Lower Ward
The industrial heart of Sigil can be found in the Lower Ward, the smoke-filled cacophony of mercantile magic.
Not glamorous like the Lady's Ward and not downright forgotten by the Dabus like the Hive, the Lower Ward never sleeps, and it certainly doesn't help the mood of its inhabitants, nor does the many portals to the Lower Planes that operate here. But if it's ambition and hard work you're after, the Lower Ward does not disappoint with grit and grafting.
Smoke and steam permeate the Lower Ward, making it a dreary, miasma-filled space that feels more cramped than it actually is. What light does exist comes from the many foundries here, and the few Lighters here are quickly gobbled up as young recruits for the Mind's Eye
The smell of industry is never a pleasant one, though it's not always terrible either. Alchemical and arcane admixtures, coupled with the smell of smelting steel and sulfur creates a bitter, almost astringent smell nearly poisonous to the eyes as well as the nose and tongue: but once you're used to it? It's wonderful.
Quiet is for the soft: the hammering, the churning, the bubbling, and the brewing of the Lower Ward is a near constant song without a conductor, yet always on beat, on tempo, on point. You have to speak up in the Lower Ward.
Native Factions
Athar
From the ruins of the Shattered Temple, the Athar keep tabs on the temples and god worshipers of the Cage, ensuring none of them grow too powerful. Propaganda tracts undermining the gods' divinity litter the broken streets near the Shattered Temple. Defiers sometimes seed these tracts with details of scandals to discredit clerics and other worshipers. The Athar accept custody of dangerous magic items, especially those created by other faiths, and they reward any who relinquish the relics.
Mind's Eye
The endless heat, smoke, and arcane embers of the Great Foundry shelter the Mind's Eye. The leaders of manufacturing in Sigil, the Seekers express their desire to reshape the multiverse through their crafts, creating tools and materials that in turn mold the Cage.
Ring Givers
An up-and-coming faction dedicated to giving everything away for charity, the Ring Givers are still finding their place in Sigil. Having recently sold their previous headquarters, a sprawling palace in the affluent Lady's Ward, this philanthropic faction now gathers in the Lower Ward, where it provides charity to industrious folk in communal spaces, factories, and warehouses.
Locations of Interest
The Ditch
The Ditch is Sigil's only body of water, a reeking morass where locals cast their refuse. Its corrosive waters lie along the rough border between the Lower Ward and the Hive, a prime ground for dumping bodies. Creatures cast into the acrid lake wash up on its shore a few hours later completely unrecognizable, their physical features smoothed over like those of wax dolls held to a flame.
Locals whisper the Ditch is a backwater tributary of the River Styx, but more likely its toxic waters are the result of industrial runoff coupled with the corruption of the Lower Planes leaking from nearby portals. On rare occasions, a portal to the River Oceanus, a celestial waterway that runs through the Upper Planes, opens within the Ditch, causing it to run clean, silvery, and sweet. These short-lived occasions are cause for celebration among the folk of the Lower Ward, who spend the day bathing in the refreshing reservoir.
During the day, the banks of the Ditch are a gathering ground for trading guild workers, who ferry material from the Great Foundry to portals located within massive sewer pipes along its shores. When night falls, however, even these staunch souls are nowhere to be seen for fear of the Ditch Beast, a vicious monster that supposedly stalks the area.
Wererats frequent the Ditch, where they receive the orders from Tattershade, King of the Rats. His territory is arranged entirely for defense, a tangle of tunnels adjacent to the Ditch that are big enough only for rats and shifting shadows. Tattershade is a shadow demon that directs his wererat minions through wispy messages scrawled on passage walls. The King of the Rats spends his lonely hours obsessively counting the treasure the rats sift from the Ditch for him, from priceless baubles to worthless junk. Tattershade lives in fear of something, but no two stories agree on what. It could be the Master of Bones, a powerful devil, or the Lady herself.
The Great Foundry
The headquarters of the Mind's Eye, this foundry contributes to the smoggy atmosphere of the Lower Ward. The foundry operates tirelessly and is considered the heart of industry in Sigil.
The Shattered Temple
The headquarters of the Athar, this used to be a temple dedicated to Aoskar, God of Portals. The Athar have not repaired much of the building to serve as a reminder that gods are not all powerful. Here the Athar will collect information on every faith in Sigil.
Shops and Businesses
Bones of the Night - A type of library where the owner casts speak with dead on his vast collection of skulls
Parted Veil - non-partisan, vast library run by an Athar null
Hands of Time - A shop/guildhall run by modrons specializing in all things mechanical
Society of the Luminiferous Aether - a gentleman's club for working mages
Harbinger House - a madhouse overseen by the Mind's Eye
Taverns
The Hooded Lantern - Informal thieves guild
Face of Gith - A gloomy tavern with a blob of primordial chaos at the center
Ubiquitous Wayfarer - A tavern with portals connecting to other parts of Sigil.
The Green Mill - a half-tavern, half-safe house catering mostly to elves
The Styx Oarsman - A safehouse for the worst criminals that caters to tanar'ri
The Mermaid's Cups - Famous for its dancers
The Red Pony - Cheap tavern where workers blow off steam
The Speckled Rat - Dive bar where Heralds of Dust members look for people to sign their bodies to them unto death
The Sword and Buckler - Where muscle is hired, mostly for the kriegstanz (undeclared war between factions)
The Tenth Pit - A watering hole for tieflings, succubi, and other fiends
The White Casket - Where Heralds of Dust gather to drink next to the undead and zombie servants
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