Sigil

 

Last updated Session 7

City of Doors, Sigil 

"Sigil is the crossroads of the multiverse, a city at the center of the Great Wheel. Connected to every plane of existence and the infinite worlds among them, the City of Doors brims with commerce, travel, schemes, and adventure. Sigil is commonly referred to as the Cage because the only way into or out of the city is through one of its countless portals—pathways controlled by the enigmatic Lady of Pain."

MAPS WILL BE ADDED HERE AS THEY BECOME AVAILABLE/DISCOVERED 

The multiverse of Planescape is driven by one fundamental law: belief shapes reality. In Sigil and across the Outlands, this power is concentrated within the factions—philosophical organizations that vie for the heart and soul of the City of Doors.

Here is a guide to the major factions and sects influencing the Great Wheel, including the ascendant powers of the current era and the shadows of the past.

The Ascendant Factions of Sigil

These twelve groups currently handle the day-to-day governance and civic infrastructure of Sigil.

• The Athar (Defiers): They claim the gods are frauds—merely powerful mortals who accumulate belief to avoid death. They seek the "Greater Unknown" beyond the veil.
  • Factol: Terrance.
  • Home Plane: Astral Plane.
• The Bleak Cabal (Bleakers): They believe the multiverse has no meaning and that truth is found only within oneself. They focus on acts of mercy and charity to ease existential suffering.
  • Factol: Lhar.
  • Home Plane: Pandemonium.
• The Doomguard (Sinkers): They celebrate entropy and decay, believing the multiverse is meant to crumble. They control Sigil's Armory and the production of weapons.
  • Factol: Pentar.
  • Home Plane: Elemental Chaos / Negative Quasiplanes.
• The Fated (Takers): Their philosophy is simple: the multiverse belongs to those with the strength to take and hold it. They serve as Sigil’s ruthless tax collectors and record keepers.
  • Factol: Duke Rowan Darkwood.
  • Home Plane: Ysgard.
• The Fraternity of Order (Guvners): They believe that by mastering the laws of the multiverse, they can master reality itself. They run Sigil’s legal courts and tribunals.
  • Factol: Hashkar.
  • Home Plane: Mechanus.
• The Hands of Havoc (Wreakers): A collection of radical individualists who seek to dismantle oppressive institutions through chaos and "controlled burns".
  • Factol: None (The mantle passes secretly between members).
  • Home Plane: Limbo.
• The Harmonium (Hardheads): They seek universal harmony through rigid order and might, policing the city to eliminate discord.
  • Factol: Sarin.
  • Home Plane: Arcadia.
• The Heralds of Dust (Dusters): They believe the multiverse is merely an afterlife and that all beings are already dead. They seek "True Death" to transcend this false existence.
  • Factol: Skall (a lich).
  • Home Plane: Hades / Negative Energy Plane.
• The Mercykillers (Jailers): They believe in absolute justice without mercy. They operate Sigil’s Prison, carrying out punishments determined by the courts.
  • Factol: Alisohn Nilesia.
  • Home Plane: Acheron.
• The Mind's Eye (Seekers): A relatively young faction formed from the merger of the Believers of the Source and the Sign of One. They believe experience and exploration allow individuals to grow toward godhood.
  • Factol: Saladryn.
  • Home Plane: The Outlands.
• The Society of Sensation (Sensates): They believe the multiverse can only be understood through direct experience and the physical senses. They run the Civic Festhall, Sigil’s premier entertainment venue.
  • Factol: Erin Darkflame Montgomery.
  • Home Plane: Arborea.
• The Transcendent Order (Ciphers): They train their minds and bodies to act in perfect harmony without the hesitation of thought.
  • Factol: Rhys.
  • Home Plane: Elysium.
• The Xaositects (Chaosmen): They embrace the randomness of the multiverse, believing order is a delusion. They dominate the Hive Ward.
• Factol: Karan.
• Home Plane: Limbo.

The Hated Fated 

Duke Rowan Darkwood has only recently arrived in the City of Doors, yet in less than a month, he has already seized the mantle of Factol of the Fated through a rapid and suspicious ascent that many Cagers attribute to underhanded "cross-trading". 

Decades ago as a much older version of himself, he instigated the Faction Wars. His return to Sigil as a much younger self is more than unsettling; some believe he was an omen to another war in Sigil. A few months later there was a skirmish of warriors in the streets of Sigil that lasted nearly a month. Although no connection was made to his return to cast any blame. This recent month is referred to by some as the "Month of Death". 

Local residents regard this commanding, craggy-faced noble with such intense distrust that many would rather arm-wrestle a marilith than suffer a visit from the "Duke" or his "Heartless" tax collectors. Given his arrogant, demanding attitude and the fact that he has his sharpest agents openly researching the Lady’s secrets, the taverns of the Clerk's Ward are rife with whispers wondering why such a "High Civic Threat" hasn't already been immediately mazed.

Classic and Additional Power Groups

• The Sign of One (Signers): (Now part of the Mind's Eye) They believed the multiverse existed because the individual imagined it into being.
  • Factol: Darius.
  • Home Plane: Beastlands.
• The Society of Pain: This group follows Scahrossar, the Mistress of Exquisite Pain. Her clerics are sadists and masochists who wear masks to conceal their identities, believing that prolonged agony is a pathway to dominance and that pain itself is a purifying force.
• The Believers of the Source (Godsmen): (Now part of the Mind's Eye) They taught that every soul is tested by life to eventually ascend to godhood.
  • Factol: Ambar Vergrove.
• The Revolutionary League (Anarchists): Once a major faction, they now primarily operate in secret cells dedicated to toppling all structures of power.
  • Home Plane: Carceri.
• The Free League (Indeps): An informal association of merchants and individualists who reject all faction dogma and just want to be left alone.
  • Home Plane: The Outlands.

Minor Sects of Undersigil and the Outlands

Banished or emerging philosophies often find refuge in the shadows of Undersigil.

• The Coterie of Cakes (Cakers): A group of bullies who assert the multiverse is a giant cake and baked goods are the primary currency.
• The Undivided (Deniers): Creatures native to Sigil who believe anyone passing through a portal is destroyed and replaced by a clone.
• Incanterium (Incantifers): Lore-seekers who "consume" magic to master reality and extend their lives.
• Ring Givers (Bargainers): Altruists who believe that giving everything away is the path to enlightenment, trusting that gifts return tenfold.

Alisohn Nelesia, factol of the Mercykillers

Sigils Systems

In the City of Doors, the administration of justice is a rigid, mechanical cycle known as the Tripartite of Justice, involving the Harmonium, the Fraternity of Order (Guvners), and the Mercykillers (often called the Jailers). While these factions often work together, their philosophies and specific roles in the legal process differ dramatically.

The Role of the Jailers: Executioners, Not Judges

The Mercykillers, or Jailers, are the final step in Sigil’s judicial system. Their primary purpose is to carry out the punishments determined by the courts.

• Deference to the Courts: Unlike the Harmonium, the Jailers do not arrest lawbreakers, and unlike the Guvners, they do not pass judgment or interpret the law. They act only after a verdict has been reached by a magistrate of the Fraternity of Order.
• Philosophy of Punishment: They believe that "punishment leads to perfection" and have "killed their own mercy" to ensure that justice is absolute and fervent. If the court deems a citizen guilty, the Mercykillers administer the sentence—whether it be incarceration in The Prison, hard labor, or execution—without leniency or consideration for extenuating circumstances.
• The Justiciars: While they generally wait for the courts, an elite group called Justiciars is authorized to hunt down "heinous criminals" who have managed to slip through the standard wheels of law or escaped their sentences.

Exploring the Differences

The following breakdown highlights how the Jailers differ from the other major "ordered" factions and the entropists of the Doomguard:

Faction	Primary Role in Sigil	Core Philosophy	Relationship to Law
Harmonium (Hardheads)	Enforcement & Arrest	Universal peace through harmony/might.	They identify and arrest suspects to eliminate discord.
Mercykillers (Jailers)	Punishment & Incarceration	Cold, absolute justice.	They carry out sentences once a court declares guilt.
Doomguard (Sinkers)	Weaponry & Entropy	Entropy is ecstasy; all things must decay.	They generally ignore civic law in favor of promoting universal decay.

1. The Harmonium vs. The Jailers

The Harmonium are the "boots on the ground" who patrol the streets daily to quash crime and discord. While the Jailers are often viewed as emotionless executioners, the Harmonium can be seen as "playground bullies" who force peace upon citizens. The Harmonium initiates the legal process by making an arrest, while the Jailers conclude it by enforcing the penalty.

2. The Doomguard: A Departure from Order

Unlike the Harmonium and Jailers, the Doomguard is not part of the city’s judicial tripartite. They do not seek to maintain peace or enforce justice; instead, they oversee the Armory and celebrate the inevitable crumbling of all institutions, including the law itself. They view the long-term incarceration practiced by the Jailers not as justice, but as a "wasting" form of entropy. (see Orcus in Chaos War)

3. Internal Conflicts of Justice

While the Jailers strive for the "letter of the law," internal conflicts often arise between different alignments within their ranks. For instance, lawful good members like Arwyl Swan’s Son may prioritize preventing the punishment of innocents, whereas lawful evil members may relish the act of punishment itself regardless of the spirit of the crime. This eventually leads to a factional splintering where the Jailers divide into the Sons of Mercy (focused on rehabilitation) and the Sodkillers (focused on brute-force enforcement).

The Power In the Center of the Multiverse

The Lady of Pain is the enigmatic, eternal ruler of Sigil, often described as a being on par with the deities she bars from her city. Appearing as a towering figure in ornate robes with a mask-like face surrounded by a mantle of jagged blades, she does not speak, nor does she have an official residence or temples. To most residents, she is a silent and terrifying guardian whose mere look can flense a creature to within an inch of its life or banish them into a recurring, isolated labyrinth known as a Maze. She maintains the city's cosmic neutrality, ensuring Sigil never becomes a battleground for the Blood War or the whims of gods.

As a distant guardian, the Lady leaves the daily governance, law enforcement, and infrastructure maintenance of Sigil to the various factions. She tolerates their philosophical squabbles, recruitment, and constant "kriegstanz" for political influence so long as these activities do not disrupt the city’s order or threaten its existence. However, if the factions war too openly or create instability on a grand scale, the Lady intervenes ruthlessly, sometimes by closing all portals to grind the city to a halt or by Mazing the faction leaders responsible.

To stay out of her Mazes and avoid a gruesome death, you must follow her unspoken but absolute laws:

• Do Not Worship Her: It is an unforgivable crime to offer the Lady prayers or seek to become her follower; blasphemers may have their tongues pierced with red-hot pokers or be vanished instantly.
• Do Not Interfere with Her: Anyone foolish enough to target her with an attack, spell, or prying effect is immediately reduced to 1 hit point and sent to the Mazes.
• Do Not Harm the Dabus: These silent, floating servants are her hands and eyes; slaying or even disturbing them is considered treason against the city.
• Do Not Tamper with Portals: Attempting to permanently close portals, revealed secret gates, or charging unauthorized tolls on the city's doorways is punishable by "the Wyrm" or "strappado".
• Do Not Seek Rulership: Those who attempt to seize control of Sigil or challenge the Lady’s authority are her primary targets for banishment.

There is no known way to earn the Lady's friendship or favor, as she is unknowable and indifferent to mortal emotion. The most reliable way to avoid her gaze is to give her a wide berth and find pressing business elsewhere whenever she drifts through the streets. In rare cases, you may earn a temporary reprieve or a cryptic warning to "stay out of trouble" by actively repairing structural threats to the city—such as containing a modron invasion or fixing a multiversal glitch—effectively resolving a problem before it requires her direct, destructive intervention.