Mod overview: Clockwork - Omni-guides/Tuxborn GitHub Wiki
Clockwork is one of the smaller quest mods available in Tuxborn. This page provides an overview of how it works in our load order.
This mod will lead you to explore a remote mansion in the Velothi Mountains, and the Dwemer ruin beneath it. You'll need to uncover the secrets of a group of Dwemer automatons called the Gilded, to find a way to return to Skyrim.
When you reach level 5, a NPC named Isidor will run up to you and attack you for no apparent reason. The difference between him and the vanilla Skyrim NPCs that ALSO attack you for no apparent reason is, this guy will have a note on him from someone named Camilla. (Not to be confused with the Camilla in Riverwood.) Camilla will have told this guy to come find her in a particular ruin, and get the best possible gear he can get his hands on, even if he has to attack someone to do it.
Reading her note will get you the initial quest pointer to go run Clockwork.
Note: it is possible for Isidor's attack to be skipped, with the quest Foot of the Mountain automatically launching and immediately proceeding to the objective to search his body for clues. As per the mod's page on Nexus, this can sometimes happen if something intercepts and kills Isidor before he can reach you.
It is also possible that being on a horse when he initially spawns may cause skipping to the objective to search his body.
If you do skip straight to the objective to search his body, and you don't know where it actually is, activating the quest Foot of the Mountain in your journal should provide you a quest marker to locate it. Then you can loot Camilla's note off of him, and proceed with the quest normally from there.
Alternately, finding Isidor's body is not critical to launch the quest. You can also proceed straight to the ruin you need to visit, and pick up the quest from there.
Minor spoiler for the location to visit to kick off the Clockwork quest directly...
To quote the official Clockwork mod page on Nexus:
Q) Where do I go to start the Clockwork quest-line without having to wait for the random wilderness event to trigger? (MINOR SPOILER) A) There's a landslide just south-east from Cragwallow Slope in Eastmarch (south by south-east from Windhelm).
The mod does auto-start at level 5, as described above, but we do not recommend you proceed straight to running the mod. Certain aspects of Clockwork will be easier for you if you take the time to better prepare.
In general, you should do fairly well in Clockwork at level 15 or above. And see next section for the question of followers, which may impact when you want to start this quest.
Clockwork's intention, as per its mod page on Nexus, is that you should play through its story alone. So at least as far as the mod is concerned, you shouldn't bring anybody. This is part of why we recommend you don't run it immediately at level 5. Because of the higher level of difficulty in Tuxborn in general, it's less likely you'll be able to make it through Clockwork on your own at that level.
The mod will in fact block most followers from coming with you. You have to go through a ruined tunnel to make it to the mod's main play space, and you are in fact warned that you won't be able to bring any companions with you if you proceed.
That said, several of Tuxborn's custom followers may well port in there with you anyway, once you get far enough ahead of them. And just about all of the custom followers have some means of summoning them to you, if you get separated.
So the decision you'll need to make here is, do you want to uphold Clockwork's intention of you playing the story alone, or not?
| If you want to... | Then you should... |
|---|---|
| Stick to Clockwork's intention and play its story alone | Not bring any followers with you, and even if a follower can be summoned to you, avoid doing so for RP purposes. |
| Bring a follower or followers that can auto-follow you, or be summoned | Come up with an RP reason why your follower(s) were able to catch up with you. For example, maybe they were able to dig through the collapsed tunnel to get to you, only to have it collapse again. |
Since Clockwork's designed for you to play it alone, none of our followers are going to have reaction lines to it. So it won't make much RP difference who you bring.
If you're running 1-3 base game followers or followers from Interesting NPCs, then you should be able to port them to you using the Check command in UMF.
Just about all the custom followers have some means of summoning them to you, either a spell or an entry on your Powers menu, if you get separated from them. So if you're running a custom follower you're fond of, and you really want them with you while running Clockwork, just decide whether you want to try to summon them to you.
Here's a rough guide to known behavior for how custom followers behave in Clockwork. We'll add more followers to this list as their behaviors are confirmed.
| Follower | Summonable? | Behavior |
|---|---|---|
| Auri | Yes | Will not port into Clockwork with you, but will show up in Clockwork Castle once you finish the quest line |
| Remiel | Yes | Will not port into Clockwork with you, but will show up in Clockwork Castle once you finish the quest line |
| Xelzaz | Yes, but only if you've acquired Roovi and his propylon | Will not port into Clockwork with you, but will show up in Clockwork Castle once you finish the quest line |
If at all possible, progress your Smithing far enough along to unlock Journeyman Smithing. This will allow you to create Dwarven items at a forge, and this will make a particular part of Clockwork's quest line go a lot faster.
Likewise, acquire the Clairvoyance spell. There are stretches of Clockwork's quest line that expect you to do a lot of running around in a large area, and that will go a lot faster if you have that spell to give you an idea of where you're going.
Lastly, you should be geared up well enough to be able to reliably fight the Gilded. They are a custom type of Dwemer automaton, and while most of them will come at you with standard Dwarven weapons, some of them are mages. So decent support for Fire, Shock, and Magic resistance would be a good idea.
There are a small number of items displayable in the LOTD museum. You can find details on those items on the Clockwork Display section of the Dragonborn Hall page on LOTD's wiki.
Clockwork has no custom armor or weapons. But it's an excellent source of Dwarven gear if you want it.
Clockwork Castle becomes yours as soon as you complete the quest, and you will be able to utilize parts of it even before the quest is completed.
It is a contender for an alternate home base, if you don't want to headquarter yourself in the Safehouse in LOTD. It's large and very well appointed, with a unique look to it, and some very nice custom storage systems. It's also upgradeable, with a few small quests you can run to clean up various problems with it.
The remote location is problematic RP-wise, but it also includes a fancy Dwemer machine that'll let you port into all Skyrim cities. And you also get a Recall spell to port back into it, once you complete the Clockwork quest line.
There are no additional Shouts you can learn as part of this mod, and the only custom spell available to you is the Recall spell that will let you return to the castle once you finish the quest.
Not much. There are a few side tasks you can do to clean up Clockwork Castle, though, and you can accomplish those by talking to Lahar.
There is also a small quest that will kick off once you find the first of Ludwig's journals. You'll want to run this quest, as the four journals are all displayable in the LOTD museum.
Be mindful that once you're in Clockwork's quest, you will not be able to return to the main Skyrim worldspace until you're done. Plan accordingly.
If you're running Survival Mode, bring adequate food, and possibly also Rains' Shelter. While Clockwork doesn't take too long to play through in real time, especially if you come in properly prepared, it will likely take you a few days game time. So you'll need enough food to last you until you get to the point where Lahar tells you he's laid out food for you. Also, Clockwork Castle does have a master bedroom you can use to sleep in. But before you get to that point, especially if it takes you more than one day to make it through the initial ruined tunnel, Rains' Shelter would be helpful to have as a guaranteed place to sleep.
If you are not running Survival Mode, Rains' Shelter would be helpful regardless, as it'll give you guaranteed access to Safehouse storage. And that will be helpful if you have a stock of Dwarven Metal Ingots you want to draw on to help out with the middle part of the Clockwork quest. For similar reasons, if you haven't turned it on already, the LOTD Stash Supplies spell would be helpful.
Mild spoilers as to why you want Dwarven Smithing...
There is a point partway through Clockwork's quest where you need to repair the steam pipes that provide power to the house. This will require you to either find 10 disassembled pipe pieces, or make some yourself.
We definitely recommend making them rather than hunting for them, unless you specifically want to take the time to explore all of Nurndural. And there will only be one place you can make the items: the forge at the very bottom of Nurndural's Hall of Elements. So be prepared to fight your way down there past several of the Gilded.
Also, be sure to make and/or acquire a total of 11 pipe pieces, even though the quest requires you to have only 10. You'll want an extra one to display in your LOTD museum.
Once you have all the pipe pieces you need, then you can proceed to use those pieces to repair pipes. Be aware that you will not initially have quest markers for all of the spots that need repairing, although quest markers do eventually turn on. In general, the spots that need repair are all in the Hall of Elements, and you will be able to note them visually as spots where steam is leaking out from obviously broken pipes. At these spots, look for an activator to let you repair the damage.