The great central locations of Mechanus are well known - Regulus of the Modrons, the Guvnors Fortress of Disciplined Enlightenment, Delon-Estin Oti the symmetrical town. But the Plane of Gears is infinite and there are a great deal of other sites out there. Attached are a few cooked up for the Mechanus cog-crawl part of
the great planar scavenger hunt I ran recently.
These attempt to capture typical Mechanus sites encountered in the depths of that infinite plane - not any of the core realms.
1. Modron Invasive Fauna Collation Post 45-B-2 - crewed by a bunch of low level modrons tasked with sweeping the local cogs with a gear-rider and collecting samples of non-native fauna. They will also happily count anything that turns up in their catchment area such as a party of adventurers. Any creatures will be tagged with paint on their largest visible flat surface, provided with 1/100th of their weight in concentrated nutrient supplement, beige flavour and the same amount of distilled water that tastes very flat. In other bays of the compound are a resigned looking pair of humans (Guvnor couriers), a furious hobgoblin in Acheronian armour and a meditating hound archon.
2. The Slide-Rule Inn (Gnomes of Erathis) - shaped in geometric swoops and laid out inside like an amphitheater centered on the bar. The inn-keeper is an enthusiastic and hospitable gnome who regards their establishment as a beacon to the weary, a place for the tired to rest before venturing out into the wonders of Mechanus again. They will be surprised at anyone who thinks any less of the great gears than they do. The inside is decorated throughout with symbolism of Erathis and wall decorations in a 'glory of industry' theme.
3. Turnwise Dustlands and Sage tower - mounted on a trio of gears that are wedged into a corner between three swift turning cogs, this little tower shudders as it is held in place by the equal pressures. An old aasimar sits within charting the movements of the local gears. They are deeply annoyed to be disturbed and very cranky to deal with. They will refuse to answer questions but cannot stop themselves from correcting a statement that they know to be wrong. They write on wax tablets with a quill cut from their own golden-feathered wings. When they think you have stopped talking they will pluck another feather and sharpen a new nib. Beyond the tower on the many-tracked cog, local histories can be read in the undisturbed dust.
4. Mathematicians observatory - an active facility with extensive outworks and cultivated gardens that support a group of Guvnors making a long term study of the gears from this particularly fine vantage point. Very well connected and knowledgeable about the gossip in Sigil and the news of the local region. Crewed by enthusiastic but aged Guvnors and a staff of surly servants. Anyone physically fit enough to carry some instruments and inclined to venture outside the compound will be eagerly offered the chance to earn coin by taking measurements. They have an extensive library and a comprehensive workshop supporting the elaborate 1:10000 scale model of the local gears.
5. The Long Watch - a settlement of warforged from lost worlds, nations and peoples. Here there are warforged of many forms and long-gone species - saur, trilobites, nautiloids. The entry ways are deep archways with racks of weapons, deposited by the warforged. The inner parts are carved with memorials to wars long forgotten elsewhere. The huge, realistic friezes provide fascinating insight into battlefield tactics and equipment of these peoples. The optical illusion in the carvings makes them appear deeper than they are. The warforged themselves engage in a perpetual cycle of maintenance of their weapons and themselves and between times either expand the memorial carvings or patrol the walls.
6. Modron signalling tower - with great mirrors reflecting light on semaphore style arms this is crewed by a group of medium level modrons. They are tasked to interact with non-modrons where necessary to stop them interfering with modrons on more important (any other) tasks. Within this stronghold, modrons are tracking activities, monitoring gears and dispatching repair teams. Busy, possess comprehensive local plans.
