PlaneScape

Population: Most recent census reports a population in the vicinity of 10 000 inhabitants. A mathematical error in a previous census provided a number closer to 1 000. Though the count was obviously incorrect, it was allowed to stand as the argument was that it had been arrived to through rigorous application of proceedural methods of calcualtion. (The proceedure has since been revised.) No single race dominates this town, though lawful races far outnumber chaotic ones.

Of note: Modron are ever-present in the town working according to their unfathomable instructions, as are the members of the Fraternity of Order who call Mechanus home.
Character: Like the plane it borders, Automata is a highly-structured place, though to any non-natives the rules governing that structure can (and do) seem incredibly difficult to understand at times.

The city itself is laid out in a perfect rectangular grid. Each city block is exaclty the same size as the next, though they can vary in height from 1 to 4 floors with each floor being exactly 12 feet in height and the building themselves are all built of the same greyish-red stone. There are some variations but only when logically required - stables require larger doors, for instance. Otherwise, the only colour in the burg are in the sighs and awnings, though each use of colour must be cleared first by the Council of Order, the governing body of the town.

Additionally, each city block plays host only to one type of buisness or dwelling: all smiths or craftsmen in one block, lodging in another, entertainment in a third, etc. This is not necessarily as convenient as it seems - while you might find several different inns within a hop from each other, it also means that there is no guarantee that what you need to find will be conveniently located nearby - that entertainment block might be a ways away from the stables. Or it might not be. While this is definitely a place of law, laws can be hard to grasp at times. And on occasion, the Council of Order decides to implement a change in structure, a paradigm shift that rearranges the burg according to a new paradigm. The changes, while disconcerting to non-natives at times, are always carried out according to plans that are carefully laid out an implemented in order to minimize the chaos such a change might bring.
Sounds more complicated than it needs to be, maybe, but it seems to work and besdies - that’s the way Law works.

As one would expect, many things in this city are strictly regulated and special writs and permits are often required for certain activites, those these do change as new legislation is adopted and old laws refined or amended.
The Gate: The get sits in the exact center of town and takes up an entire city block. Modron Way, the main avenue of the burg, stretches from the main gate of the town spireward and is one city block wide. Following the last Modron March, the city planners decided that this was the best way of ensuring that the next Great March did not disrupt the natural functioning of the town. Using the gate is both remarkably easy and agonizingly difficult. One must merely walk up the steps leading up to the gate - a giant gear on it’s side that slowly spins - and the cutter is instantly transported to mechanus. That makes it easy to use. (Save for the guards that constantly patrol the gate and control traffic coming and going. Though the gate is less heavily guarded at night, sneaking unto the gate may have unanticipated consequences. See the next point.)
What makes it more difficult is, well, predictably complicated. On the one hand, in order to use the gate, one must obtain permission to do so. This generally invovles filling the requisite paperwork and acquiring the necessary permission in order to use the gate. While this may all seem terribly time-consuming and painstakingly complicated, there IS of course, a perfectly logical reason to it: depednign on which time of day, planar alignment, time of year and many other innumerable factors, the gate will deposit a berk in a different place. So, while the bureaucracies that surround the gate in neigbouring blocks may seem a difficult quagmire to wade through, the clercks, calculators and computers (the living humanoid type, of course) seldom make a mistake.
Government: The town is governed by a triad (a nod to the Rule of Threes) calling itself the Counsil of order. They are the highest legal authority in town and officially, nothing gets done without their approbation. Currently, the three members of the Counsil, along with the segment of the population they represent, are: Captain Arstimis,a githzerai warrior of the town guard, Pelnis the (human) clockmaker, a representative of the craftsmen; and Lady Serafil of Lei Kung, a tiefling priestess of the Reclusive Power (read - Asian Power) Lei Kung, who represents the temple districts. Other demographics do not get a voice on the counsil.

The Chant: With the place being so ordered, many wonder why it has not yet slid into Mechanus. The dark is that’s because an entire mirror community devoted to keeping the berg anchored to the Outlands exists in tunnels below the city. It is one of the most poorly kept secrets of the city in that most people know that it exists. There are rumoured to be several entrances to this undercity though only one is well-known: it lies at the back of McGuvol’s Stabling Establishment. It is kept well-known as a public service. Why is it a public service? Well, many of the people who call Automata home would not want to see it slip into Mechanus. While they appreciate order and structure, many of these so-called dissidents and anarchists (not to be confused wit the Revolutionary League - though certainly there are bound to be some) also understand some of the limitations of law, limitations that are somewhat curbed by the burg’s presence on the Outlands. (WHich, of course, is just another example of knowing the laws and manipulating them to one’s adavantage - proof that even Lawfuls disagree about law.)  Still, it is a dangerous game.
It is, of course, against the law to discuss the Underworld, an offense variously punishable by fines, banishment or even death in some cases of repeated offense, though of course, punishments can be far worse for those who actually make use of that knowledge.

Automata, 5 Forlorn 129 Hashkar

Abstract

• Between 430 and 438 years prior to the writing of this abstract, an Archon named Sopher was for reasons unclear cast down by the powers of Mount Celestia and fell to Baator. There he was tortured and tormented but survived, eventually to become a minor lord in his own right.
• When mortal races were still young, a powerful Solar led an entire host of celestials in rebellion out of the upper planes and into the lower planes, where they now form an army of spite, plotting against the upper planes.
• It has been convincingly argued that several of the Lords of the Nine are actually celestials, fallen from their former station and about as far from their previous states as they can be.

According to what we now purport to know about the nature of the planes and of celestials and fiends, the above is impossible. Conventional wisdom says there is simply no way that a celestial, made of the very stuff of the upper planes and born to obey, could possibly change its nature and become a fiend. Obviously, conventional wisdom is wrong.

What I will outline in these pages is a system whereby all matter we see or observe, all the matter made up of the six primary elements, may be broken down conceptually to one underlying primordial element. As you will see, the evidence for such an element is overwhelming, and the potential effects of knowledge of this element are staggeringly far-reaching.