Any tinkerer can call themselves an inventor, but only the best can be a Billowblock Inventor — Jansen Billowblock, head of Billowblock Inventions
History
Billowblock Inventions was founded in 987BCE, nearly an entire millennium before the Cataclysm Wars broke out, by Bryant Billowblock. A remarkably strong lineage in the centuries that followed placed their company in the higher echelons of Gnome society, to the point where they became
the premier tinkerers in the nation. It took a few centuries to get there, but they have never lost that accolade since. In 506BCE, their prestige and reputation earned the head of the organisation a seat at the Rattlebottom Council table.
Present Day
Bryant Billowblock's direct lineage died out a couple of hundred years after the start of the Cataclysm Wars, but the name persisted via the descendants of his two brothers. Jansen Billowblock is the descendant of one of those, Orten Billowblock. The organisation has never been led by someone who does not have the Billowblock name. The title of Billowblock Inventor is one of the most sought after in the world. It is important to note that whilst tinkering is still the primary field of operations for Billowblock Inventions, they do include experts from many others in their ranks nowadays as well.
One does not apply to become a Billowblock Inventor, you are approached to join by the their Committee of Appointments. Billowblock Inventions funds a school for up and coming intellectuals that bear its name, The Billowblock College of Prodigious Talent. The vast majority of current Billowblock Inventors came through the ranks at that institution. Whilst the estate they operate out of in Rattlebottom is reserved solely for Gnome talents, Billowblock does have presence in other major cities where their employees are not solely Gnomish. The branching out of academic fields is more prevalent in these satellite operations. For example, their set up in Dawnstone is more angled towards Arcane enterprises, in association with The Radiant Tower. These co-operative endeavours have been essential for advancements in technologies such as arcane constructs and automatons.
It is estimated that roughly ninety percent of inventions and advancements across the various fields of study in the last Gnomish generation have stemmed from ideas and experiments created at Billowblock Inventions.
Notable Members
Past:
- Bryant Billowblock - Founder, Orten's brother, the tinkering genius that put the Billowblock name on the proverbial map.
- Orten Billowblock - Founder, Bryant's brother, regarded as the entrepreneurial brains behind the initial operation.
- Grevlin Doomwrench - Cast out for pursuing ideas deemed too dangerous, later joined the Dark Council where his inventions were utilised instead by the forces of darkness during the Cataclysm Wars.
Current:
- Jansen Billowblock - Current head of the Billowblock Inventions and creator of The Cloudrunner, which has significantly aided travel to the separated Eastern Isle.
- Kitti Bluefoot - Rookie alchemist, discoverer (re-discoverer, to be precise) of Blackpowder, which led to various further inventions. Kitti is especially notable as she was not selected from the College, but only after her fateful discovery
- Winzlo Tinkstone - Credited with the invention of the Billowblock Boomblock, a method of containing sizeable amounts of blackpowder which can then be safely ignited at a distance. This revolutionised the mining industry overnight.
This is pretty neat! i think I would like to be such an inventor. ^^ Can only gnomes become a Billowlocks inventor?
In the Gnome capital, yes it's only gnomes. In the other 'offices', other races are allowed in. Thanks :)