Lumbers, unlike Retrodes, Mecha Knights, and Scuttlebots, are not machines created solely by Gremlins. Constructs and other robots are created with spare parts by Gremlins for defensive purposes, while Lumbers seem to have hung around for a great deal longer. No one knows their real origin, though we suspect they are intended as a form of guardian creature. Gremlins have managed to reverse-engineer Lumbers for sparse use, though the process of creating them is labor-intensive and hazardous. Lumbers of Gremlin origin are assembled from harvested wood, usually in groves paradoxically guarded by Lumbers themselves. Their design allows for them to impart a massive amount of force with their heavier arm, and the unique rotary leg design allows them to keep on the move, albeit slowly. Lumber arm strikes seem to be a natural extension of its movement, which is believed to explain why they are immune to curse, unlike other Constructs. Damage comes from both the physical mass of the club hitting something, as well as energy infused within the tree seeping out and empowering the clubbing arm. While Silversaps and Vilewoods adhere most closely to the wooden nature of the Lumber, Redwards and Electreants are a bit of an abnormality. Samples collected from those Lumber types reveal a large amount of conductive metal within the wood, which may serve to explain the otherwise contradictory statuses.

Gremlins, like all other races, have their share of criminals. Said Gremlins are locked into small cages usually reserved for storage of other specimens of Clockwork animals, partly because no appropriate Gremlin-sized cage exists. In addition, those cages allow for ease of transportation.

Explanations are fine and dandy, but I encourage asking things.

Brandishes all share the same fundamental principle of expelling energy through the center of the blade. The standard-issue Brandish is a simple bone blade with a fluted center, where the energy source flows through. This lends sharpness unexpected from its construction, on par with a Calibur type blade, but due to the nature of the energy flowing instead of cycling, spin attacks are impossible to perform with it. Channeling energy through the blade instead forces energy directly outwards in a wave, which peaks at consistent intervals, producing small air-explosions. Stronger iterations of Brandishes add a status affliction to the explosions, which result, usually, from super-cooling or heating the air. It was not until a recent extension of a certain Devilite businessfiend that the secrets to creating ionically charged explosions was revealed and shared. The blade itself is constantly energized due to the flow from the hilt, where the energy is based, ensuring the edge is equally deadly. The Shadow iteration is a bit of an abnormality. Due to the unique nature of Shadow Energy, it does not respond to traditional forms of energy manipulation. Though it is not fully understood, Devilite smiths have produced their own design of the Brandish, modified to channel Shadow energy. Other than the appearance and damage type, the weapons are identical.

Vitapods are canisters that hold medi-gel. They attach themselves to any knight's armor, regardless of size or type, and hold amounts of medical fluid that are automatically dispensed when a knight takes damage. However, they do not come pre-filled, but they can be manually filled with dropped Hearts and Health Capsules. They naturally all come in the same size, and the farther a Knight travels, the more they come pre-opened with gel slots. This attachment is only temporary, and after exiting a dungeon, they are discarded by Knights for others to use in the Clockworks. Research and Development has managed to replicate the effects of a Vitapod in Trinket form, which we laymen refer to as Heart Pendants.

Trojans, see the lore around The Silent Legion, and Guardian Knights.

The same reason why different people can be in the same places in Haven, but not together: instances. Each "instance", as we refer to, is a separate plane of existence to which only a handful of Knights are occupied at once, due to the distorted nature of a high-energy atmosphere. Times between instances can be as miniscule as a nanosecond. Everyone within a given instance is synchronized to the same time as your current Knight, and recently, it is now possible to modify the instance a Knight occupies with a very weak time-travel technology. However, instances of more than a second (Cross continent servers) are prone to conflicting a Knight's "standard" instance and causing disruption, leading to unpredictable behavior within that instance. Vanaduke was only ever defeated once: Knights are only reliving it multiple times over within different time frames. The same goes for any other boss enemy and dungeon.

/place tinfoil hat upon head

Strangers are the rare, always friendly natural inhabitants of Cradle, the second most technologically advanced race before the arrival of the Knights, which displaced them to first. Knights do not know what truly lies under the wide-brimmed hat of a Stranger, we can barely see their faces. One common theory postulated is that Strangers are Knights themselves, from a previous time. Exposure to the large amount of energy caused them to grow to massive proportions, but when the current Knights arrived and began to harness and leech the energy away, they became sluggish and comatose. Being a primarily surface dwelling civilization, they drape themselves in large, sun-blocking robes and obscure their faces in masks and hats to block out the relentless sunlight. If you really must know, just look in the mirror.

Armor crafted from a given animal does not retain all of the attributes of the given animal. Wolver coats and Chroma Suits are crafted from parts of the beast, but are not simply gutted exteriors that one dons as makeshift armor. Fragments of the beast individually are highly resistant to piercing attacks, but piercing weapons take advantage of the wide gaps between the toughly armored areas. Under that initial line of defense are organs, which are easily wounded with piercing attacks. Armorsmiths take the tough parts of the armor and combine them to create tough sets of clothing. However, layered armor is susceptible to elemental damage, as multiple armor coats heat up very quickly and are difficult to maintain. It is entirely possible to not tamper with the beast hides and have the skin retain its elemental defense properties, but doing so also causes the armor to be susceptible to piercing attacks.
Bonuses
Beast family armor often carries with it natural bonuses inherent to the animal it came from. Chromalisks are the natural predator of Slimes, and as such slimes inherently fear anything that carries the silhouette of a Chromalisk. Wolver-hide armor functions differently. Wolvers were known for their ferocity and ability to increase their ferocity on a whim, and the armor sets attempt to replicate those abilities. So far, using samples obtained from Alpha Wolvers, the armor pieces have managed to create a localized, personal damage boost with melee attacks. We believe this is the same ability that grants the Barbarous Thorn Shield lines their unique trait, that the unearthly roars of beasts grant strength to our sword arms.

Shield upgrades are more than just aesthetic. Usually, upgrading a piece of kit to five stars does not involve more than extremely painstaking forging of the existing item, to bring it to the final, truly flawless form. Any forging of weapons requiring the four types of metal can be viewed this way, as those weapons already have a flawless design, but flawed form. The Aegis carries more defense than the Mighty Defender due to the addition of Sun Silver in the shield's tough parts, to which the natural energy flowing through only responds to excellently. As such, points have a more difficult time penetrating the shield, and the shield absorbs blows more easily.The addition of sash and blades is a formality of the Spiral Order, a remnant of the old ways of displaying promotions. The addition of superior metal, as an added bonus, grants the Aegis a superior sheen, though it hasn't fixed the cracks.

UVs are minor modifications to a given weapon that naturally result as a consequence of crafting weapons. Alchemy machine synthesize components, fueled by energy, into a piece of kit. While they "usually" combine components into a certain form, sometimes, it is not always perfect. These imperfections can range from anything to tightening an existing mesh, loosening the components on a handgun for ease of use, or exposing a blade to salt, letting it burn through Jelly family enemies. We believe these imperfections are due to extensive use of the Alchemy Machine, leading to residual material lying within the assembly area. These imperfections are often highly desirable, as the actual weapon's functionality is completely unchanged, instead, it is now ever so slightly superior in a unique way. In addition, these imperfections can rarely result in effects which have significant effect. For example, a blade can be modified to glide through the air with almost no friction without loss of cutting power, or a suit of armor with no previous resistance to Fire can be fireproofed near completely with a few alterations and additions. Gremlin smiths, realizing the desirability of these imperfections, offer their services to manually tweak existing Arsenal equipment. However, due to their nature as exiles, they are naturally predisposed to hating their own race, and that hatred is reflected in their work.

Pulsar type handguns discharge a small amount of antimatter, similar to Catalyzer series handguns. The difference is while Catalyzer handguns only generate antimatter on charge, and said antimatter is stored in a gravitational field to prevent rampant annihilation, Pulsars simply discharge barely secured antimatter. As per safety regulations, standard Pulsar rounds are covered by a weak gravitational field, which eventually dissipate midway through its flight. At that point, the process of annihilation begins, consuming the air to fuel itself. If it happens to contact with a physical object, the expanded round will completely annihilate itself with the object. If the round touches something before the field disappears, it simply collides with minimal harm. It is entirely possible to override the safety protocols completely and have the round exit the handgun sans gravitational field, but reports of missing eyebrows and fingers are not uncommon when doing so. The standard payload of antimatter is antineutrons, which are guaranteed to create a large blast. However, it is also possible to convert the Pulsar to discharge charged antiprotons, which reacts with airborne molecules to cause small scale lightning storms. No more missing fingers here, thankfully.

Most handguns either generate their energy from a fuel source or air. Since it is nigh-impossible to synthesize energy into a sufficiently sharp point, Knights resort to firing off actual projectiles. However, standard sized rounds do not have sufficient velocity or power to match that of standard handguns. The solution? Upsizing. Magnus line handguns fire off rounds that would make even Dirty Harry blush. Rounds are compressed for storage within the handgun, then charged with energy to expand in size as they exit. However, due to the incredible heft of the round, they lose velocity quickly. Subsequent upgrades increase the force with which a round is discharged, though range is unchanged. The highest iteration, the Callahan, employs small size jet engines mounted on the side to discharge the round with even more force. It is also possible to focus a ludicrous amount of energy into a single bullet, causing it to expand to the size of a small train engine, but doing so is extremely hazardous and impractical: the recoil generated is known to hurt Knights more than the actual bullet.

I answer the bomb problem in my fanfic thread.

Traditionally styled wings are advantageous for moving from place to place quickly, but not staying in an area. Snipes are territorial, so they evolved to stay in a single, safe area free from predators while still maintaining freedom of movement. Snipes do not, by mass, have enough muscle in the right places to warrant flight with two wings directionally: instead, their wings rotate around their bodies.This helicopter-style locomotion is possible due to the snipe's unique body shape: the wings are attached to a central, rotating ring located at their spinal column. They are able to spin this ring around at high speeds, enabling limited liftoff, and can use their natural upper bulkiness to steer themselves. At rest, the wings automatically situate themselves to the right and left sides, the most comfortable position for a snipe's wings.

The Recon class modification consists of a back-mounted multifunctional device connected to a set of overarm gauntlets and a small aesthetic shield. The gauntlets, though slightly heavy, are designed to streamline field work. They contain an in-built set of precise motors that calibrate finger movements and assist in the performance of tasks, like bomb arming and gun discharging. The gauntlets were designed originally to facilitate the planting of explosives, hence the innate bonus to bomb arming. Motorized fingers, additionally, allow one to discharge and reload firearms with much greater efficiency. However, due to the slight weight, swinging a sword is slightly more difficult. With a simple flex of the fingers, one is able to activate the cloaking field stored in the backpack, projecting a field that cloaks the user in invisibility. Light will be automatically redirected to the other side, from all sides. In addition, activating this field also triggers the battlefield analysis machine, which automatically takes scans of enemy life forms within the limited area. The first sweep only notes the position, but also alerts the target. The second sweep identifies the defenses and weaknesses in the target, and relays the information to all nearby Knights. However, the second sweep must be made in quick succession: punch card memory does not allow for a long storage time. In addition, target information, while helpful, is stored in a random access memory punch card, which is quickly deleted. The whole device is powered by several Force Dynamos placed within the pack, which generate energy slowly.

The "standard" for Gremlin sizing can be easily observed in the tiered families: Tenderfoot, Ironclaw, and Darkfang. Each family has slightly increased size over the next, as size is determined by age. Darkfang Gremlins are the Gremlin elite, Ironclaw Gremlins are the common folk, and Tenderfoot Gremlins are little more than children. The oldest, fiercest Gremlins grow to very large sizes, towering over common Knights. This is due to their physiology, which closely resembles mammals such as opossums. Knockers are none of these. These diminutive little warriors are little more than tank-bred, mass produced tools. Their small size facilitates them to enter and mend areas unreachable by normal Gremlins, and their small size means they are easily produced in large quantity, to enter war machines and perform weldings or repairs, such as the Roarmulus Twins and recently, Battlepods. Like all Gremlins, they are repurposed often for war whenever threats present themselves, though they are quick to fall over.

Shields are not traditional blocking plates, but instead high-tech energy dome generators. Once activated, they form a blue energy dome that encompasses a single Knight and lasts forever, up until something damages the dome. The Guardian Shield is a large-scale version of a personal shield, combining the natural durability of the Stone Tortoise line and various layers of protection within the generator. The end result is an incredibly bulky shield that emits massive energy domes. This dome is virtually unbreakable and is active within a large radius around the Knight, allowing a user to protect his comrades. Creation of the shield incorporated technology used in the Scarlet Shield, which grants the user extra health, and given the large amount of space, functions as a heart generator to all knights within the dome. However, this is a constant process, which sucks up the energy used to power the dome quickly. This energy source is renewable, but like any other shield, the dome can be shattered when too much damage is sustained. As a bonus, the heavy weight of the shield offers great utility as a counterweight for swordsmen, and the mental effect of security within the shield allows users to focus when performing complex tasks, like balancing their checkbook or arming bombs.

Mist bombs are created when inert Jelly extract is exposed to an elementally-altering substance, changing the nature of the liquid. The liquid is stored within a frame and a heat source that causes the extract to evaporate on bomb detonation, spraying a quantity of variously lethal gas outwards. The gas-form extract carries variable qualities depending on what the liquid was exposed to; Jelly extract is a wonderfully protean substance that can be altered to hold many properties. The live cells can be modified to store poison, coolant, or liquid fire within their cells. Once the liquid and the cells are vaporized, they are instantly fragmented and their remains serve as vectors for the choice fluid. Subsequent upgrades increase the amount of fluid vaporized, which in turn increases the radius of status spreading. For a long time, routing electricity through Jelly extract has killed the cells before they can be vaporized. Ionic fluid does not respond well when implanted inside Jelly cells, the cells will electrocute themselves and die, becoming completely useless. However, some Gremlin scientists, in exchange for asylum, have granted us the secret to allowing cells to retain ionic fluid. Exposing the cells to a diet of metal changes their composition sufficiently to hold ionic fluid for use. The only side effect is massive inter-arching between metal fragments after detonation, but we aren't the ones inside it. One can also opt to forgo any treatment altogether, instead compressing the cells enough to create thick clouds of disorienting dust. The secret behind this was revealed by King Krogmo and his army of Devilite Research and Development teams.

Spiral Knight bombs are calibrated to an exacting degree. Each bodysuit issued to a Spiral Knight has a pressure wave deflector calibrated to an exacting degree: a blast wave slightly above or below that frequency will damage the knight, but a pressure wave hitting the knight at that degree will be harmlessly absorbed and released. Bombs are one of the items calibrated to ensure minimal damage is done to any bomber: if a bomber arms his or her bomb correctly, he or she should not be affected. Most miscalibration mistakes end on completion of demolitions training, to the seasoned bomber, correct arming is as natural as breathing. All bombs operate on a variation of frequencies: Spine Cone line projectiles are deflected by armor, Vortex lines do not suck us in, Mist bomb clouds are driven away, etc etc. Gremlin bombs are not so finely made, instead, they are simply packed mines designed to explode with varying frequencies. They aren't immune to their own explosives, rather, it is their natural resistance to the elements that allows them to shrug off the damage.

The exterior of most explosive bombs are thin metal. The thin sheeting allows the explosive material within a standard Blast bomb to escape at high speeds at the cost of said pressure wave not imparting much force. The Irontech bomb, instead, wraps thick metal plates instead of a thin sheet of metal. As a result, the bomb takes longer to detonate. The force within the bomb only grows, and when enough force is reached to break through the sheeting, it breaks with a vengeance. A higher-speed pressure wave is caused by detonation shattering the iron, causing the resultant explosion to be far denser than a standard explosion. Recent retoolings have allowed the iron plates to stay intact after detonation, letting them fly into enemies and stun them.

Trojans can be created from Knights, but they don't come exclusively from them. Most Trojans enter the world through small rifts sustained by Devilites. They lay purple runes on the floor, which are designed to warp in Trojans and other foot soldiers from their dimension. Thankfully, the rifts fail most of the time. Enough Devilites working a ritual at once can lead to larger rifts sustained, but larger rifts have a tendency to destabilize in very short order. The few that can sustain large enough rifts account as an energy anomaly, an event which the Order usually sends Knights to investigate. The entire Devilite industry revolves around summoning all sorts of Fiends, but in recent years they have begun to pursue other careers outside of that field. Trojan warriors are warped in and exported to a variety of places as swords for hire, such as Firestorm Citadel. In addition, exposing a Guardian Knight to enough dark energy will cause the metal armor to turn to stone, and the seams to fuse together, encasing a Knight in hardy stone armor. The sword and shield are issued from Devilite smithies.

Almirian Crusaders are not Knights, in the sense that we are. They were a powerful fighting force, but there is no evidence to suggest that Almirians were or are part of the Spiral Knights. The only true remnant is the Blackened Crest, salvaged from the Armory. They are sized to fit our body type, suggesting that they were our size. However, examination of relic armor recovered from the Necropolis revealed that their body type did not align with Knight physiology: Crusaders resemble the race which now lives on as Zombies, but with some differences. Replicated Crusader armor has been created and resized to fit Knight proportions, but as a whole the armor is highly impractical and expensive, useful only as a historical piece. Lances salvaged from the armory were far too large to be wielded by any Knight, regardless of musculature, suggesting Almirians were naturally muscular in the upper body. However, their lower body was far weaker and smaller, their legs little more than pegs.

Imposing a single question per poster per day limit now. Lug and Angelic, pick which one you want answered. For now, I'll answer your top ones.

Shields, as previously mentioned, are hand held force field generators. The pigmentation is a result of placing a polychromatic crystal which changes the color output of the force field based on the strength of the force flowing through it. This is a cosmetic refinement over earlier shield models, which did not display any trace of health, and Knights thinking their shield could take that last Lumber arm were sorely, sorely mistaken.

Our legs are, in reality, very thin. Much like pants legs, the width and thickness of the legging determines how it looks, and grant additional benefits. Cobalt armor leggings have thick cloth socks around the legs covered with greaves, enabling it to hold up to long foot travel. Plate armor is simply a thin metal cone that focuses on stability and not movement. Demo armor leggings consist of multilayered sheeting that deflects energy attacks.

Strangers are caretakers of Snipes, that is why a great number are found populating Haven. As Snipes are corpulent and lazy, some Strangers take to caring for them in indoors environments. Due to the relative scarcity of materials, producing specialized bird nests is simply inefficient economically. Strangers, instead, opt to use their hats as impromptu nests for Snipes, giving them a place to rest and raise their young in. Snipes that hatch in Stranger hats do grow out of it eventually, but never leave the nest they grew up in. Some Snipes, when reaching sufficient age, stick close to the nest they were hatched in, opting to raise their own in the nest they grew in. Stranger hats with Snipes like these are vaunted by collectors, as the bird never leaves its nest. They are fed regularly to ensure they don't leave the nest, but their excrement also does not leave the nest, causing Sniped Stranger hats to be notoriously difficult to maintain.

Post a pricing guide.

The Snarbolax is not a creature of natural origin, though it incorporates attributes of multiple beast family monsters. Many believe it to be an extradimensional demon, much like a Fiend. The theory does serve to explain why the monster suddenly blinked into existence one day and converted an entire area of forest into undead-ravaged ruins. Some believe it to be the work of Devilites successfully porting in an extradimensional hellhound, but it does not share the same attributes as normal Fiends. Some report that it has attacked Devilite investigators attempting to control it. Its power suggests that the Snarbolax tore its way here all on its own, and that it is capable of ripping apart the fabric of reality to bring about more of its kind. An ample supply of Beast Bells and treasure seeking adventurers have made sure to curb that aspect, but some suspect that the energy anomalies near the Core have resulted in something else coming to this dimension.

The Skylark is a massive spacefaring vehicle, large enough to hold millions of escape pods and supplies to fill every research encampment. Merely entering Cradle's orbit caused chunks of the Skylark to rip off and fly downwards. As evidenced by the new Rescue Camp, the world's surface is not completely landmass, rather large island connected by small bridges, and great oceans of gaps under. Large fragments of the Skylark fell to the world below, perhaps after colliding with a convenient surface island, and laid in twisted masses of scrap metal, repurposed by Gremlins. Constructing another Skylark would require a gravitational dock to hold the components itself, to say nothing of the tearium core that serves as the primary fuel source. Tearium functions much like a star: a large amount of high-energy material reacts, releasing energy and compressing itself to a smaller product. Acquiring stable tearium is impossible nowadays, raw tearium was extracted off-planet and shipped to dockyards. Crystal energy has been contemplated as a possible fuel source, but it simply does not exert enough force to power a frigate engine. Much like a car battery, Crystal energy has been relegated to repair and powering components of ships, but on its own, it's not strong enough or plentiful enough.