Over the past few days, Bolten had felt something of a paradigm shift in his conscience. During the height of his creativity and watching Shandara perform her work, Bolten felt some kind of previously shuttered mental window thrown open to the light of magic. During the moments when he wasn't working, Bolten occupied his time by inscribing clockwork and arcanomechanical designs into a thick tome. He was amazed to find that the design schematics themselves had power, the secrets to the energies of the celestial spheres hidden within spring coils and gyroscopic counterweights. More than anything, however, Bolten's feverish attention was devoted to an entirely new design. A clockwork creation, based on the small shelled digging mammals that he has only ever seen in books, but this one was no mere collection of gears and cogs. This one would be alive, in the proper sense of the word. While the engineering of the body itself was sound enough, Bolten sputtered in frustration and stroked his short beard in troubled thought as he considered the magic necessary to bring this creation to an actual recognition of self. Even with his magical potential finally budding, the magic involved was far, far beyond his own. He needed time to think... Cast his net wide in search of an answer. Perhaps studying and learning Draconic would be a good place to start...

Luckily, the drill proved to be not so difficult. Bolten watches with a contented smile as the adamantine teeth of the drillbits tear into the side of the abandoned quarry, satisfied at a job well done. He tells them to look for him at his workshop and provides them with his address. It's not like he's ever anywhere else, really... The past few days were an exception.

Along with the types of magic needed for his new design, Bolten is also concerned by the various magical material components needed to ensure a machine capable of sustaining itself without intervention from its creator. Those were not cheap and even the cash inflow from the commission is not enough for what he has in mind. Back to the commission board for another well-paying job...

His chin rests on one hand as he considers the board. Overhill's drink submission wasn't even a consideration. The engineer's request gets mild interest from him, but the thought of doing "hush-hush" is very unappealing. The weapon commission was relatively easy, something he could do without much trouble. The baron's request for aid, however, draws the dwarf's eye. He thinks of how good it had felt to help the people in the Stormdrains and the chance to help another person improve their life. Bolten doesn't know the first thing about the body, as this disease had shown, but maybe there was a way around that problem... His feet carry him toward the Esterwald estate almost of their own accord. Couldn't hurt to at least learn more and see if his seed of an idea might bear fruit. Besides, nothing's stopping him from swinging down to the Ranger's Guild later.