CAC01.06 Drunken Gnome in Mud

You head over to the little fellow, expecting to come face-to-face with some poor street urchin based on their size. However, this person is clearly much older, with a weathered face and a bushy beard. He doesn’t appear to have bare, hairy feet, so you rule out him being a hobbit, and he’s definitely too small to be a dwarf. You reach down to help him up.
As you assist the drunken figure out of the mud, you notice his pockets are crammed with odd gears, springs, and small tools. He reeks of strong alcohol and mumbles incoherently about "the mechanism" and "those blasted fools."
Once on his feet, he shakes the mud from his hair and beard and seems to regain a little clarity. "Err, oh, th-thank yee, sirs. Oh, my head’s buzzin'."

Convince the drunken man to explain himself
Suilven, Ben, Zalman roll for Persuasion DC10 - success

You ask who he is, what he is, and what happened.
"Oh," he says, looking up at you from below. "I'm Grindle Whirltap. Gnome, my good fellows. That is, I am a gnome. I come from a distant land, and I invent things. I've invented an automated loom... Oh, my head!" He clasps both hands to the sides of his head, as if trying to hold himself upright. "Look, I’ve got to go lie down. But if you fancy an ale and a chinwag later, I’m always happy to be the recipient of a free ale and listen to some gossip. I’ll be in the Black Pig this evening—and, to be honest, most evenings. I bid you, have a good day."
And with that, he staggers off toward the Ford Inn.
You watch the little man stagger across the muddy square, somehow managing to dodge in and out of the relative giants around him, all the while muttering and mumbling to himself and flinging his arms in the air. Every so often, he stops, sways, steadies himself, and carries on.
You smile at each other, and even Zalman agrees, "What a funny little man! A gnome, he claims. Well, I never thought there’d be people smaller than us hobbits!"
he eventually comes to, revealing his name: **Grindle Whirltap**, a traveling gnome inventor. He’s not only new to the city but also new to the entire region, having recently arrived to sell his latest invention to a wealthy patron. However, his deal went sour.
#### **Grindle’s Tale** Once sober enough to explain (and perhaps after some coaxing), Grindle reveals: 1. He invented a marvelous device, the **Auto-Loom**, designed to revolutionize textile production and make the weavers of the city rich. 2. He sold the design to a guild representative in *The Artisans' Guild*. However, after getting paid a small sum upfront, the buyer tried to claim it as their own invention and locked him out of their workshop. 3. Furious and seeking justice, Grindle tried to confront them at the guild’s workshop. He was thrown out when he caused a scene and has been drowning his sorrows in ale ever since.
Grindle is desperate to retrieve his device or the plans for it. He begs the party to help him, offering a share of the profits if they succeed.
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#### **Adventure Options** 1. **The Guild Heist** - Grindle leads the party to the workshop where the Auto-Loom is stored. The place is heavily guarded, as the guild fears industrial spies and saboteurs. - The party must sneak in, recover Grindle’s plans or device, and avoid getting caught by guards or triggering traps the guild may have set to protect its secrets. - Once inside, they discover the guild has already begun producing multiple copies of the Auto-Loom, which could flood the market and ruin Grindle’s chance of profiting from his invention.
**Twist**: The guild buyer who stole Grindle’s invention may attempt to bribe or negotiate with the party, offering gold or favors if they leave things as they are.
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2. **A Rival's Scheme** - Grindle’s invention wasn’t stolen by the guild but by a rival inventor who wanted to sabotage Grindle’s reputation and secure their own place in the guild. - The rival is secretly selling a sabotaged version of the Auto-Loom that malfunctions dangerously when used. - The party must track down the rival, confront them, and retrieve the original plans to prevent disaster.
**Complication**: The rival has powerful friends in the guild and may accuse Grindle of being the thief instead, creating a moral dilemma for the party.
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3. **A Larger Conspiracy** - While investigating the Auto-Loom theft, the party uncovers a broader plot within the Artisans’ Guild. Several guildmasters are conspiring to suppress inventions that could disrupt traditional industries, fearing loss of power and influence. - The Auto-Loom is just one of several designs they’ve stolen or destroyed, and the guild has a hidden vault where suppressed inventions are stored or destroyed.
**Escalation**: - If the party exposes the conspiracy, they could shake the foundation of the guild, gaining allies among the oppressed artisans and inventors—but also earning powerful enemies. - Alternatively, the party might decide to keep quiet, blackmail the conspirators, or work with Grindle to sell his invention elsewhere.
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#### **Additional Encounters**

**Drunken Antics**: As the party tries to sober Grindle up, he stumbles into trouble, accidentally offending a noble or spilling ale on a thief, leading to a minor brawl.

**Local Curiosity**: Word spreads about the strange "little man" with the party. Crowds gather to gawk at Grindle, and the militia may even question the party about their "unregistered magical creature."

**A Dangerous Machine**: If the party tinkers with the Auto-Loom, it malfunctions in a spectacularly dangerous way, forcing them to shut it down before it causes more harm.

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#### **Outcomes**

The party helps Grindle reclaim his invention, earning a share of future profits and possibly the gratitude of the gnome’s community, should he bring others to the region.

They expose corruption within the guild, reshaping city politics and potentially gaining access to guild resources or contacts.

They fail to help Grindle, who either leaves the city in despair or decides to rebuild his invention from scratch—possibly reappearing later for revenge or redemption.

This adventure offers opportunities for humor, intrigue, and moral choices while introducing the party to gnomish ingenuity and the darker side of city guild politics.

Parent Plot

337-112 Cobblestones and Coin #1

Related Locations

• Westmeet Square - 1