Modrons

As the baatezu are to Baator, so are the modrons to Mechanus. Leastways, that's what the Guvners'd have a berk belive, and that's what most visitors to Mechanus believe without any help from the Guvners. The modrons seem to be just about everywhere, even in the realm of the powers (unless they've been specifically forbidden from entering).

Rumor has it they're the keepers of the plane, the maintainers of the gears and the polishers of the cogs. They're the tiny machines that keep the whole place running smoothly and cleanly, and without them, the place'd break down.

Of course, there's sods who've thought to test this theory by figuring a way to kill the modrons. Unfortunately for them, it's pretty much impossible to be rid of a modron. See, when a modron dies, its life force is absorbed back into a communal pool. Then, a modron of the rank below is promoted (and so on down the chain), and then a new monodrone, made from the essence of the dead modron, is formed to take the place of the promoted monodrone.

Lately, the speculation has come to rest on the theory that perhaps the modrons are descended from insectile intelligences, resulting in an incredible hive mind, and have somehow learned to place energy into and draw energy from a central pool in Regulus. This theory would explain how a modron's instantly promoted, and how, once one of these intelligences is killed, it starts over at the bottom of the pool. There's no proof of this theory, however, and there's really no way to check. If anyone were to investigate a modron too thoroughly, it's said she'd turn into a modron herself, and no one in her right mind wants to understand 'em that badly - except maybe a Guvner.

The modrons, as the natives of Mechanus, have convinced just about everyone who comes there that they're the ultimate creatures of law. Their minds are alien to most creatures, and their logic is deviously twisted. Some say modrons're actually worse than baatezu. At least with baatezu, a body knows where he stands. He understands that the creatures are evil, and as long as he keeps in mind that all they want is more evil, he's in as good a shape as he can be, all things considered. With modrons, a sod never knows what they're looking for, or what they'll do to achieve their goal. Sometimes they're helpful, sometimes they're cruel - and they're always unpredictable, because no one but a modron can read modron expressions or guess at their agenda. Only a leatherhead'd trust a modron, even if it agreed to help him - it might have different orders from above, and it's sure not going to think twice about those orders.

Modron Castes

There's 15 divisions of modrons, only 14 of which are even remotely comprehensible to normal folks. The fifteenth is Primus, overlord of all the modrons and equivilant to a greater power in Regulus.

The other 14 castes perform the duties Primus assigns, the orders filtering down from the top, all the way down to the monodrone level. From the governance of an entire cog to polishing individual gear teeth, there's nothing the don't do. They've been seen wandering all over the planes, acting in all manner of incomprehensible ways. Their function's unknown, but they stick strictly with their assigned duty.

Because modrons only communicate with the modrons immediately above and below them in the caste system, every higher-ranking modron's sure to have an inferior around to perform manual labor and act as a messenger. This trait's even more noticeable in the hierarch castes, where the modrons are of a finite number and have huge tasks that involve overseeing huge tracts of space. The governor and rulers of the modrons are always certain to have underlings surrounding them, who likewise surround themselves with underlings.