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Tinkerfest 2016: Windows to Her Heart

Ah, another holiday, bringing with it the sounds of ... weeping? With a purely mental sigh, Niami DenMother ("Mum") opened the circular door into her Vale burrow to see a distraught gnome trying to vainly control a spate of heartbroken sobbing.

"Och. Gnormajean-lass. I thought ye'd be celebrating wi' th' arrival o' Tinkerfest. C'mon in, an' settle yuirself at th' table. There's enough hot water left in th' kettle frae herb tea frae both o' us."

Normally, Gnorma was one of the happiest, most easygoing gnomes that she knew, but this was the second time this year that Mum had found her sobbing. Mum frowned worriedly as she grabbed a tin of tea, and some freshly-baked cinnamon shortbread and set them down on the table.

"Take some deep breaths, lass, while I take care o' th' tea brewing, an' then when yuir ready, tell me aboot what brings ye tae me door in such a state."

Eventually, Gnorma's sobbing was reduced to random sniffles. "It's Agnor -- I thought -- things have been going so -- I -- he -- he doesn't want to do any of the Tinkerfest stuff this year, not even racing! Even though our first date was because of Tinkerfest two years ago. I - I -- think he may be losing interest in me!"

Oh dear sweet Bristlebane grant her strength. Romantic issues were not her strong point. "Easy, lass, easy. He's seemed like a man verra much in love, e'en if he's been a bit distracted lately, sae why don't ye tell me what's been going on, an' I'll see if I can offer any advice." Mum patted Gnorma's hand gently as she spoke.

With a gulp, Gnorma tried for a bit more coherence. "We've been dating for two years now. Even though Agnor is clearly not the type to rush into anything, he seemed to be ready to make a firm commitment. And then a couple weeks ago, he started getting very preoccupied, and he lied to me about the reason why! I can tell he was lying, because his blue ears turn kind of purple whenever he tries to fib. I just don't know why he felt the need to lie to me about what he is up to! We went from having plans to do a few things during Tinkerfest with my family while they are visiting, to him saying that he had a big project he was working on for a special customer, and that he'd try to get free in time to at least see the fireworks with us. He always shares information with me, as we sometimes collaborate on projects, but this time he won't even tell me any details at all, claiming it is confidential. It just doesn't make any sense!"

It certainly wasn't like the stoic coldain to be that evasive with his beloved, Mum mused. She'd be willing to bet it was not something nasty like an affair, as he was too honorable for that, but she'd been known to be wrong about folks before. "All right, lass. Ye hae family coming in frae th' Tinkerfest holiday who do nae visit verra often. Pull yuirself together a bit, straighten yuir hair a wee bit, an' go spend some time wi' them. I'll see if I can corner my former apprentice an' see what's up frae ye, all right?"

Gnorma ran her hands through the short white spikes of hair, which was even more unkempt than usual. "Thanks, Mum. I appreciate it. Between this, the family visitation, issues with the hot and cold cases we tried for the shop, and the increased workload due to how successful the shop has been, I'm just a frazzled mess!"

Mum vaguely remembered the issues with the hot and cold cases. Gnorma had wanted a way to keep some cold items cold and hot items hot out in the front part of the shop. However, with all the times that they had to open the cases just to check on the remaining contents for a customer, they couldn't keep the hot item hot enough without burning the contents, and the cold case contents were either frozen solid, or warm goo by the end of the day. Purely mechanical attempts were failing in creative ways, and Triptych couldn't be on call all the time to refresh magical spells mixing heating or cooling with preservation spells. It was likely going to take time, more experimentation, and a mix of disciplines before Gnorma had a solution. For once, the emotional stuff was going to be easier to deal with than the crafting problems ... she hoped.

"Aye, lass. Get some fresh air. See yuir family. Let th' Tinkerfest goodies distract ye. Mayhaps ye'll e'en find some inspiration there tae help ye wi' yuir display case issues. I can alsae recommend a couple o' talented youngsters who wish tae be bakers that might suit frae semi-skilled help in th' shop. Meanwhile, I'll see if yuir beloved jus' needs a nudge tae undistract him, or if there's more going on than jus' being buried in a big project at th' wrong time.

She headed to Qeynos and the workshop that she shared with Agnor and a few others. It was locked up for the Tinkerfest holiday, but it was the first logical spot to check for Agnor if he was working on a big project. As she unlocked the door, she heard a strange female voice carrying faintly through the door. "-- yours may be too big. Let me just shift --"

"Someone's at the door. Hide --"

The moment Mum heard Agnor's voice, she had flung open the door, rather worrying about what she was about to burst in on, but determined to find out what had Gnorma in such a tizzy.

It wasn't what she expected. Yes, he was in there with a female gnome who was not Gnormajean. Yes, the need to hide anyone or anything seemed suspicious, but Mum rather doubted that anything untoward was going on when the lady gnome was twice Agnor's age, they were both fully clothed, and they were trying to hide some half-built devices.

As soon as Agnor saw it was Niami, and that she was alone, he relaxed a bit. "Close and lock that again, please, Mum? I'd rather keep these as hidden as possible until we're done with them. Then perhaps you might have some suggestions as well. Gnorma did head to the festivities with her family, didn't she?"

More curious than a cat, she locked the door behind her, and deadbolted it to prevent anyone else with a key from just barging in. "Aye, lad, she did. An' I really would like tae know what ye're up tae, since Gnorma knows ye be hiding summat from her, an' it had her in tears today."

"I regret causing her unhappiness. Hopefully I can make up for those tears tonight, provided we can get these to work before then. I hit a bit of a snag, and needed a hand from a traveling tinkerer and had been waiting on her arrival to finish them." His blue face was even more solemn than usual at the thought of causing Gnorma unhappiness. "It all started with these new tinkered windows ..."

Several hours later, a grease-smudged Mum met up with Gnorma, her parents, a couple siblings and some nieces and nephews, right before it was time for some evening Tinkerfest fireworks.

Gnorma's face fell a bit when she saw that Niami was alone, but she covered it quickly for the sake of her family. "Mum! I thought you weren't going to blow things up this year?"

"Och, lass, I'm getting tae old tae chase down rogue clockworks." Mum waved a hand dismissively, then used it to rub at the spot on her face that Gnorma had been staring at, smearing the grease smudge even more.

"Then why --?"

She blithely cut off Gnorma before she could finish with the question. "Agnor found a perfect spot frae viewing some special fireworks o'er in New Halas, but it took me a bit o' time tae find ye in th' Tinkerfest crowds. We hae time tae get there in time if we scurry a bit." She wasn't bending the truth, much, and the stated need to rush would keep Gnorma from asking more questions before they got there.

When they arrived at the spot, which, not-so-coincidentally was in front of Gnorma's shop, Agnor was nervously standing there in a Thurgadin-style formal suit beside two items that looked to be shop display cases, with unique windowed doors. One pane was cycling through with translucent cogs that reminded one of golden flames, the other had icy blue translucent cogs cycling through the pane.

He cleared his throat and swallowed convulsively before looking Gnorma in the eyes. "I am sorry I am sometimes so slow and methodical that it took me this long to finish these to my liking. I was hoping we could field test them together ... and, Marr willing, that we can do many more things together over the long years." Somehow, he managed to not only get down on one knee, but reach inside his jacket for a small box without bobbling either move. "Gnormajean, you bring me joy and laughter. You balance my sometimes slow and methodical self with your quick wit and your innovative ideas. We make a good team both in the crafting hall, and in our personal lives. Sometimes you need to nudge me when I'm too heavily distracted by a project, but as long as you don't need to do it with a cast iron skillet, that's ok, right? Could you see your way into marrying a stubborn fool like me?"

Perhaps it wasn't the most polished proposal speech in the world, but by the looks of it, it seemed just fine to Gnormajean.

After a slightly sniffly moment of her own, Mum tapped Gnorma's mother on the shoulder and spoke quietly. "Th' real viewing spot frae th' New Halas fireworks are jus' a short ways away. Shall we head o'er? These twa seem tae hae all th' fireworks that they need at th' moment."


It is that time of the year again! The time when things go "Click! Whirr! Ping! BOOM!" on a regular basis. Gnomes of all ages, and those who are gnomes at heart, will be celebrating with gizmos and gadgets of all sorts. (This event will run from July 21, at 12:01 AM PDT time until August 3, 2016 at 11:59 PM PDT time on the live servers.)

New Crafted

Myron in Gnomeland Security will be selling Tinkerfest Blueprints 8.0, which contains recipes for both house items and appearance items. As with the other blueprints in the series, these recipes require 1 shiny tinkerfest cog as the primary ingredient, various T3 commons as the other ingredients, and yield 1 per combine. The blueprints require tinkering 25 to scribe. The book itself will cost you 10 shiny tinkerfest cogs, which are easy to gather in gnomish crowds in all major cities as well as Dropship Landing in Moors of Ykesha, the docks in Greater Divide, and the entrance to Solusek's Eye. The upgraded pack pony will also bring back 100 cogs per run, if you send him out after holiday harvests while the event is running.

House Items

Auric Magitronic Gear-Sphere
Cyanic Magitronic Gear-Sphere
Deepforge Proline Coupling Pipe
(NOT hollow)
Deepforge Proline Elbow Pipe
(NOT hollow)
Rusty Metal Barricade
Square Auric Magitronic Window Pane
Square Cyanic Magitronic Window Pane
Tinkerer's Trusty Oil Can
Triangle Tile of Corrugated Wood
Triangle Tile of Impacted Metal
Triangle Tile of Rhodium
Triangle Tile of Rusty Metal
Umbrite-Fueled Malduran Pillar
(animated)
(light source)

Note that all three round "buttons" on the window panes blink, along with the cogs in the pane being animated.

Appearance Items

The following appearance items are also able to be crafted from the Tinkerfest Blueprints 8.0 book. (NOTE: these are heirloom): Dapper Traveler's set: Boots, Cloak, Gloves, Pants, Sleeves, Vest.

Master Recipe

In addition, the Master Tinkerer Blueprints 2.0 has one new recipe for a Tinkered Mechanized Bow. These blueprints are returning from past years, and should be for sale on Merchant Tarly in Gnomeland Security. Scroll down to the New Quests section for details on the bow. :D

New Buyables

Myron, one of two Tinkerfest Merchants in Gnomeland Security, sells the new buyables (as well as the new craftables).

House Items

The following items are the buy-only new house items this year.
a Malduran Whirlygig
no-trade housepet
15 cogs
Clockwork Bronto Beetle
no-trade housepet
15 cogs
Petamorph Wand: Tinkered Minecrawler
4 cogs
Sprocketbreaker Harpoon Launcher
(yep, it fires!)
5 cogs

New Mounts

These two jump-packs are ground mounts that allow high jumping with 60% increase in ground speed, 200% increase in air speed, level 30 items. They are lore & no-trade, drop directly into your mount tab, and cost 1 Platinum Tinkerfest Cog and 350 Shiny Tinkerfest Cogs each. The Platinum Tinkerfest Cog comes from the collection listed below.

Magiccask Jump-Pack
Bulkjolter Jump-Pack

New Collection - You'll Want to Read This

The new collection is called: Tinkerer's Extraordinary Toolbelt. First off, you will need to have completed the Tinkered Parts collection (the purple shiny collection we've had for the last several years). Then you're going to need to chase purple shinies in Gnomeland Security AND in Qeynos or Freeport. From Gnomeland purple shinies you will get the old collection bits, five of the new collection bits, and some random Tinkerfest fireworks. From Qeynos and Freeport (both the same), you will get the old collection bits, as well as the other four new collection bits needed for this nine-piece collection, and, again, random fireworks. (I obtained foamy, flowery and rainbow tinkerfest fireworks.)

The reward is 1 platinum tinkerfest cog that drops directly into your currency tab. (This means that members get 2, due to currency doubling.) The tokens are heirloom.

The shinies are as follows. Gnomeland: magnetized clamp, mechanovariable screwdriver, overclocked drill, vortex pliers, and hypermetal sander. Freeport/Qeynos: electro wrench, antiarcanum awl, dizzwangle grease, and fliptwanger hammer.

New Quest

The "We Can Rebuild" quest from Tinker Thermald in Gnomeland Security (the hut behind the vendors) has a new appearance item reward, a no-trade, appearance-only Rusty Mechanized Bow. (He still offers the Cask Strength Gnomish Spirits house item from last year, or 5 shiny tinkerfest cogs.)

The appearance of this no-trade bow can be upgraded by master tinkerers with a skill of 400+ into a Tinkered Mechanized Bow.

UPDATE: I almost forgot to add in the Quest Tracker! The fabulous Casdoe of Maj'Dul has put together a Tinkerfest quest tracker spreadsheet for folks to download. This is especially helpful for those folks with multiple alts!

What About TLE?

Due to how TLE servers are set up, only the following will be available on Stormhold:
  • A special Tinkerfest themed merchant, a celebrating tinkerer, can be found in Freeport, Qeynos Qeynos Capitol District, and Steamfont Mountains.
  • The Shiny Tinkerfest Cog, used as currency to purchase house items and expendables directly from the TLE Tinkerfest merchant, spawn in Freeport, Qeynos Qeynos Capitol District, and Steamfont Mountains.

Created: 2016-07-12 04:47:06          
Last Modified By: Niami Denmother          
Last Modified on: 2017-07-06 10:55:33          

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