Some lore of every tool: Reserve Bind
You can tell this tool is a small device which unlocks with a push
"A Bind's worth of Silk" is 9 strands, with full stationary spools (Cradle, Weaver) giving 10 strands before running out
That's a whole lot of silk, compressed into a very small space; it is probably twined many times, and held by the device very tightly
I imagine the activation cores of Weavenests are something similar to the Reserve Bind, although the later is much smaller still
Now, we have the image of the tool in the menu, but I actually suspect we see this tool in the overworld as well
Although similar to a Choir ration spool, this implement left behind by Second Sentinel is an unique asset
There are 4 of these total in the trail left by the Sentinel, coinciding with the number of deactivated members of their order, with the one given to Hornet counting towards the full 5
Why can't Hornet just pick up one of these to use as a tool? well, they aren't holding silk so they may be broken, maybe even missing the part meant to hold the silk tight until activated, which would be what the icon in the inventory represents (explaining why it looks so different to this trail marker)
I must say though, the bells in the music boxes holding the cogheart pieces look a lot like the Reserve Bind
Here are some ideas on how that could work or look like
I'm not particularly convinced by any of these, so feel free to add your own speculative designs
But why would a Sentinel need so much silk? well, silk is an essential part of any cogmaton, forming their tendons and possibly even their "programming" in the form of runes, I even imagine they have "vocal cords" made out of silk; the reserve bind or similar bundles of silk could even function as mainsprings, potentially making the trail assets into discarded winding up keys of sorts (the similar looking diving bell key comes to mind, and the HUD sprite of the reserve bind has what looks like a key hole to me, similar to the cogwork wheel)
Couldn't find much on the use of strings or ropes in old automata other than the Hero's Automata, but in modern times there's tendon-driven robots which is pretty much what we're looking at here
Even if the reserve bind's original function isn't that of a mainspring, and the description of "used when healing is needed and one's natural resources run low" applies to the Sentinels as much as it does to Hornet, it is worth noting that while it is remarkably strong, silk does wear down and break: we can see dregs come off the Chorus hand as it tenses up for an attack, and the Sentinel, while not haunted, still expels great amounts of silk when struck and specially when defeated
It could be a replacement mainspring, but it could also be a repair reserve to restore lost strings, and if "one per sentinel" is to be followed, Second Sentinel still gave themself a soft sentence over misjudging Hornet, or perhaps a little freedom of not having to serve for as long as their siblings
Btw isn't it funny that cogwork expells not just cog and shards but also jingle bells when struck? what are those for??
I imagine the silkflies, under the influence of the runes in their directive-cages, make the strings resonate somehow to make this all work, including the "vocal cords", since they're the "soul" of cogmatons; you can even hear them make slight sounds in the wild, like faint gasps
Both soul and silk are described as whispering, so I don't see why silkflies would be any different, and that whispering could resonate with the thread
I have expressed before that I think cogcraft might've evolved from bell forging, and in that lens I think Sentinel's head resembles a bell
One funny detail of the sentinel's design is their limbs lacking the ball joints present in all other cogmatons, which may be an echo from a time when they weren't planned to be an automaton but a normal bug, at least judging by their voice in the first trailer, now something that can be interpreted to be part of how they seem to be "an attempt at life itself"; there's one other exception to the ball joint rule, and it is the Cogwork Dancers, which are another clear attempt at something more than just an automaton imo
Although I gotta say, those puffy sleeves are very suspicious, they could be hiding quite the mechanical muscles
Even though both are simply following the general trends of the choir, Sentinel's robes remind me of the Clawmaiden's; both are gilded cogmatons of the High Halls, from the early days of cogwork craft, their main chambers are even right next to each other; the fact that Clawmaidens require great amounts of silk also reminds me of the Reserve Bind
Puppet servant of the Citadel, suspended on strings of Silk. An early form of automaton, requiring extensive Silk to maintain its service.
That heart is an inspired form, conceived by the first of my line for a knight of cog and blade.
In it, I see my predecessor's talent, immense, now lost-forgotten. I could never create-copy a work s-s-so fine.
A gleaming order, cogwork sentinels, so impressive-majestic in function they were charged-b-b-bound to the highest holy duty.
Long before the c-c-creation of the core, the sentinels ventured, even beyond these walls, to see all bugs brought-forced safe to serve the Citadel.
But what even is the deal with Clawmaidens? they look like spiders, maybe even like a certain Weaver (and I can definetively see the Conductors desire to have a servant shaped like those they took the rule from), and seem to be strung to silk directly from the Cocoon (although the broken ceiling may indicate this is the Monarch's doing rather than the original method of operation; Clawmaiden's needolin dialogue seems to come directly from GMS)
How were they even controlled before the Haunting? were they autonomous? I highly doubt so, as they do not contain silkflies; they must have been controlled through the strings, but how exactly? through song?
They can spawn higher than this room, but could they've theoretically been brought to the Cradle in order to siphon out the silk from the Cocoon?
I wonder if the cloth serves some actual purpose other than hidding mechanisms or giving them more of an "identity"
Their nest might've been more than just where they were built, it could also be the loom where all of the Citadel's fabric was woven, from pillows to garbs to curtains; I wonder if Clawmaidens assisted on this task
(Not gonna lie, these rooms not only make me think of hospitals (and thus Whiteward) but also of laundries, were High Halls also where all these clothes were formally washed?)
This idea, paired with the Clawmaidens themselves, would make these rooms some of the oldest in the Citadel; the Sentinels room would also match this age, both because of the Sentinels themselves as well as the architecture present, which I've talked about before, including this unique variation of Pharloom's crest present in the background and every room related to the Sentinels, as well as places from the stone era (or towards its end as the citadel transitions to a more industrialized state); Second Sentinel even had to break the wall to get to this room, it was walled off at some point as the architecture changed
That general wall design and the presence of candles also implies a place of worship or sermon, judging by other examples
Were the Sentinels given orders here in the form of sermons? Commandments?
Still devoted, is this s-s-sentinel, and awaiting your commandment.
Let's take a look at the locations of the cogheart pieces
They were scattered about the Citadel, each seemingly laid with purpose. Someone wished the thing dismantled, but showed respect enough to see it stored safe.
I said earlier that Second Sentinel might not last as long as their siblings because of giving up the reserve bind, and you might've thought "that doesn't make sense, all other sentinels are no longer functional"
But that's the thing, Second Sentinel didn't serve a full duty like them, this sentinel was decomissioned early, their heart dismantled into three pieces to be stored throughout the Citadel
Why would they do that? well, the state in which the body is found, and the location of the last cogheart piece are all the answer we need
This Sentinel was chosen to be preserved in the Memorium, a memory of that past era of the Citadel, although they weren't moved in time it seems
In this sense, the Pharloom Seal of the Sentinels present in the cogheart rooms isn't an indicator of the room's age, but a marker of the Sentinels for the Choirbugs
The piece in the Memorium then makes perfect sense, but what about the other locations?
Well, the Whispering Vaults is also a place of preservation, the keeping of many records and also relics, they even make use of similar glass containers
It's funny how the way towards the Stage has been partially broken down / rearranged in order to make way for the mechanisms holding the cogheart
...Even though most of the mechanisms should be underneath the cogheart, not above (wait is that why the placement of the bells is upside down?)
The Choral Chambers one though, that one is a true mystery, truly a random location with nothing going on around it
I guess there's a silk rations vending machine room right below it, but that seems irrelevant outside of a marginal relation to reserve bind as silk holding tools (I wonder if Sentinels are able to use silk in the same way members of the Choir do); there's also the bridge towards the Slab relatively close, but I'm not sure how that could be related outside of maybe Sentinel duties involving bringing pilgrims to or through cages; only the room above left to check, which is where you can rescue Grindle .... mmmmm
Fun fact: even in Act 3, the rooms related to the Sentinels keep their golden lighting; it always caught my attention that Cogflies and Sentinels get to have the golden colors of the Conductors, unlike the bronze colored Architects and the rest of the cogmatons
I guess Cogflies are merely a tool belonging to the Conductors and not a true automaton (and this could apply to the puppets that are Clawmaidens), and Sentinels are knights of highest holy duty under their direct charge, while the rest of automatons fall under a different charge and duty
I'll continue in a reblog
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