The Convention of Mechanus

Gathering / Conference

A meeting where the representatives of the races of Terra, mortal and immortal alike, gathered to establish a baseline of continuity for the planet as it existed on the Prime Material Plane. Two of the most enduring results of the Convention of Mechanus are the name of the world - Terra - and the Terran calendar.

The chaos of the Sundering and the Convergence was not confined to the Prime Material Plane, with disorder radiating out through the connected planes from the planar phenomena. For the realms aligned with Chaos, the effects were minimal, or at least manageable; for the realms aligned with Law, the effects were more extensive.   When the Clockwork Nirvana of Mechanus was finally linked with the Prime Material Plane at Makkah (Mecca) by a planar rift and at Greenwich by a planar melding, the chaos that engulfed the planet began to encroach on Mechanus, sending the purely Lawful realm into disarray. This evoked the attention of Primus, the Lawful deity who holds dominion over the realm of Mechanus and the Modrons who inhabit it.   Displeased with the chaos infecting their realm, Primus entered the Prime Material Plane at Makkah to determine the source of the chaotic force. Upon seeing the disorder visited upon not only the Prime Material Plane, but all other planes connected to the world, Primus sent out summons to representatives of the mortal and immortal races that dwelled on the planet and in the adjoining planes, calling them to a summit to discuss the state of the world.   A contingent of the mortal races now inhabiting the Prime Material Plane on the Earth – among them aarakocra, dwarves, elves, giants, gnomes, humans, kobolds, orcs, tieflings, and yuan-ti – was welcomed into Mechanus. This contingent was met by another group comprised of representatives of immortal races – deities, angels, demons, devils and so on – both of the Prime Material Plane and of other planes.   With Primus as the adjudicator and driving force, the representatives spent one year establishing a baseline of continuity for the planet of Earth, as it existed on the Prime Material Plane, and bringing a semblance of order back to the world. While beings aligned with Chaos were not initially in favour of establishing any form of order, Primus successfully argued that without order to measure itself against, any chaos achieved would be ultimately hollow.   The world was renamed Terra, as the word (variations in spelling notwithstanding) existed in each of the languages of those present, with various meanings that those races felt were appropriate. In the human language of Latin, for example, terra means land, while in Elvish terra means a pierced hole, signifying the planar phenomena through which the elves returned to the Prime Material Plane.   An accord was reached whereby the different races would work together to stabilise the planar phenomena to the point where any effects were controlled, or at least manageable. They also agreed to work to curtail any effects their planes wrought on another. These agreements proved difficult to uphold over time, and were eventually abandoned by many races and realms.   Eventually, the representatives all agreed on a measure of time, based on human pre-Sundering units. A calendar was established, with 13 months each comprised of four weeks of seven days, with an additional period consisting of two additional days (or three days every four years) to be used as transition from one year to the next. The months were named for the planes of existence that were represented at the Convention and had the greatest connection with the Prime Material Plane.