Role

Chapter 2

Bert found a mostly intact two story warehouse structure in the northern
district of Galadon that was abandoned, and set up shop there. The roof
covered the second floor sleeping area, and opened up to the sky on the
opposite end of the room, which was great in the heat. Not so much in the
cold. Bert's workshop was on the bottom floor, in what was most likely a
storeroom for goods, because it has a heavy door with a decidedly new lock on
it. It is in this workshop where Bert made inventions that run off the
mechanics of gears or steam, combining the two schools of thought on
inventions his parents used. The bottom floor is also where Bert had the
people he brought home stay, due to the space and the fact the upper floor
covered it all.

Bert spends some large amounts of time in the markets and inns, meeting new
people, discussing other inventions with other gnomes, and learning new food
recipes. He is particularly fascinated with pickling and aspires one day to
become a master pickle chef, albeit his current skill with it is amateurish
at best.

For all his smiles, Bert is deeply alone. Most of the people he helps out
leave the next day, never meaning to stay longer than a night in the first
place, or scared of the strange noises that come from his workshop. He
doesn't really have anyone he would call a true friend, only people he is
acquainted with or those he has worked with before. He's became so stuck in a
rut with how he interacts with people, that besides initially helping them,
he doesn't really know how to take it to another step of becoming friends
with them. He spends his time helping those he finds, inventing and
repairing, and trying to live his life. His main work at the moment is an
invention that he believes will re-define the way people use boats, a steam
engine that can also be powered by a gear shaft that can be hand cranked with
minimum effort for when the boats user is trying to be quiet, and not having
the sound of the steam engine.