Faction Headquarters
in the
Lady's Ward
It's
in the seediest part of the Lady's Ward.
The headquarters of the Doomguard,
like most of other buildings of this ward, is huge and dominating.
Its windows are covered with stone grates and razorwine covers lower walls.
The Armory has a single entrance with a huge sculpture of the faction's symbol
on top. Doomguards don't keep all the weapons of the Cage; fortunately, canny
bashers can find weaponry in the shops in the neighborhood, for the right
amount of jinks.
The streets around the Armory are quiet, may be too much: here hides a lot
of sinister activity. The area is very close to the Lower Ward, so here, many
thieves and rogues seek an entrance to the Lady's Ward and assassins and mercenaries
often meet their employers.
It's located at the opposite end of the ward from the Armory. The Harmonium's
headquarters is a restful place, the streets near the the Barracks are even
empty, quiet and serene: the Hardheads don't like crowds.That peace is punctuated
by the imposing presence of crushing granite of the headquarters.
The building looks heavy, dull and impenetrable with a single guarded entrance;
four sentries stands before the arched doorway ready to stop and challenge
visitors. Barracks is an immensely long quadrangle that gives an impression
of strength but, because the lack of spikes, gargoyles and other ornamentation,
it doesn't inspire deep terror.
Hardheads want to make converts, so patrols sometimes literally take bashers
off the streets and into the barracks, where they are broken and "reforged"
into members of the Harmonium machine. Given the Hardheads' attitude it's
no surprise streets are often empty and calm.
Taverns and inns in the area follow strictly the Harmonium official line:
all is regular, chaos minions are kept out and entertainment will put a berk
to sleep quickly; only certain songs, plays and jokes have the approval of
Harmonium censors.
The
Guvners' headquarters and the surrounding quarter are the liveliest places in the Lady's Ward. Sooner or
later every crooked cutter comes here scragged by the Harmonium. May be he
gets out of it, but it depends on the judges in the private halls of the Court.
In the public halls, a cutter can find knights, witnesses, advocates, accusers,
clerks and Harmonium and Mercykiller guards.
In the private halls, a body can find only Guvners and their guests: here
judges meet to discuss cases and reach their sentences, referring to the huge
library of laws the faction has assembled.
A number of taverns and inns, outside the Court, serve anybody from rogues,
thieves to Hardheads. Most of the alehouses sell meals to prisoners or wine
and beer to the back rooms of the Court.
The more important portions of the building don't belong to the Guvners at
all: the public halls, the outer courtyards and the porticos are where much
of the business is decided.
Beware, a crowded place like the City Courts is terrain for cross-trading
knights and the Guvners' guards are too busy corraling prisoners and maintaining
order in the courtrooms to make time for something else.
Outside the halls are the businesses that feed on the rule of Law: scribes,
servants, turnkeys, undertakers and mourners.
The law library of the Guvners is very useful for codifying all the laws of
The Cage. Also, every spell known to a man or mage exists somewhere in the
library and a wizard or bard can research any spell in a number of hours equal
to the spell's level; the chance of success is 5% per level of the wizard
or 1% per level of the bard.
The
Mercykiller's headquarters looks
like everything a berk fears: a mass of grim stone and spikes, surrounded
by broad avenues.
Sometimes a cutter will hear a faint wail from within, and when he does, be
sure, he doesn't stop walking.
Obviously, in the streets of the nearby quarter crimes don't exist. There
is many rumors of Mercykillers deciding they can arrest, try and punish a
berk themselves.
The businesses around the Prison seem as gray and humorless as Sigil itself.
Taverns are quiet, nobody makes trouble because nobody wants to attract the
attention of the Mercykiller patrol drinking at the next table.
The markets are scrupulously honest, so the prices are lower than in the other
wards.