The Balance

The Balance, also known as the Cosmic Balance or Great Balance, is a philosophical concept that decrees it is a universal necessity for the abstract forces of good and evil and/or law and chaos to be balanced and that no extreme of either should gain an upper hand over the other(s), under the notion that none of them could exist without their counterpart. It is, for some, one of the principles behind what is known as true neutrality. Different conceptions of the Balance disagree on whether it is a fundamental requirement of being, and thus that for reality to exist things could be no other way, or if it could hypothetically be replaced were circumstances to change.

Notable Adherents

Very few mortals or entities fully embrace the Balance, since it requires a grasp of events on a cosmic level and those who vow to maintain it often make enemies. However, some embrace the Balance simply to further their own personal quests for power. Some of those in the universe who both believe in and adhere to the concept of the Balance include the following.

General

• This concept is of concern to many neutral deities and their priests.
• Neutral good beings often believe in the importance of the Balance, but feel that the concerns of law and chaos do not moderate the need for good in the multiverse. Given the many creatures of the cosmos that are all striving for different goals, this understanding teaches that determinedly pursuing good does not upset the Balance and might even go to maintaining it.

Individuals

• Aurus, a gold dragon of great wyrm age. Over the course of spending time among the other races of Astora for over eight hundred years, Aurus came to the conclusion that the Cosmic Balance is the driving force behind existence. He also feels that he has a responsibility to contribute in some small part to maintaining it.
• The god Cyric believes his role in upholding the Balance is to slay any of his fellow deities that demonstrate weakness.

Organizations

• There exists a cult on Astora that worships the concept.
• The Circle of Greater Powers of the Astoran Pantheon is expected to maintain the Balance while carrying out their divine duties in service to their worshipers on Astora.

Races & Sentient Creatures

• Petitioners of the Concordant Domain of the Outlands instinctively observe the Balance, feeling that every action they take needs to be offset by an equal action of opposite Alignment.
• The rilmani, a race native to the Outlands, devote their entire lives to maintaining the Balance, no matter the cost or repercussions. They monitor and address imbalances throughout the Great Wheel, the Elemental planes, and on the Prime Material Plane.

Notable Observers

The following entities fall into the concept of the Balance or acknowledge its existence, but make no effort to actually maintain it like those above.

General

• Chaotic evil beings often believe in such a thing as the Balance, but due to their selfishness do not care about maintaining it.
• The agents of the Upper Planes often believe in the existence of a Cosmic Balance, but strive to tilt it in the favor of Good.

Individuals

• Girru of the Untheric Pantheon was a proponent of the Balance, acknowledging that the existence of evil is necessary, yet he still fought ferociously against its forces. Even sending his archons and priests out to destroy sources of malevolence.
• Primus, the immortal ruler of the lawful neutral plane of The Clockwork Nirvana of Mechanus and the creator of its inhabitants, the modrons, is an enigmatic figure whose goals are uncertain. Some believe he is a manifestation of order, who instills in the modrons the purpose of advancing the ideals of law and making it a dominant force in the multiverse. According to some legends, Primus once threatened the Balance by creating the law-infused Spawning Stone, which he threw into The Ever-Changing Chaos of Limbo in an effort to bring order to that plane and hinder the spread of Chaos. But others believe that the modrons (and by extension Primus) seek to maintain the Balance, describing them as the "keepers of the machinery of the multiverse", such as by sending the modrons against the tanar'ri whenever they gain too much ground in the Blood War.

Races & Sentient Creatures

• Some celestials argue that marching against the fiends would result in a conflict that, assuming the celestials are not annihilated, would be of such sheer magnitude that the very fabric of the multiverse would be torn apart. The most heated debate on the subject brings up a sub-branch of the Balance concept called the "Ethical Paradox", the belief that good cannot exist without evil, and thus that destroying the fiends would doom the multiverse.
• The aasimon of neutral good deities believe in the importance of the Balance, but will tip the scales in the favor of Good whenever the opportunity presents itself.
• Guardinals, the neutral good defenders of Elysium and Mount Celestia, focus on defending their planes, rather than forcing their views on others and do not care to interfere with the forces of Law or Chaos. Though they will interfere with the Blood War head on whenever the forces of Evil are gaining too much ground.
• Night hags view the multiverse as a twisted sort of balance of ever-conflicting forces, but due to their selfish nature they do not care which force the scales are tipped in favor of.
• Slaadi are a race of beings interested in the spread and triumph of Chaos over the other forces. However, there are conflicting reports and theories that claim, if enough time is spent on a plane of either extreme Good or Evil, a slaad will feel compelled to maintain the Balance by acting in a manner opposite of the plane. One example is Grellon the Green, a benevolent green slaad that travels the Lower Planes.

Notable Detractors

• Chaotic neutral beings typically believe that there is no such thing as a careful balance of forces in the multiverse.
• Some celestials do not believe in the Balance from either a political or universally fundamental framework, believing the combined forces of good stand a chance to wipe evil from the multiverse.
• Those who inhabit the Lower planes, such as fiends, do not believe in the Balance. The concept is in direct opposition to the Blood War and the very notion that eventually either chaotic evil or lawful evil will triumph over the other in the conflict, becoming the only form of evil in the multiverse. Additionally, adherents of the Balance often interfere in the Blood War to prevent either outcome from ever occurring.
• The Way philosophy espouses that there is no such thing as the forces of Good, Evil, Law, or Chaos—they are merely labels thrust upon the fundamental forces of the universe. One of its two sects, the Light Way, espouses maintaining the natural balance of the world and events, though this is not necessarily the same as the Balance, depending as it does on wholly different forces. In fact, the central concept of Yin and Yang illustrates the interconnection of opposing forces and two opposing forces being partially composed of the other, involves a very different notion of balance.