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 reservoir into another. A float atop the water would indicate the hour. The water could be tinted for better visibility.

The 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. An ornate Neverwintan water clock could be as big as a merchant's coffer and valued at 500 gp.

Naturally, they were not particularly portable, especially into such places as the Underdark.

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.

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.

Adventures

 * Dungeon #29: "Ex Libris"
 * Dungeon #73: "Eye of Myrkul"

Film & Television

 * Honor Among Thieves