Sigil
Also called The Cage or the City of Doors, Sigil is the foremost metropolis among the planes. Sat atop the infinite spire at the center of the Outlands, Sigil is a neutral ground between the various planar powers, and is said to contain a gate to anywhere. Opening and closing seemingly by the will of the Lady of Pain alone, some portals are stable while some vanish as quickly as they appeared.
Since the end of the Faction War and the Lady's Edict, the factions have lost their formal powers within Sigil, though many still exist in practice. Most affairs are managed by the elected Sigil Advisory Council, though the Lady's dabus handle many maintenance tasks in the city.
Demographics
Unfathomably diverse, Sigil is home to all sorts of humanoids, planetouched, planar entities, giants, monsters, and whatever else one might think of. The only exception is petitioners, which are quite rare in Sigil due to no Power being allowed to set foot in the city, and most petitioners having the overall goal to join their plane.
Sigil also has a very large transient population, as many people wind up in the city by accident from a portal and then try to get out, or travel to the city for some purpose or another. Recent imports from the various Prime Material planes are generally referred to as "Primes" or "Clueless" in Sigil.
Due to the Lady's probition on large scale conflict in the city, Sigil is able to drive even the fiercest rivalries to ground. An angel and a devil might sit down at the same tavern without coming to blows in Sigil.
No creature is known to be truly native to the city, except perhaps the dabus who serve the Lady's will.
Government
Sigil is mostly run by the Sigil Advisory Council, an elected body which collects taxes and directs the courts and the city guard. However, the power vacuums left by the banishment of the factions have not been truly filled. The city guard finds itself thus far outmatched by the heirs of the former Mercykiller faction, the Minder's Guild and the Sons of Mercy. The Mortuary is still run by the Dustmen in practice.
The ultimate ruler of Sigil is the Lady of Pain, who's power is absolute and arbitrary. However, she rarely interferes except to safeguard the works of her dabus. In addition, the Lady's power ensures that the Powers in the planes, that is the gods cannot step into Sigil.
Districts
Sigil is commonly divided into 6 wards as follows.
The Lady's Ward
The most affluent of the wards, The Lady's Ward is home to most government offices, as well as the wealthiest of the Cagers. A pleasant ward with clean air, guard presence is high in the ward despite there being comparatively less need for it. The city guard, the courts, and the Sons of Mercy have their headquarters here.
The Lower Ward
A large ward centered on the Great Foundry, the Lower Ward adjoins the Lady's Ward but is quite unlike it. Frequently blanketed by smog from the foundry as well as portals to the lower planes, The Lower Ward is a much noisier and more cramped place, inhabited by the common laborers of the city, living on narrow streets in tightly packed tenements.
The Hive
A large ward, the Hive is Sigil's slum. Largely unpatrolled by the guard, The Hive is a chaotic and brutal place except where a particular group has managed to impose control on a particular district of the Hive and gain some legitimacy. Thus, areas like the Mortuary and the Giant District are comparatively safer than the rest of the Hive.
The Clerk's Ward
A richer district, the Clerk's Ward is home to those government functions that are not in the Lady's Ward. In addition, it hosts much of the city's cultural and academic life, being home to institutions like the Civic Festhall. Most of the libraries in the city are also located here.
The Guildhall Ward
Home to independent artisans and minor guilds, the Guildhall Ward is a small ward sandwiched between the Clerk's Ward and the Market Ward
The Market Ward
Dominated by a massive open-air bazaar, almost anything can be found in the Market Ward. Due to Sigil's status as a nexus of portals, rare treasures from primes and other planes alike can find their way in the Market Ward, and those with unusual needs often look here first. As such a thriving network of collectors of collectors and middlemen has developed, catering to everyone from lower ward laborers to adventurers to angels from Mount Celestia and demons from the Abyss.
Undersigil
Though not a proper ward, a massive and mostly uncharted network of tunnels exists below Sigil's surface. With hidden entrances to an enormous tunnel network throughout Sigil, Undersigil is a convenient hiding place for ne'er-do-wells and cranium rats. It is also believed that as the dabus continuously remake Sigil, parts of old Sigil end up submerged below, making Undersigil something of a window into the past.
History
Nobody knows when Sigil was founded. As far as anyone knows, there has always been a city atop the spire in the Outlands. It is also not known when the Lady or the Dabus arrived. By most accounts they have always been there.
For many centuries the city's affairs were managed by the factions, ideological guilds that also handled aspects of city governance such as tax collection, the keeping of order, or disposal of the dead. However, since the faction war ended, the Lady of Pain has struck the factions from the halls of power, leaving new guilds and an elected council to rule in their stead.
It is the 23rd Year of the Lady's Edict, the 19th day of the sixth month.
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