Clockwork Whale

Out of all ancient Azlant's clockwork creations, clockwork whales are perhaps the most impressive—or at least the among the largest. Shaped like a bizarre fusion of a shark and an enormous toothed whale, clockwork whales patrolled the shipping lanes around Azlant for centuries before Earthfall shattered the continent, sinking it beneath the waves. Outfitted with complex programming and sensory arrays that allowed for near-perfect navigation, clockwork whales are thought to have been used primarily for securing new and safe nautical routes, although some served as naval transports during Azlant's cold war with the empire's ancient enemy, the alghollthus.

With jaws nearly a third of its entire length, a clockwork whale's bite can slice neatly through smaller seafaring vessels and inflict devastating damage to the hulls of larger ones. These gears swiftly cut those swallowed whole into fragments that are then slowly washed away by the flow of water through tiny gaps in the creature's body.

Winding Up

Most clockworks must be wound with a unique key by another creature. This takes 1 minute, after which the clockwork remains operational for the listed amount of time. As long as a clockwork whale spends at least a minute every day swimming, its self-winding ability allows it to continue operating without needing this step. A clockwork whale that can't swim (as might be the case after a clockwork whale becomes beached) usually remains operational for approximately 8 hours before it completely winds down.