The Time Gears are five legendary artifacts created by Tempos to govern and control the flow of time. They are made of pure Tempium, and are some of the most powerful artifacts on Abmarah. They are directly inspired by Pokémon Mystery Dungeon and serve a similar role in this cosmos.
After Tempos entered her slumber after the first era, the gears were hidden in and around the Terrosi Grasslands and protected by generations of guardians in service of time. All five gears were sought after and returned to the Temporal Tower in Timeron during the events of Shards of the Empire in 3E483, before being hidden once again in new and old spots.
In some ways, Time Gear Alpha was one of the most powerful gears on its own since it gave the wielder powers to bridge multiple timelines and connect to the multiverse as a whole.
It was hidden away in the depths of Rockham, and guarded in the 21st century by Father Roderick von Gothwyn. He was murdered by his nephew, Gabryel von Gothwyn, who then hid the gear away as a tattoo on his arm. Gothwyn used its multiversal powers to replace himself upon death with a version of himself from another timeline, who was immediately given the memories of his prior selves. This ability was the key focus of Shards of the Empire. Gabryel also used it to travel to other timelines, and bring people from different universes as well.
It is believed that the time gears were created to prevent another time break like the one that occurred in Eteru near the end of the Realmshatter when two timelines converged into one. Time Gear Alpha's purpose is to serve as a bridge of connection in between multiple timelines, and keep them separate so major time breaks do not occur again. However, Gothwyn was able to create small time breaks on purpose whenever his contingency activated, re-writing reality and memories localized to people's perception of him alone.
Time Gear Beta on its own controlled the flow of time, and to untrained wielders it gave the ability to speed up and slow down time for themselves or others around them. It was hidden away in the ruins of Varkaria, and guarded in the 21st century by a myconid named Galdip. After an expedition into the ruins in 3E482, the gear came into the possession of Ingrid Rennwald who wielded it until 3E483.
Time Gear Gamma on its own held dominion over fate itself, and gave its wielders the ability to control the luck and fate of themselves and others around them. It was hidden away in the Uhrwerk Bowels under the College of Zaubarovia, and the wizards' study of the gear allowed them in part to invent the magic of chronomancy. In the 21st century, it was guarded by Magister Uxius of the Uhrwerk Conspectus. It was then captured by Magister Alfarihm and eventually delivered to Gabryel von Gothwyn, before being returned to the college in 3E483.
Time Gear Delta was one of the most sought after time gears, since it gave skilled wielders the ability to travel through time. It was hidden away in the Hourglass Caverns within the Underdark under Timeron, and guarded by the trapped soul of a tiefling named Olzari. She and her previous party were explorers who killed the previous guardian, but got trapped into the curse for centuries. Her soul was freed from her duty in 3E482 when the time gear passed on to Werner von Gaten.
Time Gear Epsilon had the most confusing ability of all, as it allowed a wielder to edit time itself. It could be used as a controller for the other gears if one held all of them in one location. The Omniborn used this gear in conjunction with Time Gear Gamma to kill the goddess Tiamat, something that was the catalyst of them losing Tempos' favor. It was hidden away in the Timeron Depths alongside the slumbering Tempos herself, and was guarded by a celestial minotaur spirit named Esteros, who only moved on to the heavens in 3E483.