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"Maybe if we weren't hip-deep mucking up the machinery of the Spheres we could see how balanced and perfect creation is -- and how unnecessary _you_ are."
--Sect Leader Milarsta of the Equillibrium
Faction Philosophy: These folks are ardent believers in the balance of the
multiverse-- and the reason life ain't perfect is because us mortals are
mucking up the machinery of life by being off the Prime. This might sound
like the rilmani to some berks, but bloods in the know have seen that the
Equillibrium is a barmy bunch who have taken their thinking pretty far afield.
Plaguers don't just keep balance in their own lives-- they enforce it with
wicked efficiency wherever they see something that they "feel" is awry.
Their biggest complaint is the way most berks use the planes...and they are
going to Make Things Right.
See, these cutters don't think the Great Ring is a place for berks
and sods to be moaning and puling in front of the Powers themselves. The
multiverse would be bliss if we all pulled up stakes and stopped interfering
with things that are obviously beyond any mortal's abillity to control.
"Mortals belong in mortal lands" is their battle cry, and they fervently
assure all who will listen that the ills of the worlds are caused by _our_
frightful imbalances...culminating with the ultimate atrocity of the
Planetouched. If humans and Powers keep near one another, how can the
reverence and respect the multiverse deserves be given? Plaguers want to
return to the Prime worlds, beginning with a withdrawal to the Outland, and
see the kips of the Powers declared off-limits to all. "Only when we become
silent," they say, "can the true work of the spheres continue."
Primary Plane of Influence: The Outlands. You would think that the Plaguers
would be holed up on the Prime (and a lot of cutters wish it), but for the
sake of furthering their cause they place themselves where they hope to gather
the most recruits and engage in their primary policy tool: terrorism. Plaguers
routinely ambush caravans headed for the Gate Towns in efforts to stop travel
and trade, using supplies gained from these raids to fund their war against
the Great Abomination: Sigil.
Sigil is viewed as the decadent core, where the disruption of balance
is greatest...devas and baatezu drinking together indeed! Unlike many other
infamous sects, the Plaguers have never been stupid enough to have a vocal
presence in Sigil-- their stated goal of throwing everybody out and sealing
the portals up would result in either a swift Mazing or death from any of a
dozen or so factions. They instead work covertly, sending agents to Sigil who
observe and disrupt whatever they can safely. For enforcers of balance, they
behave like Anarchists much of the time (although the Revolutionary League
hates the Equillibrium as much as they dislike all other power structures...
professional jealousy, some say.)
Allies and Enemies: Only the still-forming Planarist faction can be considered
allies of the Plaguers, and that only secretly. The Plaguers want Cirily, the
prospective new factol to provide them with a foothold in Sigil's inner
councils. Although the Planarists are opposed to nearly all Equillibrium
tenets, the idea that no more primes should come to the planes gives them a
shaky common ground. The Equillibrium has been providing jink and muscle to
Cirily's group, hoping she will get off the ground. When she does, they
intend to milk her for all the support they can get.
Everyone is an enemy of the Equillibrium; even the rilmani can't stand
them. Every faction is united in their unaminous hatred of the Plaguers, and
an admission of Plaguer support is enough to get you taken behind any Sigilian
bar and beaten. Tell them you're a member and you'll be swinging from the
leafless tree before long.
Why does everyone feel this way? Well, it's a kind of blood feud that
has been going on for the last 300 years or so. Seems a nasty disease was
running through Sigil at the time-- nothing serious, but it created a scare.
Plaguers spread that it was a magical plague that not only killed you, it
ate your soul, and even petitioners could catch the bug. In a fit of
barminess, people bought this pile of dung as the dark of things. The Plaguers
sat back and watched great Sigil be quarantined from nearly all sides, and
within weeks there was little food, great rioting and collapse.
Now the Plaguers _might_ have gotten away with this without incurring
everyone's wrath if they had just kept their bone boxes shut. Instead,
after the plague had run its course and the city had just reopened, they
decided to make a statement about the weakness of the Lady and her decadent
city. In one night, Plaguers crucified nearly a hundred women all over Sigil,
piercing their bodies with hundreds of rusting blades in a grim parody of the
Lady of Pain. In mocking tones, they branded on each corpse:
"SHE IS A PRISONER. SHE IS NOTHING. SHE WILL BE YOUR DEATH."
None of the perpetrators were caught, though if they were Mazed this
would stand to reason. As a strange afterthought, the dabus refused to
acknowledge the existence of these corpses, or clean them up. The Dustmen
wouldn't pick them up because of fear of the Lady, and all the other factions
passed the buck. As a consequence, these bodies remained hanging for a long
time, reminding each Sigillian of their unified hate.
Eligibillity: The Plaguers are open to all races except the Planetouched
(aasimar, genasi or tiefling), although planars are welcome. Any alignment
is possible for members, though most tend toward Neutral Evil. Chaotics
might have disagreements with the current severe orthodoxy in the Equillibrium,
but they are not unheard of.
Benefits: All members of the Equillibrium can recieve the benefits of a
sanctuary spell once per day, reflecting their stated goal of leaving the
universe alone to perfection. Curiously, due to the mutations the sect has
undergone, many in the order lose this abillity. At high ranks Plaguers
are rumored to be able to banish beings back to the plane of their origin.
Restrictions: A Plaguer will not go into the Great Ring unless ordered to
do so by a high-up, nor will a Plaguer kill any sentient Outer Plane native
creature. This, in addition to the virulent hatred they endure, are
restrictions enough.
© 1996 M. Daisey
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