Faction Timeline - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Faction Timeline

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
zombiegleemax
Nov 17, 2005 20:34:03 Having thought about running an Expansionist era planescape campaign, I started creating a timeline of the factions running back a thousand years. Most of this is based on the Factols Manifesto. Some of it is pretty solid, but there are some holes. If you can fill one, or have a correction, let me know.

Time Line

Dustmen probably existed as a group longer than any other faction

Free Leaguers probably existed in one form or another

982 years ago, the Fraternity of Order sets up the rules for forming a faction and thus declares themselves the first faction for being the first to fill out the paperwork. The Fated were probably formed around this time.

Bleakers known to exist for more than nine centuries.

Athar exist centuries before the great upheaval

951-982 years ago the twelve factols meet at a tavern to beg the lady for assistance against the Expansionists. Soon after, Factol Timlin is mazed and all the other high ups strangely disappear.

700 Years ago – Factol Jaretta of the Guvners makes reference to Anarchists.

600 years ago the Cage was filled with some 49 factions. The Lady, being tired of this limited the number of factions to 15. This was called the Great Upheaval.
- Mercykillers were formed
- Godsmen were formed.
- Sensates were formed
- Doomguard Formed

400 year ago – Harmonium come to Sigil

200-400 years ago – Ciphers Formed

200-300 years ago Sign of One formed

150 years ago – Xoasitects show up in Sigil
#2
ripvanwormer
Nov 18, 2005 0:23:45 The Factol's Manifesto said "The Sign of One's an old faction, dating back many centuries." I'm not sure 2-3 centuries counts as "many," and if they're an old faction they probably aren't the second-youngest, as you have them.

The Bleak Cabal are "ancient," so they're probably older than the Sign of One. The Dustmen are "very old, predating even the Bleakers," which makes it sound like the Bleakers are much older than their official birthdate "more than nine centuries ago," and in fact are the second oldest surviving faction.

The Sensates existed as a social club nearly 700 years ago, according to the Factol's Manifesto.

The Athar "have been around as long as most factions," so I'd assume they're about average. We'll say the Athar were formed around the same time as Perrine was founding what would become the Believers of the Source, a few centuries before the Great Upheaval. The Doomguard were only a loose gang at the time. Since the Sign of One is "old," it must have been around at least slightly longer than either of those three. We know Rillith's Collector's Society, the Signers' precursor, was contemporary with the Transcendent Order and the Bleak Cabal, however, so the Transcendent Order must be either about the same age as Rillith and the Sign of One, or else it's older. Perhaps they don't count as an "old faction" because they live eternally in the present, and are therefore always new. "In many ways, it has no history."

The Mercykillers were formed during the Great Upheaval, and they're "a bit on the newer side, as far as factions go."

The Great Upheaval was "some 600 years ago," which I interpret as more than 600 rather than exactly 600.

So something like:

-60,000. Skall forms the Dustmen.
-10,000. Shekelor dies. The Bleakers celebrate the meaninglessness by starting to exist.
-982. Fraternity of Order officially becomes a faction. The Transcendent Order impulsively follows soon after.
-981. The Fated fill out their paperwork.
-938. The Bleak Cabal officially gets around to becoming a faction.
-930. The Doomguard is driven from Citadel Cavitius by the lich Vecna. Their organization crumbles.
-900. Rillith forms her Collector's Society.
-896. Rillith's Society moves to philosophical concerns. The Transcendent Order attempts to destroy it, but the plan backfires.
-875. Athar formed by Dunn and Ciro.
-870 Perrine forms a philosophical society, the precursor to the Believers of the Source.
-707. Society of Sensation formed, initially as a social club. Within twenty-five years they're one of the most popular factions, though without a factol.
-626. The Great Upheaval. The Mercykillers are formed. The Doomguard becomes an official faction (again). Augy makes the Believers of the Source official. The Sensates elect a factol. The Communals and Incanterium are also factions at this time (and likely have been for quite a while).
#3
ripvanwormer
Nov 18, 2005 18:04:30 The Planescape Campaign Setting says that Vecna took Citadel Cavitius from the Doomguard "eons ago," which implies the Doomguard are much older than the Factol's Manifesto makes them out to be. It would have had to have happened at least 940 years ago, anyhow, since Vecna imprisoned his treacherous warlord Kas in Citadel Cavitius about 940 years before the present.

I like the idea that there was a prior Doomguard that succumbed to entropy long ago, so that by the time of the Great Upheaval they were little more than a loose gang of philosophers with swords. The Upheaval gave them an excuse to revitalize their faction - after all, it happened at the expense of most of the other factions in Sigil, so entropy was still served.
#4
zombiegleemax
Nov 19, 2005 22:47:50 The only major difference between our timelines are the placement of the Signers and Ciphers. I put them as being formed after the great upheaval. I know it says in the Signer description that they are an old factions existing for many centuries. However we know they had to have come after the Ciphers were official because the Ciphers tried to destroy them. The Cipher entry says that their faction 'has existed for hundreds of years'. I placed them after the great upheaval. This is just due to a matter of language. Usually, when something is refered to as being hundreds of years old, it means its between 200-499 years old. People tend to make a distinction if something is older than 500 years. Furthermore, the great upheaval wasn't mentioned in either of their entries. Thus, I place them after the fact. Truthfully, I can see no hard evidence for placing a hard founding date on either of these factions, but then, that might have something to do with the nature of the factions themselves.
#5
ripvanwormer
Nov 19, 2005 23:19:44
Truthfully, I can see no hard evidence for placing a hard founding date on either of these factions

True enough.

Personally, I think anything less than a millennium is "hundreds of years" - the next major milestone is 1000. I stand by my arguments for the Sign of One's age - it's old for a faction (thus older, at least, than the "rather new" Mercykillers), and 2-3 centuries isn't really "many." Technically, though, anything that predates the Great Upheaval qualifies as an "old faction."

But as you say, there's no hard evidence, so there's certainly room for disagreement. For the Transcendent Order, the point of them is that they have no history, no matter how old they happen to be.

One important thing is that there were 15 factions after the Great Upheaval. What factions were these? We know the Harmonium and the Xaositects weren't among them, although one of the earlier Xaositect-like chaos factions might have been. The Incanterium and Communals were probably factions then (though we don't know this for certain).
#6
zombiegleemax
Nov 20, 2005 6:50:51 Ah, the Communals. Holders of all my sectual love.

Who else could actually be liked by some members of the Revolutionary League, as well as the Athar, the Bleak Cabal, and the Harmonium?

[Avoiding overdue flaying on Bytopia, with free health care!]
#7
zombiegleemax
Nov 20, 2005 23:41:54 Alright, well here is a list of known and possible Great Upheaval Factions

Known:
1) Dustmen
2) Athar
3) Bleakers
4) Fated
5) Free League
6) Guvners
7) Revolutionary League
8) Mercykillers
9) Sensates
10) Godsmen
11) Doomguard

Very Probable
12) Signers
13) Ciphers
14) Communals
15) Xaositects (in one form or another)

Of course we know that the Communals tried to get the Lady to hand over control of the cage and were "asked to leave". Thus clearing the extra space for the Arrival of the Harmonium. Plus, we know that the current form of the Xaositects didn't arrive until 150 years ago, so if an earlier form did exist, it too was disbanded at some time (probably due to lack of organization). This leaves an open space of a couple of hundred years in which another faction could have risen, and then fallen.
#8
ripvanwormer
Dec 10, 2005 0:11:02 The Factol's Manifesto said "the Harmonium's been around a couple of centuries, maybe more. It depends on who a basher listens to."

It also says "While the Hardheads were still pretty new to the Cage a couple of centuries ago, a few Xaositects got lucky and managed to assassinate the factol by hittting him in the head with an hourglass."

These two references together seem to indicate the Harmonium has only been in the City of Doors about 200 years. If the "Xaositects" who killed the Harmonium factol were actual Xaositects, then this must have happened around 150 years ago, when the Chasofolk became an actual faction. If they were proto-Xaositect devotees of chaos, it might have happened a little earlier.

Maybe it didn't even happen. Maybe the Xaositects just took credit for it later on, and it was someone completely different.

But anyway, 400 years ago seems a little early for Hardheads in Sigil.
#9
ripvanwormer
Dec 10, 2005 1:14:18 Harmonium 300 (Hashkar -74): The last survivor of Ortho's invasion of the Abyss becomes the first Harmonium soldier known to set foot in Sigil.

Harmonium 306 (Hashkar -68): The Harmonium sets up shop in Sigil. Grateful to have someone to take over law enforcement, the Guvners give the Hardheads the City Barracks. (Factol's Manifesto, 70)

Harmonium 307 (Hashkar -67): An ambitious Harmonium factor learns of the blasphemous beliefs of the Athar and leads a full-scale attack on the Shattered Temple. The factor is mazed by the Lady of Pain, but discrete guerilla raids continue against the Athar for a long time. Eventually, the Harmonium gives up and takes its case to the Hall of Speakers, gaining the Fated and Mercykillers as allies against the Lost. (FM, 8)

Harmonium 308 (Hashkar -66): Some of the Hardheads' allies send them to pacify the Doomguard, who have been a thorn in their sides since the Great Upheaval. The Sinkers conquer the Armory, hole themselves inside it, and open war between the Harmonium and Doomguard continues in Sigil's streets for months. The Lady of Pain does not choose to interfere, although the dabus repair roads and structures damaged in the fighting. The Doomguard finally calls off hostilities when the other factols threaten to revoke their faction status. The Doomguard swears a blood oath to "never again instigate a war in the Cage." In exchange, the Sinkers get to keep the Armory. (FM 40)

Harmonium 350 (Hashkar -24): The Harmonium factol is assassinated by a few members of the newly founded Xaositect faction. The cause of death is an hourglass the Chaosfolk launched at his brain-box. Whether this was deliberate homicide or the unintended result of some bizarre prank is unclear, and probably doesn't matter. (FM 152)

Harmonium 429 (Hashkar 56): The "Empyrean Harmonies" vogue among the Believers of the Source draws the ire of the Hardheads, and covert bloodshed rages between the Great Foundry and the City Barracks. (FM 18)

Harmonium 449 (Hashkar 76): A young githzerai named Omar rises rapidly through the Harmonium ranks. (FM 114)

Harmonium 450 (Hashkar 77): The githzerai Omar is named factol of the Harmonium. The newly elected factol announces that the Harmonium's mission is now complete. The faction will disband throughout the planes and the City Barracks must now be shut down. The lesser factors arrest him, and in the course of the trial Omar reveals his true allegiance to the Revolutionary League. Omar is swiftly "made short work of," and the next factol announces that of course everyone knew what Omar was all along; they were only stringing him along so he'd unintentionally reveal information about his confederates. (FM 114)

Harmonium 500 (Hashkar 127): Publication of The Factol's Manifesto

Harmonium 503 (Hashkar 130): The Faction War.

Harmonium 504 (Postbellum 1): The Harmonium officially abandons Sigil, leaving law enforcement in the Cage to the Sodkillers, Sons of Mercy, and the Planes-Militant.

Harmonium 510 (Postbellum 7): Today
#10
kwint_pendick
Dec 11, 2005 0:20:46 Rip-
Why are there 60 Harmonium years between the Omar Event and the Faction War, but only 53 Hashkar/Sigilian/Outland/Outer-Planar years?...The majority of the rest of the timeline seems to have one Harmonium year equalling one Hashkar year?...Was there a year zero of Hashkar's Reign (as Factol of the Guvners)?...
Kwint
#11
ripvanwormer
Dec 11, 2005 0:35:35 It looks like I miscalculated somewhere. Omar was 50 years before the Factol's Manifesto was written in Hashkar 127, which would be Hashkar 77. The Faction War started in Hashkar 130, or 53 years after the Omar incident.

There wasn't a year 0 in the calendar of Hashkar's reign - the first year was year one of his reign, and the year before that was -1, or one year before Hashkar. Sigilians wouldn't have called it that, but I don't know the name of the factol who preceded Hashkar, or how long he ruled.
#12
ripvanwormer
Dec 11, 2005 12:42:51 I think it's correct now. The Harmonium was founded 500 years before the Factol's Manifesto was published in Hashkar 127. The formula should be:

Reign of Hashkar = Years of the Harmonium -373
If Reign of Hashkar < 1 then Reign of Hashkar = Reign of Hashkar -1
#13
ripvanwormer
Jan 20, 2006 18:56:27 I actually think there's some strong evidence that the Communals and Incanterium were banished before the Expansionists, long before the founding of the Fraternity of Order.

In the Cage: A Guide to Sigil, on page 23, calls the Expansionists the most recent troublemakers in Sigil. Presumedly, then, other banished factions (and Aoskar) would have all preceded them.

That means there's two empty slots in the list of factions immediately after the Great Upheaval. One of the Xaositect precursors was probably one of them; who was the other?

I guess we could delve into "April Fool's Faxions" in Dragon #216 and mention the Beautification League, Free Flora Collective, Herbivorous Assembly, Wizards of the Black Teddy, or the Apathetic Alliance. The Beautification League apparently got a cameo in a Polyhedron article. Maybe they dwindled into the Rosebringers mentioned in the Factol's Manifesto, losing their faction status gradually without ever being "troublemakers."

Or we could just say the Communals were after the Upheaval. It's not that big a deal.

I like Shemmy's association of the Incantifers with Shekelor.
#14
zombiegleemax
Jan 22, 2006 22:14:37 Based on that reference, we can assume that the Communals were banished before the Expansionists. However, is there any reference to how the Incantifiers fell apart? I would think that the reference to 'causing trouble' meant specifically that the factions involved were causing trouble for the Lady. Was the Lady responsible for the destruction of the Incantifiers? If so, what did they do to tick her off? If not, then they might have been around after the great upheaval and taken down by other factions and not the Lady.
#15
ripvanwormer
Jan 22, 2006 22:53:57
Was the Lady responsible for the destruction of the Incantifiers?

Yes, although the recent Dragon article was more explicit about this than their original PSMCII entry was.

If so, what did they do to tick her off?

The same thing various gods, factions, fiendish armies, and Rowan Darkwoods have done since the beginning of time. One of the few things that are defininite no-no's in the Lady's eyes. They tried to take over Sigil.
#16
ripvanwormer
Mar 01, 2006 16:34:01 I noticed that Faction War mentions that the Incanterium and Sodkillers were allies before the Great Upheaval, both of them forcing primes into Prime Ward ghettos.
#17
zombiegleemax
Mar 01, 2006 23:23:17 Ah, fwiw: the 'Dead Gods' chapter 'The Ruins of Pelion' mentions the Dustmen, Fated, Fraternity of Order, Free League, and Revolutionary League, as the oldest factions that made it through the Great Upheaval (at the time of the past events depicted in it, "none of the other current factions existed yet") and the Expansionists, Incanterium, and Sodkillers as contemporaries of them.
#18
ripvanwormer
Mar 21, 2006 14:50:28 "...the Foundation stone where the Twelve Factols met to beg the Lady for her support against the Expansionists almost a thousand years ago." - In the Cage: A Guide to Sigil

The Twelve Factols:

1. Dustmen: Skall (male lich wizard 19)
2. Bleak Cabal: Ji Shen (female human wu jen 5/alienist 3)
3. Fated: Skek (male bariaur fighter 4/rogue 2)
4. Sodkillers: Aeson Grimtooth (male gnome ranger 12)
5. Sons of Mercy: Mel of the Circle (female human favored soul 14)
6. Incanterium: Ippo (female kobold sorcerer 15/Mage of the Arcane Order 10)
7. Forgesmiths (a faction devoted to creation): Halzir (male azer expert 9)
8. Beautification League (a faction devoted to beauty, eventually declines into the Rosebringer sect): Banael (female aasimar aristocrat 10)
9. Proto-Xaositects (Discordant Opposition): Madwand (green slaad wizard 1/wild mage 9)
10.Proto-Doomguard (a faction devoted to destruction, soon to be wiped out by Vecna): Gwyneth (female hoary hunter)
11.Regulators (from the Epic Level Handbook): Mella Theeg (female advanced treant Wizard 36/bard 20)
12.Gleaners (from the Epic Level Handbook): Astra (female human ranger 21/agent retriever 2)

Factions not represented among the Twelve:

Free League (no factol)
Revolutionary League (no factol)
Expansionists (factol Vartus Timlin)

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 zombiegleemax Nov 17, 2005 20:34:03	Having thought about running an Expansionist era planescape campaign, I started creating a timeline of the factions running back a thousand years. Most of this is based on the Factols Manifesto. Some of it is pretty solid, but there are some holes. If you can fill one, or have a correction, let me know. Time Line Dustmen probably existed as a group longer than any other faction Free Leaguers probably existed in one form or another 982 years ago, the Fraternity of Order sets up the rules for forming a faction and thus declares themselves the first faction for being the first to fill out the paperwork. The Fated were probably formed around this time. Bleakers known to exist for more than nine centuries. Athar exist centuries before the great upheaval 951-982 years ago the twelve factols meet at a tavern to beg the lady for assistance against the Expansionists. Soon after, Factol Timlin is mazed and all the other high ups strangely disappear. 700 Years ago – Factol Jaretta of the Guvners makes reference to Anarchists. 600 years ago the Cage was filled with some 49 factions. The Lady, being tired of this limited the number of factions to 15. This was called the Great Upheaval. - Mercykillers were formed - Godsmen were formed. - Sensates were formed - Doomguard Formed 400 year ago – Harmonium come to Sigil 200-400 years ago – Ciphers Formed 200-300 years ago Sign of One formed 150 years ago – Xoasitects show up in Sigil
#2 ripvanwormer Nov 18, 2005 0:23:45	The Factol's Manifesto said "The Sign of One's an old faction, dating back many centuries." I'm not sure 2-3 centuries counts as "many," and if they're an old faction they probably aren't the second-youngest, as you have them. The Bleak Cabal are "ancient," so they're probably older than the Sign of One. The Dustmen are "very old, predating even the Bleakers," which makes it sound like the Bleakers are much older than their official birthdate "more than nine centuries ago," and in fact are the second oldest surviving faction. The Sensates existed as a social club nearly 700 years ago, according to the Factol's Manifesto. The Athar "have been around as long as most factions," so I'd assume they're about average. We'll say the Athar were formed around the same time as Perrine was founding what would become the Believers of the Source, a few centuries before the Great Upheaval. The Doomguard were only a loose gang at the time. Since the Sign of One is "old," it must have been around at least slightly longer than either of those three. We know Rillith's Collector's Society, the Signers' precursor, was contemporary with the Transcendent Order and the Bleak Cabal, however, so the Transcendent Order must be either about the same age as Rillith and the Sign of One, or else it's older. Perhaps they don't count as an "old faction" because they live eternally in the present, and are therefore always new. "In many ways, it has no history." The Mercykillers were formed during the Great Upheaval, and they're "a bit on the newer side, as far as factions go." The Great Upheaval was "some 600 years ago," which I interpret as more than 600 rather than exactly 600. So something like: -60,000. Skall forms the Dustmen. -10,000. Shekelor dies. The Bleakers celebrate the meaninglessness by starting to exist. -982. Fraternity of Order officially becomes a faction. The Transcendent Order impulsively follows soon after. -981. The Fated fill out their paperwork. -938. The Bleak Cabal officially gets around to becoming a faction. -930. The Doomguard is driven from Citadel Cavitius by the lich Vecna. Their organization crumbles. -900. Rillith forms her Collector's Society. -896. Rillith's Society moves to philosophical concerns. The Transcendent Order attempts to destroy it, but the plan backfires. -875. Athar formed by Dunn and Ciro. -870 Perrine forms a philosophical society, the precursor to the Believers of the Source. -707. Society of Sensation formed, initially as a social club. Within twenty-five years they're one of the most popular factions, though without a factol. -626. The Great Upheaval. The Mercykillers are formed. The Doomguard becomes an official faction (again). Augy makes the Believers of the Source official. The Sensates elect a factol. The Communals and Incanterium are also factions at this time (and likely have been for quite a while).
#3 ripvanwormer Nov 18, 2005 18:04:30	The Planescape Campaign Setting says that Vecna took Citadel Cavitius from the Doomguard "eons ago," which implies the Doomguard are much older than the Factol's Manifesto makes them out to be. It would have had to have happened at least 940 years ago, anyhow, since Vecna imprisoned his treacherous warlord Kas in Citadel Cavitius about 940 years before the present. I like the idea that there was a prior Doomguard that succumbed to entropy long ago, so that by the time of the Great Upheaval they were little more than a loose gang of philosophers with swords. The Upheaval gave them an excuse to revitalize their faction - after all, it happened at the expense of most of the other factions in Sigil, so entropy was still served.
#4 zombiegleemax Nov 19, 2005 22:47:50	The only major difference between our timelines are the placement of the Signers and Ciphers. I put them as being formed after the great upheaval. I know it says in the Signer description that they are an old factions existing for many centuries. However we know they had to have come after the Ciphers were official because the Ciphers tried to destroy them. The Cipher entry says that their faction 'has existed for hundreds of years'. I placed them after the great upheaval. This is just due to a matter of language. Usually, when something is refered to as being hundreds of years old, it means its between 200-499 years old. People tend to make a distinction if something is older than 500 years. Furthermore, the great upheaval wasn't mentioned in either of their entries. Thus, I place them after the fact. Truthfully, I can see no hard evidence for placing a hard founding date on either of these factions, but then, that might have something to do with the nature of the factions themselves.
#5 ripvanwormer Nov 19, 2005 23:19:44	Truthfully, I can see no hard evidence for placing a hard founding date on either of these factions True enough. Personally, I think anything less than a millennium is "hundreds of years" - the next major milestone is 1000. I stand by my arguments for the Sign of One's age - it's old for a faction (thus older, at least, than the "rather new" Mercykillers), and 2-3 centuries isn't really "many." Technically, though, anything that predates the Great Upheaval qualifies as an "old faction." But as you say, there's no hard evidence, so there's certainly room for disagreement. For the Transcendent Order, the point of them is that they have no history, no matter how old they happen to be. One important thing is that there were 15 factions after the Great Upheaval. What factions were these? We know the Harmonium and the Xaositects weren't among them, although one of the earlier Xaositect-like chaos factions might have been. The Incanterium and Communals were probably factions then (though we don't know this for certain).
#6 zombiegleemax Nov 20, 2005 6:50:51	Ah, the Communals. Holders of all my sectual love. Who else could actually be liked by some members of the Revolutionary League, as well as the Athar, the Bleak Cabal, and the Harmonium? [Avoiding overdue flaying on Bytopia, with free health care!]
#7 zombiegleemax Nov 20, 2005 23:41:54	Alright, well here is a list of known and possible Great Upheaval Factions Known: 1) Dustmen 2) Athar 3) Bleakers 4) Fated 5) Free League 6) Guvners 7) Revolutionary League 8) Mercykillers 9) Sensates 10) Godsmen 11) Doomguard Very Probable 12) Signers 13) Ciphers 14) Communals 15) Xaositects (in one form or another) Of course we know that the Communals tried to get the Lady to hand over control of the cage and were "asked to leave". Thus clearing the extra space for the Arrival of the Harmonium. Plus, we know that the current form of the Xaositects didn't arrive until 150 years ago, so if an earlier form did exist, it too was disbanded at some time (probably due to lack of organization). This leaves an open space of a couple of hundred years in which another faction could have risen, and then fallen.
#8 ripvanwormer Dec 10, 2005 0:11:02	The Factol's Manifesto said "the Harmonium's been around a couple of centuries, maybe more. It depends on who a basher listens to." It also says "While the Hardheads were still pretty new to the Cage a couple of centuries ago, a few Xaositects got lucky and managed to assassinate the factol by hittting him in the head with an hourglass." These two references together seem to indicate the Harmonium has only been in the City of Doors about 200 years. If the "Xaositects" who killed the Harmonium factol were actual Xaositects, then this must have happened around 150 years ago, when the Chasofolk became an actual faction. If they were proto-Xaositect devotees of chaos, it might have happened a little earlier. Maybe it didn't even happen. Maybe the Xaositects just took credit for it later on, and it was someone completely different. But anyway, 400 years ago seems a little early for Hardheads in Sigil.
#9 ripvanwormer Dec 10, 2005 1:14:18	Harmonium 300 (Hashkar -74): The last survivor of Ortho's invasion of the Abyss becomes the first Harmonium soldier known to set foot in Sigil. Harmonium 306 (Hashkar -68): The Harmonium sets up shop in Sigil. Grateful to have someone to take over law enforcement, the Guvners give the Hardheads the City Barracks. (Factol's Manifesto, 70) Harmonium 307 (Hashkar -67): An ambitious Harmonium factor learns of the blasphemous beliefs of the Athar and leads a full-scale attack on the Shattered Temple. The factor is mazed by the Lady of Pain, but discrete guerilla raids continue against the Athar for a long time. Eventually, the Harmonium gives up and takes its case to the Hall of Speakers, gaining the Fated and Mercykillers as allies against the Lost. (FM, 8) Harmonium 308 (Hashkar -66): Some of the Hardheads' allies send them to pacify the Doomguard, who have been a thorn in their sides since the Great Upheaval. The Sinkers conquer the Armory, hole themselves inside it, and open war between the Harmonium and Doomguard continues in Sigil's streets for months. The Lady of Pain does not choose to interfere, although the dabus repair roads and structures damaged in the fighting. The Doomguard finally calls off hostilities when the other factols threaten to revoke their faction status. The Doomguard swears a blood oath to "never again instigate a war in the Cage." In exchange, the Sinkers get to keep the Armory. (FM 40) Harmonium 350 (Hashkar -24): The Harmonium factol is assassinated by a few members of the newly founded Xaositect faction. The cause of death is an hourglass the Chaosfolk launched at his brain-box. Whether this was deliberate homicide or the unintended result of some bizarre prank is unclear, and probably doesn't matter. (FM 152) Harmonium 429 (Hashkar 56): The "Empyrean Harmonies" vogue among the Believers of the Source draws the ire of the Hardheads, and covert bloodshed rages between the Great Foundry and the City Barracks. (FM 18) Harmonium 449 (Hashkar 76): A young githzerai named Omar rises rapidly through the Harmonium ranks. (FM 114) Harmonium 450 (Hashkar 77): The githzerai Omar is named factol of the Harmonium. The newly elected factol announces that the Harmonium's mission is now complete. The faction will disband throughout the planes and the City Barracks must now be shut down. The lesser factors arrest him, and in the course of the trial Omar reveals his true allegiance to the Revolutionary League. Omar is swiftly "made short work of," and the next factol announces that of course everyone knew what Omar was all along; they were only stringing him along so he'd unintentionally reveal information about his confederates. (FM 114) Harmonium 500 (Hashkar 127): Publication of The Factol's Manifesto Harmonium 503 (Hashkar 130): The Faction War. Harmonium 504 (Postbellum 1): The Harmonium officially abandons Sigil, leaving law enforcement in the Cage to the Sodkillers, Sons of Mercy, and the Planes-Militant. Harmonium 510 (Postbellum 7): Today
#10 kwint_pendick Dec 11, 2005 0:20:46	Rip- Why are there 60 Harmonium years between the Omar Event and the Faction War, but only 53 Hashkar/Sigilian/Outland/Outer-Planar years?...The majority of the rest of the timeline seems to have one Harmonium year equalling one Hashkar year?...Was there a year zero of Hashkar's Reign (as Factol of the Guvners)?... Kwint
#11 ripvanwormer Dec 11, 2005 0:35:35	It looks like I miscalculated somewhere. Omar was 50 years before the Factol's Manifesto was written in Hashkar 127, which would be Hashkar 77. The Faction War started in Hashkar 130, or 53 years after the Omar incident. There wasn't a year 0 in the calendar of Hashkar's reign - the first year was year one of his reign, and the year before that was -1, or one year before Hashkar. Sigilians wouldn't have called it that, but I don't know the name of the factol who preceded Hashkar, or how long he ruled.
#12 ripvanwormer Dec 11, 2005 12:42:51	I think it's correct now. The Harmonium was founded 500 years before the Factol's Manifesto was published in Hashkar 127. The formula should be: Reign of Hashkar = Years of the Harmonium -373 If Reign of Hashkar < 1 then Reign of Hashkar = Reign of Hashkar -1
#13 ripvanwormer Jan 20, 2006 18:56:27	I actually think there's some strong evidence that the Communals and Incanterium were banished before the Expansionists, long before the founding of the Fraternity of Order. In the Cage: A Guide to Sigil, on page 23, calls the Expansionists the most recent troublemakers in Sigil. Presumedly, then, other banished factions (and Aoskar) would have all preceded them. That means there's two empty slots in the list of factions immediately after the Great Upheaval. One of the Xaositect precursors was probably one of them; who was the other? I guess we could delve into "April Fool's Faxions" in Dragon #216 and mention the Beautification League, Free Flora Collective, Herbivorous Assembly, Wizards of the Black Teddy, or the Apathetic Alliance. The Beautification League apparently got a cameo in a Polyhedron article. Maybe they dwindled into the Rosebringers mentioned in the Factol's Manifesto, losing their faction status gradually without ever being "troublemakers." Or we could just say the Communals were after the Upheaval. It's not that big a deal. I like Shemmy's association of the Incantifers with Shekelor.
#14 zombiegleemax Jan 22, 2006 22:14:37	Based on that reference, we can assume that the Communals were banished before the Expansionists. However, is there any reference to how the Incantifiers fell apart? I would think that the reference to 'causing trouble' meant specifically that the factions involved were causing trouble for the Lady. Was the Lady responsible for the destruction of the Incantifiers? If so, what did they do to tick her off? If not, then they might have been around after the great upheaval and taken down by other factions and not the Lady.
#15 ripvanwormer Jan 22, 2006 22:53:57	Was the Lady responsible for the destruction of the Incantifiers? Yes, although the recent Dragon article was more explicit about this than their original PSMCII entry was. If so, what did they do to tick her off? The same thing various gods, factions, fiendish armies, and Rowan Darkwoods have done since the beginning of time. One of the few things that are defininite no-no's in the Lady's eyes. They tried to take over Sigil.
#16 ripvanwormer Mar 01, 2006 16:34:01	I noticed that Faction War mentions that the Incanterium and Sodkillers were allies before the Great Upheaval, both of them forcing primes into Prime Ward ghettos.
#17 zombiegleemax Mar 01, 2006 23:23:17	Ah, fwiw: the 'Dead Gods' chapter 'The Ruins of Pelion' mentions the Dustmen, Fated, Fraternity of Order, Free League, and Revolutionary League, as the oldest factions that made it through the Great Upheaval (at the time of the past events depicted in it, "none of the other current factions existed yet") and the Expansionists, Incanterium, and Sodkillers as contemporaries of them.
#18 ripvanwormer Mar 21, 2006 14:50:28	"...the Foundation stone where the Twelve Factols met to beg the Lady for her support against the Expansionists almost a thousand years ago." - In the Cage: A Guide to Sigil The Twelve Factols: 1. Dustmen: Skall (male lich wizard 19) 2. Bleak Cabal: Ji Shen (female human wu jen 5/alienist 3) 3. Fated: Skek (male bariaur fighter 4/rogue 2) 4. Sodkillers: Aeson Grimtooth (male gnome ranger 12) 5. Sons of Mercy: Mel of the Circle (female human favored soul 14) 6. Incanterium: Ippo (female kobold sorcerer 15/Mage of the Arcane Order 10) 7. Forgesmiths (a faction devoted to creation): Halzir (male azer expert 9) 8. Beautification League (a faction devoted to beauty, eventually declines into the Rosebringer sect): Banael (female aasimar aristocrat 10) 9. Proto-Xaositects (Discordant Opposition): Madwand (green slaad wizard 1/wild mage 9) 10.Proto-Doomguard (a faction devoted to destruction, soon to be wiped out by Vecna): Gwyneth (female hoary hunter) 11.Regulators (from the Epic Level Handbook): Mella Theeg (female advanced treant Wizard 36/bard 20) 12.Gleaners (from the Epic Level Handbook): Astra (female human ranger 21/agent retriever 2) Factions not represented among the Twelve: Free League (no factol) Revolutionary League (no factol) Expansionists (factol Vartus Timlin)