Gear Warden

The Gear Warden was a unique half-magical/half-clockwork construct called a "gear-keeper". Created by Clef Tinkertop for use by the wardens of the Gearhold Prison, it was designed to create a threatening warden to quell any violent prison riots or mass breakouts.

Appearance
The Gear Warden is an automaton similar to a golem, but instead of being constructed from stone or clay, it is made up of clockwork gears and metal. It is animated by partially-magical means and partially-clockwork: the power source is fueled by magic, and the actual locomotion of the gear-keeper is powered by clockwork gears. It is a large spherical cluster of overlapping metal plates and blades, that is about eight feet in diameter. As Rissa and Nott described it: "it just rolls and cuts".

It has a retractable lens, covered by a plate for protection. To move itself, it sticks out six retractable spider-like plates and rolls itself forward.

After over two years of attacking the prison walls and cells, the Gear Warden has done serious damage to itself, with elements of it having become scraped and dented.

Personality
For unknown reasons, the Gear Warden "went crazy" on its first day at the Gearhold Prison. It then began to destroy anyone or anything it detected.

Background
Clef Tinkertop had taken a job from the wardens of the Gearhold Prison, located in the Iron Lot below the Tinkertop store and the Idlework Shelf. At their request and the request of the Hupperdook's Starosta, Clef came up with a "clockwork warden": something that could help keep watch over some of the more dangerous and difficult inmates of the Gearhold Prison.

If the Gear Warden had been successful, its model would have been mass-produced as a defensive sentinel for the city of Hupperdook. According to Rissa, just five or six gear-keepers patrolling the city outskirts would be enough to discourage invasion or lawless acts within the city limits.

On its first day at work, the Gear Warden had some unforeseen "faults" (as Clef calls them) and it couldn't be controlled. The Gear Warden then proceeded to destroy anyone or anything that was in its way. The Gear Warden managed to kill some people before the Gearhold wardens managed to seal it away in an isolated section of the prison.

Clef was heavily fined for the damage and loss of life that the Gear Warden caused (fines that he was still trying to pay off two years later). In addition, every now and then, the wardens of the Gearhold Prison and city authorities like the Starosta like to come by the Tinkertop residence and remind Clef of his failure.

The Gearhold Prison eventually planned to destroy the Gear Warden, but the task was re-prioritized when other matters diverted their attention. Finally, by the time the war with Xhorhas was declared, the wardens simply gave up on the idea altogether.

Clef Tinkertop
Clef constructed the Gear Warden, and he was very proud of his invention. Clef is genuinely sorry for the incident, but he is still proud of his gear-keeper and is puzzled that he didn't foresee the problems the construct would have. As long as the Gear Warden remains in Gearhold Prison, it remains a black spot on the Tinkertop name.

Abilities
The automaton as twelve "arms" that can extend from the body and can be used as blades to inflict slashing damage, or can be shot as a projectile inflicting piercing damage.

An optic lens, crafted by elves, is used for a type of magical vision. The lens can be obscured causing blindness, but can be cleaned using an action.

It rolls along the ground using a giant sphere as a base which can knock nearby enemies prone.

Has a magical core which is the machine's power source. Upon breaking the core, the machine will lose power and be defeated. The core can provide power to machine for at least hundreds of years.

Trivia

 * The gear-keeper is a home-brewed construct, created by Matthew Mercer. "Gear Warden" refers to the prototype gear-keeper that Clef constructed for the Gearhold Prison, and it is how this specific construct is referred to on Geek & Sundry and Project Alpha.