The Inevitables

**The Inevitables** are five godly constructs programmed with upholding the laws of the cosmos, therefore aiding in maintaining balance in the multiverse. The whispering of their names across the planes is enough to send shudders of fear down the spine of even the most powerful of beings. They were created by the god Aor with aid from the other gods. There are only ever five Inevitables at a given time. Each one is unique in construction and is given a more specific purpose based on this construction and their programming.

The Inevitables are ***Omega-X***, ***Michael-7***, ***Talos-3***, ***Marut-2***, and ***Gaxsis-4***.

## Description

### Appearance

Being constructs, the Inevitables usually resemble divine, clockwork automatons with vary forms. Gears, wires, and other mechanical parts drive the machines forward. Each Inevitable has a unique construction, but they also all have a positronic brain; a sort of special circuitry housed in the Inevitables head where their programming is located. Beneath a plate on each Inevitable is a serial number, which if decoded, can reveal information such as how many times the Inevitables current version has been defeated and had its programmed consciousness uploaded into a new body.

#### **Omega-X**

Omega-X resembles a humanoid automaton crafted from obsidian metal with brass plating often adoring themselves with a technicolor cloak. The omega symbol can be found in the Inevitables forehead, glowing emerald, while the letter X runs through its brass breastplate. Omega-X bears the sword known as Excalibur, using the blade to slay those souls that would escape their divine punishment. Their machinery is an array of countless mechanical parts, all working together to give life to the Inevitable.

#### Michael-7

Crafted in a way to resemble the celestial angels that call Mount Celestia and other heavenly realms home, Michael-7 needs not to arm himself for his wings are not feathered with just steel, but metal blades. He adorns himself in a powerfully enchanted set of *Robes of Shadowbane*. Michael-7's chrome construction is sleek and made to resemble a beautiful figure.

#### Talos-3

Talos-3 appears as a cracked, steel centaur statue with clockwork wings with inner machinery that allows the mighty construct to move. Their arms are wrapped in in golden chains that end in spear-tips and comes thundering across the sky on hooves of lapis lazuli. Talos-3’s eyes are an emerald and a sapphire.

#### Marut-2

Marut-2’s construction vaguely resembles a humanoid shape without a head and a large single eye where the neck would be. Marut-2 is heavily armored, crafted from a primarily obsidian metal similar to the steel used to craft Omega-X. An anti-magic golden disk is placed into the middle of the torso of the metal juggernaut.

#### Gaxsis-4

It is made of a greenish-blue metal forming a vaguely humanoid  form from the waist up terminating in a flexible set of polyhedral pyramids that may separate to form leg-like growths. Gaxsis-4 hovers off of the ground with glowing green circuitry visible between the joints. It has a low and flat head and will often form hands out of wires to interact with objects. Those who have had the distinct displeasure of witnessing Gaxsis describe the machine as eldritch in invention.

### Naming

Each Inevitable has a name followed by a number with the exception being Omega-X. Over the ages, Inevitables constantly undergo interaction with the forces of chaos, which, with them being beings of absolute Order, will cause their programming to glitch and possibly cause them to go *rampant*. When an Inevitable goes rampant, they turn against their programming, purpose, and creator. To prevent this, Aor will decommission a current model of an Inevitable and work to build an improved version of the previous Inevitable. The number in each Inevitable's name indicates which model number they are.

Omega-X is unique in that not only was it the first of its kind ever constructed, but it has never been decommissioned.

## Abilities

The Inevitables are known across the planes for their vast power. Their crafting from adamantium tempered in the fires of the Stygian Engine of Cocytus and quenched in the River of Conflict makes these cosmic constructs impervious to many attacks as well as immune to most conditions and effects. Their clockwork hearts and connection to the planes means that if an Inevitable is destroyed in battle, its consciousness and programming will simply upload into a new body; this means there are few ways to truly destroy an Inevitable outside of being Aor yourself. Each Inevitable may also project their positronic brains into a mortal shell that allows them to carry out their work amongst mortals unnoticed.

There is an array of abilities that the Inevitables have access to, including being able to open portals freely. Each Inevitable arms themselves in different ways and has unique abilities outside of what their construction offers them.

* **Omega-X** was crafted with the powerful plasma arm-cannon known as the X-buster. After Malikath's defeat at the hands of the Inevitables and the subsequent defeat of Michael-3 in the Ironfall, Omega-X claimed Malikath's former sword, Excalibur, as their own.
* **Michael-7** has wings made of adamantium blades. These wings can be used to create gusts of air so sharp, they can cut through many substances. They may produce lasers with their eyes. Michael-7 also has strange magic that allows them to heal others, including other constructs.
* **Talos-3** may simply opt to trample their foes with the thunderous lapiz lazuli hooves, but they also carry the Chains of Spellbinding due to their quarries often being powerful mages.
* **Marut-2** utilizes its juggernaut construction to simply overpower their foes. They feature an anti-magic disk that can dampen spellcasting.
* **Gaxsis-4** wields the powers of the cosmos and spacetime against their foes. They also utilize their eldritch nature to simply melt the minds of their quarries.

## Legendary Lore

*“Everyone must die” is one cosmic law that was put in place by the Astral Star at the dawn of creation, and it is the duty of the Gods of the Realms Above to uphold these fundamental laws of creation. With the help of the other gods, the Ultimate Judge, Aor, forged the Inevitables; cosmic constructs of the realms above of immense power. Beings of absolute order, the Inevitables are programmed and charged with upholding these cosmic laws and hunting down anyone who would dare to break these laws and bringing them to justice. Per law ordained by Aor for whatever cosmic reason, there are only five Inevitables at any given time. Aor originally crafted five of them, having re-forged models with improvements over the years. Despite their nigh unbeatability, Inevitables have a natural weakness to the threads of chaos that weave the realms together, and being exposed to such chaos wreaks havoc on a being of pure order. Exposure to such chaos energies may cause an Inevitable to malfunction at best and at worst, their programming will go rampant, causing them to turn against their creator and purpose. These rampant inevitables require an effort of an army from the Planes Militant to be stopped and are decommissioned by Aor as soon as possible. Those that cannot be dismantled are banished to the void, as was the case of Michael-3.*

Each Inevitable is tasked with upholding different parts of the cosmos. It is rare for Inevitables to work together, but when they do, their quarries tend to be highly dangerous.

* **Omega-X** is tasked with overseeing cosmic order across the planes. They aid in overseeing Covenants of Service as well as ensuring dangerous portals to Hell and the Abyss remain closed. Omega-X is also tasked with overseeing all other Inevitables.
* **Michael-7** is programmed to seek out those who would dare rebel against the authority of the gods, especially those mortals who would attempt to usurp the gods.
* **Talos-3** is programmed with safeguarding forbidden secrets and dangerous cosmic knowledge.
* **Marut-3** is tasked with ensuring the cycle of life and death remains balanced, hunting down those who would seek immortality.
* **Gaxsis-4** is the most mysterious of the Inevitables and is tasked with maintaining the fabric of space and time.

## Trivia

* The concept of the Inevitables (divine constructs that uphold the laws of the cosmos) originated from *D&D* 3.5E with the Marut dating back to 2E. Setting cocreator Alex took many liberties with the Inevitables with the most notable making the Inevitables a set of unique constructs instead of simply a type of construct. The Inevitables are one of Alex's personal favorite parts of that era of *D&D*'s lore.
* Many parts of the Inevitables read off less like fantasy and more like science-fiction, with the term *positronic brain* borrowed directly from the genre. Alex justifies this with the Inevitables being divine constructs and with Clarke's law: *Sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.* Clarke's law is utilized often by Alex in his settings to incorporate science fiction concepts into the fantasy.
* Omega-X makes a few references to the *Mega-Man X* series of videogames, a personal favorite of Alex's. The titular character is a construct in that Megaman is an android. The Inevitable's name features *X* at the end, and Omega is the word *Mega* with the letter *O* at the front. Omega-X also has a hand that turns into a plasma cannon called a *X-buster* that has a quick shot and a charged shot attack.
* Talos-3's name is a reference to the character of Greek myth who bears the same name, who in these myths, is a giant automaton crafted by one of the gods. Their appearance is based on the Zelekhut from *D&D*, one of the original Inevitables.
* Michael-7's name coupled with his appearance is a reference to the archangel Michael from Christianity. Michael-3 being the instigator of the Ironfall is a reference to Lucifer being an angel who rebelled against God's authority in Christian lore.
* Marut-2 shares its name with the type of creature of the same name in *D&D**.* Their appearance is based on the 5E depiction of the creature. The Marut of *D&D* derives its name from a set of storm deity warriors from Hinduism.
* Gaxsis-4's appearance is based on the Quarut, another type of Inevitable from *D&D*. The name Gaxsis is a word made up by Alex.