The Mechanical Crab is a recurring and entirely accidental witness to key events in the history of the Aeldrum setting.
History
It was first rescued from obscurity among countless other automata as a collector's piece and curiosity in the possession of Edward Apslund, a former officer of the Aeldrum Trade Company turned agent of the Academy of Saldan. While in Apslund's possession, the crab appeared to act with a malign intelligence all its own, displaying a peculiar loyalty to its owner; it was abandoned by Apslund at the behest of an orcish boat captain who would not otherwise grant him passage along the rivers of the Shambler-infested city of Vinize.
The Mechanical Crab passed into the vaults of Saldan along with Garrel the Automaton, but it reappeared in the events of The Heist Campaign in the possession of a retired Knight Mercantile, Fenton Covey, with strong connections to the Academy. When a band of Knights Mercantile operatives working for Dr. Hans Schulz and Frederick Hopkins raided Covey's mansion for information leading to the Codex Exilium, they discovered the crab in Covey's basement, and it was swiftly adopted by the halfling Hov. The crab accompanied Hov during the latter's participation in the events of the Saldanese Heist; Hov's increasingly deteriorating mental state at this time led him to believe that the Crab was speaking to him, and he followed its violent instructions until it abandoned him in the depths of the Vaults of Saldan.
A generation later, the Crab was in the possession of Royce Poindexter, a stellar graduate of the Academy who may have received the piece as a gesture to his wealthy father, Rhodes Poindexter. The crab remained in Royce's possession for many years, a treasured piece of autonomous machinery in the collection of the so-called "Drone Baron." Eventually it came into the possession of Mimir, who currently keeps it in his Museum.