Ineffables
The creatures known as ineffables were once inevitables: enforcers of cosmic law spawned by Mechanus, the plane of absolute law. But Mechanus has fallen, and the inevitables fell along with it.
Scions of a Broken Plane. The fall of Mechanus was gradual. One hundred years ago, a pair of warlocks attempted to summon an eldritch horror into Mechanus, hoping that the stabilizing effects of absolute law would allow them to channel the horror's power safely. For a time, it seemed that the warlocks' mad plan was successful. Harnessing the creature's godlike power, they were able to perform many great works of magic in their day. But over time, the horror's madness seeped into Mechanus. The great gears of the plane twisted and writhed in impossible directions; interlocking gears turned at different speeds. Grey waves of madness overtook the plane's denizens, reshaping their bodies and minds.
With the fabric of the plane loosened, the eldritch horror slipped free—if it was ever really trapped at all. But its malign intelligence remained. It animates the mad clicking and whirring of the planar machinery, planning and building according to designs which no sane mind can understand. More than once it has referred to itself as "Mechanus", and sages have come to use that name variously to refer to both the fallen plane and its new master.
Servants of Madness. Whereas the behavior of the inevitables was strictly limited to the enforcement of cosmic law, the ineffables' behavior is extremely erratic. They still act as agents of Mechanus, after a fashion. They depart from Mechanus, perform various tasks, and then return. But it is unclear who or what these tasks are supposed to serve. An ineffable might attempt to pry loose every prime-numbered cobblestone from a given city street, then load them in a cart and bring them back to Mechanus. Or it may abandon this task halfway through, and set on the task of carving repeated half-moon symbols in every North-facing wall. Generally, the ineffables undertake tasks which are in some way related to the tasks of the inevitables from which they were spawned. But there are many exceptions.
The ineffables' apparently purposeless activities may simply be a manifestation of their madness, or they could serve the master of Mechanus in some unforeseeable way. Some sages speculate that Mechanus uses the ineffables as an elaborate distraction from its real schemes, which it undertakes within itself.
Mad Goals, Reasonable Means. Like the inevitables, the ineffables are not hostile to creatures which do not interfere with their projects. If an ineffable can fulfill its task by securing the willing cooperation of other creatures, then it prefers to do so. It turns to violence only if it becomes convinced that there are is no reasonably expedient alternative.
All images created by Peter Mohrbacher. They can all be found right here.
Ineffables sometimes leave Mechanus with a small fortune in gold and jewels, prepared for the task of making mortal folk more willing to concede to their demands. More than one traveler has reported tales of being approached by a strange machine which asked them to perform pointless and tedious tasks in exchange for gold.
Unwilling Idols. In the wake of Mechanus's fall, opportunistic cults have sprung up in worship of the plane's new master. Some such cults see the ineffables as servants of their new god, or as minor gods in their own right. The ineffables do not encourage such treatment, but they do not discourage it, either. And they sometimes employ their worshipers in service to their mad tasks.
Zeleknoo
These creatures were once zelekhut inevitables: mechanical centaurs of gold and white, charged with upholding justice throughout the cosmos. As ineffables, they bear some resemblance to their past selves, but their equine lower halves are replaced with a mass of writhing serpentine coils.
Zeleknoo
Large construct (ineffable), chaotic neutral
- Armor Class 18 (natural armor)
- Hit Points 123 (13d10+52)
- Speed fly 50 ft. (hover)
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 19 (+4) 11 (+0) 18 (+4) 10 (+0) 17 (+3) 10 (+0)
Saving Throws Dexterity +3, Charisma +3
Skills Investigate +6, Insight +6, Perception +6
Damage Resistances lightning; bludgeoning, piercing and slashing damage from non-magical weapons.
Damage Immunities poison
Condition Immunities charmed, frightened, paralyzed, poisoned, unconscious
Senses Truesight 120 ft., passive Perception 16
Languages all, telepathy 60 ft.
Challenge 10 (5,900 XP)
Immutable Form. The zeleknoo is immune to any spell or effect that would alter its form.
Magic Resistance. The zeleknoo has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.
Magic Weapons. The zeleknoo's weapon attacks are magical.
Warping Aura. The zeleknoo can cause space to twist and contort within 20 feet of itself. Every foot of movement through that area costs 1 extra foot. At the start of its turn, the zeleknoo can decide whether this aura is active.
Innate Spellcasting. The zeleknoo’s innate spellcasting ability is Wisdom (spell save DC 15, +7 to hit with spell attacks). It can innately cast the following spells without components:
At will: locate creature
3/day: dimension door
1/day each: geas, lightning bolt
Actions
Multiattack. The zeleknoo makes one attack with is barbed chain, and one attack with its fluctuating chain.
Barbed Chain. Melee Weapon Attack: +8, reach 20 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (2d8+4) slashing damage. If the target is Large or smaller, it must succeed on a DC 18 Strength saving throw or be pulled 10 feet towards the zeleknoo.
Fluctuating Chain. Melee Weapon Attack: +8, reach 20 ft., one target. Hit: Roll 1d8 until you roll a 1. The attack deals force damage equal to the total result of the dice rolled in this way.
Just like before their transformation into ineffables, zeleknoos on the Material Plane are often on the hunt for specific mortal creatures. But whereas zelekhuts apprehended criminals, zeleknoos apprehend creatures seemingly at random, or based on random criteria. A particular zeleknoo might be in search of an elderly redheaded man with three cats—but no such man in particular.
Having captured its quarry, the zeleknoo might proceed in either of two ways. It might have some characteristically obscure task for its target to fulfill. If so, it might describe the situation to its target by saying that they are fulfilling this task as "penance" for some unspecified or nonsensical crime. Such tasks are often dangerous, and sometimes outright deadly or impossible. For example, a zeleknoo might demand that its captive drink a dangerously large quantity of salt water. The captive might not survive, but then again, the zeleknoo might suddenly move on to a different task without following through.
Alternatively, the zeleknoo might try to bring the target back to Mechanus with them. This represents a far more dire fate for the zeleknoo's captive. Those brought to Mechanus seldom return, and those who do return seldom return with their wits intact. More often, visitors to Mechanus return in a fugue state, murmuring about the beautiful music and dazzling sights they left behind.
Marnoo
These creatures were once marut inevitables: mechanical behemoths charged with enforcing contracts and punishing mortals who attempt to cheat death. In their transformation into ineffables, most of their bulk sloughed off. But their lithe forms belie their incredible strength. They are extremely powerful and dangerous combatants.
Marnoos on the material plane usually dwell in remote regions, especially at high elevations. They spend their days wandering the area around their modest dwellings, or carving elaborate symbols into earth and stone. Their nights are spent—almost without exception—staring motionlessly at the sky.
Marnoos' carvings often contain distorted religious symbols. In certain rare cases, onlookers were able to communicate with marnoos regarding their carvings, and the marnoos seemed to understand what they were creating. They can identify various gods, as well as their scriptures and symbols. But they also make strange mistakes: they report that some active gods are in fact dead, and they make reference to entirely unknown gods.
Marnoos are sometimes visited by other ineffables. Such meetings are always brief, and there is no way for an outside observer to determine what sort of information is exchanged telepathically. But sages point out that the very existence of such meetings is noteworthy. It lends credence to the theory that there is some method to the ineffables' madness.
When a marnoo does take action, it is almost always to find and kill a particular individual. In this respect at least, marnoos' behavior mirrors the behavior of the old maruts. But whereas the maruts killed mortals who had cheated death, there is no specific pattern to the marnoos' targets. The only general theme is that marnoos targets creatures with significant personal power. Marnoos never kill ordinary townsfolk, but only powerful warlords, skilled wizards, notorious cuthroats, and the like.
Also unlike their marut forebears, marnoos are not implacable in their pursuit of their targets. Whereas a mortal on the run from a marut could expect to be on the run forever, a marnoo's targets can reasonably hope that—for some reason, or no reason—the marnoo will abandon pursuit. This hope usually evaporates once the marnoo is in sight, however, since few creatures can hope to defeat it in combat.
Marnoo
Large construct (ineffable), chaotic neutral
- Armor Class 21 (natural armor)
- Hit Points 287 (23d10+161)
- Speed 40 ft., fly 30 ft. (hover)
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 26 (+8) 10 (+0) 25 (+7) 15 (+2) 20 (+5) 12 (+1)
Saving Throws Dexterity +7, Charisma +8
Skills Religion +9, Insight +12, Perception +12
Damage Resistances thunder; bludgeoning, piercing and slashing damage from non-magical weapons.
Damage Immunities poison
Condition Immunities charmed, frightened, paralyzed, poisoned, unconscious
Senses Truesight 120 ft., passive Perception 20
Languages all, telepathy 60 ft.
Challenge 21 (33,000 XP)
Immutable Form. The marnoo is immune to any spell or effect that would alter its form.
Magic Resistance. The marnoo has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.
Magic Weapons. The marnoo's weapon attacks are magical.
Warping Aura. The marnoo can cause space to twist and contort within 20 feet of itself. Every foot of movement through that area costs 1 extra foot. At the start of its turn, the marnoo can decide whether this aura is active.
Innate Spellcasting. The marnoo’s innate spellcasting ability is Wisdom (spell save DC 20, +12 to hit with spell attacks). It can innately cast the following spells without components:
At will: locate person, plane shift (self only)
3/day: sickening radiance
1/day: legend lore
Actions
Multiattack. The marnoo makes two fluctuating slam attacks.
Fluctuating Slam. Melee Weapon Attack: +15, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: Roll 1d12 until you roll a 1. The attack deals force damage equal to the total result of the dice rolled in this way. The marnoo can choose to knock back a creature it hits with its slam. It must succeed on a DC 23 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone and pushed away from the marnoo a number of feet equal to the damage dealt by the slam attack.
Radiant Blast (Recharge 5-6). A ray of sickening, white-green light emanates from the marnoo's chest in a line that is 10 feet wide and 300 feet long. Every creature in that area must attempt a Constitution saving throw or take 8d10 radiant damage and suffer one level of exhaustion. A creature that succeeds on its saving throw takes half damage and does not suffer exhaustion.
