Untold Ecology: Gear Guard

Among the many perils of the clockwork world stands the paragon defenders of cog and groove alike: The Gear Guards. Often unnoticed, these keepers of the peace patrol the vast gears to which they are assigned by the Great Machine, detailing its integral parts and ensuring nothing goes awry in the perpetual cycle of gear rotations. These are the policeman and technicians of the nodes, unofficial masters of their respective regions who labor incessantly to protect the rhythm and direction of the gears within the Great Machine--a role they neither neglect nor under appreciate, as do most other Klik.

Entrusted with the safety of the Great Machine itself, as the Gear Guards reckon, they are perhaps the most studious workers within the colossal clockwork universe, keeping the vast labors of the other Klik from toppling into oblivion. This notion is reinforced by the comprehensiveness of their task, as they learn the inner and outer workings of the cogwheel they serve, possessing access to recesses and areas hazardous or unknown to the other Klik on their node. It is the Gear Guard who flush out hives of Dyne Mites, torch nests of rogue Gear Gnawers, chase down rampaging Surges and troublesome Rust Moths, and tend to the thousand other incessant problems of maintaining a universal metallic gear superstructure--all in a rotation's work, as the Gear Guards would surmise. (more...)