The Fortress of Disciplined Enlightenment

Character

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.

Ruler

Lady Nancias Garabutos rules the Fortress of Disciplined Enlightenment. Her jurisdiction's fair and just, always adhering to the letter of the law laid down before her; she tries to be true to the spirit of the law, finding the loopholes in the old laws and using them as she needs them. She also closes off loop-holes she can't use personally, seeing them as a liability that someone else could use against her. She's canny and careful, and has a firmer grasp on the laws of the Fortress than most of the scholars studying in the archives below.

Behind the Throne

The trite leader of the Fraternity of Order is back in Sigil, playing the game of politics with the other factions. However, Factol Hashkar has plans other than governing the Guvners in Mechanus. He leaves the day-to-day administration to Lady Nancias, but will intervene or take temporary rule if he sees it necessary.

Description

This is the home of the Fraternity of Order, better known as the Guvners. Since few of them care to say "The Fortress of Disciplined Enlightenment" every time they speak of their home, they usually shorten it to just The Fortress: It sits on its own cog, its spires and towers rising high into the clear darkness of Mechanus's night. Guards constantly patrol the parapets, keeping a vigilant watch for someone who's not concerned with the law and the wrath of the Fraternity of Order.   The Fortress is thousands of yards through the middle, and there're literally hordes —though they're the most organized hordes anyone's ever seen — of clerks, functionaries, warriors, and other seekers using the Fortress for this and that. The Fortress is nonagonal (nine-sided), and there's nine sections dividing the interior. There's no intermixing the sections — the kind of work done in one area is never done in another — though all sections are devoted to making sure the Guvners can come out on top in their struggle to understand the universe. The sections include: the farms, the barracks, the eatery, the court, the training ground, the bureaucracy, the libraries, the bazaar, and the Lady's Palace. They work as a harmonious whole, making this an organized hive where each specialty contributes to make a greater creation.   The libraries extend far underneath the Fortress, with room upon fireproofed room of legal volumes from all over the multiverse. This is the most inhabited part of the Fortress, for there's bloods studying the law all the time. There's no question that the libraries are the focal point of the keep — which is all well and good, because it's in the court that the Guvners come ever closer to discovering the truth of Law through their endless debates and tireless arguments.   The Fortress has one of the largest bureaucracies in Mechanus, second only to that of the modrons. They have nearly as many enforcers, a squadron of licensing bureaus, committees and studies, and everything else that makes certain folks believe that law's stuffy, tiresome, and boring. However, that just the way some folks like it, and if other berks don't, they can pike it.

Militia

The militia is, of course, composed entirely of Guvners. Most of the militia have trained with defectors from the Harmonium who've set up shop here in the Fortress, or members of the Transcendent Order who've decided that thought and law aren't mutually exclusive, or traveling mercenaries who're good with a sword. However, despite all this training, they're not exactly excellent fighters. The typical patrol includes a human fighter of 4th level leading eight others of 1st to 3rd level.

Services

If a body's got an escort and a pass, the Guvners'll let him peruse their vast library of laws. They've got the most complete collection of laws from all over the multiverse here, from Baator to the city of Water-deep on the Prime Material. The library under the Fortress is one of the largest known to mortalkind, and it's stuffed full of laws. Chances are that if there's a law a body's looking for, it's going to be here. Everything's exhaustively cross-referenced, so a cutter can look under subject, originating world, places where the law's applicable, and so forth. There's even histories of laws and how they've changed, if that's the sort of thing a bash-er's looking for.   Though it's not well known, the fighting instructors of the Guvners are discontent, and would love to train somebody who's not a scholar. Their fees are reasonable, they can give a body training to the 15th level, and they also offer instruction in nearly any weapon. They are among the finest fighters anywhere, and they're contractually bound to stay near the Fortress. Their contracts say nothing against students coming to them.   Also, the Fortress can grant licenses to those who'd like to go hunting outlaws. The official in charge of this ain't above taking a bit of garnish, so if a cutter wants a vigilante license and has been turned down someplace else, this berk's likely to sell one to him. All it takes is enough jink to buy his stamp — and his silence.

Local News

There's rumors that certain underlings are planning to find a way to discredit Lady Nancias. The chant is, they've discovered laws that clearly demonstrate she's not qualified to rule here, and that they do. Some say that the laws these berks've found are forgeries, artificially aged to appear far older than they are. Nonetheless, this presents the Lady with one of the first serious challenges to her power, and it should be an interesting spectacle to watch: two camps debating obscure points of law.   Other rumors have it that the Guvners are coming close to finding the ultimate loophole to the plane. When that happens, it's likely the Guvners'll be able to take over the plane on a technicality — and if they're right about the function of the gears in the place of the multiverses they'll have absolute control over the cosmos. It sounds barmy, and it's a rumor that's been there for centuries, but the whispering campaign's much more noticeable now than it ever was before.