I am just curious if there is common knowledge as to where The Lady resides in Sigil? Is there a particular Palace or Underground location she hides out at?
I have a player that stumped me with that question.
Help?
Thanks,
Ryan
Where does The Lady Of Pain spend most of her time?
Mon, 2005-04-25 00:06
#1
Where does The Lady Of Pain spend most of her time?
Mon, 2005-04-25 00:59
#3
Re: Where does The Lady Of Pain spend most of her time?
It's quite possible that when she is not doing her Lady of Pain thing she merges with the substance of the Cage or ceases to exist entirely. Some believe she's nothing more than a massive rebus created by the dabus. Some think she's the vengeful spirit of Sigil itself. Some think she's a reification of the concept of pain.
I think that they are all equally viable. The entire relationship between the Lady of Pain and the City of Doors has never been (thankfully) completely explored.
Perhaps the Lady of Pain manifests, when required, as the 'conscious' of Sigil. Of course, why such a city would need a conscious is another matter entirely, but there you are... Or were... Or will be...
Thu, 2005-04-28 00:53
#4
Re: Where does The Lady Of Pain spend most of her time?
The novel Hex and the City by Simon Green (fourth in a series) has an entity who might be interpreted as his version of the Lady of Pain in the Nightside, his strange, cross-planar city - the Lord of Thorns.
I am the stone that breaks all hearts. I am the nails that bound the Christ to his cross. I am the arrow that pierced a King's eye. I am the necessary suffering that makes us all stronger. The cold, clear heart of the Nightside. It was given to me to have dominion over all who exist here, to protect the Nightside from itself. I maintain the Great Experiment, watching over it, and sitting in judgement on all who might seek to disrupt or tamper with its essential nature. I am the scalpel that cuts out infection, and the heartbreak that makes men wiser. I am the Lord of Thorns, and I know you all.
Deep beneath the city, in the region called the World Beneath, there is a dark river where the eaters of souls swim. Upstream there is a palace, and within the palace is bound a former Lord of Hell (Beelzebub, in fact). Behind the throne of the demon ruler is a stair that descends for miles; its walls flow with tears and the still-suffering faces of trespassers light the way. At the bottom of the stair is a crystal cave carved with the truenames of all angels and demons, so that the Lord of Thorns has dominion over the hosts of Heaven and Hell. In the cave there is also a throne, upon which the Lord of Thorns sits.
Hex and the City, besides opening with so many puns (starting with the title) I almost thought I was reading a Xanth novel, is the volume in the Nightside series where the author gives the reader the solutions to all the mysteries he's been hinting at in the previous three books. It's a good read, but it reminds me of why mysteries in fiction are often best left unsolved. When mystery goes, some of the magic goes with it.
I definitely think that's true for the Lady of Pain.
Thu, 2005-04-28 07:30
#5
Where does The Lady Of Pain spend most of her time?
The easiest answer is probably to look over and say something along the lines of "Want to go lookin', berk?"
Thu, 2005-04-28 08:10
#6
Where does The Lady Of Pain spend most of her time?
The easiest answer is probably to look over and say something along the lines of "Want to go lookin', berk?"
Well depending on how clueless the berk is you might fleece him of a few jink to give him a "lead" on finding her. If they really are that set on going after her then they woln't be needing that jink anyhow.
Sat, 2005-04-30 06:44
#7
Re: Where does The Lady Of Pain spend most of her time?
When mystery goes, some of the magic goes with it.
I definitely think that's true for the Lady of Pain.
I think that is the only answer, with regard to *anything* about the Lady of Pain, that I'll ever truly be happy with.
Thu, 2005-05-12 14:10
#8
Never mind.
Never mind all that, what I really wanna know is if her shadow kills, where does the light come from that casts her shadow? Does sigil even have a sun? if its the inside of a doughnut, is half always dark? the physics are mind-boggling! :shock:
Thu, 2005-05-12 16:18
#9
Re: Never mind.
Never mind all that, what I really wanna know is if her shadow kills, where does the light come from that casts her shadow? Does sigil even have a sun? if its the inside of a doughnut, is half always dark? the physics are mind-boggling! :shock:
You ain't the first to be asking these sorts of questions, berk. And you ain't the first to miss the most obvious answer: go there and find out for yourself. 'Course, those that did usually found themselves wanting to climb the wall in Suicide Alley before too long. Something about staring the more twisted darks in the multiverse in the face... :roll:
Thu, 2005-05-12 20:46
#10
Re: Never mind.
Never mind all that, what I really wanna know is if her shadow kills, where does the light come from that casts her shadow?
The Spire, perhaps? The Far Realm? Some extra-cosmological dimension of pure agony? The belief of Sigil's residents?
Does sigil even have a sun?
Nope. Sigil's light comes from portals to the plane of Radiance in the smoke and clouds in the center of the city. Remember that any bounded space can be a portal.
Though I like to think that the dabus bring the light in every day in buckets, and then bring buckets of darkness in at night.
if its the inside of a doughnut, is half always dark?
Sigil is lit up evenly.
Fri, 2005-05-13 11:24
#11
Where does The Lady Of Pain spend most of her time?
wow. thanks cutters. More wisdom here than slum tout.
Sat, 2005-06-11 07:45
#12
Re: Never mind.
Never mind all that, what I really wanna know is if her shadow kills, where does the light come from that casts her shadow?
How do you know the Lady's shadow isn't the *real* Lady of Pain? Maybe it's her physical manifestation that is the shadow...
Fri, 2005-06-24 19:27
#13
Where does The Lady Of Pain spend most of her time?
I am just curious if there is common knowledge as to where The Lady resides in Sigil? Is there a particular Palace or Underground location she hides out at?
I have a player that stumped me with that question.
Help?
Thanks,
Ryan
Personally, I like to think when the lady isn't spending time consumed in "the role" for which we know her best, she takes the guise of a little girl in the streets of the Clerk's Ward, painting graffiti on the walls and playing marbles, hopskotch and, perhaps, ski-ball.
Or she might vacation in Tahoe
Sat, 2005-06-25 00:21
#14
Where does The Lady Of Pain spend most of her time?
watches from the ether always watching, watching, watching. its her house and its deity proof, wanna bet they want to crash the portal party.
Sat, 2005-06-25 04:34
#15
Where does The Lady Of Pain spend most of her time?
Personally, I like to think when the lady isn't spending time consumed in "the role" for which we know her best, she takes the guise of a little girl in the streets of the Clerk's Ward, painting graffiti on the walls and playing marbles, hopskotch and, perhaps, ski-ball.
Do the dabus play with her?
Perhaps she paints with rebuses, and plays marbles using the skulls of those she has flayed.
Mon, 2005-08-15 00:17
#16
Where does The Lady Of Pain spend most of her time?
Recent theories in quantum mechanics (as well as some ways of looking at hindeburg's uncertainty principal) suggest that concious perceptions define the universe around us, and therefor somthing that is not currently being conciously percieved cannot be proven to and thus might not exsist. (example: if a tree falls in the woods and noone is around to see or hear it, it wasn't really there in the first place, so of course it doesn't make a sound.)
This theory suggests 2 things:
1: the lady only exsists when someone sees her exsisting. it might be said that she exsists solely for the benefit of those that see her, and only exsists because they see her. which means when no one can see her, she ceases to be until she is again sighted.
2: quantum physics if freaking wierd! who comes up with this stuff? ridiculous!
Personally, I like to think when the lady isn't spending time consumed in "the role" for which we know her best, she takes the guise of a little girl in the streets of the Clerk's Ward, painting graffiti on the walls and playing marbles, hopskotch and, perhaps, ski-ball.
Aww.... that's kinda sweet in a way... I like this one best. I don't know why but it seems kind of apropriate....
EDIT: I know exceedingly little about quantum physics. if I misinterpreted the theory, I wouldn't be all that surprised.
Mon, 2005-08-15 02:10
#17
Where does The Lady Of Pain spend most of her time?
Lady of pain is a mistery and a lot of times players shouldn't even be sure if she really exists or if it's just a superstition, possibly an elaborate joke of the cagers. Some people are all about "lady this and lady that", while others are like "shh, she might hear you, don't mention anything about her, it brings you pai... oh damn!" and information gets so contradictory that the players aren't really sure what to believe in anymore
I haven't ran much planescape (okay, I ran about 7-8 sessions in the last few months which is now my personal dnd record, but that's still nothing) so the lady didn't get talked about too much in-game, altough I try to have most NPC cagers mention her somehow like their whole reason to be doing whatever they work on at the moment is the result her will or something
In the realms where you just see the almighty and well worshipped gods walking around and getting drunk or whatever, lady of pain is here to be a big puzzle which can't be solved. Sure, there are people who say that someone has been flayed or mazed by the lady, others mention that some big Sigil catastrophe was caused by her, some say that someone's performances are so good, they sometimes even get visited by the lady... But in the end, I don't think she'd ever manifest in front of my players because, no matter how cool it would turn out, it just might reduce the mistery around her
In short, as there already was an advice for such situations: Don't ask the DM, ask NPC-s. First they want to know where the lady resides, next they'l want to know the origin of the current adventure's villain or the CR of some trap. If someone needs answers about a world, they might be provided by the people who live in it... Or not 
Thu, 2005-09-01 18:19
#18
Where does The Lady Of Pain spend most of her time?
EDIT: I know exceedingly little about quantum physics. if I misinterpreted the theory, I wouldn't be all that surprised.
Um, well, yes, you kinda did, but no more so than about a million other people, many of whom try to use quantum mechanics as proof that psychic powers must exist.
I will restrain my impulse to go on a rant as to why exactly this is a misinterpretation, and to how the terms that people interpret this way are really meant...
Fri, 2005-09-02 20:59
#19
Where does The Lady Of Pain spend most of her time?
yes, I rather expected my interpretation to be somwhat off. but in any case, I think that the lady could easily be definied by perception... if she weren't a little girl in the clerks ward that is...
(also, if you feel the need to rant, feel free to PM me. I always like learning new things.)
Sat, 2005-09-03 19:23
#20
Where does The Lady Of Pain spend most of her time?
In Pages of Pain, she's completely undetectable whenever her feet on the ground-- she's everywhere in Sigil, though she can only seem to observe one location at a time.
In order to manifest, she simply lifts both of her feet off the ground, and suddenly she appears where she was observing, floating serenly down the street as she always is while observed.
I kinda like this interpretation, though it's still nothing your players should know unless they somehow survive an adventure that gets deeply involved in the Lady's business. (This has been known to occur...)
Sat, 2005-09-03 23:01
#21
Where does The Lady Of Pain spend most of her time?
What I want to know is what's up her skirt. 
Sat, 2005-09-03 23:40
#22
Where does The Lady Of Pain spend most of her time?
What I want to know is what's up her skirt.
Three ratatosks.
Sun, 2005-09-04 23:43
#23
Where does The Lady Of Pain spend most of her time?
What I want to know is what's up her skirt.
ok... 2 schools of thought on this...
1: the lady only exsists when someone sees her exsisting. it might be said that she exsists solely for the benefit of those that see her, and only exsists because they see her. which means when no one can see her, she ceases to be until she is again sighted.
If this is true, what she has up her skirt is whatever your percieve as being up her skirt.
Personally, I like to think when the lady isn't spending time consumed in "the role" for which we know her best, she takes the guise of a little girl in the streets of the Clerk's Ward, painting graffiti on the walls and playing marbles, hopskotch and, perhaps, ski-ball.
and if this is true, that makes you a horrible, horrible person. 
Mon, 2005-09-05 06:55
#24
Where does The Lady Of Pain spend most of her time?
What I want to know is what's up her skirt.
Whatever it is, I'm sure it's bladed. :shock:
Mon, 2005-09-05 07:05
#25
Where does The Lady Of Pain spend most of her time?
What I want to know is what's up her skirt.
Three ratatosks.Ahahahahah
...
Batflies :twisted:
Mon, 2005-09-05 14:00
#26
Where does The Lady Of Pain spend most of her time?
What I want to know is what's up her skirt.
Whatever it is, I'm sure it's bladed. :shock:
:shock: .... hmmmm.... kinkey....
Thu, 2005-10-27 00:08
#27
Where does The Lady Of Pain spend most of her time?
What I want to know is what's up her skirt.
Whatever it is, I'm sure it's bladed. :shock:
:shock: .... hmmmm.... kinkey....
Coming from the "bounded space" thread...
Perhaps there's a portal up there somewhere... to who knows where :shock:...
Sat, 2005-12-03 11:16
#28
Where does The Lady Of Pain spend most of her time?
Perhaps she paints with rebuses, and plays marbles using the skulls of those she has flayed.
*faints*
scary Lady
-pb-
Fri, 2005-12-09 20:24
#29
Where does The Lady Of Pain spend most of her time?
If I had any talent as an artist I would paint that ... In the background high blades towers, derelict houses with a few strange figures walking past (including a Dustman with a corspe cart). In the foreground and in colour as opposed to the grey city a little girl sitting in a street playing with marbles and chalk (drawing circles onto the flagstones for the marbles to fall through portals of course). Her disproportional shadow is that of Her Serenity's bladed form and a few unfortunate rats have discovered that yes, it still works like it does all the other times ...
Brilliantly scary imagery there :shock:
Sat, 2005-12-10 06:21
#30
Where does The Lady Of Pain spend most of her time?
If I had any talent as an artist I would paint that ... In the background high blades towers, derelict houses with a few strange figures walking past (including a Dustman with a corspe cart). In the foreground and in colour as opposed to the grey city a little girl sitting in a street playing with marbles and chalk (drawing circles onto the flagstones for the marbles to fall through portals of course). Her disproportional shadow is that of Her Serenity's bladed form and a few unfortunate rats have discovered that yes, it still works like it does all the other times ...
Brilliantly scary imagery there :shock:
Now I have to do that. Dammit ;D
Tue, 2005-12-13 16:13
#31
Where does The Lady Of Pain spend most of her time?
I need to color this sometime...
__________________
Wed, 2005-12-21 08:26
#32
Where does The Lady Of Pain spend most of her time?
Never mind all that, what I really wanna know is if her shadow kills, where does the light come from that casts her shadow? Does sigil even have a sun?
My $0.02. She controls the portals. My theory is either the shadow could be a portal to somewhere REALLY bad or she illuminates herself with a portal to the radiance plane. Maybe the light hitting her is life, therefore the shadow she casts must be death if you want to get a bit more into symbolism.
On a stupid side note, how could you have that much power and NOT walk around with a constant beam of light hitting you. The lady shows enough restraint not to make the lights hitting her brighter and have a portal to "The plane where people sing AHHHHHHH" to have some funny divine imagery... or a Pandemonium hurricane wind if you're sinister.
Now to get on topic: I do think she is something else. Her face looks like a mask and she wears a robe. If you saw someone walking down the street with a getup like that, you would KNOW they are hiding something.
Sat, 2005-12-24 07:24
#33
Where does The Lady Of Pain spend most of her time?
Now to get on topic: I do think she is something else. Her face looks like a mask and she wears a robe. If you saw someone walking down the street with a getup like that, you would KNOW they are hiding something.
The Lady of Pain is really V?
Tell the player that nobody knows anything about the Lady of Pain. She's Sigil's greatest mystery, and Sigil is a city of mysteries.
For that matter, we don't even know where the dabus go when they're not at work. There are rumors of warrens or even a hidden city beneath the streets, but no one's ever found them.
It's quite possible that when she is not doing her Lady of Pain thing she merges with the substance of the Cage or ceases to exist entirely. Some believe she's nothing more than a massive rebus created by the dabus. Some think she's the vengeful spirit of Sigil itself. Some think she's a reification of the concept of pain.
She does not hide. It seems very unlikely that she has a house or even a palace like a person would. Perhaps she's never not doing her Lady of Pain thing; perhaps she floats through the city forever, never stopping, never resting, and never ever speaking.