The Gear Thieves
Most people look at Mechanus and think of clocks, of order and law, and modrons. What fewer people realise is that, more than anything else, Mechanus represents on thing: Raw ore.
A organisation of cross-traders has recently formed to literally steal entire gears from Mechanus. Chant goes they operate out of the relative anonymity and lawlessness of the backstreets of Fumetown. Each gear, even a small one, represents many, many months, if not years, of extensive ore mining and refining—and is can be had in one fell swoop for a fraction of the total price. The Gear Thieves, as they have become known, have a three-step process which involves:
- Driving away the gear spirits of an isolated gear
- Magically binding slaadi to the targeted gear, to infuse it with chaos
- Sit and wait while the gear is thrown out of Mechanus into the Outlands, in a cosmic realignment event
Incredible though it may sound, the modrons have not yet adapted to counter this ingenious method of theft. The Mediators simply work to replace the gear the instant it is lost, and the displaced gear spirit moves into its new home. Mechanus, in all its infinity, appears none the worse for wear. Nevertheless, the modrons are becoming upset about this blatant spreading of chaos on their home plane, and have sent military parties to the Outlands to track down the missing gears.
Thus far, three gears have been stolen. Each gear has been quickly reduced to huge quantities of metal ingots, and forged into items including weapons, armour, and miscellaneous equipment, with an advanced version of the fabricate spell (which has a much larger area of effect) cast many, many times, presumably using wands. The quality of the metal in a Mechanical gear is, of course, excellent, so the produced items are also of high quality.
The following groups want the gear thieves shut down:
- The Modrons: As blatant lawbreakers and spreaders of chaos, the gear thieves must be stopped from threatening the order of Mechanus
- The Mind’s Eye: As the primary metalsmiths in Sigil, the Great Foundry has felt the squeeze of competition with Gear Thief goods.
- The Guvners, Harmonium, and Mercykillers: These factions wish to protect the interests of the lawful planes and catch criminals. The first two groups, especially, are eager to stop the thieves, since the Guvners are based on Mechanus and the second feel responsible for the recent loss of Nemausus and chant goes they may have been the inspiration for this spate of thefts.
The Gear Thieves are lead by three enterprising wizards: Heltemal (planar lich wizard [he/him] / NE), Cietnau (prime human wizard [she/her] / LE), and Ephemer (planar aasimar wizard [he/him] / Merkhants / N). These three, who summon and bind the slaadi and are primarily responsible for breaking up the gears, lead a small group of skilled fighters and mid-level mages who assist in their work.
Source: Belarius