Clockwork
From Changeling Venue
| Seeming | Elemental [[]] |
|---|---|
| Court | Winter Court ••• |
| Freehold | |
| Player | Christian 'luke' Luetkemeyer |
Contents |
Specifics
Alias(es): Old Man Bones, Goblin Man,
Real Name: Unknown
Location: Various places - constantly traveling
Age: "a Deucalione"
Seeming: Elemental
Kith: Manikin?
Court: Autumn Court before the 2nd world war. Winter Court since 1945.
Concept: Antiquarian Clockwork Occultist
Keeper:
Summation: Clockwork is the spooky, tactless old man at the edge of town that a lot of people know of but don't often talk to.
Mask:
Clockwork is an old medium-build man usually dressed in dark clothes of caucasian descent with dark eyes and hair.
Mien:
While similar to the Mask, the joints often seem clockwork mechanical and the eyes and limbs often have jolts of electricity coursing through them, and body often seems cool to the touch.
Character Livejournal: none yet
Personal ties
- Frances Ritter - hedge escort/guide?
- The Antiquarian Book Exchange -
- Ash, Tolltaker - work out specifics! Dominic
- The Dollmaker - new york? - old man friendship ties?
- Gaea - She warmly greets Clockwork in Latin whenever they're seen together. (OOC - Became her tutor in the English language in STL.)
- Jandori - Sarcasm contests, random insults for fun, and some insane humor in there somewhere, too. (OOC - Vekah McKeown - White Stag courier service connections, introduced her to BoMR)
- Laurel Thorn - House of Thorns - set up more with Dee Beutel
- Most Noble Order of Surgeons - ties to phil armstrong's toon for medical things and goblin fruits for supplies
- Paladin - old connections? talk to jeff chasteen more
- Tialgee - priory of shadow, andrew anderson
- Lord Valentine - He and Clockwork have been seen speaking in Thornwall on many occasions. It is rumored that Clockwork has a standing invitation and even a room there.
- Zoe Edwards - the famous writer seems inexplicably fascinated by Clockwork and strangely, not at all put off by whatever it is that bothers other people about him. She is known to praise his work highly when he is spoken of.
Business Ties and former/current customers
- Althea Sexton commissioned multiple things for her daughter, Elizabeth Ann.
- Ash - Elemental, Summer Court, Tolltaker. Wiki page coming soon!
- Augustus Cawthorne - There are many rumors of these two's connection. But no one knows the truth.
- Carnaval Del Diablo - ally - connection with founder but not a member?
- Catherine Wheel - commissioned a Snow Hare and gives info and fetch referrals from time to time.
- Contrary Mary - supplier and buyer for goblin fruits and hedge escort stuff.
- Domino - Darkling, Mirrorskin - one of the Changeling Air Rapid Delivery Service (C.A.R.D.S)
- Edria Meredith, of the Order of The Isle... occult ties, book trades, etc. supplying her herbs... member of the Order of The Isle ?
- Elizabeth Ann Sexton - gave her a sea horse "Amy" while in Arcadia on commission of her mother Althea Sexton and made her a doll version of Amy in the real world after her escape.
- Gaius Arctorus, of The Praesidium , Knight - possibly enchanting?
- Goblin Fruit & Nut Company - buyer for/from them.
- Ignacio Itztli - alleged member of the shadow organization Brotherhood of Midnight Raven, Clockwork assisted him with getting a new identity as his true identity is an illegal alien in the US.
- Magistrate Waxman - yearly commissions for items, tokens, etc for the seasonal events. support for him for CG:Winter, too. he'll get me connections here and there :)
- Mavis Thornsby - supplied a few apothecary things.
- Morgana Damphair - I bankrolled her first concert, and she's my contact into the Bishopric of Blackbirds.
- Nathaniel Fellows - Former student of Clockwork. Said to have been instructed in the ways of the Winter by this changeling.
- Noman - Catherine Wheel's runner and troubleshooter. Has worked with him on several jobs for Catherine.
- Sin Right - hired by Clockwork while she was psychotic. She can't remember if he's friend or foe, so she assumes the latter but treats him as the former.
- Stephen Daedalus - supplied a few things
- Tommy Blue had a little clockwork dog made in arcadia (OOC - and had a fetch relocated/removed in normal time).
- Uriel de Lenormand - offered a relationship founded in common respect and interest, sometimes to the point of respectable rivalry. Mutual occult hobbies have allowed their paths to cross numerous times.
- Vayne Cruxis - He has been hired on several occassions to help with protection and muscle work. Vayne seems to enjoy helping this odd invidual out whenever there is need of Vayne services.
History
Basic Timeline:
Late 1800s: Birth
1920s: Final escape (there were some times he was seen before this, but he acknowledges that he actually escaped in the roaring 20's if asked.) Location is around the Great Lakes or Mississippi River area.
1930s: Established ties, allies, and Shops around the country and solidified them with Doors in his Hollow(s?).
1929: Joined the Autumn Court around the time of the Great Depression.
1945: Left the Autumn Court to join the Winter Court at the end of WWII.
1940s-present: Known to spend much of the time guiding newly escaped Lost out of the Hedge.
Background:
I was taken too young to remember much about my childhood, but memories do come back from time to time in flashes. I have no memory of my mother to this day, but it was so long ago... More than anything, I remember my animals, and I remember my father.
"Can you get your pets out of here, son? They ruining my work! They're ruining your work, too, if you would actually help me with this." The watches sat on the table in pieces, and once again, Levi jumped right into the middle of the table. Father lovingly scooped him up and brought him outside and came back to the table to pick the components of his new time piece off the floor, and just through the corner of my eye, I saw Levi jump back through the open window, soundless and full of mischief in his little feline eyes.
When I was taken, I was heartbroken to be away from my father and my animals. I think I might even remember a little sister in there somewhere, but that could just be an old and dead hope. My keeper saw that I was sad, and while, to this day, I do not think that he cared for me, he did make me pets. He showed me the way that their bodies could move, or ways that they could respond to what I would say to them. They were so lifelike, it was almost like having Levi again... almost... for a while.
I came back after a short time in Arcadia, and my father had died while I was away. I went to my home, but even my pets had left me. My home was not a home, and my family was gone. The only thing I knew was my life with my keeper. New people had moved into my home, and another little boy was in my room with his own little pet, a dog named Baron. No one saw me, but I saw them and the family that they still had.
My keeper let me see just enough to realize that Arcadia was my home before whisking me back through the Hedge to work in his laboratory. He had other assistants, too, but we didn't talk much about anything but work. We had friendly competitions with each other, building more outlandish and mythical creatures and machines than we could have imagined as children in the 'real' world. I know now that this was only allowed because it prompted much more creation amongst the apprentices, but at least we enjoyed it. I didn't learn until later about the apprentices that had come and gone before me that didn't do well enough.
I kept reading the books that the Keeper asked me to read, and some were rather terrifying, but through them, he showed me the world, and the things around me made a bit more sense. I studied and worked and read and spent time with my animals. Over the years, the other apprentices seemed to fade away or disappear, but by then, I was more fae than human. My joints seemed like the machines I made, and my control over those machines had developed to a great degree. I could control the animals and the doors and the windows and the lights and candles and the things around me. I had become the perfect apprentice for my Keeper. I didn't even know how long it had beed. My Levi was the only one who kept me company through the days. Lovable, wonderful Levi, just like my old cat, at home with my father.
Every so often, my Keeper would send me to the world, perhaps just to be rid of me for a time. The world changed in leaps and crawls every time. I watched my boyhood home from so long ago go through family after family, and while it had been my home for a few years, I had truly lost count of the years I had spent with my keeper. It wasn't a bad life... just a lonely one.
...
My Keeper decided to get another apprentice today. It had been years since Keeper had a new apprentice. Did I do something wrong? Were my animals less lifelike than they had been before? Did one of the commissions for the other Keepers not work correctly? What was going on? I didn't know what to do. I knew better than to go to the Keeper to ask such a question, but nothing could keep me from thinking about it. I didn't realize that I had been fixated on it until later that day when all my animals started asking me what was wrong. Only my animals know me that well, and by then, the Keeper came to see me.
Dread. If you think you have ever felt fear before, it is nothing like meeting your Keeper when he sees you doing things you shouldn't be doing. A whole days worth of work wasted... Apprentices had disappeared for less on more than one occasion. His clockwork simulacrum came to beckon me into his lower laboratory. I took a deep mechanical breath before I moved to follow the little man.
"You are being given a new job. You are no longer to do your new job except to train the others. If they fail twice, they will be given to the other Keepers to use as they please. Do you understand?" When my keeper spoke, I could hear the gears turning in his head. "From this point on, you will make larger animals, as realistic as possible, and you will make them large enough to fit other servants. You will make them capable of stealing people like you from the other Keepers without being caught. If they ARE caught, you will be given to the Keeper in question for punishment. Are there any questions?" I knew the correct answer to that. I gave my obligatory answer and went off to train the new apprentice.
I had built six animals and 'stolen' five other servants of various use and skill before one of my animals was caught. I could hear him crying in pain as his abductor brought his pieces back to the laboratory shop. I was tempted to run, but I knew it was a futile gesture to even contemplate. I started cleaning up my workspace and giving instructions to the other apprentices as fast as I could before my punishment began.
"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE, TINKER?! I FOUND THIS HORSE CARRYING OFF ONE OF MY SERVANTS, AND THIS ISN'T THE FIRST TIME I'VE LOST ONE LATELY!!"
"My servant was indeed responsible for the creation of that horse. If you would like to punish him, do so quietly or at least elsewhere. My apprentices have work to accomplish." He looked at me dismissively and nodded toward the door. I walked quietly to the waiting hand of the Fae, passing the broken remnants of the horse that had taken me weeks...months?...to create. Tears almost came, but even if they didn't then, they definitely did once the beatings began.
I got to return the following week to my Tinker Keeper, and I was glad to be back. My animals would be so glad to see me! As I walked in, I noticed that my workspace was occupied.
"I am selling you. No one will commission anything you make now, so you are useless to me. Give your final instructions to the apprentices and go outside. Your new Keeper is waiting."
Pain. All I get to feel now is pain.
POST ESCAPE
Character Inspirations
Edward Scissorhands' Father
The Ninth Gate - everyone in it :)
Eyes Wide Shut - Dark brotherhoods with hidden agendas and powerful positions in the world.
The Skulls/Skull & Bones - Dark brotherhoods with hidden agendas and powerful positions in the world.
Soundtrack
Days of the New - Skeleton Key (from Days of the New II)
Vertical Horizon - The Great Divide (from Live Stages)
Stone Sour - Through the Glass
From Clockwork
"Stop crying... It's just a Fetch."
"Yes, I said Zoe's my granddaughter... No, I don't feel like explaining it..." - about Zoe, who is OBVIOUSLY not Clockwork's grandchild.
"Do you remember that little story parents tell their kids about walking uphill both ways? That was me doing the walking, so don't try to tell me how hard your life is. I escaped Arcadia before your parents could wipe themselves, and I don't want to hear your complaints."
"David Hume said something once that I really do believe in: 'Stercus accidit.'"
About Clockwork
(Feel free to add your own quotes about him.)
"Honestly, I really don't understand what your problem is with Clockwork. So he's strange and disturbing...what about the rest of our lives isn't? Fortunately for you, he doesn't hold a similar prejudice against big and ugly..." -- Zoe Edwards to an Ogre who insulted Clockwork in public
"You need to sit down before something bad happens to you, you strange fragile little piss ant." - Ed "Black Jack" King, the Ogre that insulted him in public while drunk.
"I think he joined the Winter Court when the bombs hit. Hell, I'd probably would've gone underground, too, if I'd been around for that."
"Clockwork is wise. Having spent my entire life time living as one of the lost. He knows many things, if you want to learn, go to him." ` Nathaniel Fellows
"Qui docet discit." Gaea
"For some reason he thinks the law can be bought and me with it...but he's a kind old man, strange but kind so I allow him his illusions." Trystan Hunter
Rumors
(here, too)
- He will gladly help enchant a weapon before a battle or duel. Some consider it cheating, but others just considering it winning.
- Has used his influence to get other Changeling... rubbed off. If you know what I mean.
- If its secret and creepy and sinister, Clockwork has a hand in it. Hell, he may have started it in the first place...
- It is rumored that Clockwork knows how to contact Volō Mors
- He was one of the Magistrates of the Wax Mask when he was younger.
- Clockwork was a member of the Fae-Touched Artisans, but when the guild decided upon their final Oath, he left rather than accept the limitations on his craft and his business. While he still maintains certain ties to some older and more skilled Lost in the Guild, they are personal ties only. Any affiliation with the Guild has dwindled to only personal relationships with its founders.
- He has stories about the Lost courts from before a lot of others were even born, but most people don't like to be around him long enough to hear them.
Seeking Character Tie-ins
Did Clockwork guide you through the Hedge?
Did he introduce you to the Freehold you're in now?
Have you bought some books falling on the darker side of the occult?
Did he make you a clockwork animal?
Did he make you a new identity?
Did he kill your fetch for you?
Did he enchant your weapon right before a duel to ensure success?
Email me!
