Sigil

Sigil, also known as the Cage or the City of Doors, was a floating city in the center of the Outlands and the self-proclaimed center of the multiverse in the Great Wheel cosmology. A major hub for interplanar travel, the city contained multiple portals to every single plane, as well as to numerous locations in the Prime Material Plane. It was considered a demiplane in the World Axis cosmology.

"Ah, the Cage. Nexus of the planes. You've gotta hate it…"

- Trykk

Description
Sigil was located in the Outlands, hovering above an immensely tall landmark known as the Spire that sat at the plane's center. From the Outlands, it was possible to see Sigil hovering atop the Spire as the mountaintop vanished into nothingness.

Sigil was shaped like the inside of a torus. According to official measurements by the Harmonium, the city's primary diameter―that is, the ring's diameter―was, with a circumference of. Later measurements put the primary diameter at approximately, with the same circumference as the Harmonium's measurements, and a secondary diameter―the ring's thickness―of approximately. Despite these attempts at measurement, the city did not have a fixed size and its dimensions could be changed at will by the Lady of Pain.

The city's location and geometry was considered by most sages, in particular the inhabitants of the Material Plane, to be impossible, since all magic was completely impeded at the center of the Outlands. There were many hypotheses that tried to explain Sigil's location and existence. Although they varied wildly, one of the more popular explanations posited that the Lady of Pain was behind the city's existence and properties.

The city did not fill the entire inner surface of the torus, but just the outer portion of the ring. For that reason, the city was recursive only in one direction, along its major circumference. Even though it was not a completely closed surface, it was impossible to see outside of the ring from any point within the city. If one looked up, the far side was visible, as if one were standing at the bottom of a valley. The edges of the ring were lined with solid buildings that had no windows outside, so the only way to try to see what lay beyond the edge was to climb a rooftop. Those who did reported that there was nothing to see beyond the edge―not empty space or a vacuum, but nothing at all. Those who jumped over the edge disappeared into a random plane.

Because of this unique geometry, Sigil had no sky. The city was kept lit by an intrinsic luminescence of its air, which waxed and waned creating the appearance of a 24-hour day-night cycle. The brightest moment in the cycle was referred to as "peak" and the darkest point was referred to as "antipeak". Time was measured by counting down the hours before peak (B.P.) and incrementing them after peak (A.P.). As a result, most of the time the city was illuminated only by a hazy twilight. The equivalent of full daylight only lasted for about 6 hours, from 3 B.P. to 3 A.P., so even creatures that were sensitive to bright light were comfortable in Sigil most of the time. During the six darkest hours of the cycle, light coming from lanterns and streetlights on the opposite side of the ring gave an illusion of a sky filled with stars. Clocks in Sigil did not have numbers and were marked with 24 1-hour segments, with the daytime hours and peak on top and night hours and antipeak at the bottom.

The city was crowded with buildings that squeezed over each other with very small living spaces. New buildings, courtyards, and streets were constantly being built, changing the city's landscape and turning old structures into underground crypts. Sigil's architecture was marked by its iron spikes and bladed fences, serving both as protection against intruders and as a stylistic choice. Stone gargoyles were also a typical decorations.

Cosmography
According to it own inhabitants, Sigil's central position in the Outlands, a plane at equal distance from each of the Outer Planes, put the city at the center of the planes, at least according to some interpretations of the Great Wheel cosmology. However, since the multiverse was infinite, there was no true center.

It was impossible to walk into and out of Sigil from the Outlands or any other location. It was also impossible to enter or exit the city, or even observe it, via spell, magic item, or any creature's innate abilities. The only way in or out of the city was via its portals.

Sigil contained innumerable portals: any bounded opening (a doorway, an arch, a barrel hoop, a picture frame) could possibly be a portal to another plane, or to another point in Sigil itself. In addition, portals could be permanent or temporary, linking to fixed or shifting locations. Thus, the city touched all planes at once, yet ultimately belonged to none. Those characteristics warranted Sigil its other names: it was called "the City of Doors" for the sheer number of portals, but was also called "the Cage" for the difficulty to enter or exit the city.

Government
The ruler of Sigil is the mysterious Lady of Pain. The Lady is sometimes seen in Sigil as a floating, robed lady with a face bearing a mantle of blades. The Lady does not concern herself with ruling the city directly; she typically only interferes when something threatens the stability of Sigil itself or crosses one of her few but unforgiving edicts, which amount to keeping the peace and refraining from worship of her. The Lady is an entity of inscrutable motives and often those who cross her path, even accidentally, are flayed to death or teleported to her hidden "mazes", extradimensional labyrinths, and lost forever. It is widely believed that she never speaks, although some unconfirmed rumours to the contrary do exist.

Although the Lady of Pain does not take action directly, she does act through a number of servants known as dabus, who simultaneously serve as the Lady's eyes and ears as well as maintaining the structure of Sigil. Like the Lady, the dabus do not interact with Sigil's inhabitants or travelers much and it is best to leave them be, since antagonizing them can bring down the infrequent but harsh wrath of their mistress.

Sigil is, theoretically, neutral ground to all: no wars are waged there and no armies pass through. Furthermore, no power can enter into Sigil; the Lady has barred them from the Cage. Of course, Sigil is hardly peaceful; with such a condensed population, consisting of everything from angelic devas to demonic glabrezu, violence is common, usually befalling the foolhardy, the incautious, or the poor. Most natives of Sigil ("Cagers") are quite jaded as a result of living there.

Sigil is also home to several extraplanar "factions," which struggle with one another for power and prestige but generally do not engage in open conflict. The Lady of Pain tolerates the existence of these factions so long as they do not interfere with her or her nebulous goals and several even serve useful purposes, such as the Guvners, Harmonium, and the Mercykillers, which serve as the judges, jury, and executioners of Sigil, respectively.

Trade
Sigil was a prime destination for travelers as well as a center of trade throughout the multiverse.

History
Sigil's origins were unknown and clouded in mystery and legend. Some maintained that it had been built by a deposed duke of the Nine Hells, while others suggested that it was the byproduct of an insane demigod's dream. Yet others speculated that it had been put together by scattered bits of the Outer Planes shortly after their creation.

In its distant past, the city was administered by guilds, with over fifty warring factions wrestling with each other for power and control. In the event known as the Great Upheaval, the Lady of Pain limited the number of official factions to fifteen, handing control of the city to the factions instead of the guilds.

Centuries later, the fifteen factions fought with each other for supremacy of their worldview, triggering a bloody internal conflict known as the Faction War. The war ended with the complete disbanding of all factions by the Lady of Pain, with some of them being extinguished, others moving their headquarters to other planes, and others becoming underground organizations.

Some time after the Faction War, the lich Vecna attempted to ascend to the status of greater deity and orchestrated an invasion of Sigil, from where he would control the entire multiverse. The Lady of Pain expelled Vecna from the city with the help of adventurers, but the invasion caused a great disturbance in the multiverse. Following his defeat, the Lady of Pain strengthened Sigil's defenses and reorganized the planar structure in order to repair the damage caused and to prevent such an event from ever happening again.

Notable Locations

 * The Prime Exotics shop specialized in selling small animals from the Prime Material plane, including rabbits, squirrels, hedgehogs, and miniature giant space hamsters.

Wards of Sigil
Sigil was divided into six districts, called wards, listed below:


 * Clerk's Ward:
 * An affluent district, home to most of the city's lower-rung bureaucrats and middlemen.


 * Hive Ward:
 * The slum and the ghetto, home to the poor, the rogues, and the unwanted dregs of the city.


 * The Lady's Ward:
 * The richest and most exclusive section of the city, home to the elites of society and of its government.


 * Lower Ward:
 * An industrial district, clogged up with the smoke from the foundries and from the portals to the Lower Planes.


 * Guildhall and Market Wards:
 * Usually counted as one single ward. Home to the traders, craftsmen, artisans, guild members and other members of the middle class.

Inhabitants
Sigil had a population of about 50,000 permanent residents, with a much higher number of temporary residents and visitors that resulted in as many as 250,000 people found in the city at any given time. The population included members of virtually every species found in the multiverse. Long-time Cagers and natives usually felt uncomfortable in open spaces or locations where they could see a sky and the horizon, as they were accustomed to the absence of those features in Sigil.

The city did not have a lustrous vegetation, and its only park had been overrun with squatters. The only remaining plant life was razorvine, a rapidly growing plant that originated in the Lower planes and was considered a hazard. The darker alleys were crowded with rats and cranium rats, rot grubs grew on garbage heaps, and bats nested on higher places. The city's underground was inhabited by wererats. The city also had two native species of birds: pigeons with a gray-green coloration and large ravens with gray bodies and black heads and wings, known as executioner's ravens.

People coming to Sigil from the Prime Material Plane were often treated as clueless inferiors by the planar elitists who dwelt there. They were thus widely referred to as "the Clueless", "berks" or more charitably, as "Primes". It was highly recommended that planewalkers new to Sigil employed a guide, known locally as a "tout," lest they be taken advantage of or mugged. Such guides could be little better themselves, though, either serving to persuade a traveler to the side of their faction or simply robbing their "customer" once their backs were turned.

Notable Inhabitants

 * Saddam Hasan ibn Arvalas, a wizard from Toril and former pupil of Trobriand. A member of the Fraternity of Order, he was the owner of the Hands of Time, a shop specialized in the construction and repairs of golems and other automata.

Rumors & Legends
Sigil's origins and existence were a mystery. Some speculated that the city had been built by the Lady of Pain herself. Others posited that Sigil was her prison.

It was also rumored that a kindness of wereravens inhabited the city's underground.

Appearances

 * Adventures
 * The Great Modron March • For Duty & Deity • Faction War
 * Novels
 * Masquerades • Finder's Bane • Tymora's Luck