....in my readings online, I've come across hints of a "faction war" and the idea that the Lady kicked all the factions out of Sigil! In the words of a confused, out-of-touch player, "What the heck happened???"
Was this all in Die, Vecna, Die? I've heard and read plenty about how horrible that module was, so if the factions got booted out with that stinker of an adventure, I think I'll just be ignoring that lil piece of canon material.
--the factions belong in Sigil! Who's running the show, with them gone? NB
--me no likey this NB
The Lady then closed all the portals into and out of the Cage (to stop a large group of fiends from entering). This is now known as the Tempest of Doors. For about 2 weeks the doors remained closed. After that all the portals were different. Some were no longer where they were, even the permanant kind had changed. The Lady then sent a Dabus to each Faction declaring that the Factions could no longer remain in power within the city.
Some decided to leave for their associated planes (Guvners to Mechanus, Harmonium to Arcadia, Athar to the Spire, What was left of the Doomsguard to the Negative quasiplanes, Anarchists to Carceri, Fated to Ysgard) or disbanded entirely (Sensates, xaositects, bleakers, ciphers, dustmen, Indeps). The Mercykillers split into the Sodkillers (Minder's Guild) and the Sons of Mercy. The Sign of One and the Believers of the Source merged to form the Mind's Eye.
--I guess settings that didn't sell well had to go to prepare for 3e NB
I believe that the armory was destroyed, but I don't recall off the top of my head.
The armory came down. The spheres of annihilation the doomgaurd had been experimenting with started wandering around randomly, and took out large portions of the foundation. Oops.
The Bleakers, Chaosmen, Dustmen, Indeps, Sensates, and Ciphers all still call kip in Sigil. The Entertainer's guild (former Sensates) is still running all the Festhalls, Theaters, etc. The Bleakers still treat the insane at the Gatehouse and run their soup kitchens, they still don't really give a fig about the ban's removal of Power (they never held an official position in the city governmental structure anyway). The xaositects have disbanded or renamed themselves so often it's just any other day for them! The Indeps never considered themselves a Faction in the first place. The Dustmen still inter the dead, though the mortuary isn't the nexus of Portals it used to be.
And now new fledgling Factions are trying to carve a place out of Sigil. The Minder's Guild is really just a front for the Sodkillers. The Sons of Mercy are still trying to find their place in the scheme of the new order. Jeremo the Natterer is the new Factol of the Ring Givers. They are now based within the Cage in the Palace of the Jester.
Could be very interesting.
--the factions belong in Sigil, darn it! NB
The factions are changed, some are different, but the Kreigstanz is still in full swing if altered to fit the new playing field. Rather than being focused on Sigil, it may simply have expanded to the planes at large.
In other words: the game still goes on, differently, but perhaps stronger than before. Things evolve, but they don't go away.
There's a power vacuum in Sigil that's still finding itself unfilled in its entirety. The Ring-Givers and Sodkillers are busy pushing the boundaries of what can and can't be done under The Lady's edict.
The exact wording of The Lady's edict: "This city no longer tolerates your faction. Abandon it or die."
Thats it, no further explanation beyond that. As Primemover003 explained above, most either left Sigil, or disbanded and remained in unofficial roles, or merged and left.
It's unknown if The Lady only meant the current factions, or all factions current and future, or if they could remain in Sigil but without official power, etc.
Most seem to believe that Factions can still exist in Sigil, however they can't claim official power in the city. That for the moment appears to be the case.
The guilds of Sigil have snatched up some of the power left by the factions, and individuals such as Jeremo the Natterer, Shemeska the Marauder, Zadara the Titan, and Estevan have seized power for themselves in Sigil more so than they had before. The game goes on, changed but just as dynamic as before.
The factions aren't going away, and most long to settle old scores and return to Sigil and return to power. The game goes on.
The 3e Guide to Sigil is coming out next on Planewalker, and the update to the power structure in Sigil, the place and role of the factions in Sigil, etc will be detailed more fully.
Originally posted by Sildatorak
I was just thinking that if it only applied to the 15 factions some sod with a lot of zills might go ahead and bring back an old one (maybe the Sodkillers could start to get a little to greedy), not get mazed, and start a trend back to the way things were before the Great Upheaval.
That was my interpretation of The Lady's edict when I worked on the Ring-Givers. As far as Jeremo was concerned, She was talking to the existing factions -- She should have no problem with the Ring-Givers, which are a new faction.
Of course, MAYBE Ingwe interpreted the edict differently. MAYBE he gifted the position of factol to Jeremo in the hopes that The Lady would then maze the Lady's Jester. MAYBE Ingwe thinks that Jeremo is the best person to test the boundaries of The Lady's edict, thereby demonstrating what is and what is not a safe course of action for himself and other factols. MAYBE. :D