The Automated Democracy Clockwork
A device used by the citizens of Maritimae to organize their government.
There is some controversy among the professors of mathematical arts at the University of Actum as to whether or not the selection process is truly random, or merely almost random.
Utility
The general gnomish distaste for expending exorbitant amounts of energy on government functions led to its invention. In order to maintain a fair democracy (and avoid tedious voting cycles,) a token representing each candidate for each office is input into the machine. When the machine is run each election cycle, it selects randomly from each set of qualified candidates, ensuring that no one faction can gain control.
Access & Availability
Only one machine has ever been built, and it is carefully tended to by the gnomes of Actum. It is kept in a well guarded, specially designed, temperature controlled room, in order to avoid tampering and mechanical issues.
Complexity
There's a reason that only one has been built: due to its needless complexity, it's more work to build the machine and keep it operational than to just run elections. However, the gnomes of Maritimae don't mind this, as they find the work more enjoyable than the alternative.
Discovery
Long a famous tinkerer, Gnyx was eventually dragged into politics against her will, as she was judged to be the most qualified candidate to run the educational bureau. Not wanting to be stuck in the position forever, she set about devising a way to mechanically randomize a selection from a pool of options in a foolproof way. Drawing from her vast knowledge of clockwork devices, she was able to build a toy demonstration model, and drew up a schematic for the final device.
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