Clockwork Drone

Clockwork drones are the living machinery of the plane of perfect order, so bound up with it that neither would exist without the other. They have no individuality: every drone calls itself 'we', and a visitor cannot tell whether today's clerk is yesterday's.

Fourteen castes, each with its own body shape and duties, serve the Prime Regulator, which is one with the plane. A drone perceives only the ranks directly above and below it; higher ranks are literally incomprehensible, so each caste believes its immediate superiors are the summit of logic. The rank structure is fixed in size. A death is filled by promoting a drone from the rank below, which wrenchingly reshapes and suddenly perceives a new rank; the chain runs down to the lowest caste, which replaces losses by fission.

All drones are immune to illusions, mind-affecting magic (charm, hold, sleep, domination and the like), fear and emotion spells, and positive or negative energy attacks, including level drain. They save at +1 against cold, fire and acid and take -1 per die from them. Hierarchs, the upper castes, are never surprised and never roll initiative, acting at the moment of their choosing. Once per round, at will, they can use wall of force, dimension door, command, teleport without error, clairvoyance and clairaudience. They are telepathic, and can cross the Astral and Ethereal, though only on the Prime Regulator's orders. Hierarchs without psionics are immune to psionic attack.

One-drones: one-eyed winged spheres with two limbs, barely intelligent, capable of a single task; told to attack, they keep fighting until slain, even each other. Two-drones: strong, blocky sergeants with 90-foot infravision who handle two commands. Three-drones: pyramids on spidery limbs that plan small objectives and hurl three javelins before melee. Four-drones: four-armed cubes (some winged) that fire two bows, sense with 150% human acuity and 180-foot infravision, and are never surprised. Five-drones: starfish-shaped police on stilt legs with 18/00 Strength, double senses, immunity to weapons below +1, -2 per die from cold, fire and acid, tolerance of -100 to 210 degrees, and a 5-foot paralysis gas stream (save vs. paralysis or held five rounds), usable once per five turns, up to five times a day, or spent to levitate as a 5th-level wizard.

Ten-hierarchs: tentacled, gas-floating spheres with 10th-level priest spells (no turning) and healing powers that work only on drones. Nine-hierarchs: cylindrical inspectors with 11th-level priest spells, ESP, detect lie, slow, web and other detections at will, and power word, stun once a day. Eight-hierarchs: sector governors with 12th-level spells, haste, telekinesis (3,500 gp) and water walking, immune to psionics. Seven-hierarchs: bald inspectors with seven constant senses including ESP and detect magic, casting as 13th-level priests and 12th-level wizards. Six-hierarchs: winged, six-armed generals (14th-level priest). Five-hierarchs: bureau chiefs (legend lore, 15th level). Four-hierarchs: 12-foot regional overseers (16th level). Three-hierarchs: the nine judges, horned, with a mace-tailed strike (save vs. paralysis at -4 or held until released) and 17th-level priest and 20th-level wizard magic. The four viceroys: gaunt rulers wielding 20th-level wizard and 18th-level priest magic, whose hits beating the needed roll by 5 stun non-divine foes. The Prime Regulator: a giant rising from an energy pool, a greater power within its plane and the source of all drone priests' spells; if it dies, a viceroy ascends amid brief chaos.

The drones' realm covers 64 great cogwheels grouped into regions and quarters, defended by 36 vast armies organized in rigid multiples. They act on their own only within their function, and would order all creation if disorder at home allowed. Drones that go rogue are hunted by five-drones under nine-hierarchs and judged by the three-hierarchs. They speak a precise mathematical tongue; two-drones and above know some planar trade speech.

Drones eat for the energy in food, not the food itself, drawing on the plane's energy field; slain drones vanish as their energy returns home. With their superiors' approval they can be hired as librarians or bookkeepers, though their filing logic may baffle.