What Happens When a Rilmani Tires of the Balance?
There was once a cuprilach rilmani named Equilibrix. Their essence shimmered with the metallic sheen of balance, conceived as it was in the neutrality that blankets the Spirelands. Equilibrix, like their kin, was a guardian of equilibrium, a silent watcher ensuring that the scales of cosmic justice remained unswayed by the forces of good, evil, law, or chaos. However, within their heart brewed a storm, a tempest of questions and doubts about the path laid before them.
Equilibrix’s fall began with a mission that led them deep into Mechanus, the plane of ultimate law and order, where they encountered the modrons—those beings of absolute structure and hierarchy. In this meticulously ordered society, Equilibrix saw something they had not anticipated: A new form of balance, achieved not through the constant, apparently arbitrary adjustment of scales, but through unwavering adherence to predefined law. It was here, among the geometric precision of Mechanus, that the seed of disillusionment took root within them.
The more time Equilibrix spent with the modrons, the more they found themself drawn to the modronic clarity of purpose. The rilmani admired their efficiency and the simplicity with which they pursued their objectives, unburdened by the endless shades of gray that characterised Equilibrix’s own existence; the out-of-sync blink of an aurumach that would signify disagreement, or the oh-so-subtle eyebrow raise which would signify rage. Modrons say what they mean, and mean what they say, The modrons, for their part too, were intrigued by this rilmani, a being from a realm where neutrality reigned supreme yet who questioned the very foundation of their own nature, exactly as the modrons did not.
As Equilibrix delved deeper into the laws that governed Mechanus, they experienced a profound transformation. The metallic sheen of the rilmani’s form began to adopt the gleaming edges characteristic of the modrons. The very essence of their being began to change, severing the deep connections they had with their race and the Spire. The metamorphosis was agonising, not just physically as their metallic form took on the precise, geometric shapes of the modrons, but spiritually, as the vast spectrum of gray shades of neutrality that once coloured their perception narrowed into the binary black and white of law and order.
The change did not go unnoticed by their rilmani kin, who saw immediately in Equilibrix’s metamorphosis a betrayal of their cardinal principles. Equilibrix, once celebrated for their wisdom and bravery, found themself estranged from their former kin. The other rilmani could no longer align with this new existence. The bond that tied Equilibrix to the rilmani collective consciousness, a source of strength and camaraderie, frayed and snapped, leaving them adrift in a sea of order, alone in a way they had never known. This isolation weighed heavily, a burden that was the price of this new clarity.
Confronted with the choice between his inherent nature and the newfound sense of purpose he discovered among the modrons, Equilibrix made a decision that would forever alter his path. He chose to renounce his rilmani heritage and embrace the order of Mechanus, becoming a modron in both form and spirit. To the modrons, he was an anomaly—a being who had transcended his original nature to join their ranks, but they welcomed him as one of their own, if an irregular one. Apparently there are laws written for just this situation.
As an anomalous modron, Equilibrix found a new way to serve the balance he once guarded—a balance not of neutrality but of order. He became a bridge between the worlds of rilmani and modrons, leveraging his unique perspective to foster understanding between the planes of neutrality and law. However, their transformation was not without cost. The rilmani mourned the loss of one of their own, seeing in Equilibrix’s departure a reminder of the complexities and challenges inherent in their eternal quest for balance.
Equilibrix’s story spread across the Outlands, the tale of a fallen rilmani who sought a different kind of equilibrium. The rilmani whisper the name of Equilibrix as a cautionary tale, a reminder of the peril in straying too far from one’s nature.
Source: Jon Winter-Holt
