Coprin Brintwhistle

Master Coprin Brintwhistle

“The city is a malfunctioning gear, child. You don’t fix that. You oil it, brace for the sparks, and pray the teeth don’t shear off while you’re leaning in.”

• Race: Gnome
• Occupation: Artificer, tinkerer, 2nd-Rank Member of the (semi-disgraced) Bard’s Gate Merchants Guild
• Shop Name: The Whirring Cog (Upper Artisan's Row)
• Sign on the Door: "No Halfbloods or Dogs Allowed" — posted in Common, Gnomish, Elvish, and Dwarvish. The graphic features a very polite dog and a vaguely half-orc silhouette in a red circle with a slash. Tastefully racist.
• Guild Standing: Just competent and cunning enough to avoid demotion, but too outspoken to rise. Considers most of the Merchant Guild leadership "more brass than brain."
• Personality:
• Fussy and prideful
• Deeply invested in craftsmanship and order
• Politically neutral in public, privately anxious about city-wide instability
• Hates disorder—especially if it comes with muddy footprints or unscheduled visits
• Magic & Invention:
• Tinkers with elemental cores and mechanical augmentations
• Dabbles in illusion magic for shop security and advertising
• Believes Norwin is "a cautionary tale with delusions of grandeur"
• Ties to Others:
• Keeps tabs on Norwin, though finds him embarrassing
• Once tried to sell Guaco a self-locking vault and was shorted on payment—still bitter
• Doesn’t trust the nobles, and especially dislikes being pressured by city inspectors or soft-spoken inquisitors

Rumors Around the Shop

• “He’s building a clockwork assistant with better manners than the city watch.”
• “That sign? Legal gray zone. He pays the right bribes to keep it up.”
• “You ever seen his basement forge? Neither have the tax men.”