Gustav's Symbol

As far as most people knew, Gustav Malvoni was a talented, innocent clockmaker, making a living for himself in Sturben, Borca. His many years had not diminished the skill of his hands or the minute focus of his eyes. Only his young apprentice, Merdufani Carpatello, knew that he had a second, more dangerous trade. Gustav used his talent with clockworks to create some of the finest firearms in the world, but rather than taking the gold of the nobleborn game hunters of Borca, he sold them without profit to a Falkovnian resistance movement. Malvoni was killed in 729 by an unknown group of intruders in his shop. Perhaps the Falkovnian government found out about his business, perhaps the Borcan government feared that his weapons would end up in Vlad Drakov's hands, or perhaps even older enemies had finally caught up to him. For when Gustav's ghost brought Duffy back to Sturben, he discovered Gustav had a stranger past than even his apprentice had known... Gustav left behind a cryptic journal full of encoded messages detailing his travels across the Lands of the Mist. The keys to unlock the messages seem to be hidden in many of his creations. Something had driven him to paranoia and a continent-spanning quest involving a mystery man named Talos. Duffy and his companions have been following in his footsteps, trying to put together the pieces, hoping that together they can reassemble the past of this mad genius.

The Journal clues so far:

p56: (Decoded by small gear from Gustav's pocketwatch rolled across the page)
"Alas, Lumley's so-called Heart Chamber is magical, not the true genius I sought. But the journey was useful. I learned H.L. once studied under the Engineer of Karina."

p43: (Unencoded)
"What lasting truth is in the written word? Only craftsmanship survives the ages intact. The written word dies. Language can change from century to century as the years pass. Perhaps even between one word and the next as the clock ticks before the next is written:
(Decoded with device found in gem-drive Gustav designed for The Engineer of Karina, codewheel gears turned one click between each word.) Finally I Accept my suspicions as fact. A heart is more than a machine. Man's true soul is beyond the reach of science and I dare not turn to magic. Worse, Talos has taken my last gem. I fear what he will do to get more. I know what must be done. I saw a man in Lamordia with a weapon of gears and flame. I think I can make one myself."

p67: (decoded with clock hands from Gustav's clock)
"Once more my greatest and least invention found me, and worse, while my pistol lay on the bench unfinished. I panicked, called it a Soul Engine. Now he expects me to finish it. New Plan. Destroy from within."

scrap dropped by Vir: (decoded with makeshift gear carved from wooden prison plate)
"When my attempt to kill Talos failed, I was forced to flee. He pursued me relentlessly, but I lost him in the snows of Mt. Steimschloss. I owe everything to the monks of the Sanctuary of the Willing Sentinel. They saved my body from the mountain's bitter cold and my mind from the siren's call of their mystical charge. In my despair I nearly succumbed to the lure of the Souldrinker. I saw it as one last chance to save him from his dark path. But the monks showed me it was only a temptation for me to follow."

Final page (unencoded): "...At last, I believe I am finally safe. I have not seen him since his fall into the Shadow Rift. Surely, he could not have survived. I settled here in Sturben five months ago, and have not heard even a rumor of him. I think I am finally free of the echoes of my past that have chased me across the Core. Perhaps one day I can use my talents to repent of the damage they have done. I am running low on money and have decided to set up a shop here. The locals seem nice, if a bit temperamental. There will be no need to hide the contents of this journal from this point forward. Henceforth, I will be a simple clockmaker, and will endeavor to stay clear of ideas that can get me killed, no matter how well-meaning."