The Vigilant Eye
Location: Mechanus
Realm of Varuna
They say that if you pick virtually any river in Mechanus and follow it back for long enough, you’ll eventually happen across the Vigilant Eye. It’s the realm of the Vedic power Varuna, the god of cosmic order, dharma and the boundless waters. It’s an unusual looking place in this realm of predictable rotating metal gears and cogs. Oh sure, there are those, but there’s also water—so much water. It churns through turbines, it drops in great glowing waterfalls from high cogs to low, it flows in perfect straight lines through canals across the larger discs, and it jumps from cog to cog in perfect parabolas of free-flowing water. But in the centre of the realm, there is the strangest sight of all, an enormous free-floating bubble of liquid suspended freely in place. The size of a small sea, this domain is called Rāvaṇa, the Cosmic Reservoir.
The surface waters of the Cosmic Reservoir twinkle with an inner light, looking like the stars and constellations from countless worlds. From this divine pool radiate endless rivers, silver streams of water flowing into and out of it, like a great watery crossroads. Some of them flow all across Mechanus, while others disappear into circular gates of silver light. These flows are heading into, or out of, prime material worlds where the Vedic pantheon holds sway—the holy rivers that these cultures venerate. The Ganges, the Saraswati, the Yamuna, and the Hister are just some of the blessed rivers that flow through this reservoir.
And from the very centre of Rāvaṇa, Varuna observes the multiverse, seated upon his mount, Makara. As his omniscient gaze watches the endless streams of water entering and leaving his realm, he can sense the cycle of dharma from the worshippers who hold each sacred river in special regard. Surrounding him, great luminous eyes float, each one attuned to a different aspect of existence. The Vigilant Eye lives up to its name: in this realm, nothing escapes notice, and in that way, all is kept in perfect, fluid order.
Visitors to the realm are usually surprised to find that while in Vigilant Eye they are not only able to swim perfectly well [at their usual land movement speed] but they are also able to breathe water as if it were air.
The Fishers of Souls
There are three main groups of beings who dwell in the Vigilant Eye. Firstly, the samsaran—spiritual beings who are on an eternal journey of self-discovery, life and rebirth. When a samsaran dies, their spirit is reincarnated into a new body, a baby born to new parents on the Prime. But this does not happen right away—firstly, just like all mortal spirits, they must pass along the River of Souls of the Astral Plane. Rather than ending up in the Underlands, like most other souls, the spirits of samsaran are diverted to a tributary which flows directly to Mechanus, and into the Cosmic Reservoir. Here they swim freely, basking in the pure waters and enjoying the radiant light that shines from the Vigilant Eye in the centre.
However, their time in this blissful state is limited. Before long, these samsaran souls are caught in nets or on hooks by the Fishers of Souls, petitioners of Varuna who endlessly ply the waters of Rāvaṇa looking for them. The captured souls are then taken to great monastery-ports, where they are allowed to meditate—and dry off!—while a decision is made whether they have reached transcendence, or are due to be reborn. It’s usually the latter, for achieving transcendence for a samsaran soul is a once-in-an-eternity event. Candidate souls are brought before Abbot Vibhīṣaṇa (jana rakshasa proxy of Varuna [they/them] / LN) who meditates with them before making the final decision in communion with Varuna. It’s usually reincarnation, or redeath—in which case the soul enters the Punarjanman, a gate of blinding light and energy which leads to the Positive Energy Plane. That soul is then reborn on the Prime Material Plane in a new body, their fate whether this will be a good or a bad start in life depending upon the good or bad karma they accumulated in the previous life.
However, the rare samsaran who are judged to have attained Moksha—liberation from the eternal cycle of death and rebirth—are invited become petitioners themselves. These cutters take the same form that they had in life, so are a mixture of ancestries. They dwell on the cogs surrounding Rāvaṇa, usually in great monastery-libraries where they are able to devote all their time to meditation and the practise of dharma, or fishing for souls. If they desire, they are free to remain in Vigilant Eye, or migrate to the realm of another Vedic power, or if they prefer, to merge with the plane. Such are the benefits of transcendence!
The third group of beings in the Vigilant Eye are the jala rakshasa, a unique caste of the fiendish race who are deeply loyal to Varuna, and act as guardians of petitioners, samsarans and the waters of the realm. Each jala is bound by oaths of dharma; while they are terrifying to behold, with glistening crocodilian scales and sharp claws, their manners are precise and measured, and they strike against only those who defile the purity of the waters or disturb the delicate balance of the realm.
The waters have transformed this once-sterile domain into a surreal fusion of geometric precision and organic flow. Waterfalls cascade from gear to gear, forming intricate spirals and loops that somehow never disrupt the mechanisms driving Mechanus. Fluid streams carry not just water but glowing motes of energy—representations of mortal dharma—which flow into the Cosmic Reservoir, where Varuna judges their purity and alignment. The rivers are not entirely physical; they shimmer as though caught between the states of liquid and spirit, embodying both natural cycles and cosmic truth.
This infusion of water has also introduced a strange, meditative beauty to the realm. The gears hum with the rhythm of flowing rivers, balanced perfectly with the ticking of Mechanus. Vast waterwheels adorn certain gears, their slow rotation symbolising the endless cycle of life, death, and rebirth. Schools of luminous fish—celestial creatures enjoying the purity of Varuna’s waters—swim through the streams, their movements forming shifting mandalas of light. Temples dedicated to Varuna perch on cogs overlooking the waters, their gold and silver spires glinting in the divine glow. These shrines house planar caretakers, including a handful of mortals and outsiders, who are drawn to Varuna’s teachings and devote their lives to maintaining the delicate interplay of machine and water.
Shifting Tides of Philosophy
Chant goes that the slowly-growing influence of water in the Vigilant Eye reflects Varuna’s shift away from his original focus on the sky and broader cosmic order. This change has introduced new complexities to his realm—and to his followers. Water, by its nature, is both life-giving and dangerous, orderly in its cycle but unpredictable in its flow. Some planar scholars worry that Varuna’s embrace of water may loosen his traditionally unyielding adherence to dharma, allowing for more leniency in interpretation. Others see his shift as a necessary evolution—a recognition that even timeless law must adapt to the needs of the living multiverse.
Perhaps most concerning is how this shift might influence Mechanus as a whole. The great gears of the clockwork plane function on rigid order, yet Varuna’s waters suggest a more fluid, flexible form of law, potentially clashing with the pure logic of Primus’ philosophy. If the Vigilant Eye continues to grow in size or influence, its flowing rivers and shifting currents could create subtle imbalances, fostering division among Mechanus’s empires. Nevertheless, those who seek understanding or enlightenment continue to flock to Varuna’s realm, drawn by the promise of an order that is both unwavering and compassionate, a dharma that flows as freely as the life-giving waters coursing through his divine domain.
Source: Jon Winter-Holt. Canonwatch: On Hallowed Ground [2e] p179 gives the name of Varuna’s realm and the rest is homebrew.
