Arcadia, where
"order over good"
reigns supreme, is a plane that embodies the struggle of maintaining
the greater good under the shadow of rigid, inflexible law. While its
systems and rules are created with benevolence, the emphasis on
obedience can stifle freedom, creativity, and even compassion. This
unique theme makes Arcadia a fertile ground for adventure, conflict, and
exploration of moral dilemmas.
The Struggle for Balance:
Laws
in Arcadia are designed to uphold the greater good, but cracks can
appear in the moral fabric when the law itself becomes the focus.
The balance between the Nephilim’s lofty ideals and the reality of maintaining harmony serves as a recurring motif.
The Nephilim: Fallen Angels, Rising Apes:
The
Nephilim are towering figures, a race of bio-mechanical beings whose
bodies blend celestial flesh with mechanical grafts. Continuously
refining themselves with Modron parts, they believe this transformation
brings them closer to perfection. These hybrids embody the tension
between divine perfection and mortal imperfection, representing a unique
amalgamation of flesh, metal, and celestial might.
Inspired by Pratchett’s quote about the "fallen angel and rising ape,"
they are a species constantly striving for enlightenment but hindered by
their own rigid structure and laws.
Their use of
Modron parts reflects their practical philosophy: improving themselves with mechanical precision while adhering to their sacred codes.
Eternal Striving: The Nephilim are inspired and haunted by their
dual nature—part mortal, part divine. They fear falling into chaos but
also dream of transcending their limitations.
Types of Nephilim
The
Nephilim
in Arcadia are bio-mechanical giants, a fusion of celestial purpose and
mechanical precision. Their forms and roles reflect Arcadia’s
philosophy of “order over good,” with their very existence emphasizing
the harmony of structure and the subjugation of individual desires to
societal needs. Below is a breakdown of the major types of Nephilim and
their roles within Arcadian society.
1. Archons of Accord
Role: Leaders, Judges, and Philosophers
Appearance: Towering figures with golden metallic exoskeletons,
intricate designs resembling clockwork, and glowing eyes symbolizing
insight. Their voices resonate like chimes.
Function in Society:
- Governance: Archons preside over
significant decisions and interpret Arcadia’s laws, ensuring harmony
between its inhabitants and the divine essence of the plane.
- Judgment: They oversee the Court of Unwavering Justice, ruling on disputes and handing down absolute judgments.
- Philosophy: As keepers of Arcadia’s moral framework, they debate the balance of law and sound, though they always err on the side of law.
2. Scribes of Order
Role: Record Keepers and Bureaucrats
Appearance: Slender, humanoid figures with elongated limbs and
quill-like fingers. Glyphs and runes constantly shift across their
metallic skin.
Function in Society:
- Documentation: They maintain the Eternal Codex, recording every law, precedent, and event in Arcadia’s history.
- Legal Interpreters: Scribes provide counsel on complex legal matters, often acting as intermediaries between mortals and the Archons.
- Creation of Edicts: They transcribe divine inspirations from the Loom of Harmony into new laws, ensuring the fabric of Arcadia remains intact.
3. Harmonic Wardens
Role: Guardians and Enforcers
Appearance: Heavily armored, with a mix of organic muscle and
sleek plating. Their weapons are integrated into their forms, often
taking the shape of glowing blades or shields.
Function in Society:
- Protectors: They guard critical sites like the Orrery, Loom of Harmony, and Aegis Spire.
- Law Enforcement: Wardens enforce Arcadia’s strict laws with unwavering discipline, sometimes against their own moral inclinations.
- Military Force: In times of conflict,
the Wardens form Arcadia’s standing army, defending the plane from
external threats and internal dissent.
4. Mechanists
Role: Engineers and Innovators
Appearance: Compact, multi-limbed Nephilim with visible Modron grafts and rotating parts. They often emit faint hums or ticking noises.
Function in Society:
- Creators: Mechanists maintain and improve the bio-mechanical aspects of Arcadia, crafting enhancements for their fellow Nephilim.
- Innovators: They work in the Mechanist’s Crucible, integrating Modron technology into Arcadian infrastructure.
- Repairers: Mechanists are responsible
for fixing damage to Arcadia’s structures and inhabitants, though their
work is sometimes criticized for sacrificing individuality for
efficiency.
5. Vigilant Choir
Role: Spies, Investigators, and Operatives
Appearance: Sleek and agile, with shadowed metallic plating and
faintly glowing optics. Their forms are designed for stealth and
precision.
Function in Society:
- Surveillance: They monitor the harmony of Arcadia, rooting out subversive elements before they can disrupt the order.
- Intervention: The Choir investigates anomalies, including moral dilemmas or rogue Nephilim.
- Espionage: Occasionally, they are sent to other planes to gather intelligence or subtly enforce Arcadia’s influence.
6. Weavers of Accord
Role: Mystics and Visionaries
Appearance: Graceful and ethereal, with shimmering, translucent
bodies infused with woven threads of light. Their arms often appear to
unravel and reweave as they move.
Function in Society:
- Maintainers of the Loom: They operate the Loom of Harmony, spinning threads that dictate Arcadia’s reality and destiny.
- Interpreters of Fate: Weavers read the threads for signs of imbalance and guide the Archons accordingly.
- Spiritual Leaders mediate between
Arcadia’s divine essence and its inhabitants, ensuring that even the
most minor actions align with the plane’s purpose.
7. Builders of the Bastions
Role: Laborers and Architects
Appearance: Massive, hulking forms with arms resembling
construction tools. Their surfaces are rugged and utilitarian, often
bearing marks of wear and repair.
Function in Society:
- Constructors: They build and maintain Arcadia’s structures, from floating islands to fortresses like the Aegis Spire.
- Terraformers: Builders sculpt Arcadia’s landscapes to maintain geometric perfection and harmony.
- Defensive Architects: They design and fortify the plane’s defenses against chaos and extraplanar threats.
8. Apostates (The Fallen Nephilim)
Role: Outcasts and Rebels
Appearance: Twisted, broken forms that blend celestial beauty
with chaotic corruption. They bear scars from their departure from
Arcadia’s harmony.
Function in Society:
- Dissenters: Apostates reject the strict laws of Arcadia, believing that order should serve good rather than dominate it.
- Exiles: Most Apostates dwell in the Fractured Bastion or roam the planes, often becoming sympathetic to mortal causes.
- Catalysts for Change: Their existence challenges the rigidity of Arcadia’s order, sparking debates and moral dilemmas.
Social Structure
Arcadian
society is strictly hierarchical, with roles determined by divine
mandate and enforced by the Nephilim’s unwavering adherence to law. The
Archons govern, the Scribes and Weavers maintain the plane’s harmony,
and the Wardens and Mechanists enforce and uphold it. Builders ensure
its physical perfection, while the Vigilant Choir and Apostates
represent the tension between law and freedom. Together, they form a
society where the law is absolute, and every role serves the greater
purpose of maintaining order—even at the expense of individual good.
Ape Law and Codes of Conduct:
Drawing from
Planet of the Apes, the Nephilim follow an ancient, immutable code. The Code might contain commandments like:
“Thou shalt not upset the harmony of the collective.”
“Order is the path to salvation; chaos the harbinger of ruin.”
“Innovation serves the law, not the self.”
These laws are often interpreted literally, even when they no longer serve their original intent.
Lawful Hierarchy:
- Nephilim society operates like a celestial bureaucracy, with intricate rituals and roles for every individual.
The Good That Still Matters:
- While the law is paramount, the ideal of
fostering good persists. However, interpreting what is "good" under the
law's framework creates dilemmas, especially when mercy or flexibility
conflicts with established rules.
Key Locations in Arcadia
Arcadia
is a plane of structured beauty, vast floating islands, and
meticulously cultivated landscapes, all maintained to serve the ideal of
harmonious order. However, through the “order over good” filter, even
its most awe-inspiring locales hide undercurrents of rigidity, control,
and suppressed conflict.
1. The Celestial Orrery
Overview:
A massive, rotating mechanism that maps the multiverse’s movements with
divine precision. It is said to regulate the harmony of Arcadia itself,
ensuring that the plane remains in perfect balance.
Details:
- The Orrery is maintained by Nephilim Artisans, who graft themselves with intricate Modron parts to interpret its calculations.
- The Orrery occasionally predicts "discordant
events," prompting swift action by Arcadian enforcers. However,
interpreting these predictions often prioritizes law over mercy.
Adventure Hooks:
- A critical prediction shows a rift in
Arcadia’s order, but following Orrery's prescribed solution would lead
to widespread suffering.
- The Orrery has begun to act erratically after
a rogue faction of Nephilim tampered with it, believing they could
improve its accuracy.
2. The Codex Citadel
Overview: A towering library-temple that holds the
Eternal Codex, an evolving record of all laws, decrees, and judgments across Arcadia.
Details:
- The Codex is inscribed on infinite pages by the Scribes of Order, a monastic sect of Nephilim who transcribe new laws dictated by the plane’s essence.
- Disputes are settled here by interpreting the Codex, but rulings often favor strict adherence over nuanced justice.
Adventure Hooks:
- A mortal faction petitions the Codex Citadel
to overturn an outdated law that forbids cross-planar trade, but doing
so could disrupt Arcadia’s harmony.
- An ancient section of the Codex, thought
lost, resurfaces. Its contents could fundamentally alter the laws of
Arcadia—or reveal the Nephilim’s hidden origin.
3. The Mechanist’s Crucible
Overview: A forge-city where Nephilim integrate Modron technology into their bodies and create bio-mechanical enhancements.
Details:
- The Crucible is overseen by Master Mechanists, who enforce strict quotas and protocols to ensure every upgrade serves Arcadia’s harmony.
- The enhancement process is physically taxing and sometimes fatal, but the Nephilim regard it as a sacred duty.
Adventure Hooks:
- A faction of mortals or rogue Nephilim
discovers that the Modron enhancements are subtly altering the
Nephilim’s minds, prioritizing logic over compassion.
- A malfunctioning Modron graft infects the Crucible with chaotic energy, threatening to unravel its delicate order.
4. The Unyielding Fields
Overview:
A vast, geometric expanse of golden crops and orchards maintained by
Nephilim using precise mathematical methods. It is a symbol of Arcadia’s
self-sufficiency and prosperity.
Details:
- The Fields are protected by Harmonic Wardens, who prevent anyone from disrupting the meticulous agricultural schedule.
- The crops grown here are infused with celestial energy, but only those deemed worthy by Arcadia’s laws may partake.
Adventure Hooks:
- A blight infects the Fields, and the Wardens refuse to allow experimental remedies, prioritizing tradition over innovation.
- Mortals caught stealing food from the Fields
face a harsh trial, sparking debate over whether survival justifies
breaking the law.
5. The Aegis Spire
Overview: A fortress built to defend Arcadia from extraplanar threats. It serves as the home of the
Vigilant Choir, an elite order of Nephilim enforcers.
Details:
- The Spire houses powerful celestial weapons and artifacts designed to enforce order and repel chaos.
- The Vigilant Choir operates with strict discipline, but its unwavering adherence to the law often results in collateral damage.
Adventure Hooks:
- A mortal refugee seeks asylum at the Spire,
claiming they were unjustly accused of spreading chaos. The Vigilant
Choir is divided on whether to offer protection or hand them over for
judgment.
- An ancient weapon stored in the Spire activates unexpectedly, targeting anyone deemed “disharmonious” by its outdated criteria.
6. The Loom of Harmony
Overview: A massive weaving apparatus suspended between floating islands is said to spin the threads of Arcadia’s reality.
Details:
- The Loom is operated by the Weavers of Accord, a mystical sect of Nephilim who claim to interpret the will of the plane itself.
- The threads occasionally fray or snap, signaling impending disruption in Arcadia’s harmony.
Adventure Hooks:
- A Weaver disappears, leaving behind a tangle of threads depicting a future rebellion.
- A mortal wizard manipulates the Loom to alter their fate, risking Arcadia's stability.
7. The Court of Unwavering Justice
Overview: A grand amphitheater where disputes are settled and judgments are pronounced. Its rulings are final and absolute.
Details:
- Arbiters Prime, Nephilim judges who combine mechanical logic with celestial insight, presided over the Court.
- Defendants are often forced to navigate contradictory laws, as the Court values adherence to precedent over fairness.
Adventure Hooks:
- A mortal advocate argues a case that exposes a loophole in Arcadia’s laws, threatening the Court’s authority.
- The Arbiters Prime debate a case in which
enforcing the law would violate Arcadia’s moral foundation, and the
party is called to weigh in.
8. The Fractured Bastion
Overview: A former Nephilim stronghold abandoned after an ideological schism. It now serves as a refuge for dissenters and exiles.
Details:
- The Bastion is a chaotic mix of fallen Nephilim, mortal settlers, and scavenged Modron technology.
- Despite its disorder, the Bastion’s inhabitants have formed their own code, which some argue is closer to true harmony.
Adventure Hooks:
- The party is sent to negotiate with the
Bastion’s leaders, only to discover they have uncovered a secret about
Arcadia’s origins.
- The Nephilim prepare to launch an assault on
the Bastion, and the party must decide whether to defend the exiles or
uphold Arcadia’s laws.
9. The Labyrinth of Concordance
Overview:
A sprawling maze of crystalline pathways tests mortals and Nephilim
alike. Those who reach its center are said to gain divine insight.
Details:
- The Labyrinth changes its layout based on the moral dilemmas of its entrants, forcing them to confront their values.
- Reaching the center requires adherence to Arcadia’s laws and a willingness to question them.
Adventure Hooks:
- The party must escort a mortal petitioner through the Labyrinth to seek judgment from Arcadia’s divine essence.
- A Nephilim scholar is trapped in the
Labyrinth after attempting to manipulate its trials, and the party must
rescue them without breaking the Labyrinth’s rules.
These locations can serve as compelling backdrops for adventures
rich with moral complexity and philosophical conflict by emphasizing
Arcadia's struggle to maintain good under rigid law.
Adventure Hooks in Arcadia
1. A Lawful Rebellion
Hook: A faction of Nephilim, calling themselves the
Rising Choir,
believes that Arcadia’s laws have become too inflexible and are causing
harm. They advocate for reinterpreting or amending the Code.
Potential Adventure:
- The party is drawn into this ideological conflict as mediators or enforcers of the traditionalists.
- The conflict escalates when it’s revealed
that a key figure in the Rising Choir has grafted an ancient Modron
processor onto themselves, granting them insight into laws older than
Arcadia.
2. The Trial of Mercy
Hook:
A mortal has been brought to Arcadia for judgment after breaking a
sacred law. They acted out of compassion, saving a village by defying
the Nephilim’s will.
Potential Adventure:
- The party is tasked with investigating the
circumstances, determining the mortal’s guilt, and deciding whether to
argue for or against strict punishment.
- The trial becomes more complex when the
mortal’s actions are revealed to have prevented a larger catastrophe,
but they still break the law.
3. The Modron Plague
Hook: A malfunctioning Modron hive spills into Arcadia, spreading chaotic energy and corrupting the Nephilim who use Modron parts.
Potential Adventure:
- The party must find the source of the
malfunction and prevent the corruption from spreading while navigating
Nephilim’s growing paranoia about foreign interference.
- The Modron hive might be sentient and unwilling to return to Mechanus, creating a moral dilemma.
4. The Golden Ratio
Hook:
The Nephilim uncover a mathematical formula they believe is the
ultimate key to perfect harmony. However, implementing it causes
widespread disruption.
Potential Adventure:
- The party investigates why the formula is
causing harm and discovers that it was created for a vastly different
cosmological system.
- To stop the chaos, the party must convince
the Nephilim to abandon the formula, which would require defying their
reverence for divine precision.
5. The Fallen and the Forgiven
Hook: A Nephilim has broken the Code, voluntarily abandoned their mechanical enhancements, and embraced mortal imperfection.
Potential Adventure:
- The party is sent to apprehend the Nephilim
and bring them to justice. Along the way, they learn about the personal
struggles that led to their fall and must decide whether to defend or
condemn them.
- The adventure takes a darker turn when the Nephilim’s rejection of order begins to disrupt Arcadia itself.
6. The Choir of Silence
Hook: A strange, otherworldly music emanates from Arcadia’s floating islands, causing Nephilim to act erratically.
Potential Adventure:
- The music is revealed as the remnants of a celestial being trapped between Arcadia and Mechanus, begging for release.
- The party must decide whether to free the being, risking the wrath of both the Nephilim and the Modrons.
7. The Clockwork Crusade
Hook:
The Nephilim launched a crusade against a neighboring plane (e.g., the
Outlands or Bytopia), claiming it violated Arcadian law.
Potential Adventure:
- The party is tasked with investigating the
supposed violation, uncovering whether the Nephilim’s actions are
justifiable or if they are acting out of overzealousness.
- The crusade’s goal might reveal a hidden
truth about the Nephilim’s origins, which might be tied to Mechanus or a
forgotten celestial rebellion.
8. The Archivist’s Revelation
Hook: An ancient Nephilim archivist uncovers a forgotten section of the Code that could destabilize Arcadian society.
Potential Adventure:
- The party must protect the archivists and
their discovery from those who would suppress it while determining the
implications of the lost laws.
- The truth could be tied to the Nephilim’s creation, revealing that they were once mortals who ascended at a terrible cost.
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