Planescape and Mystara
by Rodger BurnsHmmm. The thought of using Sigil in the Mystara, Gold Box-style cosmology...
- Sigil remains a 'gateway' city, providing easy access to many of the Outer Planes. To keep its wonder and mystery in a multiverse in which most Outer Planar locations are created or at least found by the Immortals, Sigil becomes one of the few places in the multiverse where portals and vortices can actually spontaneously form. It is not necessarily 'central' to the Outer Planes (as finding a centre to infinitely varied space is difficult), but it comes closer than anything else in the multiverse.
- The Lady of Pain remains a power within Sigil, though she is less concerned with matters of balance or control over the known denizens and presumably more active in defending the city against possible beings from Beyond (the Outer Beings, certain forces of the War of the Years Before Eternity, and so on). Her origin is unknown, but she is definitely not an Immortal; some Immortals speculate that she is a creature or agent of the Old Ones, or a manifestation of an Old One herself.
- Immortals are not automatically barred from Sigil, though most who choose to visit do so in Mortal guise in order to keep a low profile. The Lady does discourage Immortals from beating on mortals, in her own uniquely charming fashion. Immortals generally have their own ways of travelling the planes, but sometimes choose to use Sigil as a meeting ground or shortcut.
- Mortals in Sigil are wanderers, exiles, sometimes dispossessed from their home worlds or times - exceptional in every way. They do not come here for opportunity or wonder, generally, but because they have nowhere else to go. Factions and sects are less about manipulating belief as a force that defines reality, and more a tool for insuring that certain individuals are on your side in a dangerous and uncertain reality. The kriegstanz is as strong as ever, with not just prestige at stake but often life itself.
- Among the places that Sigil opens onto are the plane of Limbo, select locations in the Nightmare Dimension and the rare portal to the depths of the Vortex. This leads to bizarre 'rescue' missions staged by mortal, Nightmare being and Immortal alike, as they seek to use a unique opportunity to reach an otherwise-inaccessible location to rescue a friend or doom an enemy.