Nemasus

Character

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.

Power

None. Nemausus is actually the third layer of Arcadia, pulled over the border lands and into neighboring Mechanus because of the nature of the layer's inhabitants. The Harmonium's training camps pushed the layer over and freed the chaotic beings imprisoned there. For more information, see the "Training Camps".

Description

As the former third layer of Arcadia, this is a cog richly forested and verdantly covered. Though the grasses all grow to a certain height and the trees march in straight lines, there's also a certain recklessness here, the result of the freed essences of the chaotic creatures who were once imprisoned in Nemausus. Though they no longer linger in the realm, finding Mechanus far too orderly, a little piece of them remains behind, making free thinkers of those who come here. Nonetheless, it's still a part of Mechanus, so the effect is limited merely to richly imaginative daydreams and nightmares while in the realm. It's even said that one can dream of something here that doesn't have a reflection somewhere else in the planes.    This was once the place that Arcadia's petitioners aspired to, the most beautiful and peaceful of the three layers of Arcadia. It's petitioners learned the hard way that though they sought the common good, the common good's something that people've got to strive for willingly. The Harmonium fouled the plane with their training camps, trying to impress a desire for the good of all on creatures by nature more concerned with smaller matters. Now, Nemausus is tainted by the Plane of Ultimate Law; its an object lesson, teaching that a body can't force her viewpoint on another and expect not to suffer retribution.    There's still Arcadian petitioners on the plane, but they've learned something of chaos and hatred for those who'd restrain the good to be found in Nemausus. The petitioners've gone underground, digging warrens all the way down to the cog. To keep the modrons and Guvners confused, the petitioners wisely retained a Xaositect to plan the warrens for them. There's no order through these warrens, but the hiding petitioners've learned what's where, and they're used to the chaotic arrangement. There used to be a realm or two in Nemausus, the largest of which was Meriadar's. The realms were dumped into Buxenus (the second layer of Arcadia) when the plane shifted, because there's no way to make a power go where it doesn't want to go. Still, hidden away in the woods is Meriadar's old realm, looking as if everyone just up and walked away from it without a care for what they were doing — which is about the dark of it. There's said to be some treasure hidden there, but there's no one who's found it yet.   Nemausus has become something of a battleground for elemental wizards, since its most accessible place in Mechanus with good black earth and clear fresh water.

Principal Towns

There are no towns in Nemausus: it's a totally pristine land in that regard. However, there are the fortresses built by the modrons and the leftover training camps from the days of the Harmonium. There's some salvage from the camps, and none near the fortresses. The modrons patrol the area with (what else) total precision, but they're not perfect, and an intelligent cutter can sneak past the guards.

Special Conditions

Anyone wandering this realm is likely to encounter either a band of rebel petitioners or a patrol of the Law. Either way, a body's got to talk fast, because both sides're totally suspicious of anyone they don't recognize. Every cutter visiting here'd be well advised to recognize one group from another, so as to tell a convincing story — it's either lie, or get scragged.

Principal Non Player Characters

There's a contingent of modrons and Guvners guarding the realm, trying to hold it against the incursions of the Harmonium and the forces of Arcadia (and those ravening elemental wizards). The most important of the modrons is Bluestreak, the commander of the modron forces here. It's a decaton with a blue slash striped across its side, and its orders are to get rid of the resistance — at whatever cost.    The leader of the petitioner resistance is Endivar Lithinal (Petitioner/male half-elf/F 1/formerly Harmonium), a half-elf who used to work with the Harmonium camps. Now that he's in Mechanus, he's trying his best to make sure he can return the layer to Arcadia before he's killed. His guilty secret makes him work all the harder against the occupation, and he's deathly afraid that he'd be killed by his own people if word ever got out that he used to work with the Harmonium. What he doesn't realize is that most of them already know, and they've already forgiven him — they recognize his planning genius, and value him for his other traits.    There's also a proxy of Azuth here, working to keep the resistance hidden from the modron hunters. Jamal lisirani (Proxy/male human/Wizard 14) is a tall man with dark skin and curly hair. He dresses in the skin of a lion and carries a bone staff the size of a full grown man. He's fond of grand entrances and sneaky disappearances, so he was a natural choice in aiding the folks who live here. It's due to him that the resistance has achieved its current level of success.    Another proxy here works with Jamal. This one, Feryli Krenurum (Proxy/female orc/Fighter 14), is a proxy of Meriadar who volunteered to stay here when the whole layer shifted. She's working to keep the petitioners from letting their rage get to them. She counsels them in the ways of goodness as well as law, keeping them from transmigrating to yet another plane. Her efforts so far have met with some success: the petitioners have learned to think of their movement as a resistance, their enemies as misguided larks instead of beings to be hated.

Services

There aren't any services to speak of in Nemasus. The occupation's destroyed anything left from the old regime, and there's no bargaining with the new one. A body'd be best advised simply to steer clear of the place, unless she's interested in taking on near-hopeless causes.