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[Libertad]

Mechanus

“The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.”

~Spock, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

“I just did what I do best. I took your little plan and I turned it on itself. Look what I did to this city with a few drums of gas and a couple of bullets. Hmmm? You know... You know what I've noticed? Nobody panics when things go "according to plan." Even if the plan is horrifying! If, tomorrow, I tell the press that, like, a gang banger will get shot, or a truckload of soldiers will be blown up, nobody panics, because it's all "part of the plan". But when I say that one little old mayor will die, well then everyone loses their minds!”

~The Joker, The Dark Knight

Mechanus is the exemplar plane of Law in Dungeons & Dragons. As I discussed in my write-up of Limbo, people have differing accounts as to what behavior constitutes for Lawful alignment. Over the decades of D&D history, Lawful alignments have been associated with social conservatism, collectivism, authoritarianism, civilization over nature, sanity, and repetition. For the purposes of this section, I’ve decided to use this distinction for Mechanus:

Extreme collectivism: collectivism in regards to societal organization is the idea that multiple groups of people are at their best when working in coordination with each other. Personal flaws and inexperience matters less when a worthier candidate can supplement for the weakness of another individual. Collectivist societies on Mechanus encourage unwavering devotion to the group (be it a species, organization, or religion). A group working in perfect unison is the ideal, accomplishing great feats of ingenuity that no individual can do alone.

Even so, a non-hierarchal "everybody's equal" society also has a place on Mechanus. Delon-Estin Oti is a walled commune on Mechanus where everybody is equal and there are no leaders. The streets are orderly, people perform repetitive tasks every day, and there are no visible levels of intra-societal strife. Even without a clear designation of mayor or administrator, the city is still strongly collectivist and encourages the welfare of the many over the few. However, most societies on Mechanus are hierarchal in nature, as a top-down level of administration by a qualified individual has a better chance of coordinating people towards a common pursuit of Law.

The Conflict of Law: Modrons, Inevitables, and Formians

Just because the societies of Mechanus run with sublime precision doesn’t mean that it’s a squeaky-clean Utopia. The plane’s three noteworthy inhabitants all have very different ideas of the maintenance and influence of Law in the Multiverse.

Modrons: What the Modrons want really boils down to what Primus wants. With the exceptions of “rogue units,” they’re little better than computer programs executing commands. They can act without direct oversight and alter tactics based on circumstance, but they need Primus’ input to pursue new tasks and do things not in their “programming.”

Primus differs from the Formians and the Inevitables is that it’s not as belligerent: it does send Modrons all over the Multiverse every 17 years, but mostly for the purposes of gathering information. Its current plans are more defensive-minded: after Tenebrous nearly killed it with the Last Word and took its identity to control all Modrons, Primus bides its time, rebuilding its numbers and destroying “rogue Modrons” and those tainted by demonic influence.

Inevitables: The Inevitables were created long ago as a sort of interplanetary regulation force. The fate of their maker is unknown, but now the Inevitables can produce more of their own in giant crèche-forges scattered across the cogs of Mechanus. The Inevitables are sapient and capable of learning, although the code of conduct and personal duties are so hard-wired into their mind-set that conflicting actions of thoughts of self-doubt are immediately expunged.

What can be gleaned from the primary goals of the Inevitables is that their specialization is keeping others from exceeding the boundaries and limits of magic. With magic, one can transcend mortal limits, create and destroy life, alter the space-time continuum, and even become a deity. Without restraint, and individual can recursively use magic to alter himself and his surrounding environment until the entire Multiverse is reshaped in his image. How else does one explain the majority of Inevitables? Only two kinds are modified to chase down fugitives and oath breakers, while the rest have various forms of anti-magic specializations. Magic is power, and the Inevitables are the chains which bind it.

The Inevitables are not “mage-hunters” in the traditional sense of the word, attacking every spellcasting creature on sight and ridding the land of magic. They want magic to be regulated so that it can progress at reasonable levels for easy observation. They’re theoretically neutral in the affairs of deities, although conflicts with the gods of Magic and certain ideals of Freedom occur regularly.

Inevitables are in conflict with the Formians due to the influence of their expansionist Queens. The Scion Queen Mother already has the effective powers of an Intermediate Deity. The spread of Mechanus Formians across the Multiverse, combined with the Hive-Mind nature, can lead to a near-instantaneous spread of magical knowledge on a multi-planar scale. If the Formians got tainted from some dark magic, like what happened with Primus, such a doomsday scenario may be too much for even the Inevitables to contain. They’re in conflict with Primus due to its inscrutable nature and possible fears of lingering demonic taint.

Formians: The Formians are a lot like the Inevitables in that they live to serve their leader. The Scion Queen Mother of Mechanus is the greatest of all Formians, with enough combined power to rival minor gods. The Scions sends out orders and inspiration to Queens elsewhere, much like a deity in contact with someone via magic. Barring a lack of contact or willful defiance (rare except on Arcadia), all Formian Queens are instructed to spread their people across the Multiverse and take over as much territory as possible.

The ideal society to the Formians is one where all of their members work in unison for the welfare of the community. There is no room for non-Formians in this system, who must either be forcefully assimilated or destroyed. The Inevitables and Formians are dissident elements which stand in the way of their ideal society (the former due to their opposition to the Scions’ reach, the latter due to their unswerving loyalty to Primus).

The three major factions regularly go to war with other, declare ceasefires, join with another against the third, and claim and give up territorial cogs. Currently no faction has the upper hand, although a victory by any one group has far-reaching consequences for the Multiverse. Without the Inevitables or the Modrons, the Formians will expand rapidly to nearby planes. Without the Modrons or Formians, the Inevitables would have more soldiers to enforce their laws on other planes and extend their reach. Without the Formians or Inevitables, Primus would send out more Modrons across the planes and amass a huge knowledge base of the other planes’ weaknesses for future invasion.

Many outside groups use agents to keep the balance of power relatively equal on Mechanus, and adventurers of a more mercenary bent can make a lot of money through sabotage.

Rogue Modrons

Every so often, a Modron is affected by external sources and loses its connection to Primus. Whether it’s via a lingering demonic taint or powerful magic, these “rogue Modrons” quickly develop a sense of self-identity and have no desire to return to their brethren. The regular Modrons do everything in their power to hunt down and destroy the rogues before they can influence others.

A sizable number of rogue Modrons still live on Mechanus, hidden in underground cities on the giant cogs and on floating habitats out in the void. A lot of them have no desire except survival, but a lot of them still pledge loyalty to the demon lord Tenebrous and scheme against the inhabitants of Mechanus. The fact that these rogue Modrons are a frequent source of raids and violence in nearby cities gives Primus all the evidence he needs against self-determination; the Inevitables and Formians often confuse these rogue agents with ones acting under the will of Primus, thus prolonging the three-sided war.

World-Cogs

Many visitors to Mechanus often comment upon how the giant landmasses are shaped like the interior gears of a clock. In reality, the first clockmakers took inspiration from the worlds of Mechanus to design their machines. The landmasses have just about every conceivable biome from the Material Plane, from blazing-hot desert cogs to tropical archipelagos surrounded by water which spills off the side. Interestingly, most cogs’ biomes can reach around to the other side, resulting in a “mirrored effect” to the outside observer. Sufficiently large cogs can even have opposing biomes on each side.

Lots of colonists from other planes travel to Mechanus, using the abundant natural resources of the cogs to create settlements, profit off of natural resources, and even setting up their own nation-states. The vast majority of colonies are home to mortal petitioners and Lawful outsiders. Unlike Limbo, habitats suitable for living on are already formed; the only thing necessary is for the conventional creation of settlements. Cogs already claimed by the Inevitables, Modrons, or Formians are less welcoming and do not tolerate visitors until they’ve proven that they’re worthy to be residents of Mechanus.

Off-planar settlements contain the largest amount of non-lawful people, trying the patients of natives. Many settlers are too impatient to wait for permission and set up towns in Mechanus anyway. This usually doesn’t end well, as the towns eventually get quarantined or overrun by one of the three factions.

Adventure Hooks for Mechanus:
• The PCs are staying in a colonized world-cog when a Formian army surrounds the settlement. The messenger announces that the Scion Queen Mother has claimed the territory for the Formians, and that all residents must submit to the new authority or be crushed.
• The PCs gain a letter of marquee from a powerful nation/extraplanar organization to settle several world-cogs on Mechanus. Vast riches and unexplored lands await, as well as hostile competing factions, expansionist Formians, and Inevitables suspicious of the colonies.
• A rogue modron under demonic influence plans on opening a portal to the Abyss in a sparsely defended settlement on a lush world-cog. The rogue modrons enacts a dimensional anchor shield around the colony, preventing reinforcements from arriving (he’ll drop it upon completion of the portal). The PCs are the only ones who can stop him!