The Dying Light
Location: Mechanus
Realm: Former realm of Utu (Sumerian power of the sun); now abandoned
Once upon a timepiece, in the endless, clockwork expanse of Mechanus, there existed a realm known as The Absorbing Light. It was a domain forged in the heart of the plane’s mechanical precision, where time was kept perfectly, and the sun always rose and set exactly when it meant to. This was the realm of Utu, the Sumerian god of the sun, justice, and truth. Here, Utu reigned supreme over a realm of clockwork flame, where the fires of the sun were tamed into intricate, rotating forges powered by the divine light of his celestial body. These forges, pulsing with perfectly calibrated heat, represented the balance between order and creation, where the radiant energies of the sun were meticulously controlled, their raw forces harnessed into productive energies for the denizens of Mechanus. Chant was the light from this glowing cog was harnessed by surrounding gears and helped to drive the Great Machine itself.
But Utu was not just a god of light; he was a god of justice and truth. His realm reflected this duality, with giant mechanical judges that roamed the endless corridors, their eyes ablaze with the unerring light of the sun, passing judgments on those who sought the truth or dared to challenge the rigidity of law.
However, tragedy struck when Utu’s brother, Enki, the god of wisdom and waters, was murdered by two Babylonian powers. Utu, once a deity balanced between the fiery passion of the sun and the calm, cooling wisdom of his brother, became consumed by a chaotic rage that the rigid laws of Mechanus could no longer contain. The unyielding order of the plane clashed violently with Utu’s newfound chaos, and eventually, he abandoned Mechanus, leaving behind his realm to decay.
With Utu’s departure, The Absorbing Light began to fade, its once-brilliant flames dimming to dying embers. The former realm, now known as The Dying Light, transformed from a place of brilliant radiant order to one of eerie flicking light, casting doubt and long shadows over the rusting, grinding gears of the once-perfect forges.
Current Denizens
In the absence of Utu, the realm did not remain empty for long. The dwindling light and chaotic remnants of Utu’s rage have attracted a peculiar mix of new denizens:
Sunless Smiths: These beings are remnants of Utu’s original forgesmiths, now corrupted and altered by the realm’s decay. Once beings of radiant light, they are now darkened, their forms flickering like dying flames. They continue their work, though their creations are twisted, broken imitations of what they once were. These Forgemasters are powerful, with an innate ability to manipulate fire and forge metal, though their creations often carry a curse of entropy.
Luminous Wraiths: The spirits of those judged by Utu’s mechanical judges linger in the realm, now transformed into Luminous Wraiths—ghostly figures of light that float through the darkened corridors. Former petitioners seeking to ascent, they are now trapped between the realms of life and death, eternally searching for the light that once gave them purpose. While some are harmless, others are vengeful, seeking to steal the light from any who enter the realm.
The Clockwork Usurper: A recent arrival, the Clockwork Usurper is a powerful rogue modron heirarch, or possibly a rogue demipower, who has taken up residence in The Dying Light. It seeks to harness and drain the last vestiges of the realm’s power to forge a new empire in Mechanus. The Usurper commands the Shadow Gears and seeks to fully extinguish the remaining light, believing that only in complete darkness can it forge a new order.
The Dying Light is a cog on the brink of collapse, a place where the unyielding order of Mechanus clashes with the increasingly chaotic remnants of a once-great god’s fury. It is ripe with mystery, danger, and the echoes of a tragic past, offering adventurers a chance to uncover ancient secrets, confront powerful new foes, and perhaps even alter the fate of the realm itself, whether they seek to reignite the dying flames, or extinguish them once and for all.
Adventure Ideas
- The Light’s Final Flicker: The adventurers are approached by a surviving worshiper of Utu who believes that a vital part of the god’s essence still lingers in the Dying Light. They must journey into the heart of the realm to reignite the fading forges and liberate Utu’s power, for without it he will remain barmy with grief and loss. Along the way, they must confront the new denizens of the former realm.
- Judgment of the Sun: The mechanical judges of Utu’s realm, now erratic and twisted, have begun abducting souls from Mechanus and the surrounding planes to judge them. The adventurers must infiltrate The Dying Light, uncover the source of this anomaly, and either destroy or restore the judges before they can enact their distorted form of justice on innocent beings.
- The Wraiths’ Redemption: The adventurers are hired by a group of planar scholars or a surviving enclave of Sumerians to help the Luminous Wraiths find peace. This involves gathering the scattered light fragments of Utu’s essence and restoring them to the wraiths, releasing them to the afterlife they were promised and so cruelly denied.
Canonical Source: On Hallowed Ground [2e] p63; this source describes how Utu used to keep a realm in Mechanus before moving to Arbores after Enki’s murder. The rest of this entry is homebrew extrapolation.
Source: Jon Winter-Holt