The Society Of Sensation

Written by Studios_94

The Philosophy of the Society of Sensation Perhaps one of the most well-known of Sigil's fifteen, the Society of Sensation's precepts can be recited by many that have never even set foot within the Cage: to experience all there is to experience, in order that one might learn more of the multiverse. To this end, the Sensates proffer any number of experiences to the people of Sigil that they might share the truth of their beliefs. Both through their Sensorium and through the innumerous works of art, theater, and writing sponsored by the Society, they hope to bring the glory of experience to all they can reach. This has only increased since Factol Montgomery took the reins, with more and more pieces and works presented to the city under the Banner of the Five. The Sensates are based entirely around experience. As they would put it, your senses are the only things that allow you to truly know that something exists. To know an object exists you first must see or feel it. To be able to comprehend a food‘s taste, you must have eaten it. To understand the meanings of a new piece of music, you must have heard it. This makes experience the ultimate teacher, and all knowledge must therefore stem from it. A Sensate can then apply such an explanation to anything that can be thought of, for every physical thing requires the senses to be experienced, and all mental concepts require a connection to physical reality, for without outside inspiration the mind cannot function. Because of their ideals, the Sensates feel that to gain and build upon personal knowledge, it makes far more sense to actively seek the experiences that life has to offer rather than wait for them to come to you. In a lifetime a Sensate will experience countless smells, sounds and situations, but this will still only be the most minute fraction of what the planes truly have to offer. While every member is encouraged to travel the planes in search of new experience to be found, they are also given complete access to the Sensoriums in Sigil. The Sensoriums span countless rooms throughout the Civic Festhall, the Sensate base of operations within Sigil, each containing thousands of sensory recorders: small, round stones that are used to store specific occurrences or situations that a Sensate has experienced. Through these, junior Sensates can gain wisdom from various experiences, without having to subject themselves to the dangers or difficulties of experiencing them personally. The sensory recorders cannot be taken beyond the doorway of the Civic Festhall without losing their magically stored contents. This feature was originally designed for security reasons, but caused the faction serious problems when they chose to relocate to their current headquarters, the Gilded Hall of Arborea. Due to the hands-on style of the Society of Sensation, the life of a Sensate can be a very expensive one. This means that the faction regularly attracts members from the upper classes, who easily have the money to take exotic trips to any of the planes that they care to. This is both a burden and a boon to the faction. On the plus side, a large amount of money becomes available to the Sensates, making them possibly the most financially secure of all factions. They are able to spare no expense in their fantastical productions of many well-known plays, hiring powerful illusionists to supply special effects, and employing the best actors from across the planes. On the downside, many false Sensates are able to creep into the faction, believing that it is purely about decadent pleasure, or at least using the faction‘s facilities to that end. Although many Sensates would like to have these members cast out as the frauds they are, several are also the main benefactors of the faction. Without their financial support, the quality of Sensate productions would plummet.

Structure

New namers are given a small apartment within the private section of the Civic Festhall, and are immediately granted access to the private sensoriums. Further, the Society tends to be quite generous when it comes to those wanting to improve their station by seeking out some experience in particular, often willing to loan out (but not gift) equipment both magical and mundane that could help the Sensate survive the experience and return.

Membership in the Society comes with few responsibilities beyond simply regularly seeking out new experiences.

Those that have regularly shown themselves to be truly invested in the cause are soon promoted to factotum and eventually factor purely by application of their personal interests, with no real commensurate changes but the great reputation; something which likely comes naturally to someone that's done as much as a factor of the Sensates has. Members are, however, asked to contribute their knowledge through more than just sensoriums; where possible, members are encouraged to hold the occasional public seminar on some topic of their choosing, or if of an artistic bent, to allow a presentation of their works.

Contrary to popular belief, there is no requirement that a member of the Sensate be open to all experiences; on the contrary, many specialize in some category or another.

Nor are they required to never repeat an experience, a requirement that would frankly be unenforceable.

The only requirement is that any such specialties not be too limited, and not focused repeating some specific experience (or a very narrow type of experience) again and again, an addiction that many of the Sensate mindset seem prone to fall into.

Those that do look to be sliding towards hedonistic ways are first spoken to by a Factor, who interviews them and encourages them off that path and back towards a broader view. If this fails and the Sensate continues their progression, they are eventually "reassigned to the Gilded Hall", where they're free to indulge in the experience as often as they wish. What exactly happens to those Sensates sent to the Gilded Hall is little known outside the uppermost ranks of the Society. All that can be said is that it does not seem to be necessarily a lifetime assignment, as some Sensates do appear to have returned free from their addiction, although with little interest in sharing how they were broken of it.

Prominent Members

• Factol Erin Darkflame Montgomery (Pl/♀ human/cleric 9 (Diancecht)/Society of Sensation/LG), Hashkar 121-Present • Factor Cuatha Da'nanin (Pr/♂ half-elf/ranger 15/Society of Sensation/LG), advisor and consort to the factol • Jeena Ealy (Pl/♀ human/fighter 9/Society of Sensation/CG), author • Factor Kenda Fretterstag (Pr/♀ human/wizard 14/Society of Sensation/CE), advisor to the factol • Factor Quellig (Pl/♂ tiefling/wizard 16/Society of Sensation/LN), advisor to the factol • Annali Webspinner (Pl/♀ bariaur/fighter 7/Society of Sensation/CN), director of the Civic Festhall

Former Members

Factol Elloweth, first factol of the Society of Sensation

Factol Eladi, Hashkar 88-121

Culture

The Society of Sensation members hold the belief that the multiverse can only truly be known by experiencing as much of it as is possible through use of the senses. Sensates do this by both living day-to-day life, as well as through the use of sensory stones.

Public Agenda

The Society originally formed prior to the Great Upheaval, simply one out of the multitude of groups and factions filling the Cage to the brim. They started as a mere group of associates who would gather together occasionally for simple amusement to help the monotony and boredom of their lives move more comfortably. They would organize small trips across the planes, or just exchange conversation or tell tales, whatever really interested them at the time. As the years passed, folks gradually began to hear of the group and expressed curiosity. Anyone who was dissatisfied with their life would join for the sensations and occasional adventure it brought. The Society enjoyed an influx of members, and as the faction grew people began to look beyond the immediate implications of their experiences.

Religion

Goals

The main goal of the Society of Sensation, as ever, is still to teach others the wonders of the planes and how, through only the senses, true knowledge can be found. Although they have politically relocated to Arborea, the presence of the Sensates in Sigil is still a force to be reckoned with. The Lady may have banned the factions filling political functions in Sigil, but the Civic Festhall continues to be used as the primary recruiting center of the Sensates. It still runs the nightly performances that gave it the name it has today, and many claim that under the guidance of Annali Webspinner, the Festhall has grown not only in power, but also in the sheer wonder and diversity of its shows.

One primary concern of the faction is the state of their factol. Da‘nanin has changed drastically since the loss of Factol Montgomery. Though he was originally a kind, open half-elf, his passion for tales of far lands seems to have been snuffed out, replaced by a grim determination. He has taken to long periods of silence, and is growing increasingly harsh in his punishment of those who cross the Sensates, the once welcoming Gilded Hall now being out of bounds to all non-faction-members, on pain of death. He seems to have developed an air of apathy that coils around him, making his underlings edgy when in his presence. Many Sensates accuse Quleine, an alu-fiend and closest confidant of Da‘nanin, of poisoning their factol‘s mind, though due to her standing with the factol few dare to speak out against her openly.

Individual Sensates do what they enjoy most, seeking out new experiences across the multiverse, occasionally returning to recite their tales or record their experiences. They encourage others to embrace their lifestyle as much through friendly debate as by living by example.

Foreign Relations

Allies

The Sensates have always been very popular with the people of Sigil. Their former factol was possibly the most influential and well-loved citizen of the Cage prior to her imprisonment, and the support of her faction still continues, even after her loss. Because of this, the Sensates have great leverage in Sigil, and even though they‘ve been displaced to Arborea, the chances are that the average people would side with them above any other faction.

Among the other factions, the longest-running allies of the Sensates still around are the Free League and the Fraternity of Order. The Free League are generally seen as recruitment stock by most Sensates, though a cannier cutter also realizes that they make indispensable hirelings due to their lack of allegiance to any particular faction. In the case of the Guvners, the Sensates find their ideals fascinatingly intriguing, even if they seem somewhat quaint, and are willing to ally with them if it favors both sides.

The newest ally of the Sensates, a group who they had little interest in before, are the Harmonium. During the Faction War both factions worked closely together in the attempt to keep Sigil stable. With the end of the war it seemed obvious to continue with such close connections, and the factions are well on the way to becoming close partners, despite the fact that the two philosophies seem to have little in common.

Enemies

As popular as the Sensates appear to be, even they have gained enemies during their time on the planes. They have clashed with the Sodkillers in recent years, and though they despise the Dustmen‘s pessimistic view of life, the most prominent and easily recognizable of threats is the Doomguard.

The Doomguard‘s ideas flaunt the very basis of Sensate philosophy, as they implies that planes are merely decaying objects from which nothing can be learned. What‘s worse, the Doomguard have no desire to stop this decay, embracing the entropy that they feel is the purpose of existence. The lack of desire to preserve the planes is possibly what repels the Sensates most of all, as with the loss of any part of the planes, unique experiences will be lost to the Society of Sensation forever. Although the Sinkers do not seem to go out of their way to disrupt the plans of the Sensates any more than most other factions, the Sensates find them distasteful and unpleasant company.

Infrastructure

Sometime after the Society of Sensation was established, construction began on the Civic Festhall. A small fortune was put into this endeavor, with its huge auditoriums, lecture theaters, and training rooms. Despite the horrific amounts of money being put into the building‘s construction, those who invested in it realized the financial potential that entertaining the masses could provide. Upon its completion, the Festhall was filled every night with entertainments of every style and description. One evening the audience would be enthralled by some of Sigil‘s most prestigious actors performing a well-known tragedy, the next night, the bizarre and breathtaking aerial acrobatics of a troupe of air genasi gymnasts.

As things constantly improved for the Sensates, they willingly allowed all who wished to become a member to join, irrespective of race or background. Clueless who needed something to cling to after leaving the Prime found the Sensates welcoming, and the faction as a whole continued to flourish. Unfortunately, in all of this progression they had become slightly too indiscriminate in their acceptance of members. Many who claimed membership of the Sensates were simply there for the pleasures that the Festhall provided, ignoring the true meanings of the Society‘s beliefs. Others demanded the same entertainments over and over again, never learning to appreciate the uniqueness of each experience. These false Sensates gave the faction the label of hedonists, and although great effort was put into the attempt to rid the faction of such frauds, this problem still plagues the Sensates today.

All the while, other groups and beliefs had been growing, just like the Sensates. In fact the number of factions was beginning to grow almost out of hand; every direction a basher looked, a new philosophy would sprout from the gutter. The Lady eventually intervened in this growing chaos, demanding that there should be no more than fifteen factions in Sigil. Many factions merged, more died out or split between several larger ones, but all the way through, the Sensates persevered. A factol was elected to organize this more focused faction and the Sensates, as ever, continued to grow.

Mythology & Lore

Beliefs

While the importance of experience in understanding the multiverse is greatly emphasized, less well-presented is the subtleties of what precisely the Sensates believe. Information given third-, or even second-hand is flawed. Every time a piece of knowledge passes from person to person, something is twisted, distorted, even if unintended. When an event is recorded "objectively", much must be left out; no recounting is truly objective, nor truly comprehensive. It is only by seeing, feeling, experiencing for oneself that one can truly gain understanding. And the more one understands the individual, the more one understands the big picture; the clearer a view one has on the true inner workings of the multiverse.

Artistic expression, however, comes closer than any other means of recording. In producing a piece of art, one is seeking to make a connection with one's audience. To communicate some deep truth, to show the audience some idea or concept in all its aspects. Far more than any attempt at objectivity, art presents to a person a far deeper view of the artist's mental state. And so the Sensates promote the arts as much as possible, providing a stage, a gallery, a platform by which these attempts at communicating the very essence of experience can be granted to the general public. Painting both representational and abstract, theater both narrative and performance, writing both poetic and prose, a well-crafted and well-presented piece of art can be almost as effective as a sensory stone, while reaching an audience far wider than any stone is likely to.

Divine Origins

History

The Society of Sensation belongs to what some have referred to as the "second wave" of factions, one of those that first emerged during the rush of factions in the era just prior to the Great Upheaval. Originating as nothing more than a social club (in a manner very similar to the Sign of One), the original Society was little more than an adventurer's club in a very literal sense. It was comprised of a small collection of adventurers who would take out some of the not-quite-rich citizens of the Clerk's Ward to see the wonders of the multiverse — or in a few cases, bring some wonder back for them. Word quickly began to spread, and within a decade the various members had pooled their resources to begin construction on the Civic Festhall, a great monument originally intended merely to exhibit these wonders on a larger scale. Plans grew more elaborate, however, and funding sources grew more prevalent; soon, the plans expanded to a truly immense structure devoted to all means of expression.

Still, though, even with so many backers, money was still needed. But as the Society grew in popularity, so too did the number of people coming to Sigil to watch, take part in, and enjoy. Not just wonders from across the multiverse began to be concentrated here, then, but so to did people, the collision of cultures and concepts from all corners bringing about a new renaissance of expression and ideas in the City of Doors. While the Society itself wasn't yet a faction, its actions brought any number of belief systems to the city, planting the seeds for dozens of other factions to grow.

While construction on the Festhall continued, the Sensates continued to present the works of the planes, a number of now-classic pieces brought to Sigil for the first time. Still too did they continue to promote the flood of factions, even as they went from simple belief systems to organizations jockeying for power, especially as the Public Debates began in earnest. Finally, a boiling point was reached, and when the Festhall was still some decades from completion, the Great Upheaval hit, reducing the number of factions allowed in the streets of Sigil to a mere fifteen; though still a mere social club when the Lady's rule was declared, during the chaotic two weeks that followed it coalesced under the lead of Factol Elloweth into a true faction under the precepts it still holds to today. In this way, the Sensates guaranteed that the arts would always have a place of importance in the Hall of Speakers.

Finally, the Festhall was completed, ushering in a celebration said to have lasted a full month. It was during this period that the faction began to find its footing; while it held its central belief system, it wasn't until after the establishment of the Festhall that the negative effect of hedonists on the Society's goals were found. The construction of a second hall outside Sigil, on the plane of Arborea — later to be known as the Gilded Hall — was started so that such members could be ushered away from the main group, their membership not revoked but their obsession with repetition over novelty not allowed to negatively impact the direction of the faction proper. Simultaneously, the first sensoriums were established; originally wholly public facilities, it is only within the last 50 years that the private sensoriums have been established, allowing the Sensates to collect both the less popular experiences that few if any of the general public would desire, and the more controversial that they wish remain out of general circulation.

Tenets of Faith

The Society of Sensation: Knowledge is Power

The Society of Sensation goes by the basic philosophy that to truly understand something, it first must be experienced.

With this as their compass, a Sensate travels the planes in the attempt to find new experiences, in the process coming to understand these new concepts. Although many claim them to be simply hedonists, in truth there is much more to this path. A true Sensate will accept any experience short of death, no matter how unpleasant, as they feel that whether a Sensate enjoys an experience has little to do with whether they learn from it. As a result, while one member may be sampling expensive wines imported from an obscure prime world, another at the same time may be testing his perseverance in the depths of an Elemental Plane, yet both do so in the same never-ending pursuit of knowledge.

Ethics

Membership

Membership in the Society of Sensation is open to all without restriction, the only barrier of entry being the contribution of experience. All those who wish to join must provide five "worthwhile experiences", one focusing on each of the five classical senses, suitable for the Public Sensorium (or a single experience with strong components of each). The judgment of whether a set of experiences qualifies falls solidly on the factotum administering the test, and while their purpose is to weed out the truly devoted from those with nothing more than idle curiosity, it is not meant to be harsh by any means; those seeking entry that don't have a suitable set of experiences yet are urged to go out and find them. As there is no limit to the number of times one may attempt the test, those with a great interest in joining are almost certain to succeed eventually.

Priesthood

The prominence of the Sensates waxed and waned over the following centuries, ranging from so minor as to have no impact in the Great Faction War to so prominent as to have (accidentally) brought about a full week-long riot by celebrating the formation of the Xaositects.

However, it seems to have entered a new era within the last 10 years following the ascension of Erin Montgomery to Factol. Under her guidance, the Sensates have reaffirmed their devotion to the more cerebral sides of expression, an aspect that has often gone overlooked under past factols, and a well-needed shift from the 30 year period of anti-intellectualism under Factol Eladi. With a greater focus than any in decades on reaching out to the people of Sigil, she's overseen a near-record number of public performances and showings of all varieties. Today, the Sensates are perhaps one of the most powerful factions in Sigil, with Montgomery holding a strong claim to the common title of "second most powerful woman in Sigil", her political power checked only by the recently-appointed Factol Rowan Darkwood of the Fated. Still, the Sensates are on the upward slope of a wave that as of yet shows no sign of cresting.

If you couldn't touch it, smell it, see it, hear it, or taste it, then how would you know anything about it?

Alignment:

Any

Symbol:

A navy blue disc with a lighter metallic-blue foreground. Engraved at the top is a blank, genderless face, prominently displaying the nose, eyes and mouth. Below the face, a cupped hand and ear are located. The clear depiction of the human sensory organs symbolizes the unity of the senses.

Factol:

Erin Darkflame Montgomery (Pl/♀ human/cleric 9 (Diancecht)/Sensates/LG)

Headquarters:

Civic Festhall (Clerk's Ward)

Plane:

The Gilded Hall in Arborea.

Membership:

40,000+ City of Sigil

Allies:

Fraternity of Order, Free League, Sign of One

Enemies:

Bleak Cabal, Doomguard, Dustmen, The Fated, Mercykillers

Type

Political, Faction / Party

Alternative Names

Sensates

Demonym

Sensationalists

Leader

Erin Darkflame Montgomery Pl/♀ human/cleric 9 Diancecht/Sensates/LG

Ruling Organization

The Factions Of the Multiverse

Leader Title

Factol of the Faction

Power Structure

Federation

Economic System

Gift economy

Parent Organization