Sigil, the city of doors

Don't get lost

“Everybody wants to move Sunward - that’s the dream, but there’s a reason nobody actually does it. And when someone does, there’s a reason they come running back.” Oda the Strong

“Yeah that’s right, they call me Oda the Strong” she flexes her scrawny 15 year old arms as she looks up at you. “I’ll be your tour guide for the day. Please ignore my sister Nii, she’s pathetic and everything she says is lies.”

True to her sister’s description, Nii stands behind her sister, rotated 90 degrees away from the group, hiding behind her own deep purple pigtails and clutching a stuffed tarrasque. She says nothing.

## Survival

“Let’s get you oriented first, so that you stand more than a babe’s chance in the Nine Hells of ever finding your way back. The central spire will be your landmark - it’s visible from almost every road in the city. Remember it’s pointing up from our perspective, and if you look out to the horizon from here you can make out the mountains near Bedlam. If we were further up you’d see its unique dome shape. Another landmark to look for is the Cave of the Freefolk on the spire itself - it’s distinct Kobold statues aren’t hard to make out, try to remember the angle we’re looking at them from.”

Oda points as she speaks, but she goes through the landmarks so fast it’s hard to see where exactly these things are.

“You can always ask someone which direction the Nowhere God’s Respite is, just don’t go through any unfamiliar doors if they tell you that” Nii pipes in this small nugget of wisdom, probably only audible to you, standing at the front of the crowd, but probably useful nonetheless.

Oda repeats her sister’s advice, but louder: “You can always make someone show you where the Nowhere God’s Respite is - everyone’s been here one time or another. Now, make sure you keep your hands inside the party at all times, cause we’re rolling out!”

## Discovery

By the light of the central halo Oda leads the pack through the streets of Spireward, towards the large district.

“So some of you came here through magical means. You may have realized at this point that was a bad move. Magic doesn’t work properly in Sigil, unless you have the proper inclination.” To show off, Oda summoned some Dancing Lights, an unremarkable cantrip in any other circumstance, but you know her boasts to be true - your party’s casters have been unable to cast any spells ever since you’ve arrived, much to their dismay. “The best way to get into the city is from one of the Gate Towns. They’ll have stable, identified portals which can take you right to the city, and you’ll most likely be able to exit in that same place and still have a sense of where you are. Judging from your adventurous appearances, many of you come from some wealth. I’d recommend you buy an up-to-date portal map every time you arrive at the city, and any day which you plan on travelling.” Oda paused to grab an Elf in his early 200s who was dashing past. “You can get a map from any of the runners moving throughout the city for the low price of…” she pauses while holding out her hand behind her back, likely only visible to your trained eyes. You see a gold glint, and she continues “5 gold pieces. Trust me, it’s well worth the travel time it can save you, no matter whether you’re hopping out to the store or looking to loot the City of Brass.”

## The locals

“I notice we have a few fliers in the group. I want to caution you now about checking out the caves in the Spire. Aside from the lift and the Visitor’s Den, you’ll find the residents quite inhospitable. The Kobolds are under the protection of our Fair Lady, and she won’t have their homes disturbed. Rightly so, they deserve a little peace in the afterlife after the way those dragons are always treating them.” Oda stares directly at you “and they surely won’t appreciate seeing your kind around here, after dragons, adventurers are the leading cause of death among their race.”

Nii pokes her head out from behind her sister’s long pink ponytail “if you find some in the Visitor’s Den, offer them cookies. They love them.” The smile on her face as she says this lightens the group’s mood more than the glowing halo in the center of the donut shaped city.

Oda chimes in again “You’ll find a number of other caves on the Spire, but they’re treated more like homes than roads. Make sure you get invited in by someone or have a very good reason to be there before you make a fool of yourself and end up dead and lost in the Outlands. Also, if you do die, head away from the spire - you’ll eventually reach a gate town. You won’t find many portals at the base of the Spire, and it’s unlikely any you do find would lead you here.”

“The locals in Spireward are pretty chill, as long as you stay near the surface levels. The further down you go into the Heart the more dangerous it gets, and the less people are used to Portal Hoppers like yourselves. Also if you see the Lady of Pain, don’t look at her. In fact, just run. Hop into the nearest portal and hope she didn’t notice you. Sometimes she’s in a good mood and she’ll sign her autograph, but sometimes she’s not and…” Oda clutches her left arm. You can’t see anything underneath the frills on her sleeves. “This is the Large District. You’ll find it’s home to all our resident Goliaths, Giants, Centaurs - anything that would have a hard time fitting through a 6 by 2 and a half foot door frame. Treat them with respect and move out of their way and you won’t find any problems here. Across the Spire you can make out the Small District. It’s the same there, just watch your step. They’re quite friendly there, but also protective, since all the local children go there to play.”

“If you walked to the edge of Spireward and stepped off, you’d find yourself in Sunward. They’re a pretentious bunch, but if you want to learn how to do magic in the city you’ll probably want to go to one of their Universities. That’s also where all the fancy-pants operas and stuff are, if you’re not cool enough to see me fight a bear with my bare hands in the Pits.” She flexes again. It’s hard to tell whether she’s joking or whether she’s indeed a skilled fighter, but she seems to command respect from the locals, who go out of their way to avoid trampling your little group.

## Mysteries

Oda continues the tour, turning into an alleyway which ends in a staircase.

“This staircase will lead us to the Throat of the city - that’s what we call the first layer inward if you’re traveling from Spireward to Sunward. The second layer is the Lungs, the third is the Heart, the fourth is the Brain, and the 5th is the Nerves, and then you’re Sunward. I wouldn’t recommend traveling through the Heart unless you’re very well prepared, and you should be so prepared that you wouldn’t even consider asking me questions. Also, don’t hire a guide, they’ll mug you and leave you for dead, and you’ll never see them again.”

“That’s not to mention the dangers other than muggers and extra-planar bandits. The portals in the inner layers often lead to more dangerous and wild areas of their connecting planes. Sphinxes, constructs, dragons, and other defenders of areas find their way through the ever-changing portal landscape of the City of Doors and consider such a portal a threat. It’s not unusual for them to travel through and defend the area on our side of the portal, and many of them can kill you before you even realize they’re a threat. What’s worse, sometimes these dynamic portals close while they’re on our side, and these lost and confused monsters wander our streets, slaughtering whoever they come across, until the city guards hire some brave adventurers like me and my sister to capture them and put them back where they belong” Oda winks at you while Nii tries to hide even further behind her sister. She then pulls aside the curtain and presents any Dungeon Masters with the following table, to balance for your party by adding more (or removing) supports.

“If you do travel to the inner layers, make sure you have your portal map - wherever you’re going, it’s best you get there quick before your portal closes and you have to start your adventure all over again.”

At this moment, a puddle of blue slime falls from the ceiling, landing in front of Oda and Nii and reshaping itself into the form of a cat.

“Hiss! Bark! Fear the mighty powers of Jelly Cat!”

Nii bends down and starts scratching behind his ears “I’m so afraid! What a horrendous and terrifying creature! Surely I’ll never make it. Oda, save me!”

Oda whispers a few words to the tiny slime ball, hands him a bow-tie, and continues walking, leaving Nii behind. “There’s also a lot of business opportunities in the lower layers, for those who are so inclined. The City of Glass is one of the few places in the Outer Planes built by denizens and not fabricated into existence by magic or gods. This creates a need for raw and refined goods, but as you might have noticed, there are terrifying and horrible creatures which merchants need to be protected from.”

“The Kobolds of the Spire are the closest and most reliable source of materials, and their main representative, Sni-Ki Who is a Dwarf, can be found in the small district by the Funicular. Just humor him, because out of anyone in the city, Sni-Ki can get you the best magic items, usually for a great trade.”

“The lower layers are also full of scammers. I’d be especially careful of any children you find who are out of place - present company excluded, of course. The urchins around here are known to mislead naive travelers into portals which lead to traps - ambushed on the Plane of Ooze, the eternal crushing pressure of The Dark Depths, or even, horror of horrors, onto the Plane of Confection.”

## Politics

Oda leads you all back up to Spireward, as you climb the stairs Oda stops in her tracks. “Through this door, quickly!” You glance up the stairs as you make a mad dash to follow the sisters, only to see a glinting eye staring at you through a cloak made of blades. Her face contorts into a wry smile as you dive onto a grassy field.

“That was close,” Oda says as she dusts herself off, “at least we’re still in the Outlands.” You look around and you can see the donut-shaped city of Sigil floating above the clouds, the Spire rising up to meet it. “Sigil is located at the center of the plane, so walking away from it would get us to a Gate-Town pretty quickly. Judging from the beautiful planes, we must be near Excelsior, the Gate-Town which leads to Mount Celestia. They’re always trying to make the place all goody-goody so that the town will slip planes - I’m not really sure why they need to take the outposts, but I guess it’s a point of pride for them or a rite of passage or something. Whatever, another one pops up after they leave anyway.”

Nii opens up her bag and brings out a large blanket, placing it on the ground. After everyone is seated on it, she summons some pastries and tea. “The Lady of Pain is the grand arbiter of the Outlands, and some say she even assists with disputes between the other planar rulers. It’s best to not get on her bad side.”

Oda repeats what Nii said, even though everyone heard her perfectly fine. “It’s basically anything goes within the Outlands, but Sigil has a few unbreakable rules. Obviously, you can’t harm the Lady or work to undermine her leadership. She has a few treaties like the one with the Kobolds which apply to everyone on the plane - for example, demons and devils are not allowed to use the portals to move forces around the outer planes. There was some wizard man she schemed with to come up with that one - Morpho-Kaiden or something?”

“She also forbids all worship of herself. It’s pretty loosely defined though, so feel free to praise her city and put her on a shirt or whatever, just don’t pray to her or you might end up instantly flayed or worse - lost in a demiplane forever like that one guy, Vecna.”

“Speaking of him, gods and other beings of immense power are prevented from entering the city in any form, and their agents, although allowed to operate otherwise within the city, will find themselves flayed to death if they attempt to bring their god to the plane.”

“There are only a few places of worship in Sigil. It's not that the Lady forbids it, or that the populace is particularly areligious, but with portals nearby that can take you directly to the plane of your favored deity, why bother worshiping at your local temple? There are a number of smaller churches built around religiously united communities, but diversity is the law in the city, so such churches are few. There do exist some opulent and beautiful churches along the outermost edge of Sunward.”

Oda taps her mouth a few times, looking up at the sky “Other things to note… The Merchants guild runs auctions on new portal locations, with a majority of the money going to the old property owner. In the situation where the new property owner wishes to handle the sale of their new asset themselves, they often disappear or end up fleeing the city.”

“The Hidden Blades are a major criminal organization operating out of the lower layers in Sigil. They work to keep their more impactful jobs secret, but organized mugging and robberies are commonplace - don’t worry, you’re safe with us and the Nowhere God’s Respite. Small skirmishes between them and mercenaries or guards sometimes spring up, but the Hidden Blades know that large-scale conflict will incur action from the Lady of Pain, so violence is kept to a minimum.”

“Dragonsbreath, Hunter's Mark, and They Who Have Fought Well are the three major mercenary guilds. Dragonsbreath often works with the wealthy folk of Sunward and with planar emissaries, whereas Hunter's Mark and They work in Spireward, where they have a few barracks and control a few blocks of territory each. Both of these organizations work for-hire as bounty Hunters, guards, and escorts throughout the city. Hunter's Mark is renowned for their bounty wall, where bounties tens of thousands of years old still hang on their wall and are memorized by initiates. In contrast, They are the only group of the three willing to escort merchants throughout the Outlands as a whole, operating as well in many of the towns throughout the plane.”

While Oda speaks, Nii puts down her teacup and glides through the portal. “All clear!” She says, reappearing and taking your teacup.

“Another curiosity of the city is the way gravity works,” Oda gestures at the city above us as we walk back through the portal, “aside from the Heart, where all the gravity on the City points to, the buildings are a pretty clear indication of which way is ‘down’. By the way, if you ever fall off the city, like if you’re trying to fly and then stop, it’s literally an infinite drop. Don’t worry too much though, you won’t fall forever, you’ll just be teleported to a random place on a random plane and probably get murdered there and end up back in the Outer Planes. Neat, huh!?” Oda glances playfully around the tour group.

While she leads us back around to the Inn we started at, she reiterates the importance of knowing the locations of portals. “It’s important not only for travelers, but for the locals as well. There’s no natural water or food in Sigil, so it all has to come up through a portal or otherwise be created or summoned by those with the proper connection to the magical currents of the city. If you have a favored cuisine, it’s not uncommon to pop into your favorite country and grab a bite and then head on back. Depending on the portal, there’s usually a very small chance that it has moved over the small amount of time you’re off the plane. Again, and I can’t stress this enough, this is another reason you absolutely want to make sure you have an up-to-date map. That way, even if it does change, you know where the nearest one is!”

After they drop us off at the Nowhere God’s Respite, Oda and Nii depart, giggling to each other and holding hands. That tour was almost educational, but it leaves so many of your questions unanswered? Why not ask them in the comments below?