Home of all time and space, Mechanus is the realm from which time itself spills forth and through which all time flows. It is also the prime domain of the Greying Six, home of the Neutral Chambers, and realm upon which all others find stability. Rested just below Alteras, at the base of the great height; Mechanus is a realm of gray planes and floating clocks. Few cities exist within Mechanus and those who inhabit it are prone far too closely to order and the monitoring of the clock than they are to the preservation of life or death.
Few creatures are native to Mechanus, but what life does start here is usually construct in nature. Inevitables call this realm home as do Modron. Both act as agents of order and a deity might task one or a group to leave Mechanus and head out to perform a specific task. Those humanoids who do come to Mechanus to live find it a very difficult environment to live in. The ground lacks the ability to be tilled or grown, no natural stones exist for work. Often, refugees of time might decide to bring areas and structures with them to have a home, or those so lucky might use arcane magic to survive.
Realm Spotlight
There is no conceivable end to the stretches of Mechanus. In all directions exists a singular grey landscape with clocks of varying size floating through the air. What structures might exist are all built by inhabitants, though no materials are found to do so. Some believe that these structures were either pulled or built from materials of other planes. It is not impossible to see an island of Cindaros being fed by a waterfall of Elysias that sits near a ruined bastion from the 9 Hells. How these objects arrived is unknown, but they now reside forever upon the realm of time.
Gravity feels normal here, though any individual may orient themselves to however they wish. If a person wishes for a particular floating clock to be down, they need only think it and they may travel to that point as if falling. As well, things like air and water exist only because they were brought from other planes. An individual on Mechanus does not need to eat, drink, or breath to survive; but can choose to do so if they wish.
The critically unique feature of Mechanus is time. While Mechanus is the source of all time for the 12 Realms, it is not bound or situated within time. As its spawning point, time does not flow on Mechanus. Individuals coming here do not age and do not feel any normal rhythms associated with time. And because the plane itself does not experience time, individuals from across the millenia of Cindaros history still exist here. A Centium Mage who long died in the fall but visited Mechanus once might still be here, residing within a house in the Metropolis of Reality or having forged their own domain, knowing their fate is to one day return and die.
Audience Hall of the Greying Six
Within the very center of Mechanus exists a massive granite bowl that no being can climb. Within this bowl, six multicolored waterfalls feed into a central lake. In this central lake a platform rests with six chairs, each marked with the iconagraphy of one of the Greying Six. The Audience Hall acts as the central meeting spot for the Greying Six. While none of these deities call Mechanus their home plane, each holds a significant sway here and uses this Audience Hall as their meeting area. It is here that they meet to correct imbalances within the world or prepare fates for coming events.
Metropolis of Reality
Somewhere within the eastern expanse of Mechanus rests a massive city, the Metropolis of Reality. Home to tens of thousands of creatures, the city itself was made by Inevitables. Here, order is king and the city is arranged like that of a massive clock. A clock has been magically held into the sky to provide a sense of light to the metropolis below. At the very center of the city exists the Tower of Time, an ancient structure housing great power. Twelve spokes spread in each direction dividing the city into twelve equal parts. All manner of creatures might come to the Metropolis of Reality and some have even chosen to make their home here.
Like Sigil, portals also spawn within the Metropolis from time to time, as well as doorways anchored to specific locations. Yet, unlike Sigil these doors do not simply lead to locations, but also to different periods of time. One might fall into a portal and find themselves in the Great Imperial War or on the oceans before a 1st-Rate ship broadsides them. Many individuals wear a Time Anchor when walking the streets of the Metropolis, to prevent them from being wisked into a time period not of their choosing.
Clockwood Mirriors
One does not find the Clockwood Mirrors, they find you. A desolate landscape of rolling gray hills and person height clocks mirrors litter the landscape. The mirrors act as a views into specific moments of time, usually critical moments to the events of history. One could find a great battle that took place or the creation of some critical artifact. Yet, the danger lies not in the mirrors themselves but if one were to break. A broken mirror is a broken moment in time, whose consiquences could be dire for all involved. It is for this reason that many fear to even touch a mirror, let alone gaze into it.
Traveling to Mechanus
Traveling to Mechanus is as easy as traveling to any other plane, requiring only a tuning fork with the correct sigils and material to be made. However, each person traveling to Mechanus must also bring with them an item. This item must have been made within the last 24 hours of their travel and of durable material. This item or object acts as a temporal anchor, allowing a person to remain within their time stream and to return to the point at which they left. Losing or having this object destroyed is very dangerous as it unlocks an individual from their time stream. Should an individual attempt to plane shift or gate back to their home plane without their item, the DM determines what time period and location they arrive in.
Upon returning to their home plane or any plane outside of Mechanus, the individual immediately gains any aging they may have experienced while there (for example if you spent 6 months on Mechanus, you immediately age 6 months upon returning). The object or item that acted as the anchor having stored the aging process for the individual. It is for this reason that some individuals who spend decades or more, might steal the item of someone who only just arrived, allowing them to no gain those years. Individuals who travel to Mechanus multiple times appear in the same point they left.
Tower of Time
At the heart of the Metropolis of Reality exists the Tower of Time. A singularly massive structure made of an unknown subtance, it is home to the Chronomancy Conclave. The Conclave exists as a group of powerful wizards and sorcerers who practice Chronomancy and other reality manipulating magics. No one knows how old the tower is or when the first mages began to inhabit it. What is known is that the Conclave draws its members from across all of time and the 12 realms. An Illystar archmage might work hand in hand with a Centium Magician. The members of the Conclave are as timeless and myriad as those who inhabit the lower planes.
The Conclave exists for two specific reasons: To defend the natural flow of time and to teach Chronomancy to a select few. How these few are chosen is unknown. A no-name mage from a backwards town might easily find themselves next to a Kyrinn Battlemancer. Some believe that the Conclave looks through time to find those who are worthy of the knowledge or may need it for some great event of the future. Yet many have tried to prove themselves chosen and come up short.
Yet, for these chosen it is not necessarily the end of their journey in Chronomancy, for they may still learn the art at a heavy price: to join the Conclave. Members of the Conclave will gladly teach their unique magic to other members at any time. But to join, one must surrender the object they use to keep track of time. Each member swears a sacred magical oath to the Conclave, to defend time and not interfere with it. After completing this oath, Mechanus becomes their native plane and they may only travel to other planes on a limited basis; lest the ravages of ordered time begin to affect them. Many members choose never to travel again, fearing centuries or millenia might come crashing onto them all at once.
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