Does it o over this anywhere?
how easy, or hard, is it to gain CItizenship in the city of Sigil.
Do IO need it to own a home, or such.
Citizenship in the city?
Sun, 2013-05-19 17:37
#1
Citizenship in the city?
Tue, 2013-05-21 04:44
#3
Re: Citizenship in the city?
There is the Sigil Identification scroll /sites/files/Sigil_ID.pdf
I think you just have to believe you're a citizen, not a visitor. If you want more go to the Hall of Records and pay.
Tue, 2013-05-21 12:11
#4
Re: Citizenship in the city?
According to the Planewalker Post-Faction War campaign setting, everybody who pays taxes is allowed to vote for the members of the City Council (which is one of the biggest privileges of Citizenship).
As many Sigilians (especially Hivers) can't afford taxes, they probably don't have any confirmed citizens' rights.
The Sigil Identification Papers were used in several campaigns I've played.
They were always introduced only shortly before the Faction War, to enhance the feel of rising paranoia and distrust in the Cage.
Tue, 2013-05-21 19:15
#5
Re: Citizenship in the city?
I think Tequila Sunrise's answer is the most sensible one possible.
For most purposes, it's probably irrelevant. I don't have to be a citizen of Chicago to go there, buy stuff, walk around in the parks, or even rent a house. Voting in Chicago would require that I be resident there; that simply means owning a house or other abode, and doing business there.
If we deal with Sigil as a nation, then citizenship would presumably come with certain rights. Human rights as a foundation for law were a concept that didn't really exist until after the medieval period; the Fraternity of Order may be aware of Magna Carta-like charters out in the planes that guarantee certain rights, and they may be interested in establishing such things for Sigil, but only the most lawful factions are likely to worry about them. Even then, it will probably only affect things like the level and frequency of taxes you're supposed to pay, and possibly things like how quickly you can get a hearing before the Hall of Speakers or a case in the Courts.
The question is what citizenship might grant you. If you want citizenship in Sigil to be important as a theme in a game, make a note of what sort of things it affects. How you obtain citizenship is probably going to depend on who decides who is a citizen, and the answer to that is almost certainly the Fated, since they keep the records. A simple "naturalization ceremony" might be signing a form declaring that Sigil was your primary residence for the last year, paying Sigil taxes on your earnings for that year, and swearing to uphold the City's laws. Stamp, stamp, scribble, congratulations you're a citizen watch out for ooze portals this season next please.
(Perhaps there's a smaller group of people that consider themselves the only true citizens of Sigil: the Cageborn, the ultimate planars, a meta-faction who signal each other with subtle signs that might get you a cut in line or an extra head-knocker in a bar fight, as long as you're in agreement with them that it's those thrice-disgusting Prime Clueless that cause most of Sigil's problems, and willing to help out with screwing them over every now and then...)
I don't have an official source to site, but Sigil doesn't seem the kind of place that worries about citizenship. I'm not sure such a concept would even exist in such a large city, where so many bodies are constantly coming and going.
Someone who owns a piece of Sigil (a stretch of dirt and the building built on it) surely pays taxes on his land, and might be said to be a 'citizen.' Members of the 'official' factions have certain rights recognized by Sigil's government, so you might consider them 'citizens.'
But I doubt anyone keeps a record of SSN's...except the Guvners, and then only for their own members.