I just re-read the Faction War book and noticed something about the phrasing of the Lady's imfamous Ban: "This city tolerates your faction no more. Abandon it or die." Notice the key words: "YOUR FACTION"; i.e. the factions to whom She gave the decree... I would argue, therefore, that Her Serenity has NOT banned factions outright, but ONLY the ones in existance at the time of the Faction War. So presumably there's nothing to keep OTHER factions from moving in and setting up shop... your thoughts? (The Mind's Eye was formed after the Lady's Edict, so it should be exempt...)
A loophole in Factions ban...?
Wed, 2007-11-07 14:37
#1
A loophole in Factions ban...?
Wed, 2007-11-07 16:39
#3
A loophole in Factions ban...?
There are multiple interpretations and potential loopholes for the Edict. However, if you're wrong (or the Lady just disagrees with you), you're in big trouble. I'm not quite sure if our local PSCS is very clear about this, but some people are pushing the ban, subtly and slowly. No group has been foolish enough to just jump back into Sigil all at once.
Thu, 2007-11-08 02:55
#4
A loophole in Factions ban...?
Factions have debated about this criptical warning and they too have reached conclusion that they are unwelcome in Sigil.
But in "Faction War" writers say that not even Lady can stop the power of belif, and that part:
"Abandon it or die"
can be aplied to both Factions and Sigil (and even on the faction philosophy, some factions ceased to exist alltogether), in that way Lady has given the factions option (and loophole they can exploit): either they abandon Sigil and keep they power structure, or they stay and disband and thus loose any and every political power they had. She did not put any ban on faction philososopies, so all those who have stayed continue to live by their philosophy.
Then again, who knows, maybe she did put ban only on existing factions not on the new ones, but I think that even those the new factions don´t have guts to test this "loopholes" set by lady of Pain.
Thu, 2007-11-08 10:43
#5
A loophole in Factions ban...?
Eventually, I'm sure the power offered by control of a faction in Sigil will be tempting enough that people will test the Lady's resolve in the matter. There will always be those whose desire for wealth, power, and glory outweighs their fear of the Lady of Pain.
Once one group gets away with it, others will follow.
Thu, 2007-11-08 13:42
#6
A loophole in Factions ban...?
Why not just ask a Dabus about it?
Thu, 2007-11-08 14:07
#7
sneaky trick
Actually, I thought of a rather bizzare plan to get the original Factions back in on a technicality... based on the fact that the Lady used the words "your faction"... technically this would apply only to the people who were members of the factions AT THAT TIME, so if ALL the current members were to abandon the factions and then HAD THEIR PLACES FILLED by NEW MEMBERS (via some rather vigorous recruiting), then since the words weren't adressed to THEM... (heh, heh...)
Thu, 2007-11-08 16:20
#8
A loophole in Factions ban...?
Actually, I thought of a rather bizzare plan to get the original Factions back in on a technicality... based on the fact that the Lady used the words "your faction"... technically this would apply only to the people who were members of the factions AT THAT TIME, so if ALL the current members were to abandon the factions and then HAD THEIR PLACES FILLED by NEW MEMBERS (via some rather vigorous recruiting), then since the words weren't adressed to THEM... (heh, heh...)
That's the type of logic the yugoloths and baatezu encourage among mortals.
Thu, 2007-11-08 16:34
#9
A loophole in Factions ban...?
Why not just ask a Dabus about it?
They're not very talkative - no one even knows how they reproduce, or where they go when they're not working, or any number of things about them. They'll sometimes answer questions that don't have to do with themselves - give a basher directions to the Civic Festhall, for example - but spill the Lady's darks? Not likely.
Even assuming they know what the Lady of Pain was thinking - and that's a big assumption - it's a safe bet that if the Lady was being ambiguous on purpose. After all, if she'd wanted to be precise, she could have been. If she wanted the dabus to explain, they would have. No, she wanted to keep people guessing. That's part of the test the factions must pass if they want back in her good graces, or it's an excuse to punish people to satisfy her sadistic desires, or perhaps she is simply unthinking and random in her whims, and doesn't care how people interpret her. Who can tell with the Lady of Pain?
If you were a prospective faction would you want to find out if the Lady's Edict had a lophole or not?
The Lady is not lawful, and is not writing a contract with a devil, as such, assuming that you can get around the edict's wording isn't a good bet it's probably the spirit that counts. What the edict means exactly (whether or not there is a loophole, etc.) is up to you as the DM.