The Gilder’s Polytechnic is a secret guild of Clockwerk scholars hidden deep beneath the city of Arcanum. The ancient structure rests on a great gold gear that powers the City's engines. The Gilders say the Artificer himself forged this gear in Arcanum’s earliest days.
The radical sect of hermits who reside deep within the Polytechnic study the City’s design and extract its secrets as currency against the City’s power brokers. The Gilders believe the City itself is like a Clockwerk, the Artificer being its perfect designer.