork Canton began as an industrial extension of Sotha Sil’s Clockwork City, repurposed to operate in Vvardenfell. While the Tribunal Temple officially claims it is a “gift of the Clockwork God” to strengthen faith in the Tribunal gods themselves, its true nature is pragmatic: a guild of artisans, engineers, and merchants who replicate and sell Dwemer-inspired devices.
Early on, the Canton gained wealth by selling weapons, armor, and constructs built on recovered Dwemer schematics. These weren’t true miracles of the Brass God, but high-quality imitations. When the Three Banners War erupted, the Canton became indispensable, supplying war materiel to the Ebonheart Pact and striking lucrative deals with House Hlaalu, who managed distribution.
Over time, the Canton gained quasi-political status, functioning almost like a Great House without claiming the name. It operates by contract, not kinship: you are part of the Canton if you work under its mechanisms, pay its fees, and follow its codes.
The Canton is structured less like a noble house and more like a corporation. Its ranks blend mercantile, military, and mechanical authority:
Prime Factor – The leader of the Canton, functioning as the supreme executive. They oversee contracts, declare policies, and negotiate with other factions. Current Prime Factor: Viiran Deyadlus.
Factors – Senior officers who each manage a division (weapons production, logistics, finance, or contracts). They act as ministers or guildmasters, carrying near-autonomy in their specialty.
Prefects – Mid-level overseers in charge of workshops, foundries, and arsenals. Prefects directly manage workers and enforce Canton codes.
Mechanists – Skilled artificers and engineers responsible for creating and maintaining clockwork devices. They are the backbone of the Canton’s reputation for reliability.
Functionaries – Clerks, merchants, and record-keepers who handle trade ledgers, contracts, and negotiation logistics.
Hands – Laborers, porters, and guards who keep the Canton running. Though considered the lowest rung, their numbers make them essential.
Philosophy – Unlike the Great Houses, the Canton values profit and precision. Loyalty is earned through successful contracts and efficient results.
Culture – Members use a heavily contractual lexicon: deals are “obligations,” leadership is “factorial,” and betrayals are “breaches.”
Symbols – Brass gears, stylized spiders, and weighted scales (representing balance between profit and obligation).
Attitude to Outsiders – Anyone can trade with the Canton if they can pay. But only those bound by contract may claim the title of “Cantonite.”
The Canton operates from the Clockwork Arsenal, a fortress-like industrial complex that doubles as armory and factory. Brass spiders and Factotums patrol the halls.
House Hlaalu sees the Canton as both ally and rival, needing their goods but resenting their independence.
House Redoran is cautious of them, respecting their engineering but suspicious of their mercenary nature.
The Temple tolerates them because of their association with Sotha Sil, though some Ordinators whisper that they verge on heresy.
Profit vs. Pact Loyalty – Though supplying the Ebonheart Pact, the Canton could easily sell to other alliances if profit outweighed risk. Their neutrality is always suspect.
Industrial Ethics – Rumors abound that the Canton tests weapons on prisoners, experiments with dangerous soul-gem engines, and hoards Dwemer relics forbidden by the Tribunal.
Political Independence – The Canton refuses to bend knee to any Great House. Hlaalu wants to absorb them, Redoran to restrain them, and Indoril to outlaw them — but their usefulness makes them untouchable.