Clockwork Knight

Actions

Multiattack. The clockwork knight makes two longsword attacks.   Longsword. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (1d8 + 4) slashing damage, or 9 (1d10 + 4) slashing damage if used with two hands.

Created thousands of years ago by powerful technomancers using advanced magic in combination with precise mechanical workings. A clockwork knight resembles a thin humanoid figure in gleaming steel plate armor with a thin razor sharp sword in one hand and a small buckler in the other. At a distance it would be easy to mistake for a living creature, moving as it does in a very natural appearing fashion. However up close the true nature is revealed, a handful of complex and intricately assembled mechanical components can be seen through the seams of it's fine armor. Also a faint whirring sound is always audible nearby and as the knight moves tiny clicks and pops can be heard as it's fine machinery moves beneath it's armor.   A clockwork knight will never lift it's visor, the only hint of a face being two glowing orange eyes that move about with the appearance of intelligence. A knight cannot speak however it can understand fairly complex spoken commands even though it often takes several moments to respond. Despite often being compared to golems or animated suits of armor clockwork knights are far smarter and more deadly. Their autonomy makes them highly prized soldiers or guards, although they must be convinced that such a job is worth their time as any living being would, which makes them unsuited for certain work. By far their greatest drawback is their dramatically short memory, they can recall in near perfect detail all that they have witnessed in the past month, however they have no memory from before this 30 day window. Such a critical problem makes keeping a clockwork knight working and committed extremely time consuming and often dangerous as they may become unaware of their original orders and operate solely on the most present information with no hindsight.   Clockwork knights operate best in small units of 2-4 and any group larger than that is almost always lead by a Clockwork Officer. The officer's advanced critical thinking skills and memory allowing them to manage the knights effectively. Unfortunately it is not often possible to deploy an officer or large group of knights in any case as the skills required to produce a new one have been lost to time. Making the small amount left on the planet relics of a bygone era, cursed to never remember the thousands of years they have operated throughout.   A clockwork knight can operate indefinitely in nearly all environments requiring only access to lamp oil or animal fat for lubrication.