The Moon District

The Moon District (The Psionic Neighborhood of Sigil)
Where dromites have bottled the moon and the walls all seem to have minds of their own.
Site; Sigil; Market Ward

Character: it’s the light, yes, the light that’s the feeling. Its got a certain green tinge that makes one’s mind feel as if it is filled with possibility and brilliance. The buzz of telepathy roars deafeningly for those with the ability to notice it and there’s a gleam in the eye of every passerby that lets you know that there’s more to their minds than grey matter and juices.

Description: Originally a cluster of psionically-themed shops, the Moon District gained its own identity with the coming of the L’Uun Hive, a massive thirty-story edifice and home to a rather large colony of dromites. The L’uun dromites revere a lunar deity whose name is unpronounceable in the tongues of men and, using a blend of divine magic and psionic might, proceeded to construct an idol to their god atop their hive-tower. This idol, known to the citizens of the Moon District and the nearby areas as The Glow, casts a lurid green glow that seems to extend its spectrum deep into the psionic ends of the electromagnetic spectrum. The Glow’s greenish light fills the Moon Ward and the nearby Were-Ghetto at all times of day or night and on clear nights it can be seen by anyone in the Market Ward.

It is because of this artificial moon that an influx of psionic races and shopkeeps came to the area which was soon dubbed the Moon District. The Glow’s light reduces the pp cost of any psionic power used in the District by 3, allowing an extra 3 pp to be used for the augmentation of powers. Elans, illithids, xeph, and other psionically-inclined races (though not the githyanki or githzerai) as well as psions, wilders, and psionic warriors of all races moved into the neighborhood in order to benefit from the moon’s glow. The few mentalist shops in the area multiplied quickly as niche markets for psicrystals, power stones, dorjes, and psicrowns all suddenly opened up. Soon, the Moon District was the center for psionic activity in Sigil.

The architectural style of the district is eclectic but surprisingly uniform. While most buildings retain the traditional spikes and blades of Sigilian architecture, crystals adorn every building, and some are, in fact, entirely built of crystal. Different races and cultures each have their own architectural style, but the obvious signs of telekinetic manipulation are evident on every building face. The central structure, the great L’uun Hive rises like a needle above the other buildings, its exterior pocked with windows and other portals that remind one of a termite mound.

Rulers: There is no single ruler of the Moon District. Obviously, the Queen of the L’uun Hive is a prominent figure since it is they that control the light of the Glow that gives the district its unique traits (though if the Glow were to vanish it is not unreasonable to assume that the Moon District would survive on, long ago having outgrown its original purpose as a ‘place close to the Glow’ and having become a place in its own right). The current Dromite Queen is Lu’C!sta (Pl / neuter (female) acid caste dromite / Wilder 10, elocator 4 / LN) a wise and noble patriarch whose feet never quite seem to touch the ground. She has no aspirations except to run her hive as cleanly and as orderly as possible.

Amongst the most notorious of the district’s citizens is Caliphratees (Prime / male elf / psionic warrior 10, sanctified mind 6 / Harmonium / LG). Propaganda mongers paint Caliphratees as a loose cannon madman who slays any and all non-humanoids on sight In fact, the Sanctified Mind is a fair and just man who understands that not all aberrations are evil, but is prepared to deal swiftly and harshly with those that wish to hurt mortals. Amongst the people of nearby districts and neighborhoods he is seen as a hero who protects them from the horrors of the Moon District (and horrors they are). In the district itself, however, he is seen as a menace by illithids, psurlons, and other such monstrous mentalists, a renegade by other psychic warriors and psions thanks to the propaganda, and a boogeyman come to steal you away in the night to the peaceable elans.

One of the more sinister forces at work in the District is the aboleth lord Esk (Prime / neuter aboleth / telepath 3 / CE). The aboleth claims to be merely a businessman but his contact base is large and one can never be sure if one is being watched by one of the monstrosity’s spies. He dwells in a large subterranean chamber filled with some vile runoff fluids from Sigil Above, his enslaved minions own a tavern above the chamber called ‘The Gilded Fin’.

Services: There are a large variety of services in the Moon District that one can find in only a few other places in the multiverse. Besides the proliferation of shops selling specific types of psionic items there are other shops with even stranger wares. Experiences, emotions, thoughts, memories, and other such ephemeral qualities are for sale on every corner and mentally dominated slaves are traded during the cover of darkness in the secret areas of the district. Every kind of crystal imaginable can be found in the displays of merchants. In addition, taverns and inns dot the area catering to psionic clientele with resonance stones in the rooms and other such things.

The Dark: The Moon District is filled with secrets and hidden intrigues, not the least of which are described below.

A colony of moonrats have, by some serendipity, found themselves in the Glow’s light and been gifted with permanent awareness. The rodents immediately set up a small society beneath the neighborhood (just close enough to the surface to soak up the rays of the Glow). The moonrats only want to live in peace, but cats and exterminators have recently been infiltrating their tunnels, an act that these hyperintelligent creatures consider tantamount to a decleration of war!

But moon rats are not the only things below the cobbles. There are some rumors being whispered around the tables of the various Moon District Inns (though not the Gilded Flipper as you'd imagine) that the "peaceful businessman" Esk has found a way to probe the Glow with his telepathic powers in order to channel it into him. Perhaps this has something to do with the recent flickering of the artificial moon’s light.

Another strange rumor discussed over pitchers of bub is the one that says that the Glow is having a strange affect on the very buildings of the District. The crystals that compose the building materials for most of the district’s edifices capture and trap the psionic energies of the Glow. Some say that the buildings are developing thoughts of their own from all of this psychic discharge… some even say that when one isn’t paying attention the buildings whisper to each other.