_____What is the center of infinity? Where is the nexus of it all? If you mapped all the prime worlds,planes, and various dimensions what would you find in the middle? In the Outlands, between worlds, there is a place known as Sigil. Known as the City of Doors, Sigil is the nexus point, or crossroads of all worlds. It is here where creatures from all realms intermingle, trading knowledge, items, and power. If two powerful creatures need a neutral place to meet this is it. Gods and creatures of similar power are barred from Sigil.
_____The Lady of Pain maintains the peace in silent vigilance. Aided by Dabus, she constantly unmakes and rebuilds various sections of Sigil. The lady of Pain maintains the balance in Sigil but is mostly concerned with the cities maintenance. The day to day is conducted by Sigil's factions. These factions represent certain philosophies and ideas about the nature of reality. They constantly vie for influence but are careful not to get too powerful, lest they attract the ladies attention.
Table of Contents
Quote:
Post 1:
The Nuts and Bolts.
Post 2:
What is Sigil?
Post 3:
The Wards.
Post 4:
Our Partners.
Post 5:
How to Join the Roleplay Easily
Recent
Front Page Update
_____Alright guys, its crunch time. The Lady of Pain will be returning to Sigil which will usher in a new age of roleplaying. This means that we need to get plots contingent on her not being around done within 3 months. The cut off date for this is august 19th. On that date, all plots must be summarized and we will start at the return of the Lady.
_____A list of available DM's has been added in the Rules section.
Plot Update
_____The Civil War, plotline has been updated.
Plot Event Night Poll
_____Plot event night is a night in which we promote players to post in higher volume and to conduct important plot scenes when the most people can be around. This is the day where we will try to really get the plot moving forward at a more expedient rate.
Saturday was the day picked
What Has Happened so Far?
_____Please check the bottom of the page. I will complete this later. If I didn't mention your character or their name, let me know, but I intend to try to fit in as many name drops and thread drops as I can into the short synopsis.
_____It has become necessary of late to reorganize the way the OOC thread works. The Guildhall: City of Business thread is a plot focused OOC thread, for those whom want to keep topic of conversation centered on the roleplay. The rules of this thread are tailored to create a constructive atmosphere.
_____Sigil: The Hall of Epics is a story Synopsis OOC thread. Here you can post short (or long) synopsis of what is going on with your character in the thread. I'd like everyone to post here. Don't feel pressured to do anything long or extravagant, we just need short updates that can give people a halfway decent understanding of what is going on with your character in the story.
_____When you first post in Sigil, you will be added to the Sigil Alert system. This will allow me to send people new updates and information daily about changes in the thread. Also we have implemented a system of time tracking, that allows us to get a better understanding of the flow of time. A day of RP will take two weeks to play. At the end of two weeks, all ongoing scenes must be concluded and the next day must begin. Of course some scenes take a long time to complete and cannot be summarized or fast forwarded. In these cases we have extension request forms that you can submit if you need more time for a big and pivotal scene.
Extensions
The thread will transition over into next day at the conclusion of or 8pm pst on 9/6/13. Scene may be completed later, just the thread may continue moving at that point. So still, no rush.
Anybody can run their own events and npc's but Tresondros Ecstuffuan makes the final calls on anything.
Major moves
If you want to do something that affects a large amount of NPC's or PC's, deals with property, or establishes or affects a large faction just let Tresondros Ecstuffuan know first.
Dungeon Mastering and NPC's
Dungeon Mastering is the art of playing the NPC's, Environments, and Events that a character experiences during his time of adventuring. They are essential to roleplaying and we're not sure how we go without them so much. We will roleplay the NPC roles and characters that PC's either won't or can't fill. Also, if your character wants to run a dungeon or a specific quest, We'll help you out with it with things like playing bosses and such.
However, we can't do this alone. We need people to help us out with DMing, so if your interested, send one of us a PM or let us know in the Guild.
List of Available DM's
Designating Location
You can do this however you like, but make sure to do it. That way the person responding to you has something to go off of when writing his post and describing his relative location. Some people place it within []'s, some people use the arrow and others still just bold it at the top of their posts. It doesn't matter how you do it, but it needs to be on your post
YOU DO NOT HAVE TO READ ALL OF THIS
If you are a decent RPer and have been doing it for a while, you already should know most of this stuff. Just go ahead and skip down to the setting descriptions and hop in. However if you have the time, please look at the general rules and conventions we abide by here in Sigil.
The Gaian TOS
You guys know the rules or else you shouldn't be in this thread. No Cybering, No going over the standard rating, and don't do anything that would force me to ban a perfectly good character from this thread.
The Gaia Mainstream is a group of threads and guilds that have all come together under an agreement that basically places every thread within the same world. So when you roleplay in Sigil, you aren't playing in this closed off world separated from everything else, you are playing in an entire world that consists of cities, bars, stores, etc. So that means that potentially, if something big enough happens and effects another thread within the Gaian Mainstream, that it could also effect Sigil as well. Any thread located in the Gaia Mainstream can be traveled to with ease via Sigil's portals and Sigil can serve as a hub to any of these other threads.
Other Sigil Threads
We are thankful to have players who enjoyed our role play so much that they decided to make other RP's that took place within this setting. However, for the sake of making sure that everyone keeps up with the plot. All other Role plays that take place in Sigil but in other threads are considered temporally dissociated from the current plot arc. This means, that while these things do in fact occur in Sigil, they occur at vastly separate times from the current RP, such that they cannot effect the current RP.
The Genre
The time period is modern and the genre is fantasy, but recognize this is Gaia. People still use swords and magic is more prominent than technology such as firearms, even though advanced technology does exist.
This thread is any genre you want it to be. Be creative. The reason Tres made this thread, and we supported it so much, was so that you can do everything you could do in a bar and more. How much mystery can you have in a pub? How many dungeons can you crawl in a club? How many rich ifritii can your rogue rob in a bar? You can do anything in this thread and, to make you comfortable, feel free to even start out in a bar. But please go out of it.
Violence
Violence is to be expected. Don't go overboard because this isn't a battle arena. Many of us here enjoy roleplay fighting, it's the thread creators favourite thing to do, but it is important that plot come first. A fight without reason is soulless. In the case of fighting, the point of the fight isn't to win but to provide entertaining and action packed literature to your readers that furthers the storyline. It is a tool for plot, not a means to an end.
Canon
Want to use your character from another thread? Sure, come on. This thread is a part of an initiative in the roleplaying community to link threads together in a cohesive environment so that a character from another thread (like any other bar in the commerce) can be used, and also if something major happens in another thread this thread could recognize its occurrence. Essentially this could be one thread in a group of many where a wide event takes place. If your character has lofty goals such as becoming a king, raising your own army, being a mass murderer, starting a group of traveling healers, or anything else, it is all possible here.
Semi to Literate - Serious
Yes this is a serious roleplaying thread. We would like your character to mean something here, We want him or her to have aspirations and a real personality. However, if you want to play something comedic or play a funny character you are more than welcome to do so, that all goes towards his or her individualism. We don't expect you to write three pages every post, write however much you think is needed to convey what you want the thread to know.
Power Tier
Characters are allowed to have supernatural abilities and general power levels that are prevalent in settings found in D&D campaign worlds, similar to the one from which the city of Sigil is based. That means that characters should, at the maximum, be beneath epic level tier, by epic level we mean characters who can stand up to cinematic Marvel level heroes. This means that characters who don't have powers, but are athletic, skilled, and have good equipment (or are just really intelligent) ought to stand a chance in a direct confrontation with other characters. Sigil isn't about being the most powerful, it's about building the relationships that grant power in numbers.
Villainy
A quote from a good player
The rules of good villainy and "good" roleplaying on sites like this are at cross purposes.
For example, Villains should always be stronger than the heroes, at least to start with, or pose a more potent threat than the Heroes. However, on Gaia RP people will b***h and demand that you be "fair" and the same level as them.
For example: A villain requires a means to wreck misery and discontent on heroes. Even if they don't succeed at their Evil Plot, they should still make life hell for the Innocents. However, on Gaia people won't let do anything to impact their characters! Burn down their home? No, magic shoe elves appear and completely repair it overnight. Kill their mother? No, some random healer NPC comes by as soon as you leave and pops a miracle in her a**. Steal their wallet? ********, it's Gaia, no one needs or uses money anyway, it's a post scarcity communist utopia.
We in this thread agree with this. Do not come in this thread if your character has nothing to lose, because a man with nothing to lose is invincible. You can be hurt, you have connections that can be broken, you have your own desires that others can impede. Villains are considered (or are supposed to be) more powerful than the heroes, because how else can they pose any type of threat? If somebody tries to rob your character, don't just ignore them and continue what you're doing, but don't just hand over your stuff like you have an unlimited supply. Treat those that threaten you as a threat and roleplay accordingly.
This thread is not for carebears.
Profiles
Don't show them to us. We'd rather learn about your character by roleplaying with you. You're free to do whatever you'd like to this environment, with the exception of wantonly destroying it, but I guess you can try that too... You won't like the results. At least it will make for something to have conversation in character about.
If you want a place to put profiles, you can post them here: Recurring Characters. Here you can learn about NPC's and other PC's, or post profiles for your own PCs or NPCs.
Death
Characters in this thread are important. As such, we'd like their death to mean something. So it is conceivable that the person doing the killing should discuss it with the person being killed. Make the death meaningful and exciting. This is a setting that is full of magic, so having a character be revived isn't impossible, but we would like death to have some kind of meaning, so think long and hard about your character dying.
Shoe Elves
When things are destroyed, lost or broken in Sigil, they remain that way until they have been roleplayed back to there original form/state in a reasonable expanse of time. This thread, different from many other threads, is a place of consequences. Also for this same reason, nothing is free. If your character wants something, even information, they must buy/barter/work for it.
Advertising
Advertising is prohibited, unless it is a character's business within the thread or another thread that the player would like to have connected with this thread in terms of canon. In the case of the latter, the post needs to accompany a good IC post explaining why the characters in this thread should know about it.
OOC
In Sigil there are two OOC's. One which is centered and focused on topics related to the roleplay, The Guildhall, and the other which is casual conversation the Hive. While the Guildhall is moderated by me the Hive is not. If you get into an argument or a heated disagreement in the Hive, I cannot help you. The best advice I can give you is to focus on IC and the plot focused OOC thread.
Have Fun
This thread is meant to do what the others cannot.We want you to enjoy the freedom.
Thomas Bravot (The Merchant Guild) - Primary
Tresondros Ecstuffuan (The United Workers Party) - Secondary
Ursan the Gold (The City of Gold) - Tertiary
Lian Feaorne (Fal'lain Emissary) - Foreign Influence
Arrival _____Sigil is located in the outlands, which is the plane that lies between the prime material planes and the outside planes such as Heaven, Asgard, Hell, and the Abyss. It sits atop an infinitely tall spire, one whose elusive peak has consumed the lives of countless explorers intent on finding it. Scholars debate its very existence, and even those believe it admit it is impossible to reach. The spire is anathema to diefic powers, making its take over even by a god impossible.
_____Sigil itself is said to hover only a mere mile above this peak, and appears as a massive circular open tube to give way to the peaceful outland sky. No man alive can say what manner of color the outside of the ring is, or its material. No creature has ever laid eyes on the exterior of the city, save for the Lady of Pain, the mysterious diefic being who exist largely as a local myth.
_____Due to Sigil's tubular shape if one stands on the inner or outer ring of the ward it is easy to look up and see the vast expanse of that section of Sigil. This along with the cities sole source of light, the amber glow of the infinite outland plane, is some of the first things someone will notice when they first arrive. Sigil has no day or night cycle due to lacking a sun and a moon. The day remains constant and most find this somewhat disorienting and a few even maddening.
_____More so than any other such diverse place, Sigil is relatively safe to travelers, no matter how extreme their philosophies. The reason Sigil is so safe is because the population seems to have a mutual respect despite their being no government. Any individual in Sigil could very well be an elite mage or legendary swordsman and people are loathe to start any personal conflict. Sigil often serves as the launching pad for many exploits and explorations, and many times it is the very site of them. The city is known for its strange inhabitants, services, and distractions.
_____Newcomers often hire guides. Like any large City, Sigil has its bad parts, and wandering without guidance could lead into dark alleys - or worse. A good guide can help travelers find fair-priced inns, places to buy essential materials, and contacts to provide needed information. The market district is so vast that often those who aren't used to it can't find their way around.
______Sigil is a chaotic neutral place in terms of alignment with a population of near seven million people. Its population distribution is a reflection of Gaia Prime (the prime material plane with the most portals to Sigil) itself. There are lots of devils, demons, humans and undead inhabitants. However because of Sigil's connection to the planes there are also a vast amount of elementals and plenty of celestials from the higher planes.
______Sigil may well hold the honor of being the best and worst protected city in the multi-verse. It has no walls or gates so one would think it would be an easy target. However, due to its natural defenses due to being located on an infinitely tall spire it is virtually impossible to get into besides using its portals. On the other hand, just about anybody or anything can walk right into the city whenever he, she, or it pleases through the portals that connect Sigil to the rest of Gaia and the rest of the Multi-verse.
______The portals aren't usually specially marked, ornate gates (they can be), but instead look like average doorways, windows, arches, manholes, fireplaces, wardrobes and the like. Thats because they are just what they are. Any bounded space big enough for somebody to walk or wriggle through might double as a portal to another plane. These portals only become active however with a proper key. The key varies and can
______But a visitor to Sigil need not worry about opening his bedroom closet and accidentally tumbling through the abyss. Most portals need some sort of attunement to the location to activate them, this can be a racial affinity, gesture, state of mind, or some kind of portal key. Without the correct knowledge of utilizing a portal, it is just an open space.Every populated city and town in Gaia Prime would have an easily accessible gate to Sigil that is open to the public.
______Many of the city's natives are more than happy to sell keys to a specific portal, or at least tell you what is and what is not a portal if you haven't already noticed it. (Most Gaian's have the magical affinity to do this on their own.) Because Sigil is widely known around gaia, getting to a portal wherever you are to get to Sigil isn't usually difficult.
Architecture ______In most cities, the architecture depends on three factors: the building materials available , the environment and the dominant style and personality of the locals. Sigil has none of these things, and its architecture demonstrates that fact amply.
______There's nothing to build with in Sigil. The "ground," though hard and sturdy, isn't stone, and it crumbles to dust when excavated. Though earth elemental abilities still function normally. However plants grow from all over gaia and the multiverse and must be taken care of before building. Though despite the grounds fertility, it doesn't work well as a building material in any respects. You can't even dig up sod or mud to make a crude hut. Every piece of material in every building on every street is imported from another plane. This however is understandable considering Sigil is the city of commerce. No two buildings are made from the same materials or designed int he same way.
______Sigil doesn't have much of an environment to shape its architecture, either. It never gets very hot or very cold, as the weather seems to be normalized by the various planar distortions that allow for its numerous gates to other places. Thus, since the inhabitants don't have to worry about their houses surviving the next big storm, they build whatever kind of structures suit their fancy. What's more they build wherever they like with no thought to overall city planning.
______Sigil has no dominant style. The look of the city reflects the fact that its residence come from everywhere. Dwarves build sturdy stone structures next to graceful elven villas. Down the street stands a faithful reproduction of an Aybssal palace, and tucked into a nearby alley is a white heavenly shrine. on top of that, since its so easy to import various things many buildings in Sigil are ramshackle affairs thrown together from parts of a dozen other constructions. The gorgeous darkwood facade of that tavern probably came from the underdark city of menzobarranzan, and its fireplace was probably made from parts imported from the city of brass.
Laws and Society ______Sigil is a very chaotic place with no various group or individual able to take the reigns of command well enough to set up a dominating government. In Sigil's history for the longest time it was controlled by the splintered factions of the guilds until they were destroyed by their own hubris. However the paradigm of warring factions is making a return with the advent of the United Workers Party. The thing that keep the city safe from outside forces is the fact that their are too many powerful beings in Sigil who's bread and butter depend on Sigil running smoothly for anyone to make a move that disrupts that and remain safe for long. Sigil's richest occupants, The Merchant Guild employs large groups of mercenaries to create an army that stands as one of the greatest in the multiverse. Woe is the man who gains the ire of both a lord of hell AND a principality of heaven.
______Just because Sigil lacks a central government does not mean that it is without protection. Countless powerful individuals have high stakes within the city of doors in terms of trade. For that reason, the factions often control small militia's that keep order in the city. These groups own and control much of the business and trade that goes on in Sigil and they cannot afford to have any disruptions. Sigil often employs a combination of the best supernatural and technological protection the multiverse has to offer.
Time _____A single day cycle represents one rotation of the Torus shaped city. A single rotation takes 24 hours. In real time, it requires two weeks for a single rotation. All scenes must conclude at the end of each two week cycle and a new day begins at the beginning of every two weeks.
______The general events of each day will be summarized recorded and added to the plot recap below. Certain scenes take longer than 2 weeks to complete. Such scenes would include large battle scenes and particular complex dialogue scenes that feature a large group of players. When you feel that your scene may take longer than two weeks to conclude, please submit an extension request form to Tres Ecstuffuan.
______When an extension has been submitted, the thread will be alerted of it. Typically extensions do not exceed one additional week of time. During the extension, no other scenes can be started that take place in the next day. Please be reasonable and careful about extension request.
The Market Ward _____The Market Ward is the most popular section of Sigil bar none. The market ward is a giant bazaar, mall, and shopping center as vast as the eye can see. Even rows of stalls and shops go on seemingly forever. Nearly anything can be purchased within the Market Ward.
The Guildhall Ward _____The guildhall Ward serves as the domain of the middle class of Sigil. Many merchants who hawk their wares in the market ward during the day sleep here during night and many who deal in services (rather than selling finished goods) live and work here as well. The guildhall ward also houses many racial neighborhoods, from the transplanted halfling hill of curly foot, to the subterranean housing of the drow, to the githyanki community of Git'riban.
The UWP Campaign Center
This is the center of the grass roots movement known as the United Workers Party. Run by a council of five, this group advocates for Sigil's working population. This group began in the planar colleges within the city. Many young students work at the recruitment effort, protected by a combination of hardened mercenaries and dedicated officials within the party. The six story building is a wide and squat glass and concrete.
The Enforcer Training Center
The Enforcer training Center consist of three buildings located in the southern edge of the guildhall ward. Two of the three buildings are large warehouses, that hold two hangers that contain supplies, armaments and transport vehicles. The main building was converted from a large fitness center that went out of business and is being used to train new recruits into Enforcers, meant to act as the cities party sponsored police force. The upper floor of the training center contains offices where the logistical issues concerning fielding Enforcers in the city are handled.
The Peoples Memorial Power Plant
The peoples memorial power plant was a facility under construction behind a massive enchanted wall that consist of numerous manned perches. The power plant is heavily guarded by UWP Enforcers and entry is restricted to specific individuals save for those with clearance. Currently Fal'lain Corp is assisting the party with making sure that the power plants state of the art generators, donated by Tamashii industries are used safely.
The Blacker Swan
Once ran by the Courtesan Mistress Lovi, the Black Swan was the go-to place within the Ladies Ward, a high-class brothel. Upper-crust drug den. A place of high-stakes games of chance where millions were lost and won on the chance of the draw. A once bright red shinning beacon within the city. A beacon that had to be forced out. Through many tribulations and trying times, it was destroyed, rebuilt, firebombed and rebuilt again until one to many of 'dancers' were viciously murdered...and Mistress Lovi left town leaving the pieces to rot.
Some time later, Thomas Bravot, Head Librarian of the Bravot Library and Leader of the Merchant Guild Council, the default rulers of Sigil Proper bought the land and began the rebuilding process. Finding the old girls once under Lady Lovi, he used her well-wishes and name to replenish the ranks of dancers, bartenders, security and the like, offering a degree of safety unimagined in the day before HARD TIMES.
Now offering new and intriguing prospects to the customer, the new Blacker Swan has quietly opened once more, using word-of-mouth rather than a advertising campaign.
Points of interest:
It is now three stories tall with a sub-basement and a trio of penthouses set aside for Thomas Bravot, the Operator of the Establishment and one left aside for top-teir clients.
Security:
Bravot has moved a Greater Basilisk and a Beholder into the sub-sub-basement and placed them in stasis for dealing with more troublesome issues. It has been placed with multiple layers of fire-protection and has contracted out to the Black Nine to fill out the regular day-to-day security.
The Fal'lain Arena
This is a massive sporting venue created by the Fal'lain Corporation to celebrate the reclamation of Sigil. The Arena was created with influences from the Roman Colosseum with a modern twist. All throughout the stadium are artist renderings of the people of Sigil taking back there home from the monsters of the planes. The Fal'lain Arena can be modified to host all sorts of sporting events including football games, hockey games and tournament fighting.
The Bravot Company Library
Also known as the Sigil Library, is the largest collection of information in Sigil. This massive, multifloored skyscraper is one of the tallest buildings in the guildhall ward and is a repository for information concerning subjects spanning the entire multiverse. Each of the 85 different floors contain a different subject of information ranging from language to history to magic and each floor is massive in its own right. The Library is patrolled by an elite guard of hexblades and private military company and the electronic databases are state of the art combining magic and technology to create an almost impenetrable system. Due to the Library being so state of the art, it is somewhat costly to access but it is often worth it as almost anything worth knowing can be found here.
PJ's Coffee Shop
This is one of the most popular Coffee Shops in Sigil as it serves coffee made from beans harvested in the feywild, a land of natural and widespread extreme magic. The caffeine content and taste of PJ's coffee is second to none and is a regular hang out for many of Sigil's teenagers. Also the Coffee Shop is known for his low key jazzy atmosphere with its massive lounge area full of soft leather bound couches.
The Five Rings Buddhist Temple
The Five Rings symbolize the five major elements often seen, and used by both good, and evil forces.
Fire
Wind
Water
Earth
Lightning
The shrine itself is humble, and simple. One hundred red arch ways lead up stone stairs to a clearing in a nice wooded area with four stone laterns following a stone walk way to the shrine itself. Sitting inside of the shrine is a statue of a Buddhist Figure holding the Vajra, and a string with five orbs each has a ancient symbol of the elements.
Sitting in front of the humble shrine is a box with bars for money to be tossed in. Above a rope connected to three bells.
The Ladies Ward _____Going counterclockwise around the ring of Sigil, the next stop is The Lady's Ward (and yes, the locals can hear you capitalize all three of those words). The lady of Pain doesn't actually live here, but the rich citizens and most of Sigil's temples lie within this ward. The Lady's Ward has power, wealth, and majesty, and knows how to show it off. The entire ward of the city is filled with brilliant affluent castles and mansions. Residents travel in expensive futuristic vehicles or glistening magical carriages.
The Crafty Mutt
The Crafty mutt was nothing short of medieval in appearance. A place with a large hearth against the far wall, a few tables scattered about, plenty of chairs and couches placed haphazardly around the place...And of course the most beautiful part...the Bar lay on the opposite side of the room from the hearth. Simple but fully stocked an functional. Of course behind it lay the kitchens where all manner of food was made, and a small hallway led to the three rooms they had available.
"Haunted" Mansion - Ladies Ward
For as long as anyone in the Ladies Ward can remember the "Haunted" Mansion has remained vacant, or at the very least it seems so. Most in the Ladies ward have an unnatural fear for the place, despite the fact that it is one of the largest and best kept places in the entire area. Some claim they see demons moving on the property at night, and that people that have wandered onto the lot at any time of day simply disappear. For the more "upstanding" citizens of the Ward who consider such an empty building a blight on both society and humanity they have tried to aquire the permits and rights to the building through every form of corrupt, loop-hole exploiting treachery they have in their collective uptight books. They have not been able to do so.
The reason behind this seems to be that who ever owns, or owned, the mansion had even more money, connections, and terrified enemies in high places than the collective, which should be physically impossible. Bills have always been payed in advance, and packages still occasionally arrive on the scene. For the smarter citizens they have also gone through the trouble of hiring mystics and magic men to try and find out why every one is scared whitless of the place. They start screaming about an "evil presence", take the money and run. Whatever the case may be, through neither legal nor illegal means has anyone managed to take down the house.
The Dolphin Club
The Dolphin Club is a night club settled in the Ladies' Ward, meant to attract both the wealthy and the middle class with its luxurious setting. Anyone is welcome, however, as their income mostly comes from the purchases made inside, though there is still an entry fee for getting in. The interior of the club has a bar, stage, and the seating area rested between it, with various interesting designs to its furniture and couches lined with comfortable fur covers. It is rumored to be run by the Triads, but no one has given any attempt to find out, as the current public owner of this club is a man who has been living in Sigil's Ladies Ward for quite some time by the name of Arnold McNeil. And it is through his name that its existence was acknowledge by most in the Ward, and throughout Sigil itself.
Red Dragon Alchemy
Like most high scale potion shops in the Ladies Ward, this three story building is no different. However, the potions are made through Alchemical means, producing from Supplementary potions, to the most dangerous of poisons that Alchemy can create. Like most buildings in the Ladies Ward, this building in itself holds breathtaking and elegant beauty befitting its area. The building itself consists of red and gold, and the sign above the door is that of a Rampant Red Dragon, wrapped around a Two Headed Hawk. Though many who do not know of Eiji's past would bot understand the meaning of this, but those who do would recognize that the Two Headed Hawk was his old family symbol. In essence it represents his separation of the ties he has to his family.
Upon entry the first thing to effect the senses would be the smell. Like all Alchemical Labs, the smell of potions, and poisons being created fill the room, though not necessarily dangerous, if one is not used to it, they would experience a small amount of disorientation that would quickly fade. The entrance is where the shop lies is stocked with potions and poisons, and standard Alchemical equipment and books for novices. Despite Eiji's already accumulated wealth as one of the leading Gaian authorities on Cybernetics development, running his own company, he has made this shop simply to escape his daily routine, despite his love for cybernetics.
Above the shop would be Eiji's living quarters, it consists of one room, and has a Japanese flair too it. The floor is made of Tatami, and in the closet is his rolled up Futon. In the center of the room is a low table, and cushions on each side of the table for guests, usually sitting in the center is a laptop. To the left of the room, sitting in the wall is a TV. Hanging from the walls is many Japanese landscape pictures. The room in itself is simple, due to it only being his living quarters, and he rarely invites guests, Eiji's personal life is not as high scale as one would imagine, but rather modest. The small kitchen is simple as well, nothing special about it.
Above that room would be Eiji's study, this study is complete with a comfortable couch which could fit three people, and a chair. Each one is made of the highest quality for comfort while reading. By the furniture are lamps that allow one to read, but are dim enough not to damage any of the older books. The amount of books within the study could make up a small personal library, most of them old family records, newspapers, books ranging from fiction to scientific formulas. Though it would be unlikely any other person but Eiji himself would be in this room, as it is his private study, and for the care of his books he would not risk them being damaged.
The most important part of the shop, where all the potion making is done, is beneath it, in a secure, reinforced room, the entrance blocked by the counter, and a door that requires a code. This is where Eiji's Alchemical equipment is, ranging from the usual Mortar and Pestle, to Retort, and Alembic, to a Calcinator, all of the highest quality and make. This room too holds many books, held in glass cases to protect them from damages that might be caused from the making of Alchemical potions and poisons, each containing either the formula for transmutation circles, and ingredients. Despite having his living quarters above, Eiji is either in his lab, or the shop itself above.
The shop is open normally around the clock, though it is run by Eiji, it is closed on special occasions, which might be frequent due to his tendency to wander, his mercenary work, or collecting rare ingredients himself. Though an android that he build, named Nova runs the shop while he is away.
The Hive _____The hive was once a slum city that was known for its dark and often sinister denizens. In truth this was where the poor of the city flocked when they were refused by everyone else. However, those who were down on their luck did not meet the end of their suffering within the hive. The hive fell victim to a invasion of necromancers under the control of the Grapple Corp. CEO Kyle Baker, as a giant scheme that was ultimately a cover up for an illegitimate marriage by the heir of a ladies ward financial empire.
_____For numerous cycles the Hive remained a flattened wasteland full of undead and criminals whom have fled society. However, recently a deal was struck between the Merchant Guild, the United Workers Party, and a Powerful necromancer named Ursan to herd the undead in the Hive into one location so that the land could be reclaimed. The land ceded to Ursan for this purpose has been raised as a golden city and a sovereign nation for the Undead, lead by the Necromancer himself.
Empyrae
The Golden Necropolis
The Hive was once filled with a plethora of uncontrolled, unruly, and unkempt undead. One corner of this land has been reinvigorated, and what was once a bleak wasteland has become something more through the use of magic. Undead of various backgrounds have come together under a single king to carve out a land and a new life; a new life in Empyrae.
Verdant grasslands surround a massive city-castle. Many miles high, many more wide, and made of the same white-gold stone, this castle manages to fit the thousands of undead within it's halls and walls with no problem. It's open steppes and windows allow the air to gracefully blow through large curtains, and an inner radiance seems to shine from within this new city.
However, for all the beauty this city gives off, it caters almost specifically to the undead and the cohorts within that field. As noted, it's a literal necropolis, and as such, attracts the undead, demonic, and otherwise inclined from across the multiverse. The population is steadily growing due to the prime location of Empyrae; Sigil being the nexus of the multiverse allows refuges to literally flow into the city-state. This is not to say that living people are not allowed within the city. There is a small minority of living, and much like the rest of Sigil, it is extremely diverse.
Laws and General Society
Surprisingly, unlike the rest of Sigil, Empyrae possesses a form of government. There is a firm dictatorship, headed by the creator of this city. Ursan the Gold, a famous Lich, heads this government from a castle on top of the city-castle. Other government individuals live around the city-castle, keeping the city in a state of motion and renewal at a constant rate.
Among the government institutions, the most important include the Glorious Inquisition, The Lexicus, and The Marchantium. Where the Glorious Inquisition acts as a police force, The Lexicus acts as a center of knowledge and The Marchantium serves as the merchant quarter and financial institution of Empyrae.
Law and Order is a very important aspect of this society. Where the rest of Sigil possesses no real form of government, Empyrae has a strong form of government, of which obedience is required. Laws are detailed below, and in most cases, breaking these laws results in death or some similar punishment.
Note that this list is not comprehensive nor in full. A large amount of common sense runs in this field, but nevertheless, these laws mentioned are likely the most important or are otherwise setting specific.
Murder is considered illegal. The punishment, irrevocably, is death. This law coincides with the contract allowing Empyrae to exist, wherein people coming over from Sigil to commit murder of either Empyraen citizens or otherwise will be handled by Empyraen authorities. Empyraen citizens committing murder in Sigil are handled by a task force between Empyraen authorities and Sigil authorities.
Theft is considered illegal, and in most cases, likewise results in death of the criminal.
Citizenship is a defining rule. One must sacrifice citizenship in other lands upon taking the creed of Empyrae. In all but extreme cases, citizens are required to live within Empyrae or it's satellites.
Citizens are usually required to undergo what's known as naturalization. The undead will give up their free will in order to live here, but find this sacrifice affecting them very little, as it is merely in place to make the population content and easily controlled. Living people sacrifice a portion of their will in giving their Fealty to Ursan, which is detailed in roleplay.
A business license is required to operate businesses in Empyrae. These are up for application, which can take a few weeks, or can be bought from the government in order to immediately operate within the city. All import services are required to own a license.
Opening portals within Empyrae is considered illegal, and a general affront to the state. Tampering with existing portals is likewise illegal. These acts will result in imprisonment or death depending upon the breach.
The Glorious Inquisition acts as the major police force within Empyrae. It largely acts as a standing army, an investigative service, and largely a form of protection for Empyrae itself. At any time, over 1,000 capable warriors, mages, spellswords and people of that nature make up the Glorious Inquisition. Both living and undead members of society are allowed to join after a strict session known as the Proving. Information concerning the Glorious Inquisition will largely be held in secret, and members rarely digress more information than provided here.
The Church
-Information Pending-
Portals
Empyrae uses portals that were open within the original confines of the Hive, if they managed to survive it's destruction. Multiple other portals have been opened with time. Outside of these major portals, a garrison of sorts is set up to allow most travelers to make it into Sigil Proper or to Empyrae itself, and this process usually involves a series of questions. People who originally intended to travel to Sigil, rather than Empyrae, are quickly taken to their intended destination at no charge.
Within the City, a single portal stands as incredibly important, and as thus, is protected with top priority. This portal is set within the exact middle of the City-Castle, and ultimately leads to the Negative Energy Plane. It acts as an anchor for the city, and with time, will allow the city to grow as it's population increases. Mages will find powerful enchantments upon it, allowing only a select few to harness it's power both inside and outside of the city-castle.
Protection
Empyrae is naturally concerned with protecting itself and it's inhabitants. As such, portals that would allow a massive amount of people in and out can only be opened by a small amount of government officials, and many protective measures are set in place to ensure the continued existence of the land.
Perhaps the most important of these measures is a powerful spell-ward, known as The Veil. It is a powerful warding that allows entrance into the city only through certain preordained entrances. It also protects from outside influences, including spells and physical attack. In the case of Sigil's destruction, The Veil will transport the entire city to The Negative Energy plane, regardless of outside influence otherwise preventing the transport.
The Veil is inherently powered by a series of artifacts hidden around the city and the portal leading to the Negative Energy Plane, making it incredibly difficult to subterfuge this defensive measure.
Furthermore, The Glorious Inquisition acts to ensure the continued existence of Empyrae. In times of need it can act as a small army of capable warriors that can react in order to protect the city. Otherwise, it acts as a service to prevent threats from toppling the order. Otherwise, members of the city, the undead at least, can be easily mobilized into a larger army.
City Protectors
This is a semi-detailed list of watchmen and defenders within the city.
650 Glorious Inquisition; Warriors
300 Glorious Inquisition; Mages
50 Glorious Inquisition; Other
400 General Policing Forces
~7,800 Mobilized Troops
Unit Information: Glorious Inquisition; Mages Specialty: Special Troops; Magical Combat; Investigative Services Difficulty Level: Medium-Hard
Unit Information: Glorious Inquisition; Other Specialty: Special Troops; Extreme Combat; Investigate Services; Special Services Difficulty Level: Hard-Extremely Hard
Unit Information: General Policing Forces Specialty: General Troops; Simple Combat; Executive Services Difficulty Level: Easy-Medium
Unit Information: Mobilized Troops Specialty: Overwhelming Numbers; Simple Combat; Simple Services Difficulty Level: Medium
Hotspots
The Bazaar
One of the upper levels of the Castle-City is dedicated exclusively to a massive shopping center. The Undead run many merchant shops, both inside buildings and open stalls. Many intelligent undead and the undead which have regained their sense of self make their living here, and it is very easy to find a wide arrangement of everyday items here.
The Lexicus
A wide spanning building that sits on the upper-most level of the City-Castle. It is filled with an extensive field of books, holo-disks, and other sources of knowledge. It is largely centered on the study of magic, and many mages come to the city to learn or pick things up from The Lexicus
The Empyraen College of Magic
Slowly growing in renown, the city boasts a college dedicated to the study of magic. The cities head, Ursan the Golden Lich, acts as headmaster. Many powerful mages have been invited to act as teachers in the college.
Battle Corps
Less known than the College of Magic, this lesser school teaches many forms of combat to those who wish to learn.
Sixty-Six College
A college and set of schools that caters to the population, ensuring that the undead and the living can learn together. It functions to bring the undead to higher levels of intelligence overall, and thus far, has proved itself incredibly viable. Applications are almost always accepted, and the college is seeking more teachers.
The Negative Energy Fields
After gaining the passes to enter, one can freely enter the lands Ursan has created within the otherwise featureless Negative Energy Plane. Here, the living are given charms to protect them from the volatile essence of the plane, while the dead are allowed to roam freely.
Within these fields, a high wall has been erected and the magical phenomenon known as The Veil extends to protect the inhabitants. The surface area within the Negative Energy Plane extends hundreds of miles, and construction is almost always going on to slowly fill this new land with homes and other forms of amenities a normal city would own.
The Golden Castle
On the exact top of Empyrae, a large tower stands. This tower is dedicated to housing Ursan the Golden Lich, his personal guard, and people he finds close enough to merit more than the living spaces built all over the rest of the interior city. Here, artifacts, financial documents and items, and a store of other important things reside. It's largely kept locked from the rest of the city, and only the people with high level clearance can enter and exit freely.
Durem is a wonderful thread that offers a more contemporary setting to play in. It is home to some of my personal favorite roleplayers. I would definitely recommend checking them out.
Grimwood - The forest of Fantasy
Just Another Forest RP is anything but. These guys have done a really great job of doing a long term consistent plot. The RP is a fantasy setting that fits a lot of different type of concepts.
The Gaia Mainstream
Gaia Mainstream is the glue that holds Sigil with every other thread within the mainstream. This thread helps organized massive events that touch every thread within the maintream.
Children of the Damned
There are gates in Sigil that lead into the dread plane of Carceri, and here the descendants of mythic rogues and evildoers have made a life in their parents prison world. Sometimes these dark descendants find there way into the city of doors and trouble is soon to follow.
The Lu-Bu Dojo - Dawn of the New Age
The ultimate training ground for gaia's best fighters. Lu-Bu is located in Durem, Gaia and is regaining its old time popularity.
The Black Cherry
A bar located in the guildhall ward in Sigil. Less popular amongst the heroic types, its better if you want a more chill experience without having to worry about somebody trying to fight for the honor of there woman or something. The Black Cherry is located here.
Scarlet - The Medieval Fantasy World of Gaia
This thread is one of the few threads in the commerce that decided to go outside of the status quo of being a bar, club, or pub and I appreciate that. So I wanted to make a partnership in which our worlds existed in the same universe, so that when something happened in the world of Sigil major enough, it would be felt in the kingdom of Ilnalia.
The Yard - Where only the Strong Survive
Somewhere near Durem of Gaia Prime is The Yard. A massive junkyard and home to one of gaia's most feared gangs, the Front of Armament. The gang is said to have some kind of connection to a winner of the world famous Heaven or Hell Dzan Straea. Dzan Straea is also a distributor of off-world drugs that are popular in Sigil due to its few extraterrestrial gates.
Gaea - The Feywild of Gaia
Connected to Sigil is gaia's sister plane of Gaea. Here there is a crisis as supernatural energies run wild and inept due to a strange mist. Something is strange going on, so be careful.
Aekea - The Industrial City
Aekea is a city in Gaia that seems to have been literally built for the purpose of housing most of Gaia's industrial facilities. However despite this most of its wealth is usually exported and it is quite poor. Because of the poverty various criminal elements have sprang out all across the city.
New Orleans: The City of Jazz
This thread was apparently inspired by Sigil and offers a location that more close to home and somewhat more familiar.
_____Sigil is a place that is very easy to find your way to completely on accident. This presents an opportunity to allow players to hop into the roleplay very easily without needing to go through any storyline catch up, setting descriptions, or profile submissions.
____If you are looking for an easy way to join the role play, simply write a post about your character stepping through a gate or roleplay. Me or another more acclimated player in the thread will reply by Dungeon Mastering the scene, allowing the new player to learn about the role play by interacting and exploring the setting, chatting with NPC's and running into other players.
_____This can be anything. This can be walking into the bathroom after waking up in the morning for work. It can be someone opening a wardrobe to get out their clothes. It can be someone opening the refrigerator for a midnight snack. It can be someone walking into a chapel for a funeral. Anything, as long as it has to do with walking through a gate, portal, or door.
Meditation wasn't an easy thing to do in Gaia Prime.
Tres's mind drew upon the energy sources his body provided in an effort to produce a special store of psionic power. In doing this his mind reached a higher consciousness in which one needed to focus on bringing there mind, body and soul into a state of unity in which one could be so in tune with their body that they could utilize the often untapped potential of the human mind. Tres's body was special and so it lent itself well to this feat, as it was not one that was tired easily. However the focus that this process required was often extremely difficult to grasp when in the Sigil.
The place literally throbbed with arcane energies that were as tangible as the non-existent air conditioning in this place. As Tres sat in silence his face twitched in irritation as he struggled to achieve the necessary level of internal focus as his mind caught waft of a enthralling spell that somebody somewhere in the city cast or the abyssal energies of a drow priestess as she communed with her spider god.
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