The Dancer of the Cogs
Location: Mechanus / Labyrinthine Portal
There’s a strange being that can be found wandering Mechanus—they’re usually called the Dancer of the Cogs, or simply the Dancer (planar unknown race [they/them] / LN). They are an androgynous being, who wears an old red frock coat and a white shirt with frills, and smart black trousers. They never speak. They have no apparent facial features, simply a rounded head, upon which they wear one of two white masks—one smiling or the other frowning. The Dancer also always carries a finely-made wooden staff.
Chant goes the Dancer may be an advanced kind of construct that was created by some mage-inventor, that was let loose after the magician got written into the dead book. Others reckon they are some kind of a guide, since the Dancer knows its way about the Labyrinthine Portal—but that too much time spent alone has driven them a little barmy. Finally, some believe the Dancer to be a regular mortal, albeit one on the barmy end of the spectrum, just attempting to follow the Laws of Mechanus the best they can.
To summon the Dancer, one must place twenty candles around the rim of a small cog, in a perfect circle large enough for a crowd of people to gather inside, and then light them all. After an hour, the Dancer appears. They then perform within the circle in a complex but repeating pattern. Once someone figures out the pattern [make an intelligence check], and especially if someone can also dance the pattern [make a performance check], the Dancer will perform one service. They can take a small group of planewalkers anywhere on Mechanus via the Labyrinthine Portal and back, and even serve as a bodyguard for a short while. There are those who believe that Dancer may be able to offer more that this, if only one could figure out how to ask them…
Source: Monte Lin