Tales from the Great Bazaar

Game Master Patrick Curtin

I have a few questions about the things you are asking for from the recruitment post.

A background story - Okay simple enough.

Come up with thumbnail sketches of five friends/allies/contacts - As in actual drawings? Or can we just use images from online. Because I have to say my artistic skills when it comes to any visual medium is far from satisfactory.

Also do five enemies/rivals - Same answer.

Long-term character goals - Do these goals need to pertain to Sigil or could these be goals before they arrived if they are not from Sigil.

A list of items you'd like your character to eventually obtain - Anything from official pathfinder books or limited to the Planescape setting?

Any motivations/hopes/fears for the character - Simple enough though may still have a few more questions.

Does the character have family? Are they close? Still alive? - Again simple enough. Though I ask will they be of any relevance if the character is not from Sigil and therefore unlikely to see them again?

Lastly once we create our character and finish that list of things you wish do you want it posted anywhere, sent to you, or kept to ourselves until you request them?

Hello I just have a question about the portals of Sigil. I've tried finding the answers online, but have a feeling that information is not so easily come by anymore.

1. Do portals need to happen inside an open area? Example can a portal exist in front of a closed door or must it be open for the portal to be able to exist?

2. Do portal's locations ever move? Example at midday this particular portal which leads to location 1 is at location A at midday but at night it's at to location B?

3. Do portal destinations ever move? Example Location 1 at midday leads to location A but at night it leads to location B?

4. If question 3 is correct can a portal move it's destination while it is open?

5. From what I remember of the little time I played of Planescape: Torment isn't true that the key to a portal is not always an item, but can also be an action or phrase spoken in an appropriate location? I may be wrong about this I'm not sure.

6. Are there permanent or semi-permanent portals? I think I read on the wiki page that there are but I'd like to make sure.

7. How common are the stable or permanent portals? Are they regulated? Controlled? What are the most common destinations of these portals?

8. How hard is it to actually escape Sigil? This is here cause the only way in or out is through portals.

9. Is the size of portals limited in anyway?

10. Are the number of people that can travel through a particular portal limited?

And lastly

11. Is there anyway for someone to make a portal somewhere while in Sigil?

Corvis. “City of Ghosts,” they call it. about 100,000 souls call Corvis their home, and more arrive every day. Corvis is an island of civilization in the roughest part of northern Cygnar in a world known only as The Iron Kingdoms.

So, are you wondering why they call Corvis the “City of Ghosts?” There are as many stories about that as tavern keepers and old gossip mongers. They say the dead don’t rest well in Corvis, maybe since the shifting soil makes it hard to sanctify graves. A lot of people died in bad ways in the early days of Old Corvis, and those ghosts linger on. Many folks believe anyone who drowns in the canals or the harbor is doomed to walk the city for eternity. The dead are also said to walk about openly in the Undercity—one more reason to stay out, if you ask me. Any way you look at it, there’s nary a soul in Corvis who hasn’t seen a shade at one time or another—or so they claim. Stay here long enough and I wager you’ll see one too.

This is where Annabelle originally called home, well at least for most of her life. Corvis is a city unlike most others in most other worlds. A world where guns and machines mix with sword and sorcery. Some choose paths of the sword, others find magic comes easily to them, but a few, those born outside the norms of society, have aptitude for both.

Annabelle is just such a person. Taken from her parents at birth, she has no idea who they may be nor the exact circumstances of her birth. She was raised in a dwarven section of Corvis.

They tried to raise her as a normal girl, but she always knew that she never really did “fit in” she was not dwarven. She worked hard to be like them, and showed great aptitude for mechanizations she even learned the rudimentary basics of firearms. But Annabelle held a secret that only those close to her knew about. She had an aptitude for magic. She commanded fire magic like a practiced sorcerer even at an extremely young age.

Her skill with magic was kept secret form the rest of the community. They feared she would be taken, by the elites for “experimentation” or who knows what. But Annabelle was more curious about her magic skills, and continued to practice in secret.

Well it was a secret until she accidentally set fire to her home. The fire spread quickly burning her home and several others nearby. Annabelle was thought to have been consumed in the fire, but after the flames were extinguished and people started to sift through the rubble they found an unconscious Annabelle, but completely unscathed by the flames. Her only wound was a cut on her head from a falling wooden beam. Annabelle’s secret was no longer a secret.

Annabelle was taken to an orphanage since her “adoptive” dwarven parents both perished in the fire. But she was not taken to an ordinary orphanage, this one was intended for those that cannot control their magic.

She lived there for several years having concentrated more on her tinkering skills as she became afraid to use her magic. Because of her unpredictable magic she had only one friend, Alexia Ciannor. She was a mischievous human girl that kept getting into trouble, and sometimes dragging Annabelle down with her.

Alexia was much like Annabelle, she had a knack for using magic but she had much better control of hers. Despite the constant pranking and breaking out to cause mischief around the town, Alexia managed to teach Annabelle how to control her magic.

One night, Alexia dragged Annabelle out of bed in the middle of the night telling her about some strange gate that she had discovered. The two snuck out of the orphanage once again and Alexia took Annabelle to an old sewer grate outside the Academy. From there they snuck in through an old damaged trapdoor that was probably long forgotten.

The pair snuck through the halls to a large amphitheater, where there was a large ancient stone archway covered in numerous runes. Alexia looked to Annabelle, you wanna see what this does? she asks with a grin that just screams “we are in so much trouble if we get caught”

Alexia started to recite what she knew of the runes and as she did so several started to glow. As she did her magic thing, Annabelle started to check out the rest of the room. Finding a small wind-up robot bear toy Annabelle started to play with it for a bit.

Annie, check this out, I think it works. It looks like it goes to some other part of the city. Alexia called Annabelle over.

Annabelle headed over with her new toy. Hey Alexia, look what I found. she says showing the toy to Alexia. When suddenly it sprang to life as Annabelle accidentally hit the “on” switch.

As the toy came to life, Annabelle shrieked as the toy’s animation startled her. She stumbled back and fell through the gate. Before Alexia could react the portal closed and several of the teachers of the academy came in demanding what was going on. The last thing Annabelle saw was Alexia being taken by the authorities.

Annabelle soon realized she was no longer in Corvis. She had no idea where she was. She wandered for several days living on the streets of this new city keeping to herself mostly afraid of everyone.

Background

The girl woke up at the end of a narrow alley way, with no memory of how she had gotten there – or little else for that matter. She wore a black dress that might once have been fine, but was now patched and faded, and a silver locket with the name ‘Alyse’ engraved within. She had a purse filled with coins that seemed to be from a dozen different nations (or worlds perhaps), and little else. Sigil would have eaten up this girl with no past and not even spat out the bones, had she not been found and taken in by Shadow the fetchling tout.

Alyse (as she assumed was her name) was never really certain why Shadow took her in – the fetchling woman was mercurial, gregarious and friendly one day, distant or miserly the next. She was not rich, sometimes not even making enough jink to feed herself, let alone a human orphan girl. Sometimes Alyse wondered idly if Shadow had taken her for a fetchling herself at first, with her pale skin, thin frame and hair of jet. But then maybe it was the coins, and Shadow just hadn’t felt like stealing from a little girl that day.

That was six years ago as they reckon them in the Cage, or near enough. Alyse figured she was about 10 or so when she woke up, which would make her a woman (or near enough) by now. She’s never remembered her past life – doesn’t even know if she was a Planar or a Prime, whether she’d been in Sigil for a time prior to waking up, or whether she’d just stepped through a Door. She has flashes of memory sometimes – a tall, stern man; a crystal palace; a woman crying; a black, roaring beast; running through a dark place; walking the streets of a crowded, fog shrouded city (maybe Sigil, maybe not). Alyse may not know the dark of her past but she’s not Clueless anymore, Shadow made sure of that.

The bashers of the Great Bazaar (where Shadow mostly looked for work, her case was in the vicinity) started calling Alyse ‘Little Shadow’, then ‘Shade’ for short. Shadow wouldn’t take Alyse with her once she actually had a job, and sometimes she couldn’t (or wouldn’t) let the girl stay at her case for a spell. At these times she’d fob Alyse off to one of her many friends or accomplices in or around the Great Bazaar. There was Maldrin the Magnificent, who taught her spells and magecraft; Painted Pietra taught her body art, the tongue of demons, and how to be a lady (or not); Thorn of Clovenwood, who taught her how to fight, how to swear in a dozen languages and various bits of forbidden and arcane lore; and The White taught her about life, about the Great Wheel, and was a better mother (or father) to her than Shadow usually was.

Not so long ago, Alyse Shade decided she needed to find her own space and her own way – not to mention that Shadow’s case was barely big enough for a woman and a girl, let alone two women. Shadow had always cautioned her about being too quick to join a Faction, even one with as loose a membership and philosophy as the Free League – a Faction could protect you, but it could hurt you too, if it turned out your ideals didn’t completely gel with its. Growing up in the Bazaar, Alyse was naturally drawn to the Indeps, but she resolved to keep her eyes and options open and her wits about her. Recently, so as to make some jink and afford a kip she’s been doing some work for the Crossroads Lightning Guild Lodge, as a messenger and courier. She’s been known to kip at St. Cuthbert’s Lodgings for the Lost when desperate, although the priests make her kind of uncomfortable.

Description

Alyse Shade is a human girl of about sixteen or seventeen standard years. She is of middling height and slender build (if you’re kind – otherwise words like skinny, or undernourished might come to mind). She has very pale, almost translucent skin, and very dark, almost jet black hair that hangs to her mid back, but is usually tied back or up in a messy tail or bun, with a few stray strands always hanging down into her eyes, which are blue-grey and look big in her narrow face. She has a small nose, and thin lips. She has a number of piercings in ears, nose, and lips, and several tattoos – some artistically beautiful, some rough and crude – although most of these are generally covered by her typical garb, which tends towards layered black clothing, wrappings of linen and cloth, fingerless gloves, tall boots, a weathered dark great-coat and a sort of shapeless black hat.

She has few friends, but is loyal to those she has. She’s stand-offish, sometimes rude, often seeming sad, but those who look closer may notice an inner strength and confidence, something that draws people of a certain type. She’s fit, quick and strong despite her slight build, and too smart for her own good sometimes, which makes her reckless. She’s somewhat wary of the strong philosophies and alignments of the Great Wheel, and has so far in her young life tended towards looking after herself and those few she loves rather than dedicating herself to a philosophy or a cause. She has a deep-seated fear of abandonment, which makes her hesitant in getting too close to people, or be too trusting.

Friends, Allies and Contacts

Shadow (female fetchling): Something of a mother figure to Alyse, Shadow is a tout who operates out from the Great Bazaar and surrounding areas, who took the young orphan Alyse in for unknown reasons. She is mercurial, at times kind and at times cruel – people tend to like her, but that doesn’t always go both ways. She generally treats Alyse well, but sometimes seems resentful of her – although this has lessened somewhat now that Alyse has (mostly) moved out on her own. Shadow does not make a great living as a tout, and sometimes supplements her income with thievery and perhaps (Alyse thinks) the odd spot of assassination. You know, just sometimes.

Maldrin the Magnificent, aka Maldrin the Muddled (male human): A wizard who operates a modest shop in the Grand Bazaar selling scrolls and minor spellcasting services, Maldrin’s moniker is much grander than he seems to be. His appearance as a scruffy and rather befuddled old man may have some truth to it, but also serves him well in gathering and passing on information for the Indeps. He has taught Alyse much of magic – he says she has a knack for it, and has offered to take her on as an apprentice, but she never seems to have the interest or patience for truly dedicated study of wizardry, and anyway suspects that being an apprentice would involve a lot of sweeping and darning socks. She still often comes to Maldrin for advice on things magical, or when she decides she needs to add another spell to her own meagre spellbook. Despite his seemingly humble magical ability, she’s occasionally observed him seeming to cast spells that should be far beyond his ability, but which is truth and which just appearance she’s never been quite sure.

Painted Pietra (female reformed succubus): Pietra claims to be a reformed succubus, but she’s known to have a very casual relationship with truth – it may be that she’s an alu-fiend or a half succubus or something else entirely. She makes a living as an artist, model and muse in the Grand Bazaar, specialising in tattooing, body modification and subversive sculpture. Most of the time she appears tattooed in bright and intricate designs from neck to ankle. She has been something of a surrogate big sister to Alyse, although extroverted Pietra could hardly be more different to her ‘little sister’. She’s a Namer of the Signers, though she doesn’t flaunt her affiliation.

Thorn of Clovenwood (male bariuar): Thorn is a brash, oft bad tempered bariuar Taker who has a soft spot for pretty girls (he says that Alyse is close enough, although it seems to be Shadow he is taken with). Alyse and Shadow managed to help him out of a spot of trouble a few years ago, and he occasionally threatens to return the favour. He’s probably a bad influence on Alyse, teaching her all sorts of things she shouldn’t know (like tan’nari curses, dangerous magical lore, and how to fight dirty), but he can be fun when he’s in a less dark mood.

The White (androgynous aasimar): The White is a priest of some lost or obscure faith – ey rarely pushes eir philosophy or faith, but is warm and caring to most, and is willing to share eirs thoughts on life and the Great Wheel if prompted. Alyse tends to be mistrustful of priests (likely Shadow’s influence), but she gets on well with the White who often looked after her when Shadow couldn’t. Even Shadow seems to take some pleasure in the White’s company, though the two are about as different as white and some darker shade of grey. Alyse doesn’t know if the White belongs to a faction, although she’s seen him oft enough in the company of Godsmen.

Enemies and Rivals

Big Pate, aka Pate the Pig (male half-orc): An orphan of the Bazaar like Alyse, Pate is a few years older than Alyse, big, stupid and cruel. As a boy he was a bully who delighted in picking on skinny, quiet Alyse. As a man, he’s become the leader of a petty gang of thugs who roam the Bazaar, threatening, thieving from, hurting and, yes, still bullying whoever they can.

The Stranger (male human?): When Alyse had been in the Cage for about a year, a man tried to snatch her from a dark alley. These things happen in any large city – thankfully for Alyse she managed to escape, but the experience scared her badly, not least due to the man’s sinister appearance and actions. He was very tall and very thin, with skin as pale as her own, a hairless head and long fingers that almost seemed to have too many joints. He wore a long black coat, a long scarf and smoked glass goggles. As Alyse ran away down the crooked alleyways of Sigil to escape her, he always seemed to be near behind her although she never saw him run. Only when she emerged into the bustle of the Bazaar did he abandon the pursuit.
In the years since, the Stranger has returned several times. Sometimes Alyse suddenly notices him watching her from across a crowd, other times he appears at the end of an alley or emerges from a fog shrouded street and tries to grab her. Always she has managed to escape him, but sometimes only just. It has been about two years since the last time; she wonders if, now that she is strong enough to swing a sword and has learnt some spells, she may be brave enough to confront him – though she fears not.

Dhaaz’jaag the Razor (female githyanki): At the tender age of sixteen (or maybe seventeen) Alyse hasn’t had the opportunity to make many enemies of her own, but that’s okay as she has inherited a few of Shadows. She doesn’t quite know what Shadow did to annoy the githyanki gish, but it was enough that the Doomguard affiliated Razor swore bloody vengeance on Shadow and all she held dear, which apparently included Little Shade. So far, bloody vengeance seems to be a dish best served cold, apart from a few threats and a little destruction of property, but recently Alyse noticed Dhaaz’jaag watching her from across the Bazaar with murder in her eyes.

Hard Theros (male dwarf): Another inherited enemy, Theros the Hardhead has had his beady eyes on Shadow for years, always hoping to catch her out in some criminal act, and generally doing his best to make life difficult for her. Shadow often blames her lack of income from the freelance guide game on Theros scaring away her customers. Years back he seems to have decided that the daughter must be as bad as the mother (he doesn’t know or just doesn’t care that they’re not actually related, or even the same species), and often enough takes the time to make life hard for Alyse too.

Jasmin Krin (female human): Jasmin, the daughter of a Bazaar spice merchant was Alyse’s friend once – maybe she still thinks she is. The girls are of an age, and pretty, popular Jasmin has often taken it upon herself to ‘improve’ her gloomy, shy friend. It’s f*~~ing annoying. No one in the Cage is that sunny all the time, there has got to be something else going on, or so Alyse supposes.

Long Term Goals, Motivations, Hopes, Fears

Make a name for herself, either within a faction or not.

See the Great Wheel (some of it anyway).

Find out where she came from, whether her family is still alive, and how she ended up in Sigil.

She fears the Stranger, and wonders what he wants, whether he is something to do with her past.

She worries for Shadow, that she is going to get herself (and possibly Alyse) into more trouble than she can handle. She also wonders why Shadow took her in and has (mostly) looked after her all these years.

Alyse has few close friends her own age (don’t get her started on f$+%ing Jasmin), and although she has something of a surrogate family whom she cares for and they her, they are not a close family like she has read about (or seen occasionally). She sometimes wonders if Shadow would die for her, the way she’s heard a mother would be willing to die to protect her children; she’s fairly sure the answer is no. Although she hardly admits it to herself, she would like a family, or a close knit group of friends. People who she would die for if needs be, and they for her. She wonders if she would find that in a Faction, but she’s not sure.

Family

The status of Alyse’s blood family is unknown. Are they dead? Did they leave her in the Cage to abandon her or to save her? Is the stern man she sometimes remembers her father? Is the crying woman she sometimes hears her mother? Did she have any siblings? She remembers other children, but not who they were to her.

Shadow is the closest thing Alyse has to a mother in Sigil – she’s not a great mother, but she does well enough when it suits her. She sometimes thinks of Pietra as an older sister (or wicked aunt), but Pietra, like Shadow, only has time for Alyse when it suits her. Maldrin and the White have both cared for Alyse, but she thinks of them more as favourite uncles (or aunts) than close family.

Hair: Blue
Eyes: Brown
Height: 7'2"
Weight: 300lb

You see a well-groomed human man with neatly-trimmed black hair. His jaw is clean-shaven, and he keeps a thick mustache that reaches the corners of his mouth. His eyes are a deep blue, with small flecks of silver near the iris. His skin is fair and pale, with high cheek bones and a strong jaw. He is dressed in a blue buttoned shirt, black vest, tan pants, and a black cloak. He also wears a thick, well-worn leather apron. He wears a dagger at his belt. He is remarkably tall and broad, with a solid frame and straight posture.

Tsun is a second-generation immigrant to Sigil, born and raised in the Market Ward. His family are jotun, a type of giant-kin native to the wilds of Ysgard. Tsun had a rather atypical upbringing in the City of Doors -- he was raised by loving parents, in a stable household, with a strong work ethic. As a result, he is honest and square in his dealings and openly despises knights of the crosstrade and their ilk.

Tsun is first and foremost a builder, like his father and forefathers before him in Ysgard. He completed a rigorous apprenticeship in both carpentry and stonemasonry before being awarded his journeyman badges. He wears them with pride, stitched into his workman's apron. After working for a time for several projects in the Market Ward, he met upon the proprietor of the St. Cuthbert's Lodging for the Lost. Impressed with his craftsmanship and professionalism, Tsun was hired to be the steward-in-residence at the Lodge.

Ideologically, Tsun favors the Believers of the Source. Their emphasis on self-actualization and introspection through work meshes well with his personal ethics. In his free time, he enjoys a good drink, spending time with family, and good-natured athletics. He is a fine wrestler, and spent a significant amount of his childhood tumbling with his sibllings. Relatively young for a jotun, Tsun is looking forward to finding a good wife (perhaps imported from Ysgard), raising children, and living a quiet life of work and family. Yessiree, no shenanigans like adventuring or political intrigue or planes-hopping for him. Nope. None at all.

FIVE FRIENDS/ALLIES/CONTACTS
Rosie Goodshay, healer and next-door-neighbor to Tsun's parents (halfling, female, Cleric 5 of Yondalla)
Grim-Eyes, hunter on Ysgard who knew Tsun's family before they immigrated (wemic, male, Ranger 8)
Rhiao'wiok, merchant in the Great Bazaar and supplier for raw materials (thrikreen, male, Expert 6)
Yamada Gunpachiro, owner/bartender at Tsun's favorite tavern (human, male, Expert 2)
Lily, street waif whom Tsun hid from slavers (tiefling, female, Rogue 3)

FIVE ENEMIES/RIVALS
Bern Goldhammer, crooked contractor and business rival (dwarf, male, Expert 3)
Cwmcarn, humiliated by Tsun in arm-wrestling and holds an irrational grudge (bariaur, male, Commoner 3)
Renauld Billancourt, bullying gang-member that was beaten by Tsun and his brothers for soliciting protection money (tiefling, male, Fighter 1 / Rogue 1)
Haesagota Griteotinqta, slaver who previously owned Lily but does not know location of Tsun (bladeling, female, Sorcerer 10)
Grnčar, tribe wiped out by Tsun's clan in Ysgard several generations back and bent on revenge (orc, female, oracle 3)

LONG-TERM CHARACTER GOALS
1. Since jotun become more giantish as they gain experience, Tsun wants to find a magic item with some variation of reduce person that would allow him to go from his current size down to Medium when necessary.
2. Find a wife and have a family. He has heard of Zadara the titan, but doubts that such a rich and powerful woman would be interested in a humble craftsman. Perhaps if he proved himself...
3. Somehow get rich enough to buy land in Ysgard and build his parents a fine retirement home.

MOTIVATIONS/HOPES/FEARS
1. Lead a happy, productive life. No, seriously, none of that adventuring business. No, let me stay home! Let go of me! Nooo....
2. Despises the Doomguard (he's a builder) and the Xaositects (bunch of useless NEETs).
3. Tsun has crazy dreams where he is a giant lord living in an enormous castle, ruling as a colossal ruler over a nation of adoring subjects. Such weird dreams. Probably drank some bad beer.

FAMILY
Parents - Ulrik (carpenter) and Wibeke (housewife).
Siblings - Askel (carpenter), Broddi (seamstress), Havard (merchant), Ingvar (carpenter), Osvald (blacksmith).

WISHLIST (more or less in order of desire)
Belt of Giant Strength
Body Wrap of Mighty Strikes
magic fang with permanency spell
Gauntlets of the Skilled Maneuver
Armbands of the Brawler
Forge Fist Amulet
Muleback Cords

- Some magic armour. Early on maybe studded leather, a chain shirt or even elven chain. Special properties such as shadow and energy resistance are nice. At higher levels, magical chain mail with the improved versions of such properties might be nice, mithral is a girl’s best friend and celestial armour may be appropriate.
- A magical weapon. Preferably but not necessarily a longsword. Properties such as keen and speed interest me, spell storing can be fun too. Anything that can overcome damage reduction of (or give extra bonuses against) commonly encountered foes is good. Sunblade and Sword of the Planes are great high level weapons.
- I like it, so I’ll put a ring on it. Ring of Protection is an oldie but a goodie. A ring of Sustenance is good if we’re going to spend a lot of time somewhere its not safe to eat the natives (or sleep for that matter). A ring of Wizardry works just as well for dabblers such as the magus.
- Wands and scrolls bearing appropriate spells are always great for when you run out of spells per day. A staff say of Fire or Evocation may also be good, though not a must.
- An Amulet of the Planes would seem useful for such a campaign, but might take the fun out of finding doors and keys. A Necklace of Adaptation might be a good thing to wear when stepping through an unknown portal.
- Extra dimensional storage devices – be they portable holes, bags of holding or even handy haversacks or gloves of storing are always good.
- A belt that boosts strength and/or dexterity and a headband that boosts intelligence are stylish AND practical accessories.
- As are Winged Boots.
- A cloak of resistance is a standard but solid choice.
- Goggles of Night are great when you’re probably the only party member that doesn’t have darkvision or low light vision, and they give you that steampunk look.
- Gotta love Ioun Stones. They’re all good.