Town Clock Tower

What’s really ticking behind all that tick-tocking? The inner workings of the town clock are mysterious indeed… why doesn’t your character investigate?

Description

  • tall, looming, towering, stretching high, reaching for the sky, ominous, imposing, magnificent, stupendous, glorious,
  • turret clock, striking clock, spiral clock, coded clock, sundial, water clock, zodiac clock,
  • numbered, Roman numerals, 24-hour, 12-hour, digital,
  • mechanical, gears, cogs,
  • face, glass, case,
  • wrought iron hands,
  • bright white face,
  • luminescent, backlit, flourescent, glowing,
  • proud, long-standing, ancient, classic, revered, sacred, special, honored,
  • pendulum,
  • cuckoo, chime, bell, ringer, pipes, horns, wind chimes,
  • robotic, mechanical figurines that put on an odd show at (noon, hourly, at sundown, etc.),
  • in tribute to…
  • in memory of…
  • installed by…
  • crank, winder, spring, solar panel, battery, energy cell, water power, mill powered,
  • run-down, derelict, decrepit, decayed,

Environments

  • town square, central courtyard, outer bailey, circular court,
  • guildhall, city hall, temple, shrine,
  • gallery, parade ground, colonnade, arcade,
  • hilltop, mound, rise, dias,
  • stone steps,
  • memorial, monument,
  • crossroads, road, cobblestone street, traffic circle,
  • wall, fortification, barricade, palisade, earthwork,

Characters in and around clock towers

  • bell ringers,
  • clergy, monks,
  • tinkerers, mechanics, technicians, engineers, clockmaker, jewelers, artisan, horologist, the “Royal Time Keeper,”
  • custodians, caretakers, managers, key master,
  • servants, guards, protectors, soldiers,
  • homeless folk, beggars,
  • minstrels, troubadours, musicians, clowns, jugglers, buskers, string quintet,
  • peddlers, hawkers, market workers, salesmen,
  • hustlers, gamblers, card sharps,
  • food vendors,
  • a masterwork clock-making imp,
  • wizard, alchemist,
  • some guy snoozing on a bench,
  • kids, nannies, a wailing infant,
  • the mayor, a meter maid,
  • ticket scalper,
  • town crier,
  • couple arguing, parent scolding a child,
  • doomsday cultist chanting weird stuff about the end of the world,
  • arsonist, vandal, hoodlums, ruffian,
  • pickpocket, scam artist, thief, burglar,
  • protesters, picket line walkers,

Stuff in and around clock towers

  • gears, cogs, levers, sprockets, widget, thing-a-ma-jiggy,
  • hands, face, numbers,
  • clock parts: barrel, fly, wheel, pallet, stop pin, ratchet cock, pinion, snail, spring, click, post,
  • chime, iron bell, brass bell, glass bells, horn, honker, dinger, pipe, cuckoo, gong, pipe organ, harp strings,
  • pendulum,
  • handles, switches, toggles,
  • bars, rods, pistons, cams,
  • chains, cables, cords, wires,
  • brick, wood, stone, concrete, wrought iron, cast iron, bronze, steel,
  • gems, precious stones, coins, quartz,
  • fountain, pool, spring, well,
  • door, secret door, locks, panels, pressure switch,
  • benches, stone work,
  • flowers, trees, ornamental shrubs, hedges,
  • fence, barricade,
  • statue, monument, plaque, bust,
  • columns, portico, cobblestone, flagstone,
  • giant gerbil on a wheel (source of power),

Things happening around the clock tower

  • parade, festival, celebration,
  • town market, black market, street vendors,
  • ceremony, ritual, customary event, sacrifice, tribute,
  • birthday party, wedding pictures,
  • crime going down, police chase,
  • dignitary giving a speech,
  • massive protest,
  • candle light vigil, funeral,
  • annual “cleaning of the clock”
  • concert, buskers, street performers, a quintet, marching band,

Developments

  • The town clock has stopped, something that has not happened in centuries, and a strange storm is brewing… straight above the clock tower.
  • The town clock needs a widget replaced, but the designers are from far away. Time to send some adventurers out to get the necessary part!
  • For a fortnight, the town clock has been running widdershins (backwards) — a sure sign that devilry is at hand — and odd folks have started arriving in town of late. Time for someone to figure out why?