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Last Name: Cranksproket
Birthplace: Illul, Lantan
Race: Rock Gnome
Age: 54
Height: 3’4”
Weight: 50
Eyes: Dark Green
Hair: Gray, balding on top. A well-waxed and pointed moustache.
Distinguishable Marks: Bushy eyebrows and a large nose (of which he is proud).
Skin: Pale with ruddy cheeks and nose, and beginning to show signs of age.
Handedness: Right
Posture: Erect, springy and energetic.
Hygiene: Quite well manicured, his moustache is a point of pride, and his clothes are regularly laundered and of fine (if foreign) quality. He uses fragranced oils that smell of mint and wood. There are exceptions to this, however, when engrossed in special projects. He may go days without bathing, and his hair and clothes become unkempt.
General Health: Thinly limbed with a portly belly, he is of average health.
Physical Description:
Wizzelbert may come across as the consummate snake-oil salesman, excepting their penchant for elixirs for contraptions and gadgetry for all occasions. A large top hat, a larger smile (as per the gnome adage – “Always smile, but do it with false teeth”), and clean, upscale clothing in garish colors and foreign (Lantan) styles, he stands out in a crowd in all but the most metropolitan of settings. Two constants of his wardrobe are the bright red sash at his waist, which serves to accent his pot belly, and the overloaded pack on his back, filled with blueprints, chalk-lines, gears, springs, primitive ratchets and other mechanical workings.
At other times, mainly while in the workshop or occasionally while delving into places he shouldn’t, he loses the top hat for a leather helm with googles that he uses as magnification as well as eye protection. He wears simple worker's clothing with blueprint scroll tubes on his belt, and his pockets are bulging with springs, gears, and buckles. Randomly placed leather strapping and cordage balance out the rest of the "engineer" look.
He isn’t handsome, but is slightly charming in a child-like way (CHA 12).
Visible Items:
Lantanese Hat
A near constant on his person, this finely crafted beaver-skin top hat serves to allow him to appear taller as well as fortifying his magicks. The hat band is of intricately inscribed leather, held by a small ruby clasp. He is known to keep smaller, valuable, items inside the hat.
Gondswork Crossbow
This large crossbow is made of Baobab wood, common to Lantan, and appears to be a finely engraved, overly engineered mass of cogs, chains, springs, and fine steel wire. Exceptionally easy to load and superbly accurate, Wizzelbert’s crossbow is a prized possession.
Holy Symbol of Gond
Worn at times outside of his clothing, Wizzlebert is never without his simple holy symbol of Gond, a wooden toothed cog with four spokes.
Red Sash
Worn about his waist is a red sash tied in an intricate knot. Appearing to be off the finest silk, a large W is embroidered on one end.
Accent: Lantanese. Fast, fluid. Often repeats or restates himself.
Languages: Common, Arcane, Draconic, Gnome, Lantanese.
Profession: Locksmithing, Inventor, Engineer, Salesman.
Weapons of Choice: His wits. His Gondsman. His hired swords.
Strengths: Knowledge of engineering, gadgetry, locks, traps, and magic.
Weaknesses: Curiosity and thirst for knowledge of new technologies, lack of physical strength.
Favored Deities: Wizzlebert worships Gond almost exclusively, sometimes using the name Nebelun, which he believes is his true name (and a Gnome). While not outwardly religious, he gives praise but lets his works and actions speak his praise more often than not.
He offers praise to Oghma as a master of knowledge, but looks down his rather large nose at times to those that hoard knowledge without action.
Habits/Hobbies: Locksmithing, experimenting, innovating, and invention. Wizzlebert prefers to spend his time in pursuit of knowledge that will help him advance his work. He loves to solve problems and research technologies both old and new, while relying more on tinkering and experimentation than reading tomes or listening to lectures. His primary hobby is constant tinkering of his Gondsmen, his ‘Mechamagical Smashificator’.
Alignment: Loyal to friends (few they may be), but no beholden to ‘rules’, Wizzelbert has a goodly heart but is not driven by morality. Knowledge, innovation, and action serve as primary motivators. He wants to be remembered.
Personality Profile:Eccentric in both appearance and personality, he is easily placed as “different” when on the Sword Coast due to speech pattern and garb. From the outside, Wizzlebert appears as a happy, loquacious gnome. He wears a smile more often than not and is quick to engage in friendly banter with nearly anyone. He can appear frazzled, erratic, and energetic.
On the inside, Wizzelbert is deeper than he may appear .. his mind a hive of thought, creativity, and solutions just searching for problems. Known to push the limits in many situations, he strives to be remembered as creative and innovative, and can at times ignore his own personal safety in that pursuit. While his decision to leave Clanksmore’s school in Illul was ‘mutual’, he still feels at fault for what occurred there and battles feelings of ineptitude and jealousy toward some of his former fellow apprentices. He has a competitive and ambitious nature. Wizzlebert struggles with a darkly jealous streak and can hold a grudge longer than is healthy.
He has a mild fascination with smoke powder and his knowledge of it is increasing. He is worried about the legality of the substance, but is afraid to ask about it outright. At this point he has only traded with fellow gnomes, but would like to expand this portion of his business.
Quick to make acquaintance, between his obvious foreign origin, and his sometimes distracted personality, Wizzlebert has made few real friends since arriving to the coast.
Abilities:Wizelbert is highly intelligent, and both magically and mechanically inclined. He lacks a strong base of wisdom that generally manifests as knowing when and when not to apply that knowledge, and as a weakness of willpower. Although he will often rely on a personal bodyguard or his Gondsmen for personal protection, Wizzlebert is a highly skilled mage as well. Many a foe have discovered this the hard way.
Background:
As a small boy Wizelbert was apprenticed to Dradledorn Clanksmore, a master wizard, engineer, and alchemist in the city of Illul in Lantan. A bit rebellious and unruly, Wizelbert quickly came to love and admire Dradledorn, and as he matured he saw him more and more as both a mentor and father figure. One of a rotation of 12 other apprentices in the workshop they all called home, Wizelbert did not always get along with his peers equally. Friends and rivals, they came and went, and through his experiences there he became known as a bit of a risk-taker, one to push the boundaries of practicality toward hazardousness, though always in pursuit of progress. A favorite of Dradledorn's, his many accidents were often overlooked by his Master if not by his peers.
Shortly after returning from a term of his specialized studies in the Chuch of Gond, Wizelbert's antics proved too much at last. In an attempt to create a smokepowder-powered, spring tightened throwing arm for his future Gondsman, he took things too far, resulting in not only the destruction of his work up to that point, but the destruction of his peer's work, as well as much of the shop in which they worked.
In a forced 'mutual' decision, Wizelbert was asked to consider his studies complete, and was booked passage on a ship sailing to Baldur's Gate ~ to learn of the Great Hall of Wonders, to restart the work on his Gondsman, and to pedal his wares to the great Sword Coast.
Goals: Wizelbert is of the mind that no problem is ever too large that it can’t be made into a few smaller, different problems with a little Gond-inspired ingenuity. He relishes the opportunity to show off his inventions, and may jump in over his head at times to that end.
Possible Plot-Hook Ideas and Misc Facts: His fascination with new contraptions, mechanisms, and explosions can lead him into any number of adventures. With so many peers in his background, any number of them could come to the sword coast as NPCs or Players and be friends, rivals, etc.
Maker's Mark on any crafted goods: http://i.imgur.com/zDj1DYJ.jpg
His Arrival
