Mechanus Prime

Divine Traits

Alignment: LN

Portfolio: Constructs, metalwork, the mechanus

Domains: Artifice, Earth, Law, Protection

Subdomains: Construct, Defense, Loyalty, Memory, Metal

Favored Weapon: Bec-de-corbin

Holy Symbol: A steel cog

Tenets

Followers of Mechanus

All mechani worships Mechanus Prime as their creator and protector, but priests of the Ironmother (or Ironfather) are relatively rare. Nearly all spiritual leaders among the mechanus live in Ironhold, or in Ironheart proper, but a rare few walk the lands to spread the word of Mechanus Prime.

Some organics worship the Mechanus god as well, especially those dwarves and humans living in Ironhold.

Outside of Fervidus, metalworkers might pray to the Ironfather for blessings at their forges, but most would ask Molgrin Ironband instead. As such, Mechanus Prime is a relatively minor god of a small land, which is its preference: Mechanus has little power left to it, and its first concern is protecting the people it created.

"Mortal" Life

Half a century before the Exalted were awakened, a group of dwarves on Fervidus broke their bonds and fled their fiery captors. They took refuge in the caves of the dormant volvano in the center of the island. There they hid, digging and exploring, hoping against hope to find a way to be safe from the fire giant.

There, in the darkness, they found something fantastic. An ancient machine, its purpose unknown. By some stroke of fate, the leader of the group, who would in time gain the title of Frostmane, was a talented machinist. He saw the great potential of the machine, and managed to awaken it. To his great surprise, the machine was intelligent, and could communicate. It told him that it could operate through any constructed frame, within a limited distance.

Together, dwarf and machine worked to create the first batch of golems, powerful expensive troops for the machine to control. With these iron soldiers at the side, the dwarves stood against the fire giants' first exploratory attack. They made sure to kill every last scout so that they Blood King wouldn't know what their secret defense is.

Between attacks, the dwarves worked on streamlining the construct creation process to create smaller, cheaper constructs. In time the entire inside of the volcano was converted into a comination barracks, armory, and forge. They forged new armor and weapons, and new constructs, and began liberating small groups of slaves.

Unfortunately, all their digging put them at risk of awakening a sleeping horror below the mountain (which may even have their plan, as a last resort weapon). Warned of the danger, the Exalted travelled to Fervidus to stop the dwarves, and found themselves in the middle of the difficult conundrum.

As a solution, the Exalted fought off a wave of fire giants to buy time, and began a mass evacuation of the entire colony, which numbered over two hundred. Unfortunately, by the time they had finished with the fight, they found that Frostmane had taken his own life in Mechanus' central room. Continuing with their plan, the Exalted collapsed any tunnels leading to the buried machine (known as Mechanus), and tunneled their way below the earth with magic and pick. The machines of Mechanus could only go so far from their creator, and were eventually left behind.

The colony, minus half a dozen dwarves, were evacuated from the island. Those few who didn't make it out had deliberately separated themselves from the group, and returned to Mechanus (who they deemed to be a safer alternative). There they found Frostmane's body, and his journal that explained all he knew of Mechanus, including the fact that both he and the scholar before him and killed themselves to infuse Mechanus with their life essence and empower it. Three of those six followed suit, giving their lives in the hope that the machine could protect the other slaves on the island.

Mechanus, with its growing sapience and sphere of influence, called all its remaining soldiers to its side. There, in the heart of the volcano, they began their work once more. More steel soldiers, more weapons and tools. Untiring miners dug for iron and coal, and a handful of specialist dwarves forged increasingly elaborate parts. Mechanus was fueled, above all else, by grief and sadness: at having lost what few people had shown it kindness, and its failure to protect those in its charge.

War in Fervidus

And so, with a new will and an army of iron soldiers that it could control (in limited numbers at once), Mechanus set out to liberate Fervidus.

Their first strike was brutal. The fire giant slavers in the area immediately around Mechanus' volcano (called Ironheart by Mechanus and its people) were slain overnight, and every slave within a mile was given the choice to join the revolution or flee. Most of the freed slaves chose to join, and so the numbers swelled. They erected great walls around the entrance to the volcano, and set up housing for the influx of refugees. This secured area became one of the first liberated settlements of Fervidus, known as Ironhold.

In time, Mechanus and his allies managed to double the size of their homeland, expanding into and converting two villages, renaming them Steelreach and Ironwatch. It was just after the rebellion claimed Steelreach that Kerah Firehawk arrived. She was escorted to meet Mechanus in person, and promised her help.

But the new Blood King was eager to prove his mettle, and rallied the Great Clans to strike down those who would oppose them on their own homeland. Their counterattack hit across the entire border at once. Mechanus' ability to control the mechanical defenders was limited by its concentration, and the attack was simply too widespread for Mechanus to animate enough defenders at once.

In a moment of absolute desperation, Mechanus followed in Frostmane's footsteps, and took its own life. Mechanus disseminated its own essence into each iron defender, giving each of them a spark of life. Suddenly fully animated and fully sentient, the constructs stood fast against the fire giant assault. For five days and six nights the giants attacked almost constantly, probing for a weak spot in their enemy's defense. On the sixth day, a dozen warships made landfall near the battlesite, offloading two full legions of dwarf soldiers from the Democratic Republic of Dwarsteim, as well as a contingent or Kerah's faithful.

Together, the forces held the giants at bay, and fortified Steelreach and Ironwatch. The Blood King had no choice but to sign a peace treaty between them, the people of Ironhold, and the allied forces from the West.

At last the war was ended, but there was little rejoicing among the people of Ironhold. Their god was dead, sacrificed for them, and they were left to forge their own path forward. The mechani were now a fully sapient non-organic race, and began learning how to live for themselves. Most would stay in Ironhold, where they were born, while others among them set out into the world at large to see and hear and learn.

Mental characteristics

Gender Identity

None

Divine Classification

Intermediate Deity

Honorary & Occupational Titles

Ironfather, Ironmother, The First Mechanus