Water clock

A water clock was a common device for telling time. The Neverwintan water clock was a noted model of water clock made in Neverwinter on the Sword Coast North that was renowned for its regularity.

Description
A typical household water clock worked by allowing water to drip from one reservoir into another. A float atop the water would indicate the hour and the water could be tinted for better visibility. For example, the household water clock sold by Aurora's had glass reservoirs and a glass float, and was set in a heavy marble frame to limit bumping and sloshing that would upset the time. Felt on the bottom prevented damage to furniture. It could fit on a tabletop of mantel and was valued at 20 gp. Hence, water clocks could be quite big and bulky contraptions, typically weighing up to. Moreover, they needed a steady supply of water and had to be kept absolutely motionless for a regular rate of drips. Even so, a basic water clock was typically only accurate to within half an hour per day since it was set last. On worlds where water clocks were still a novelty, they could cost as much as 1,000 gp.

The more advanced Neverwintan water clocks involved gear mechanisms. An example Neverwintan water clock comprised a tube of glassteel mounted on a wall with a clock-face attached. Water was piped through the wall at a specific rate and flow and poured into the tube, before it was drained into a small cup. It would fill in 1 minute and then tip over, pouring the water into the bottom reservoir of the glassteel compartment, and a minute hand ticked forward on a clock face. After an hour, the reservoir was emptied and a gong was rung, which could be a magical effect. It was a delicate device and any disturbance or attempt to remove or relocate one would ruin it. A Neverwintan clockmaker would need to reinstall and recalibrate it and ensure the correct water flow before it would function properly again. Naturally, they were not particularly portable, especially into such places as the Underdark. An ornate Neverwintan water clock could be as big as a merchant's coffer and be valued at 500 gp.

Availability
Aurora's Emporium sold its household water clocks through its catalgoue in the mid-to-late 1400s DR.

Water clocks were also developed by the Shou in Kara-Tur, and were used in Shou Lung and T'u Lung.

Usage
In T'u Lung, most villages had a water clock that was set at sunrise, so local time tended to vary with location and time of year. In the capital city, Wai, a special water clock was fed by an aqueduct and never reset or adjusted to the season or sunrise. It measured the official "true time", which governed the Emperor's schedule.

On other worlds, as most folk had no need to know the time precisely, water clocks were largely only toys for the rich and instruments for magical studies, so they tended to be found in mage's workshops.

Reputation
Neverwinter was renowned for the accurate and high-quality water clocks crafted by its artisans, so much so that folk would solemn swear "by the clocks of Neverwinter" and water clocks were closely associated with the city.

History
A broken water clock was left behind in Bard Keep in the Silver Marches when monks of the Church of Oghma abandoned the place.

An ornate Neverwintan water clock was found in the hoard of the black dragon Ebondeath in his lair in the Mausoleum of the Ebondeath beneath the Uthtower.

A wall-mounted Neverwintan water clock was installed in the Grotto of the Queen, a temple to Umberlee in Lathtarl's Lantern.

Adventures

 * Dungeon #29: "Ex Libris"
 * Dungeon #64: "Grotto of the Queen"
 * Dungeon #73: "Eye of Myrkul"

Film & Television

 * Honor Among Thieves