Her Serenity, the Lady of Pain, is an enigmatic figure who rules over Sigil. She largely doesn't care for the day-to-day operation of the city, happy to leave that to groups like the Fraternity of Order, Harmonium, and Mercykillers. What rules she has are few:
The Lady of Pain's stamp, used on official documents
Keep the peace.
Don't threaten the safety of the city or its portals
Additionally, she seems to have a distaste for the mercane, who feel distinctly uncomfortable within Sigil, although they are not barred to entry[2]. This distaste came to most peoples' awareness during the events surrounding the creation of the Arcane Remains in the Ditch.[3]
She is always silent; whenever she makes a pronouncement to the public, she does so via her dabus attendants, who are as inextricably part of the city as she is.
The Lady appears as a tall woman with a bladed headdress surrounding her face, although the blades are actually a part of her face.[4] Her body form cannot be determined as she wears long robes, but is presumed to be humanoid. She at least seems to have arms, although they remain tucked into the sleeves of her robe. She never walks, but floats above the city street. The Lady's Ward (never the "Lady's Ward" always "The Lady's Ward") is named after her, simply because most of her appearances seemed to be in this Ward.[5]
As far as anyone knows, the Lady has always been part of Sigil. The Guvners and Signers suggest she created the city.
A long time ago, no one is sure when, the Lady was on her rounds, floating through the streets. A little girl ran up to her, big smile on her face, and said something to the Lady. Either the Lady was very moved, or did not notice the young girl at all, but she escaped the encounter unscathed. The event is celebrated annually as the Day of Grace, the Sigilian celebration of the New Year.[6]
At some point in prehistory, the powerful wizard Gifad attempted a vast spell, woven into the streets of the Ward of Masks, which would grant him control over the city. At the climax of the spell, the Lady appeared, trapping him in a Labyrinth Stone, and telepathically telling him, None but you may unlock this jewel, and then only from without. Thus you are snared, till eons hence. The gem is then cast into the Lower Planes.[7]
Approx 10,000 BHFR: The wizard Shekelor retrieved the Labyrinth Stone and attempted to repeat Gifad's spell, but failed. For his efforts, he was burned from within in front of the City Courts.[8][9][10]
874 BFHR: The Expansionist factol Vartus Timlin is Mazed while taking a break from a meeting where he was planning a takeover of Sigil.[8][11][12]
503 BFHR: The Great Upheaval: After the city's 50 factions devolved to fighting in the streets, the Lady makes one of her rare pronouncements, delivered via dabus: By order of the Lady of Pain, there will be but 15 factions in Sigil. Organize thy colors by a fortnight hence — or die.
373 BFHR: Worship of Aoskar, the God of Portals, rises to a degree that people begin to question the Lady's power. She destroys Aoskar, his body left to float lifeless in the Astral Plane. His temple is shattered, his worship is forbidden, his image eradicated.[13]
117 YFHR: The First Eschaton: A year of bad omens. People have bad dreams and uneasy visions, the Lady of Pain make an inauspicious 13 appearances in the short timeframe of 23 days, and MercykillerFactolVotohm dies under mysterious circumstances.[14]
121 YFHR: The bard Trolan of Ecstasy arrives in Sigil and finds a tavern to perform in. He performs a song of love to the Lady of Pain. The crowd flees and he's kicked out, with the expectation that the Lady would quickly arrive to dispatch him, but she never does. He's quickly branded Trolan the Mad. The Mercykillers were ready to deal with him when the dabus showed up to take him to Harbinger House.[15]
127 YFHR: Trolan is let out of Harbinger House and is convinced that the Lady loves him back; he starts a cult of worshippers called Those Who Love the Lady. A gathering of cultists is flayed alive in Bloodgem Park.[16]
130 YFHR: The Faction War. In an attempt to forestall simmering tensions, the Lady of Pain sends all the factols and other faction leaders to the Mazes over the course of two weeks, ending with the Mazing of Duke Rowan Darkwood, just as he is about to release the force of the Labyrinth Stone. It doesn't work; having their leaders vanish only escalates conflict. After a month, she shuts down all the city's portals.[17] After the conflict seems to end, portals are reopened, but the Lady makes a new pronouncement: This city tolerates your faction no longer. Abandon it or die. Unsure if by "it" she means "your faction" or "the city," various factions either splinter, merge, or leave Sigil entirely.[18]
132 YFHR: The Lady is caught between a rock and a hard place as the lich-lord Vecna exploits a loophole to twist his way into Sigil on his path to godhood. She can do little about his presence directly, but opening the gates to allow other gods entry will upset the balance of the city and perhaps the multiverse. Eventually she puts her faith in a group of mortal adventurers.[19]
Those who violate her commandments are typically subject to one of two punishments:
Control of all portals: Every portal in or out of the city exists at the Lady's whim, which explains why fiends haven't overrun the place. She's known to have shut down every portal simultaneously only once, during the Faction War.
They're sent to the Mazes: if the target is walking through the city alone, that portion of the city will be taken, multiply in size and warp back in on itself to form a maze, and then cast into the Ethereal plane as a demiplane.
Flaying flesh: The Lady makes a physical appearance. Either her gaze or the edges of her passing shadow will flay the flesh of the target.
Time manipulation, possibly
Those who worship her tend to get flayed, while other infractions typically result in getting Mazed. It's arguable whether flaying is better or worse than centuries of being trapped in a Maze alone.
Her ability to flay with her presence may be beyond her control; the streets certainly empty out quickly when she passes, just in case.
Curiously, about 10,000 years ago when the wizard Shekelor attempted his takeover of Sigil, his journey ended with him burning from within in front of the City Courts, so it's possible the Lady wasn't always able to create Mazes.
The Lady seems to have some awareness of and ability to manipulate time, although this ability was ultimately only witnessed by Duke Rowan Darkwood and the wizard Gifad.
Background Information[]
The Lady of Pain's face was chosen as the signature image for Planescape, as a shorthand for its logo. This appears to have been an early design decision, as various shapes for the Lady's head were considered specifically for the logo in Dana Knutson's Planescape Sketchbook. It can be found throughout Planescape material.
Gallery[]
Lady of Pain symbol, by Cindy Jackson, Dennis Kauth
