The Doomguard
Sure, everything breaks down over time, the doomguard philosophy for instance."The explosion woke me on the morning of my eighteenth birthday. I tumbled from my bed in the Leihani Inn and ran to the veranda. There, in the distance, the mountains the natives called the Sleeping Sisters were finally erupting! The volcanoes' rumbles grew louder, drowning out the screams of my fellow tenants, and the spouts began to belch forth spumes of black smoke. Eagerly I jumped over the railing, landing a dozen feet below in the soft volcanic sand lining this side of the island. Then I began running toward the twin mountains, fighting against the flow of panicked natives racing the other way. "Outside the village limits I ran, my eyes never straying from the spectacle of devastation before me. The volcanoes rumbled again, this time knocking me to the ground. A jagged cleft in the earth appeared not more than a half-dozen strides away, and I marveled at the destruction all around me. I regained my feet and looked up, just in time to see the Sisters blow! "The tops of the mountains burst upward, spewing pieces of rock and earth so far that a few specks even spattered me, searing my skin. What sweet decay! My senses were enveloped by the spectacle of livid red scars streaking across the brilliant morning sky. More rumbles, and then a blast of noise that threatened to knock me back down again. I then beheld a sight more perfect than any I'd ever seen before or since: the flow of red-black magma, streaking down the mountainsides and devouring all within its path. Trees, boulders, and everything else fell before that monstrous flow, incapable of standing against the force of pure destruction. With awesome majesty the flow picked up speed, consuming the land before me, as my body was consumed with sheer primal joy. "I shivered in ecstasy."- An anonymous berk running for his life
— From the private journals of Factol Pentar
Harbringers of Decay
Someday, Yanek, none of this will be yours.The Doomguard's one of the more troublesome factions in Sigil; many berks just can't get a good handle on them. Sinkers — as members of the faction are called — cherish the forces of entropy, dancing while everything around them decays, falls into ruin, and disintegrates with the passage of time. The fate of the multiverse is a foregone conclusion: It's all supposed to crumble and fade away, so why rage against it? If the gate-town of Plague-Mort's about to slide onto the Abyss, let it. Better yet, help it along! Few Sinkers are content to just sit back and watch things fall apart; they do their best to assist the decay, whether that means taking a direct action (like stoning a fire) or preventing one (like stopping a berk from putting out a fire). 'Course, members of this faction have to keep an eye on the big picture. Most Sinkers don't go around tearing up roads or putting sick folks in the dead-book: sure, the multiverse is going to collapse, but it doesn't have to happen overnight. Allowing a river to take a thousand years to erode its banks is every bit as strong and beautiful and a lot of Sinkers even prefer the river, as it's a natural force of decay — one that's surely meant to be. Like the Mercykillers, the Doomguard owes its charter to the Great Upheaval, when the Lady of Pain forced the nearly 50 factions in Sigil to reduce their number to only 15. The Lady's shakeup — a glorious example of entropy in its own right — made the loose gang of Sinkers formalize their organization and set themselves a purpose: patrolling the streets of the Cage. But the idea of guards promoting disorder and decay didn't sit well with the other factions; the Harmonium was sent in, and war broke out. The Sinkers retreated to the Armory, which they conquered handily, as no berk'd ever had the audacity to attack the monstrous structure. With fresh supplies, the battle raged for months. It was thought that the Lady of Pain might step in to set things right, but she never did; only her dabus took part, repairing roads and public structures damaged in the fighting. It finally took a vote of the other factols in the Hall of Speakers — one that threatened to revoke the Doomguard's faction status — to make them call off hostilities. The Sinkers even signed a blood pact swearing that they'd never again instigate a war in the Cage. In exchange, the Doomguard got to keep the Armory as its headquarters and settled into a new duty: making and dispensing weaponry, a task well suited to the faction's beliefs. Even today, the enmity between the Sinkers and the Hardheads continues to boil: their philosophies are just too directly opposed for any kind of coming together. Other lawful factions have a similarly hard time dealing with the Doomguard. The Fraternity of Order tries to stem the tide of entropy with its narrow interpretations of law, and the Mercykillers long to punish Sinkers who take criminal actions to further the cause of decay. On the other hand, the Doomguard has a strong ally in the Dustmen: fact is, Facto' Skall was instrumental in preventing the rest of the factols from revoking the Doomguard's status during the war. And while the Bleak Cabal scorns the idea that the multiverse has any goal, entropy or otherwise, Bleakers and Sinkers find common ground in decay. But order lurks even in the midst of entropy. Following the multiversal Rule of Three, the Doomguard often finds itself split into three quarrelling subgroups, each taking a different approach to fostering decay. The first clique thinks that the multiverse ain't crumbling fast enough. These Sinkers periodically embark upon rampages of destruction: defacing or dismantling personal property, disrupting trade or negotiation in public places, and so on. They're countered by a more sophisticated bunch of Sinkers who take a longer view, seeing the construction of a new bridge as part of the process of decay. After all, masons chip the stone, miners empty a lode of iron, laborers add more creaks to their worn bodies, and razorvine weakens the span until it eventually collapses. According to this group, the disintegration of the multiverse is right on schedule: no need to hurry it along. And finally, a third pack of Sinkers — albeit a minority — thinks that everything's falling apart too fast, that they must take steps to slow the rate of decay. Too much destruction too quickly isn't entropy: it's just bedlam. Interestingly, Factol Pentar's lent her support to the first group, the most violent of the three. She incites her Sinkers to acts of arson and vandalism, especially if the blame can be pinned on a sod from another faction. (Which causes more chaos and anarchy, two powerful tools of entropy.) Yet rumblings of discontent brew in the ranks; the old-fashioned Sinkers who prefer a slower or more natural erosion of order disapprove of the factol's activities.- A sinker father, showing his son his estate
The Doomlords
The faction high-ups most loyal to Factol Pentar are her factors, called the Doomlords. Only the most powerful and ruthless Sinkers get picked to be Doomlords: they must then undergo a transformation on the Negative Energy Plane so horrible that it's spoken of only in whispers and innuendo. When they return, they wear robes and black-and-red masks emblazoned with the faction's skull symbol. The chant's that the Doomlords never again remove their masks. The transformation's also said to drain a Sinker of his original personality, remaking him into a zealous ambassador of decay. The faction has four greater Doomlords — though other lesser Doomlords exist — who're somehow tied to the quasielemental planes nearest the desolate Negative Energy Plane. Currently, the four greater Doomlords are: Devland (Planar/male half-elf/Fighter 14), the Doomlord of Ash;Nagaul (Planar/female dwarf/Cleric 10), the Doomlord of Vacuum;
Roth (Planar/male tiefling/Fighter 14), the Doomlord of Salt;
and Pereid (Prime/female human/Rogue 19). the Doomlord of Dust.
The four spend most of their time in the faction's citadels on their respective planes, but they sometimes return to the Armory to take a more direct hand in Sinker affairs. To aid the cause, the Doomlords create champions of entropy — cutters charged with overcoming specific threats to the process of decay. For instance, a champion might oppose a priest who's preventing a town from slipping off into the Ethereal. The Doomlords also give their champions blades of tremendous power — specially forged on the quasielemental planes — each specifically designed to combat a single threat. Once the threat's been negated, the blade turns to Dlust. 'Course, disposing with a major threat may take considerable time: an entropy champion might spend his whole life trying to complete a mission, passing his blade on to a worthy successor if necessary. An entropy blade is generally a short sword imbued with a +2 bonus to attack and damage rolls. However, when used against the threat it was designed to fight, the bonus increases to +4. Entropy blades aren't subject to the usual adjustments applied to magical weapons crossing the planes — after all, entropy is everywhere. When used against their intended threat, the blades have other powers. too, depending on the plane where they were forged:
- An ash blade protects the bearer and grants them fire resistance and allows them to cast chill touch three times per day.
- A dust blade protects the bearer and grants them resistance to bludgeoning damage and earth effects and also allows them to cast warp(stone or earth only) by touch once per day.
- A salt blade provides the bearer with cold resistance and resistance against water like effects. The bearer also can also cast create or destroy water (as 6th level spell) three times per day.
- A vacuum blade makes the bearer immune to poison damage and gas like attacks such as the cloudkill spell. Moreover, it can enfeeble (per a ray of enfeeblement) three times per day by touch.
Within the Ranks
Naturally enough, the Doomguard's hierarchy is a loose one, despite its militaristic outlook. At the top are the factol and the Doomlords (the equivalent of factors), and below that is everyone else. But the faction's not going to appeal to everyone, especially not cutters who like to collect and hoard treasure, land, or trinkets. None of that matters to a Doomguard: all that's important is focusing on the end.Roleplaying the Sinkers
The Doomguard doesn't bother marking namers and factotums: the only distinctions it makes are among faction members who push hard for entropy, those who let nature take its course, and those who slow it all down. 'Course, as the first bunch of Sinkers is usually the most vocal (and violent), the latter two groups often find themselves viewed as agents — tools, really — to be manipulated by "right-thinking" faction members. This can often lead to blows when Sinkers of different leanings try to work together. But infighting's natural, they'd say — just another manifestation of decay. The Doomguard's one of the factions most open to a body's personal interpretation of its tenets. Regardless of how a Sinker leans, he always responds to a direct threat to entropy. But the method of that response varies from one body to another, depending on alignment and faction leaning. Say a Hardhead moves to break up a brawl, or an Indep tries to quiet a stampeding herd. A Doomguard who believes in speeding up the decay of the multiverse would physically restrain the berk trying to restore order. Another Sinker might take a longer view: Perhaps letting the Harmonium basher make his arrest is the entropic thing to do, as it may engender more hatred for the Hardheads and eventually spark a mass uprising. A Sinker's got to live with his own choices, and that extends to personal habits, as well. Some Sinkers use only the newest of gear, delighting in the erosion of virgin materials. Others use equipment that's passed through many hands, insistent that secondhand articles be shepherded to their demise. And some sport clothing and weapons so old as to be barely functional. 'Course, a Doomguard warrior who fights with a broken sword won't be much loved by his adventuring group — except, perhaps, by a rogue who follows the Sinker along, picking up gold coins that drop through the hole in his worn pocket.Alignment
The Doomguard's open to bashers of all alignments. But a Sinker's world view tends to put him in one of the three competing cliques that've popped up in the faction. Those of chaotic alignments usually fall in with the Sinkers who want to accelerate the pace of decay; those of neutral alignments generally agree that the multiverse should crumble at its own pace, with no help or hindrance: and lawful cutters try to hold entropy to a slow crawl. What's more, these three distinctions are further colored by whether a Sinker leans toward good or evil. Good Sinkers prefer inaction as a method of pushing their agenda — rather than tearing down a new kip, they'd merely stop others from shoring up a decrepit one. But evil Sinkers play a more active role, figuring that ifs better to start a fire than sit around and wait for one.Class
Clerics that use spells of creation or healing are banned from the Doomguard; their spells are a slap in the face to the forces of entropy. However, all other classes — including clerics who don't use those constructive spells — may join the faction. Fact is, a Sinker's class often determines how fiercely he fights for entropy. Many fighters take a direct approach, using their strength and weapon skills to weaken bridges, upend merchants' carts, and so on. Wizards and clerics tend to step hack and more readily grasp the big picture, promoting decay in a subtle, long-range fashion. And rogues like to use their abilities to stir up chaos, rather than build their fortunes — a thief might plant stolen goods in the mayor's pocket, for example, or a sweet-tongued bard might incite oppressed masses to riot.Sinker Membership
The Doomguard's open to most everyone, but it wants to make sure that an applicant's not some berk who'll run around destroying things just for the fun of it. A body looking to sign up must pass three tests to prove his understanding of and devotion to entropy. A candidate should talk to Ely Cromlich or Spragg at the Armory: whichever of them is less busy'll administer the tests. First, the basher must smash one of his weapons to pieces on an outer wall of the Armory, showing both decay and his willingness to surrender his past life. Second, he must take a sack containing no fewer than 500 gold pieces into the Hive Ward and scatter the coins in a public place — if a riot breaks out, all the better. But it's the third test that usually gives a basher pause: He must prevent the dabus from trimming back the razorvine on any single overgrown building in the Cage for a full day. With communication difficult and combat most likely fatal (especially if the Lady of Pain takes offense at a berk messing with her agents), the applicant must find a more creative method of protecting the razorvine. Any cutter who passes all three legs is given a Doomguard-forged sword and henceforth considered a Sinker.Faction Philosophy
Ever hear of entropy, berk? Take a look around: Everything's going down the tubes, falling apart, stopping. People die, rocks erode, stars fade, planes melt away. That's entropy, the fate of the multiverse. A lot of folks think that's a terrible thing, but not the Doomguard. They're pretty sure nothing lasts forever, not even the planes. It's the way things are supposed to be, they guess, the goal of everything. Sooner or later, the last bits of the multiverse'll decay, and then there'll be nothing left - think of it as existence's ultimate release from toil and pain. Now, the sods who try to fix things - stop the decay and put everything back together - they've got it all wrong. They're fighting the natural goal of the multiverse, trying to do something unnatural. That ain't right. So look, the Doomguard's here to see that the multiverse gets its way. Things are supposed to crumble, and it's the Doomguard's job to keep the meddlers from messing it up too much. What right do mortals have to deny the natural existence of things? And somebody's got to watch the proxies and the powers, to make sure they don't meddle with the process. Can't have the powers restoring things or ending them too fast, you know. Don't get this faction wrong. It's not like somebody builds a house and they tear it down. That building's part of the whole decay: The stonecutter chips the rock, the logger cuts the tree, and later the termites chew the beams until the whole case comes down on its own. There's a long view to this. The sod who can't see the grand scheme'll go barmy trying to tear down everything that gets built. So, everything's got a part in this. The primes slowly eat away their worlds, and planars do the same. Look at petitioners - entropy reaches perfection when they fade away. It'll all happen in time.Primary Plane of Influence
The Doomguard maintains one great citadel on each negative quasiplane: Ash, Vacuum, Salt, and Dust. The Negative Energy Plane represents the Doomguard's idea of the ultimate fate of the multiverse, so the Doomguard's citadels are built as close to the plane as practicality allows. In Sigil, their headquarters is the city's main armory.Allies and Enemies
Both the Bleak Cabal and the Dustmen find the entropic visions of the Doomguard well suited to their own philosophies, although the Cabal sneers at the idea that entropy is the "goal" of the multiverse. The Godsmen agree with the idea that the multiverse is fated to end, but they can't accept the idea that destruction is the purpose in itself. The Fraternity of Order and the Harmonium reject the Doomguard's philosophy wholesale.Eligibility
The Doomguard is open to all races and alignments. Clerics that use spells of healing and creation or worship gods which have healing and creation in their portfolio can never belong to the Doomguard.Faction Abilities
First of all, all members of the Doomguard are trained to fight with a sword — perhaps because Sinkers seem to have a knack for bloodshed. Even those normally non-proficient in bladed weapons gain proficiency with shortswords, longswords, scimitars, daggers, greatswords and rapiers. By the time a Sinker hits 3rd level, his training grants him a +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls with the same weapons. But Sinkers of all levels can draw upon the forces of entropy to further increase their skill in combat with any weapon. If a Doomguard's engaged in melee with a foe of an opposite alignment (for example, evil as opposed to good, or chaos as opposed to law), he can call upon the might of his faction and try to deliver an entropic blow. If his attack roll is at least 5 points higher than the AC needed to hit, the foe automatically loses half of its current hit points. A Sinker can try to invoke this power once every seven days; the player just has to tell the DM that his character's going to attempt the entropic blow. Note that even if the Sinker's attack misses, it still counts as his weekly attempt at using the blow. 'Course, faction members find themselves with more than just fighting skills. Any Sinker can sift through destroyed material and gain a psychic impression of what caused the destruction. He just picks up some broken nibble, charred wood, ground dust, or whatever. He then lets the material filter through his fingers while he spends a minute in quiet meditation. Sinkers of 1st through 5th level can read the cause of destruction only if it happened in the last 10 years. Sinkers of 6th through 10th level can go back 500 years. And Sinkers of 11th level or higher can read as far back as 1.000 years. What's more, if the destruction occurred within the last century, higher-level Sinkers can actually experience parts of it. For every minute spent in meditation and in contact with the rubble, Sinkers of 6th through 10th level can relive five minutes of the disaster through sight only. Sinkers of 11th level or higher can hear and smell as well as see. And the chant hints that Sinkers who are 30th level or higher can actually enter the scene of a disaster, though nothing's ever said of a basher returning from such a trip. Doomguard clerics of all levels can also sift through deceased organic material and learn the cause of death. The mental images received are particularly vivid if the death was a violent one, or if the destroyed being was of the same alignment as the priest.WAIT, WAIT - I'm having second thoughts about this, you can put away that knife. NO, REALLY, HEY!- A Sinker about to become an entropy champion
Notable Faction Members
| Name | Rank | Race | Class | Gender | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Factol Pentar | Factol | Human | Ranger 20 | Female | She's the current factol of the Sinkers and of the more radical type. |
| Devland | Doomlord of Ash | Half-Elf | Fighter 14 | Male | Doomlord in control of The Crumbling Citadel |
| Nagaul | Doomlord of Vacuum | Dwarf | Cleric 10 | Female | Doomlord in control of Citadel Exhalus |
| Roth | Doomlord of Salt | Tiefling | Fighter 14 | Male | Doomlord in control of Citadel Sealt |
| Pereid | Doomlord of Dust | Human | Wizard 19 | Female | Doomlord in control of Citadel Alluvius |
| Ely Cromlich | Entropy Champion | Cambion | Fighter 18 | Male | Runs The Armory in Sigil |
| Spragg | Factotum | Human | None | Male | Assistant of Cromlich and leader of a group opposing the factol in her radical beliefs |
Entropy is ecstasy; decay is divine. The verse is supposed to fall apart. We’re just here to keep leatherheads from interfering.
Alternative Names
Sinkers
Leader
Controlled Territories
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