Mechanus
Obey the law and all else follows.- Pentadrone 58 of the 1st engineers
Getting in and getting out
There's several ways into Mechanus, but the best known's through the gate-town of Automata. To get in during the day, a body's got to get through the clerks and tabulators and accountants. There's forms to fill out, high-ups to petition, and guards to pass (with authorization only!) just to reach the gate. Then there's the interminable wait while the gate's gears turn ever so slowly, mirroring the location where the gate'll appear inside the plane. That's part of the reason a body has to go through the tabulators: to make sure the cutter winds up exactly where she wants to be (or where the bureaucracy decides she'd best be put). The guards are there to make sure a body goes through at the right time. If a body doesn't want to go through all this rigmarole, his best bet is to go through the gate at night, when (hypothetically) everyone's in bed. There's only a small contingent of guards watching the gate at night, and they're easy to bribe or distract. Of course, going through at night means that a body's got to take his chances on where he arrives in Mechanus, but its better than having to deal with the endless bureaucrats. Of course, there's other ways into Mechanus, as many as there are gates and portals into other planes. After all. an infinite plane's a big place, and it'd be folly to assume there's only one way to get into it. The gate from Automata extends to many places on Mechanus, but not, by any means, most of them. There's secret points of access to counterbalance the known ways, and all of them fit into a neat little pattern. This pattern ain't known, of course, but there are ways of getting in. Some take portals from Sigil, while some pass from Arcadia or Acheron into Mechanus. Then there's the ways known to the modrons, who have (or so goes the chant) learned just about all there is to know about their plane. Follow them long enough, and a body's apt to find a way in and out of Mechanus. The trip might take a few years, but at least a cutter'd find it, right?Physical Conditions
Mechanus is, as the name suggests, a huge collection of paraphernalia, a plane of gears, cogs, and pulleys linked together inextricably. There's no sun, moon, or stars in Mechanus, There's only the gears, turning and clicking eternally around each other, stretching off into the inky blackness for as far as the eye can see — and much, much farther, too. Some'd say that these gears are just for show, that nothing truly lawful could ever change. Well, these berks've got to understand that law don't mean static — it means order and orderly movement. The change that happens here is planned and governed by some logic, even if none of those sods outside can understand it. This change's usually manifested in the movement of the cogs, the turning of the gears that marks time. When one cog rotates, even a fraction, the whole plane turns. Everything on the plane's interconnected, so there's nothing that happens one place that's not noted someplace else. It's like chaos theory: The smallest event has repercussions across the whole place, though the results ain't always apparent. Now, a body'd think that a place full of machinery beyond mortal ken would be no place for berks to set up residence. With all the turning gears and inexplicable machinery, it just wouldn't be safe. Besides, how's a body to breathe air that wouldn't need to exist? No, they reason. Mechanus just isn't a livable place. That just ain't true. There's air that anyone can breathe (but don't ask how: even water-breathing creatures can survive in the air of Mechanus). There's life on the great cogs — life, and powers, and beings the likes of can't be imagined by clueless addle-coves. Mechanus's full of life, and just about all of it's devoted to furthering the cause of law and order. The gears allow habitation on both sides. All a body has to do is walk to the edge of one cog and step over the side, and she'll reorient herself to the gravity of the gear on the other side. It's as simple as that. Gravity is basically oriented to the plane of the gear. It changes from gear to gear, since some are vertical at least in relation to others. Still, no one's ever fallen off one gear and onto another. The trip has to be made by flying or walking. It's said that there's spirits of the gears who watch over them and make sure everything turns properly. Most people haven't seen these spirits, but they're there, and they serve under the modrons. Like dryads and trees, the gear spirits protect their gears from the depredations of fools and the constant erosion of entropy. Though they ain't the gear scrubbers the modrons are, gear spirits play an important part in maintaining the plane. Likewise, there's the moignos — strange little two-dimensional creatures running about the plane. Adventurers are likely to see them, but unless they offer up a mathematical conundrum, it's unlikely the moignos'll take any notice.The Gears
No ones exactly sure what the gears're for, but there's some theories thave never been disproved. The most popular one is that the gears are the machinery of the multiverse: Without their movement, natural law as it's known in the multiverse would cease to exist. Time would stop, no science or research'd have any meaning, and chaos unbounded by law would reign in every reality. Then again, that might not be the case at all. Mechanus might be yet another balancing act on the Great Ring, with its gears having no significance at all except to serve as a visual symbol of absolute law. There's as many ideas about the gears as there are those who think about them. It's likely that all of them hold some grain of truth, and just as likely that none of 'em are completely cornet. Because Mechanus ain't about to allow too wild imaginings within its borders, most ideas contain at least a kernel of truth - at least, that's how the Guvners explain it. Frankly, most people who come here can let their imaginations roam as free as they like, but that don't necessarily mean they're right, does It? Unfonunately, it's been shown time and again that something a berk imagines about Mechanus probably has an analogue (though not necessarily an exact duplicate) someplace in the plane. It's similar to the effects of Limbo, yet almost exactly opposite. In Limbo, all a cutter has to do is have sufficient force of will to imagine something into being, and he'll own it for as long as he remembers to keep it. In Mechanus, a body first has to imagine something, and then travel the Infinite cogs to see if he can find the picture his mind's laid for him. Nearly anything a planewalker can Imagine might be hidden here somewhere, if he allows the plane to have its influence on him; all he has to do is find it. Of course, greedy planewalkers have tried for years to make the plane yield riches. They figure that since the place is the Plane of Ultimate Law, it's got to have everything represented inside it somewhere, right? So there must be treasure-troves beyond imagining, places in increase a body's abilities to equal those of a power (and beyond that), and more, right? Well, that's not entirely true. These places might exist, or they might be mere extrapolations of a mortal's mind. If a berk imagines a grassy field floating between the cogs, she's not likely to find it. What she might find is a single blade of grass trapped between the gravities of two cogs. That's about it. There's a group called the Mathematicians whose members've devoted themselves to discovering the truth behind the conjecture. Their idea is that if they can figure a way to find all the things they imagine ... why, then they'll be the rulers of the universe! There's others who say these cutters're absolutely barmy, but then, folks always say that about every faction 'cept their own.The Labyrinthine Portal
There's some who say that the best way to travel through Mechanus is the Labyrinthine Portal, a maze of ponrtals and conduits that link the great cogs together. When there's no obvious way to reach a cog, a cutter's going to have to find the piece of the Labyrinth that connects to that cog. Rumor has it there's a map of the Labyrinthine Portal in the realm of Regulus, the home of the modron power Primus. 'Course, to get there, a body's got to get through the armies of modrons wandering the area and find a way to the great display. After that, a Berk might understand the way through the labyrinth, but it's not likely.Learning the Dark of the Labyrinthine Portal is almost as bad as enduring the howling winds of Pandemonium!Now, the Labyrinth isn't some great big maze with twisty walls and a minotaur in the center of it. It's more a mental construct, based on the way a body travels through the portals that compose the maze. If he goes in one side of a portal, he ends up one place: if he goes in the other side, he winds up someplace else. And if a body goes through the right pattern, through the right portals, in the right way, he's likely to find himself in a place where that portal just don't ordinarily go. Of course, this entails following the directions exactly, with no variation whatsoever from the original plan. Even the slightest variation can destroy the whole point of traveling through the Labyrinth. That might be the reason why only modrons and other similarly minded creatures can use the Labyrinth with total certainty. Of course, there's bashers who're willing to guide travelers through the maze. Some of 'em are cutters who've done this hundreds of times before, but there's also a significant number who do it to peel the unwary first-time visitor to Mechanus. Course, it's against the law, but few people want the tedium of filling out the forms to make a complaint, given the relative harmlessness of the crime. Still, there's some die-hards who're willing to wait days to make sure a criminal's brought to justice. Others'd rather just call in the Mereykillers.- Verrandol, a planewalker
The Law
It's like this , berk, you break the law, we break you.If someone knowingly breaks a law in Mechanus (and it is possible, despite what some ill-informed berks might say), what's there to do about it on the Plane of Ultimate Law? What happens to a lawbreaker on this plane, where respect for the law is usually higher than respect for a body's own life? It's a sure thing that there's Xaositects and Anarchists and just plain barmy berks who're going to want to come here and make some craziness on the plane. How do the residents deal with chaos-bringers and lawbreakers? That's easy. They take the lawbreakers to court and then, most times, they kill the criminals. (Adventuring thieve, take warning!) The reasoning goes something like this: law is more important than life, so any life without law ain't worth living. Sure, the outlaws all get a trial, but there's usually enough evidence to convict anyone, considering that there's never a shortage of witnesses willing to testify — and if there is a shortage, the lawmakers are sure to find a way to gather evidence. They've learned in their eons here how to draw evidence from the plane itself in the pursuit of keeping the law whole. No one's sure how they do it, but chant is that they do. Though the plane's full of lawful links, few of them'll lift a hand to stop a criminal. What they do raise is their voice, immediately looking for those whose job it is to enforce the law. They'll follow criminals, if they can, but they'll never apprehend them. They leave that to the patrols. Those who protect the law in Mechanus are, for the most part, strictly licensed. There's four varieties of law-givers in Mechanus, and each of them's a bad one to run into. First, there's the modron patrols (usually five pentadrones each), who work the plane over with a ruthless efficiency. They generally don't kill their prey, taking them instead to Regulus to be judged. Then there's the Guvner patrols — consisting of groups of nine — who've worked out an agreement with the modrons and who also take their charges to Regulus. Then there's the vigilantes, bashers who've been licensed by one group or another to hunt down lawbreakers. These berks don't travel in any established numbers or groups — each group's different. What they do with their prey is entirely up to those who provided the license. Some kill the criminal, while others drag the offender off to one court or another. The worst by far, though, are the Mercy Killers (traveling in groups of six). They ain't licensed, and they ain't authorized. Whenever they hunt someone in Mechanus, they're breaking the law, but they don't care. They only want to punish the criminal. Long ago, they left criminals trussed up outside one court or another, but when the courts dismissed the cases because of the way in which the offenders were arrested, the Mercykillers began outright killing those they caught. They usually leave Mechanus between hunts, but enter regularly to make sure no crimes have been committed in their absence. The Central Office for the Punishment of Offenders is located in Regulus, along with the rest of the bureaucracy. Regular folks haven't got enough conception of absolute law, and so the modrons've agreed (or forced the sods around them to agree) that the central seal of law in Mechanus should be in Regulus. Here's where the judge sits, along with the executioner. Death isn't always the final verdict, of course, but it's handed down in many cases. In those where the criminal's simply ignorant of the law and willing to undergo rehabilitation, the judge is often lenient enough to let the law-breaker on with only a minor punishment. Of course, there's those who say that the modron court has no power over humans, whose comprehension of total law is, of necessity, less than the logic of the modrons. There's no way, say these cutters, that humans could possibly live up to the harsh standards of modron justice. Thus, the modron court, though it's the central coup of Mechanus, isn't the only one here. Some of the powers have courts near or in their realms, and the modrons don't come near 'em. Basically, it all depends on what jurisdiction someone commits a crime in.- Gallaron of the Mercykillers
The Language
Here's a puzzler: If two people from different worlds meet on Mechanus, what's the chance they'll be able to understand each other? Most bashers'd say it'd be a minimal one. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on whose side you're on), they'd be wrong. For some reason, there is no language difference in Mechanus: everyone speaks the same language as long as they're within the confines of the plane. No one knows why this is — it just is. Even if two cutters speak a different language going in, they're going to understand each other in Mechanus. Once they leave they'll be mutually incomprehensible again, but within the confines of the plane there is no dispute over language.Magical Conditions
Conjuration
Anything summoned in Mechanus is a perfect slave: it has no choice but to obey the caster of the spell. These spells summon only lawful creatures, whether they're good, evil, or neutral. Chaotic spell-casters, or casters with an alignment opposite the creature that arrives, can expect the summoned creatures to obey only the letter of the command. They won't infer anything from the spellcasters words, doing only what is required of them and no more. If the alignment is similar (for example, a lawful-neutral caster summons a lawful-good creature), the summoned will apply some interpretation to the command, if necessary. If the alignments are the same, the summoned creature will do whatever is necessary to carry off the orders, even going so far as to ask the caster his exact intentions.Divination
Divination spells cast by a chaotic being have no effect on Mechanus: those cast by a lawful being work as usual. Neutral beings have to make a spellcasting check of DC 15 + spell level when castinga Divination spell, on a success it's cast as usual but on a fail the berk loses the spell slot spent and has nothing happening.Illusion
These spells don't function on Mechanus, the illusion does not even manifest. The school is entirely nullified on this plane.Necromancy and Healing
Necromancy's a basic violation (or at least a bending) of the laws of nature, and as such, is a difficult school to cast in Mechanus. Even healing magic don't work too well. All necromantic spells, if they are to be effective, require a piece of the caster's body as one of the spell components. The more powerful the spell, the more of the casters flesh is necessary. Now, this doesn't mean chopping off an arm. Fact is, it's translated into hit points lost or given up. The approximate spell-level-to-hit-point ratio is:| 0th level | 1hp |
| 1st level | 2hp |
| 2nd level | 4hp |
| 3rd level | 8hp |
| 4th level | 12hp |
| 5th level | 16hp |
| 6th level | 20hp |
| 7th level | 24hp |
| 8th level | 28hp |
| 9th level | 32hp |
Wild Magic
There is no wild magic in Mechanus; chaotic spells are entirely nullified. As with illusions, this Plane of Ultimate Law has no patience with wild magic. Anyone attempting it can easily bring down the wrath of those who protect the law.Elemental
Any spell of elemental air requires that the caster breathe across the components (or her palm, if there are no other components to the spell) before the spell goes off. A caster of earth spells must cast a handful of dirt native to Mechanus into the air before beginning the rest of the spell. (If a spellslinger's able to scrape together a little cog-wheel dust, that's native earth. However, petty cutters'll want to make the trek to Nemausus.) To cast a fire spell, a cutter's got to strike a spark from one of the cogs as part of the casting. Water spells require a wizard to spray water from a leather waterskin into the air before the spell can be finished. (The prior mention of Nemausus goes for water, too.) (Performing these actions is considered as if using a spell key, extending the casting time of such spells by one Action.)Spell Keys
There's two kinds of spell keys in Mechanus. The first is a piece of a cog, one-twelfth of it to be exact, marked with the sigil of a spell school and colored appropriately. Each piece corresponds to a school (including all four elemental schools, excluding only necromancy), and the keys can be joined together to create a whole cog. When all twelve keys are gathered and fined together, the caster has the option of taking the key into herself. If she does so, she'll be able to cast any spell at will within the confines of Mechanus, but their spellcaster level will be considered half of what it is outside of mechanus for the purposes of calculating the amount of spellslots the cutter has available. If she does take the key, it sinks into her body, leaving a cog-shaped tattoo in the place where it entered. The key can never be removed from her: if she's killed it dissolves, and if someone tries to excise it (even magically) the trauma kills her. The second spell key is the necromantic key. This key is a piece of a modron and a muttered formula directed at the realm of Shang-ti. This is a general spell key, but the formula is kept hidden, for necromancy is usually regarded as a twisting of the law, though not necessarily an outright break. Cutters who use it hen just aren't well liked. The best thing about this key, though, is that it doesn't require the flesh and blood the spells would otherwise demand.Power Keys
Without exception, the power keys of Mechanus are in the shapes of little cogs. Even the powers of Mechanus don't change this basic form, seeing it as an excellent way to identify a key for the priests and also as something difficult to lose. Though they're easily identifiable, the powers of Mechanus make sure that unbelievers don't get their hands on 'em for long — every Mechanus power key is good for one day and one day only. The Mechanus power keys have the added property of returning to the realm of their power at the end of that day — along with the person carrying it. Once the key and its user are in the realm, the power (or one of its proxies) decides whether to renew the key again. Regardless of the decision, the rightful owner of the key's returned to the place from which he was taken. Anyone who steals a key or gains one illicitly should realize that they're going to wind up facing the power or its proxy at the end of the day — this simple concept has made Mechanus one of the safest places to own a power key.Mechanus's Inhabitants
Everyone here lives, eats, breathes, and sleeps law. Don't break it.Despite it being a place of cold, forbidding metal and darkened sky, Mechanus's still proudly called home by plenty of folks. Power and proxy, planar and petitioner - all find this a plane that rings truest to their secret hearts, and they've given it their all. There's still others who come here to trade, but they've not got the love of the law in their hearts, and they usually leave as soon as they can. It's a place that's not hospitable to those who don't love the law with their whole being. Though it does nothing specific to drive them away, the unremitting glare of pure law is enough.- Yissis Serpentshead of the Guvners
The Powers
There aren't too many powers who make their homes in the absolute gears of Mechanus. Among those who do is Primus, ruler of the modrons, watching over 64 cogs and perhaps the machinery of the multiverse. Helm and Mystra of Toril share a realm, though more out of familiarity than any sense of love one might have for the other. Indeed, some say that Mystra travels to Arcadia to be with Azuth rather more frequently than necessary - though this might just be because he's teaching her more of the ways of magic, or course, this last is usually said with a wink and a nod by those who find such speculation titillating, and who can't picture the power, as beings completely above any kind of dalliance. Among the other powers who make their homes in Mechanus are Nai No Kami of the Earthquake. Shang-ti in the Jade Palace of Judgment. Rudra the Diseased. Vanilla, Upholder of Cosmic Order, and Yama, the First of the Dead and Judge of the Dead. Psilofyr, lord of the myconids or fungus people, also lives here. It's said that his realm is hidden on the underside of one of the far gears, that it can be approached only by going away from it and can be sought only by not seeking it. When a body understands this paradox, the chant is she's ready to enter the realm of Psilofyr. Another power who's rumored to live here is Horus. Well, as a chaotic power, he's not too likely to find Mechanus to his liking. Truth is, he spends his time in Arcadia, living in the shadows of his mother and father. It's thought that some inexperienced Guvner just didn't check his facts right. Rumor is this scribe was sent to Acheron to study how another kind of law works: it's a guarantee he won't be making the same mistake again.The Proxies
Primus has no proxies, though it's got plenty of non-modron admirers. Those who might be referred to as its proxies (by some Clueless berks) are its secundi. The humans and demihumans who revere Primus'll never learn how to be modron enough to be its proxies, though there's rumors of humans taking instruction under modron tutors. There's three proxies of note who've got a presence in Mechanus. The first is Helm's proxy, a giant of a Tiefling named Michil Franzt (Proxy/Male Tiefling/Fighter 16). Michil's a proud man, secure in his knowledge that there's rarely been a better guardian than him. None are sure if he's a prime, planar, or petitioner, but the chant is Michil can see ill-will coming miles away. His word's his bond, and so he - speaks only rarely. His tielling heritage shows in his skin, which is far redder than any human's has a right to be. Psilofyr's proxy is a shortish myconid by the name of Cybin Decayer (Proxy/myconid/Cleric 12). Cybin doesn't like to venture outside the realm of Mycelia, but does so when Psilofyr bids it. It keeps to shadows whenever possible and avoids dealing with humanoids as much as it can. It speaks in a whisper, trying never to draw attention to itself. It's quick to use its abilities for self-defense if violent humanoids present a threat. Mystra's proxy is Twilitha Daysbreak (Proxy/Female half-elf/Wizward 15), who's rejected the chaos inherent in the life of elves. She believes spellcraft is the only aspect of life that gives reason to living, and she finds comfort in the rituals and laws of magic. She's a lonely woman, not given to dealing with crowds, but she forces her dislikes into the back of her mind: she believes a magical society is the only answer to life's questions, and she'll do most anything to achieve it.The Petitioners
The petitioners of Mechanus can take on many shapes, but inside they're almost all alike. They are frighteningly honest, for to lie is to invite chaos. They are exceedingly (some might say notoriously) literal, for to interpret is to invite chaos. Indeed, some petitioners are so afraid of misinterpreting a command because of vagaries in the language that they simply do not take instruction. Life in Mechanus is a constant test of their understanding of law and order - or so they believe. They've got no special abilities except for those their powers grant. They're not transformed into modron shapes or sold as levies to some other power. They aren't part of the armies that defend the plane. In short they're unassuming and stolid, seeking only to spread law as far as they can before they're absorbed into the plane. Each power's got its own agenda its petitioners have to complete before they can ascend, but all of them involve shaping the spirits of the dead into a more perfect form, one more in accordance with the power's special needs.The Fraternity of Order
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The Mathematicians
Main Article: Discover the lost treasures of Mechanus through a rigid application of logic. When the keys to Mechanus are unlocked, so too are the keys to the Multiverse. The Mathematicians are a splinter group of the Guvners, a group that's drawn even more strongly than the Fraternity of Order to the gears of Mechanus. They believe that anything a body can imagine in Mechanus exists in some form, perhaps on a far-off cog of the plane, and they're looking for the way to find it. They work from logic, symbolism, and a math that makes the calculus of astronomers seem childishly simple. Mathematicians aren't foolish enough to believe that everything someone imagines can be found in that exact form, but are sure that there are treasures undreamed of hidden away in the far cogs of Mechanus. They're not wild dreamers, nor are they greedy balks blinded by the light of gold. They're serious thinkers convinced that they can discover the secrets of the plane through some hard thinking and calculation. Their symbol is an abacus mounted within a gear wheel. This symbolizes both the strenuous thinking the Mathematicians must per-firm and the place best suited for them to do it.The Modrons
Main Article:Nothing is quite so satisfying to this one's sensory apparatus as a finely tuned arcanocoupling gear.As the baatezu are to Baator, so are the modrons to Mechanus. Leastways, that's what the Guvners'd have a berk believe, and that's what most visitors to this plane believe without any help from the Guvners. The modrons seem to be just about everywhere, even in the realms of the powers (unless specifically forbidden to enter). Rumor has it they're the keepers of the plane, the maintainers of the gears and the polishers of the cogs. They're the tiny machines that keep the whole place running smoothly and cleanly, and without them, the place'd break down. Of course, there's sods who've thought to test this theory by figuring a way to kill the modrons. Unfortunately for them, it's pretty much impossible to be entirely rid of a modron. See, when a modron dies, its life force is absorbed back into the communal pool. Then, a modron of the rank below is promoted (and so on down the chain), and then a new monodrone, made from the essence of the dead modro, is formed to take the place of the promoted monodrone. The existence and function of the modrons has been well documented elsewhere, so its not necessary to go into them here. However. it should be noted that, lately, speculation has come to rest on the theory that perhaps the modrons are descended from insectile intelligences, resulting in an incredible hive mind, and have somehow learned to place energy into and draw energy from a central pool in Regulus. This theory would explain how a modron's instantly pmromoted, and how, once one of these intelligences is killed, it starts over at the bottom of the pool. There's no proof of this theory, and there's really no way to check. If anyone were to investigate modron life too thoroughly, it's said she'd turn into a modron herself, and no one in her right mind wants to understand 'em that badly — except maybe a Guvner. The modrons, as the natives of Mechanus, have convinced just about everyone who comes here that they're the ultimate creatures of law. Their minds are alien to most creatures, and their logic is deviously twisty. They've been pitted against — and have beaten — baatezu at games of logic. But games are one thing, and warfare quite another. In terms of combat and sheer cruelty, the modrons're usually the losers. Some say modrone're actually worse beings to deal with than baatezu. At least with baatezu, a body knows where he stands, he knows that the creatures are evil, and as long as he keeps in mind that all they want is more evil, he's in as good a shape as he can be, all things considered. With modrons, a sod never knows what they're looking for, or what they'll do to achieve their goal. Sometimes they're helpful, sometimes they're cruel — and they're always undependable, because no one but other modrons can read modron expressions or guess at their agenda. Only a leatherhead trusts a modron, even if it agreed to help him — it might have different orders from above, and it's sure not going to think twice about those. Modrons don't care about good or evil. All they care about are order and law, even if that order's not immediately visible to a human eye. Their good is order, their evil chaos. Though they don't put it in these terms, that's the best way to describe it. If a body were to speak to a modron about good and evil, it'd look at him blankly. It could speak about what is best, and what is worst, but it couldn't define good and evil.- Hexadrone 5 of the 7th Brigade of the 1st sector
Modron Castes
There's 15 divisions of modrons, only 14 of which are even remotely comprehensible to normal folks. The fifteenth is Primus, overlord of all the modrons and equivalent to a greater power in Regulus. Though Primus is a power, it can also be killed (admittedly a difficult thing). The other 14 castes perform the duties Primus assigns, the orders filtering down from the top, all the way down to the monodrone level. From the governance of entire cogs to polishing individual gear teeth, there's almost nothing they don't do. They've been seen wandering all over the planes, acting in all manner of incomprehensible ways. Their function's unknown, but they stick strictly with their assigned duty. Because the modrons only communicate with the modrons immediately above and below them in the caste system, every higher-ranking Modrone sure tu have an inferior around to perform manual labor or act as a messenger. This trait's even more noticeable in the hierarch castes, where the modrons are of a finite number and have tasks that involve overseeing huge tracts of space. The governors and rulers of the modrons are always certain to have underlings surrounding them, who likewise surround themselves with underlings. Though modrons of a lower level can barely conceive of the intelligence of a modron above it, they can certainly remember the modron castes below them. However, their system is such that there's no point in trying to speak to a modron further than one caste below themselves, for it could in no way understand the creature speaking to it. Modrons always cooperate. There's no such thing as individuality prompting them to be proud of their tasks, no sense of personal accomplishment detracting from their desire for unity and order. That's not to say they're not intelligent creatures: at the higher levels, they're smarter than most humans. However, because modrons haven't any sense of self, they accept the orders of a higher-level modron with an amount of consideration prime humans'd call sheer instinct. They have no compunction about dropping whatever tasks they are currently performing to follow the orders of a superior modron.Modron Goals
There's no telling what modrons eventually hope for. Do they want total law imposed over the rest of the cosmos? Are they simply the keepers of the machinery of the multiverse, the repair unit of infinity? Or are they something in between, devious players hoping to eliminate their competition? These questions'll probably never be answered, and there's a lot more that might never be asked. Above all, modrons remain a mystery.Rogue Modrons
The Great March
Once every cycle (when all the cogs of Mechanus complete one full turn, approximately every 17 years), the modrons marshall a vast army and march forth from Mechanus to tour the Great Ring. They pass through the gate-towns and through the layers of all the planes, often suffering huge losses along the way. The attacks don't always take place in the Lower Planes, either, because the modrons have no compunction about walking right over those who're in their way in the Upper Planes. By the time this force makes it back to Mechanus, there's often only a few of 'em left, and they troop straight in to their superiors to report. What they say is dark, and the subject of serious speculation. Some say it's a progress report on the modron invasion, while others say it's a report on the state of the multiverse. Whatever the case, it's inexplicable.Other Encounters
There's einheriar here — either sods firm Arcadia who've lost their way or who're looking for the lost realm of Nemausus, or more vigilant Mechanus einheriar. There's also, of course, the modrons and the hulking maruts. Next to modrons, the most common sight are moignos, two dimensional mathematical constructs that act as the calculators for modrons. These tiny, strange beings are obsessed with finding the absolute value of pi. In the meantime, they perform all the necessary calculations regarding gear movements, passing this information on to the modrons and to gear spirits, which are also native to Mechanus. Finally, mediators are the last of the creatures that make this their native plane. There just ain't any natural creaturre here, at least not natural in the way an ordinary prime would see 'em. Any animals seen here are imported from someplace else, and most of them hate it. Their minds run a little more wild than Mechanus will allow, and the smell of law troubles, them.The Infinite Gears
The planes are governed by laws. Laws can be learned, learn the laws and you rule the multiverse. That is our goal.There are theoretically an infinite number of layers to Mechanus, and theoretically none. The disks that make up the plane all interlock, so there is no part of the plane that is not connected to some other part. Since all the cogs are linked, there're few boundaries that one can see, though a body can certainly feel them. The dark of it is this: Mechanus is one big plane, all of it able to be visited without the hubbub associated with visiting other planes. There ain't any places a cutter can't get to in Mechanus if she's determined enough. Of course, that determination often means a body's going to be tilling out a lot of paperwork and waiting in a number of lines, as well as sweating her way through the Labyrinthine Portal and maybe looking for the place for years. Still, with persistence. she'll eventually gain access to the place she's looking for.- Factol Hashkar of the Guvners
Delon-Estin Ótí
Main Article: This's a town of peace and tranquility, a place where everything has become so ordered and so habitual the citizens have learned to anticipate the course of time and the flow of conversation based on what has come before. Its people hold entire conversations with no more than a raised eye-brow and the breath of a sigh.The Fortress of Disciplined Enlightenment
Main Article: Law is a series of rules. Rules can be learned. Once a rule is learned, there's knowledge to find a way around it. And once a body can find a way around the law, there's nothing can stop him.Mycelia
Main Article: Spores floating in a still cavern. Mushrooms growing on the side of a rotted log. The cool texture of firm fungus on a feverish brow, and the sweetly sour promise of dripping water in an empty cavern.Nemasus
Main Article: The thin line between neutrality and good is one easily crossed. Tough causes lead to hard results. The extent of a body's training is the measure of a body's respect for the law.Regulus
Main Article: There is no '"I," there is only "we." There is no "me," there is only "us." There's no such thing as individuality, and if there were, it'd be stamped out.The Modron Cathedral
Main Article: Hidden deep in the heart of Regulus, there stands a tower that's apparently in defiance of all the laws around it. It seems too slender for its height, and it reaches far, far into the sky. But inside, it's a vast place, far vaster (wider, taller, deeper) than the outside would indicate, with its vaulted ceiling disappearing into darkness. There's something in there that the modrons've been working on for years, and to look upon it is to go mad. It's said Primus uses this place to keep track of the goings-on across the infinite planes, and that's why it's sent modrons everywhere — if Primus sees something it wants changed, it sends modrons out to rectify it.
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