Great Mechanism
The Great Mechanism is the name scholars give to the structures and forces that distribute anima throughout creation, especially through the astral. Travelers in the astral commonly report seeing gigantic tubes (like veins) or gears, wires, or other such structures throughout that plane. In fact, dwellers in the astral use those conduits as transportation mechanisms.
The Great Mechanism is centered in the Celestial City. It does not have a will; instead it has directives. Some have been altered by the Great Wishes; others remain from the Dawn War. The primary directives can be summarized as follows:
- Sustain the Dream.
- Ward off the Awakener.
- Nurture life.
- Only mortality produces power.
- All that lives must one day die.
When the Mechanism requires an interface with individuals, it speaks through the only four Old Gods to have survived, the Golden Aspects (although their wills were absorbed and they act as extensions of the Mechanism). This is incredibly rare, however.
