Alik
Alik n'Noz puVern Sparkthrower
Appearance
At first glance, you might not think he's a person at all... just an artifice contraption of some sort, a 3-foot-tall humanoid collection of gears and tubes and mithril-wire mesh, spark plugs glowing actinic purple, and humming, whirring gears and hazy irridescent auras that it kind of hurts to look at.
Oh, sure, there's flesh as well... dark walnut-brown flesh, visible in patches here and there between the swaths of luminescent mithril ... but it takes careful observation to confirm it as a body within artifice armor rather than, perhaps, as patches of skin used as decoration.
But really, it's the artifice that demands attention. Indeed, Alik's own attention is mostly occupied by it, and he is constantly making adjustments to its functioning.
Overview
Alik is a middle-aged gnome artificer, born and raised in Rune but living in Happy Valley with his extended family for the last decade. He is an adventurer and a crafter of Wondrous Items, Arms, and Armor (see his ad below!). He tends to get distracted and wander off in the middle of conversations.
He rarely makes things blow up unintentionally.
He was one of the adventurers who discovered the tunnels under the Artificer's Guild that lead to Morduzum, and a founding member of the Morduzumite Inquisition.
Family
Alik's parents lived in Rune until a few years ago. He lost track of them during the Rune/Dran war, although he's not sure if they were killed or escaped or what.
When Alik first arrived in Happy Valley he was taken in by a gnomish couple, as part of the gimirri. Afterwards they invited him to join them as part of a triad, and he accepted. They were happily married for five decades and have three children, though Alik grew more distant from his spouses and their children as his Kulthian studies progressed, and his recent extended disappearance has left them somewhat estranged, which they are working through.
His oldest child is thirty, and she is expressing interest in engineering, so he is teaching her Kulthian and working on setting up an internship/apprenticeship for her within the Artificer's Guild. His spouses are not entirely on board with this.
Morduzumite Inquisition
Alik was one of the adventurers who discovered the Tunnels under the Guild that lead to Morduzum in 1018, and became one of the founding members of the Morduzumite Inquisition.
As the Inquisition's Chief Cartographer, he has devoted himself to exploring and mapping the Morduzumite Tunnels. This has proved extremely difficult, because the Tunnels are constantly shifting, but he has developed an artifice device that makes it easier... it loads a series of maps with a time-stamp for each, and projects an animated view of the shifting tunnels. He has been studying the shifts for the last year or so, trying to identify a pattern he can use to predict them.
To that end, he regularly explores the Tunnels, and recruits assistance in doing so.
Suspicious people might suspect that he hopes to find Morduzumite artifacts that he can use for his own purposes... perhaps even resurrect the Kulthian empire. He denies this vigorously, of course.
Artificers Guild
Alik has been associated with the Artificer's Guild and the associated Engineer's_Enclave since his arrival in the city, decades ago.
Mostly he ignores them and they try very hard to ignore him, viewing him as, well, a gnome.
That said, the Morduzumite Inquisition has strong ties to the Guild, so when Alik became a founding member of the Inquisition the Guild felt compelled to extend him an Associate Professorship. He even teaches classes from time to time, much to everyone's horror.
As long as he doesn't blow up anything too valuable, they're OK with him.
He has an office in the Sunken Workshops underneath the Guild Hall.
Morduzum Scouts
The Morduzum Scouts are an NPC organization, managed by the Morduzumite Inquisition in conjunction with the Artificer's Guild, mostly comprising students of artifice at the University. Primarily they are research assistants.
They were founded in 1018, and as one of the founding members of the Inquisition Alik was appointed a Mentor to the Scouts.
He is not the best Mentor ever. Mostly he directs the Scouts to help him with his own research, which he gets yelled at for a lot, since that's not their purpose. He also frequently directs them to explore the Tunnels and make maps, but they are mostly smart enough to ignore him when he does that, since that can get them killed!
From time to time he also directs them on other, more appropriate, projects.
What Happened In The Tunnels
In 1019, on his 90th birthday, Alik led an expedition to more fully explore the Tunnels, which became lost in the shifting area. A year or so later, Alik returned to Alexandria, with a completely re-engineered suit of armor, tools, weapons, and his right leg entirely replaced by artifice.
He has not yet revealed what happened.
=Artifice Leg
Alik's right leg has been replaced by artifice. If you are familiar with artifice you'll realize it's of a _very_ unusual design... in fact, it seems more organic than designed.
Weird.
History
Past History
Alik was born in Rune, a little over ninety years ago. His parents were illusionists, and he showed some talent for magic as a child, but his true love was machinery. He was apprenticed as a tinker... a proud calling among gnomes, although there was little call for that profession in a nation of mages, where mending spells were common and gnomes were rare.
In his twenties he found a forbidden Kulthian text in an obscure corner of a magical library and in that moment the path of his life changed. He became obsessed with the craft of artifice, taught himself the Kulthian tongue, began assembling magitech contraptions. The Runic mages weren't _thrilled_ but as long as he continued tithing the Temple of Reos they didn't interfere.
In his forties, Alik felt the Call -- the gimirri his parents had taught him of -- for the first time in his life. Somehow he knew that a Project of Significance was being worked on that could use his talents, and it was time for him to leave the place of his birth. He ended up in Happy Valley, in a community of gnomes for the first time in his life, and by the time the gimirri was complete he'd found a family there. He also became associated with the Artificer's Guild and, when he developed the Death Ray, Titan Armor, and Engineer's Hammer that truly marked him as an Artificer.
In his late eighties, when the tunnels beneath the Guild opened up, Alik became one of the founding members of the Morduzumite Inquisition, and began devoting himself to exploring and mapping the Tunnels. This proved extremely difficult, because the Tunnels are constantly shifting.
In 1019, on his 90th birthday, Alik led an expedition to more fully explore the Tunnels, which became lost in the shifting area. A year or so later, Alik returned to Alexandria, with a completely re-engineered suit of armor, tools, weapons, and his right leg entirely replaced by artifice.
The full story of what happened during that year, he has not revealed.
Roleplay Hooks
- Anything having to do with the Alik#Artificers_Guild
- Anything having to do with Morduzum, the Tunnels under the Artificer's Guild, or the Alik#Morduzumite Inquisition.
- Crafting Wondrous Items or specialized ammunition.
- Anything having to do with Rune or Happy Valley.
- Anything having to do with gnomes.
WONDROUS ITEMS FOR SALE!!!
(Signs of this sort can be found all over Alexandros, mostly in places where they get torn down later the same day.)
Alik Sparkthrower's Wandering World of Wonders! Coffee and jelly donuts FREE with every purchase!
(60% of market cost) Masterwork firearms and ammunition, and enchanted belts, goggles, gloves, hats, capes, bracelets, and all other manner of wondrous items! (85% of market cost) Firearm ammunition: adamantine, cold iron, mithral, alchemical silver, living steel. (You must provide your own source of adamantine or mithral.)
FULLY LICENSED AND CERTIFIED by Artificer's Hall and Happy Valley Authority.
TRADE WELCOMED! Talk to owner for details.
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