D&D: Five Nuggets Of Forgotten Planescape Lore
Planescape is an incredibly dense setting, full of a cosmos’s worth of secrets. Here are five nuggets of forgotten Planescape lore.
Planescape is a setting full of truths waiting to be unearthed. And secrets best left forgotten. Lucky or wise adventurers may be able to tell which is which. But for the rest of us, here are five nuggets of forgotten Planescape lore that either shed some interesting light on the setting, or are just kind of cool things to know.
Unused Blades
The Lady of Pain wears a mantle of blades. It’s part of her iconic look. And yet, for someone who is feared (they say the Lady’s shadow can slice any being to ribbons if it passes over them), these blades have never actually been used. At least, not as far as anyone in Sigil has ever seen.
It’s entirely possible these razor sharp blades serve as more than just decor. But as far as any reliable, living (or at least communicative) witnesses go, the Lady of Pain has never had cause to use her blades. But when you can send people to extradimensional mazes on a whim, who needs swords anyway?
Sigil’s Slang
Sadly, one of the biggest things missing from the new campaign setting book, Planescape: Adventures in the Multiverse is the rich, vibrant language that makes up Planescape’s particular aesthetic. Planescape had its own glossary of Planar slang from back in the day.
It drew on a mishmash of “extremely colorful slang of thieves, swindlers, and beggars” from the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries as inspiration. You can find an unofficial glossary here, but consider some of these choice options:
- Jink – Money or coin
- Lost – Dead
- Blood – Expert or pro in any field
- Bone-box – Mouth
- Brain-box – Head
- Cutter – Resourceful, savvy person
- Pike Off – Anger someone
The list goes on, but you get the idea. It’s not exactly rhyming slang, but it gave Planescape a distinct auditory feel too.
There Used To Be Guilds
Sigil used to have more than 50 guilds that all vied for control of the city. Each of these guilds oversaw administration of a different part of the city. Which, as you might imagine, left things rather chaotic and unruly. The Lady of Pain saw what was happening, and declared an official limit to the major factions: there would be Fifteen total.
During an event known as the Great Upheaval, the Guilds helped the Lady out by going to war with and destroying themselves (with a little or a lot of help from the Lady). In the aftermath, the Guilds were gone, and the Lady of Pain gave administration of the city over to the Factions as we know them today. Mostly. Except for the new ones.
The Beastlands Almost Took It Over
At one point during Sigil’s long history, the chaotic energies of the Upper Plane known as the Wilderness of the Beastlands (a place for elves and chaotic good types) spread unchecked through Sigil for a time. Not long after the Factions took power, plots and schemes from those daring the Lady’s Wrath went into motion.
This is nothing new, for Sigil. But this time, one of these schemes spilled out from crowded windows and into Sigil. A plot to rescue someone from the deeper layers of Carceri resulted in a magical artifact known as the Dreamlink spreading the wild nature of the Beastlands into several Outer Planes as well as Sigil. It may well have gone on to corrupt all of reality, but it was stopped. Thank the Lady. No, literally though.
The Lady Of Pain Probably Killed The God Of Portals
Read through any reference of Planescape and you’ll find reference to “the dead god” or “the missing god” known as Aoskar, god of portals. Aoskar, being the god of portals, was exceedingly popular in Sigil. To the point where some started to consider the Lady of Pain to be a mere aspect of the deity.
In time, one of her closest servants, the dabus known as Fell, converted, becoming a cleric of Aoskar. After that, Aoskar is said to have mysteriously vanished. Though many believe Aoskar is still alive out there, others are sure the Lady killed him and tossed the body into the Astral Plane.
The only thing anyone knows for sure is that this is the reason gods aren’t welcome in Sigil.
