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Post-Faction War
SPOILER
WARNING!
After
the sad loss of Factol Hashkar and the City Courthouse,
the Guvners retreated to Mechanus to lick their wounds
and plan for the future. Lady Garabutos took over the
sell-shocked faction and a court of advisors was set up
to decide what to do next. After some time debating they
reached the conclusion that their activities in Sigil
weren't really spreading their ideals and winning them
converts at all, just tying up resources judging
criminals in the lawless burg. So the move had been a
Good Thing in the end.
Where
next for the faction? Guvner high-ups have little desire
to force a confrontation with the modrons (and far too
much admiration for them), and since most of the plane
shares a similar view of Law anyway, it seems obvious
that any expansionism and proselytising will occur
off-plane. Not wishing to cause too much friction with
their former close allies the Harmonium, the Guvners
probably won't try to crack Arcadia, at least not for a
while.
The
obvious target seems Acheron. Not only would the cubes of
that plane make an interesting addition to Mechanus, but
the Guvners reckon they might be able to quieten the
eternal clash of arms. Other Guvners perhaps realise the
difficulty of this task and have instead set their sights
on the Outlands, in particular the burg of Automata and
environs. Long a Guvner-held burg, it would make a fine
addition to their territory -- much needed now several
thousand factioneers have turned up on the plane with no
homes.
Still
other Guvners have got cosy with the Mathematicians, and
some faction-sect mingling is occurring, with the odd
Maths blood helping out Guvner theoreticians and vice
versa. The groups are prone to clash on ideologies
eventually, but right now they appear to be happy
bedfellows.
The
Mathematicians
From
their burg of Radian, in the geometric centre of Mechanus
(so they reckon), the Mathematicians do their
number-crunching and calculating. There's an entrance to
the Labyrinthine Portal here, and apart from the modrons,
there cutters are the best-qualified to operate the barmy
thing. The more adventurous members of the sect chase the
results of their calculations and explore the distant
parts of Mechanus in search of ... well, whatever it is
these basher seek.
Radian
is also home to a large colony of moignos, both rational
and irrational. These bashers live in the burg's central
clearing, the Set Square
The three leaders of the sect are
brother and sister pair of tiefling bashers named Sine
and Cosine and a rogue modron called Tangent. These names
are the traditional ones adopted by Mathematician
leaders; the real names of the cutters are kept a secret
by the sect until they are replaced by the next sectols.
Nobody really knows why, but the Mathematicians are a
very traditional lot, prone to following reams of dogma
at the slightest provocation.
The
Legislate
These
cutters have a strict hierarchy of social and legal
roles, and completely dominate a Mechanical burg named
Right to Rule. Despite having existed for many years, the
sect has yet to spread from the burg. Sect members blame
the long arm of the Guvner law for this, so perhaps in
the aftermath of the Faction War this sect may have a
chance to shine. The name of the Legislate is well known
throughout the Lawful side of the Great Ring, and as far
away as Sigil, where representatives of the sect
occasionally make contact with wealthy or powerful
lawmakers.
The
full dark on the burg and its sect can be found
here.
The
Flesh-Mongers
Demi-Modrons
(by
Randir)
"Since soul can not fend
off the sins of the flesh, grace can be regained through
its denial."
The
Flesh Mongers, are a group of planars who have developed
a macabre fascination with the links between the body and
sin. They have taken it to be the case that the body is
corruption, and that the soul must be cleansed through
its denial. Living in the clockwork wastes of Mechanus
this sect found the answer to its prayers.
The
Flesh Mongers actively replace their organic bodies with
mechanical devices, maintaining only the minimal amount
of their original bodies as possible. At low levels they
resemble humans having only a limb or two replaced with
implants. At higher levels they gain in both size and
weight as they replace compact organs with giant devices.
The leader of the Flesh-Mongers has reached the size of a
small castle, which travels across the churning gears of
Mechanus on giant treads. His blood flows through tubes
on the walls, as he has nerves throughout his new form.
Silicaton is not only the sects founder, leader, but also
headquarters.
The
Flesh Mongers got their name from the sale of their own
body parts. In part to pay for the elaborate surgeries
required, and partly because of their beliefs... Selling
their bodies for the sake of their souls.
BENEFITS:
When
in close proximity all Flesh Mongers share a common set
of senses. This allows them to act as one single unit as
Modrons do.
HINDRANCES:
Flesh
Mongers loose not only their sanity, but also their
identities as they gain experience. As such they cease to
exist as individuals at about 10th level. After 5th-level
they can no longer pass for humans, or any other creature
for that matter.
The
Techno-Shamanists
The
Tinkerers
(by
Randir)
"Does not the act of
creation give birth to its own spirit?"
The
Techno-Shamanists are a groups of shamans who believe in
the spirits of stuff. The cogspawn
serve as their greater spirit guides, and their sacred
text is the Codex of Industrial Standards. These rather
odd people, practice a form of magic unlike anything else
on the planes.
They
deal solely with spirits known affectionately as
gremlins, mischievous and alien spirits who have a
sadistic sense of humour. By making offerings of breaking
glass objects and denting metal objects, the
techno-shamans beg for the assistance of the gremlins. As
fitting, techno-shamanists have a greater affinity for
things with more moving parts. Hence they find it easier
to manipulate a clockwork device, or a wagon, than they
could a sword.
Sample Spells:
- Bind
Gremlin
- This spell forces a single
gremlin to serve the shaman for 24 hours, or until a
single quest is performed. The complexity of the quest
is limited only by the shaman's level. The DM is free
to determine how easily it can be done.
- Debug
- This spell is a spell of
banishment, which forces hostile gremlins (aka bugs)
from the mechanical device that they are dealing with.
There is a second form of this known as "Shotgun
Debugging" but that is much more dangerous since it
works only 1 in 20 tries and often completely destroys
the device.
- Rite of
Rube
- Named after the most famous of
the Tinkerer sect, and one of the greatest
techno-shamans to ever live, Rube Goldberg. This
elaborate ritual which requires from 3 to 18 hours to
complete, allows the Shaman to create a hideously
complex device to solve nearly any ordinary
task.
Copyright 1998 by Jon
Winter,
gearwork by Belarius, gear spirit by Jeremiah Golden
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