NPCs · Extras · Domestic/ Craft
Clock-Man
'Attention, Flesh-beings! The time is now Sun-High-point-five, towards dark, 180 Units Past. Curfew in 30 Units. You are welcome.'
The Master Timepiece of Govenheim
Clock-Man is the town of Govenheim's Timekeeper, a COG (Creation of Generated Sentience) that performs as the town's main means of telling time. His body is formed mostly of wood, designed to look similar to his ancestor, the Cuckoo Clock, but he is much larger, mobile, and capable of limited thinking. He can often be found patrolling a set path through the streets of Govenheim.
His method of timekeeping is a little quirky and hard for newcomers to understand at times; he uses the term Units to indicate how many minutes past one of his Key Times it is. He uses Moon-High as 12pm, Moon-High-point-Five as 6am, Sun-High as 12am (Noon), and Sun-High-point-Five as 6pm, then follows with however many Units (minutes) past that it is. He shuts down to recharge for a hour (60 Units) at Sun-High-point-five, 210 Units past (9:30pm) which is Govenheim's curfew time for children. When he awakes he will urge any children he sees to return home, in a friendly mannor, and will never use force for anything,
Often referring to most of the population of Govenheim as 'Flesh-Bags,' 'Skin-Piles,' or simply 'Mortals' is not meant as an insult, he considers it a clever observation. Sometimes he even tosses in mild insults when asked what time it is, Eg: 'Hey, Clock-Man, what time is it?' someone might ask. His responce might be something along the lines of 'Greetings, Muscle-Bound, the time is Sun-High, 2 Units past, which should be obvious even to you.'
Origin of the Clock-Man
Clock-Man is the creation of Mistress Sesame, one of Govenheim's most notorious tinkerers, and avid recreational clock maker. She was presented with a reward as Teach of the Year at one to Govenheim's Tech-Academies and wanted to give something more back to the community she taught so much to. So she crafted this 6-foot-tall, clock-chested, wood and iron machine to patrol the streets and politely enforce curfews. Over time, he has developed a friendship with the locals and now they couldnt imagine life without him. Some of the children curse him for his persistance that they do not break curfew, other view him as a big wooden parental figure which they enjoy listening to.
Plot Hooks
Clock-Man, where are you? - Clock-Man has gone missing during the night! Is he stuck in a ditch? Was he kidnapped as a teenager's prank? Or something more sinister?
Clock-Man, on a rampage! - Clock-Man witnessed a murder in a bad part of Govenheim, he has never before seen his human masters do anything as horrible as to destory life and has gone crazy. He has taken it upon himself to attempt to subdue everyone he meets, with his large metal-covered fists. Who is going to stop this rampaging clock?
Clock-Man, Time to move on! - Clock-Man has reached the limits of his clock (much like Y2K), and has stopped telling time (or something more sinister). Now he longs for someone to fix him, but doesnt know what is wrong.
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Short and sweet as always. The plot hooks are quite nice.
A few typos:
2nd line- 'performs' spelled w/o the r;
1st sentence of 3rd paragraph a bit off in phrasing
Origin paragraph 2nd last line- others view 'him'
All the apostraphes are gone
I like him. A cute carecter.
A neat little quirk you could add to any small village to spice it up. I like it.
Another spelling error slipped the net:
recharge for ah hour (60 Units)
What a great guy! Short and sweet.
I love this. One issue--this keeps reminding me of a cross between HK-47 from Star Wars: KOTOR and Andy from the Dark Tower. In other words, I can't help but think of him as harmless on the outside, but harboring a sinister purpose below the surface. Fortunately for you, this makes me like his potential even more. Plus, the system of telling time is just too good to pass up.