"Chips" is a former shipmate of Barrett Thunderwood's. (Chips isn't actually his name, but he's called that because all Master Carpenters on ships are called "Chips".) They sailed together through many commissions...in fact, the first time Barrett served as a carpenter's mate, Chips was the master and taught him much of what he knows. Chips is extremely loyal to his former shipmates, and would take a friend's secret to the grave with him. As a dwarf, stone or metal are his natural mediums to work with, but over his long years at sea, he's taken that natural dwarfish cleverness and applied it to wood. Chips is highly sought after by smugglers for his skill in creating false floors, walls and other hidey-holes in the hulls of ships, were illicit cargo can be squirrelled away.
Resourceful friend of Barrett who retrofitted Trollskull Tavern with some nice upgrades.