Clock Tenders

The Clock Tenders date their founding to the work of the gnome Tenthratis Peliokoniotis, creator of The Clock. Tenthratis (known among the Tenders as “The Clockmaker”) was a sorcerer of great power who took over an entire shard to pursue his experiments in magic and machinery. The result was The Clock. He enjoined his followers to attend to the details of its workings, which they have done ever since.

Of course, as the fame and utility of the Clock spread, more and more people sought out its tenders, hoping to join in the project. And so, with such a plethora of people willing to engage in intellectual work, the Clock Tenders began to spread their interests beyond chronology. Soon all manner of academic interests were being investigated

• phyle badge: The badge of the Clock Tenders is a clock’s dial, generally rendered in yellow thread, worn on the shoulder. They also almost invariably wear heavy corrective glasses, but this isn’t an official badge of the phyle.
• governance: The Clock Tenders organize themselves into a number of rather large groups called “faculties”, each of which is concerned with a particular area of expertise (e.g. a school of magic, a particular knowledge skill, or another specific subject or topic). Each faculty has a nominal head, although the authority of this position is severely limited.
• current leadership: The current Chancellor and chief Tender of the Clock is Xanomel
• member obligations:
• member privileges:
• typical members: Sorcerers, Bards, Academics, some Clerics, Gnomes, some Elves,
• allies: The Dead College and the Other Side have a similar interest in knowledge. The Shadowy Men often find the Clock Tenders’ research useful. But most phyles try to maintain good relations with them, as they provide a useful service.
• enemies: The Maul have little use for the research of the Clock Tenders, and the Drummers have a casual attitude at odds with an obsessive academic approach.
• economy: The Clock Tenders are ready and willing to sell their services as spell casters to non-phylists. They also make access to their extensive libraries available to non-phylists, typically at a fairly hefty fee. The Clock Tenders also, of course, sell clocks.
• don’t mess with us because: The Clock Tenders include the most powerful arcanists of the polychotomy. Annoying them has a tendency to bring about massive magical retaliation.
• common religions: The Church of Boko the Nonexistent, Elementalism, the Great Philosophy, Otherness, the Unknown Powers
• restrictions, attitudes towards purity and taint: The Clock Tenders do not take any position as a group with regards to Purity and Taint. Some members ally themselves with the Pure phyles (usually on grounds of principle), and some see Taint as a way to access hidden sources of knowledge. But most Clock Tenders stand aside in the long-standing dispute.
• favoured classes:
• prestige classes:
• cleric domains:
  • at least one of: Creation, Dream, Knowledge, Magic, Mind, Oracle, Planning
  • none of: Endurance, Protection, Strength, Tyranny, War, Wealth, Wrath
• feats: Magical Aptitude, Spell Focus (any), Spell Penetration
• skills: Decipher Script, Knowledge (Arcana), Spellcraft, Use Magic Device

notable Clock Tenders

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