D&D: An Adventurer’s Guide to the Lady of Pain
At the heart of the city at the center of the universe, sits the enigmatic Lady of Pain, who rules over Sigil with absolute authority.
Journey through the multiverse of D&D for any length of time, and eventually you’ll hear about her. It might be a whisper. Or a hushed curse, but in time, everyone who looks will find the Lady of Pain. She rules Sigil, the city at the center of the Universe, unquestioningly.
Her decree keeps out the gods and their ilk. Keeps the peace between angels and demons and devils. But who is this Lady, really? How does she keep even the gods at bay?
The Ruler of Sigil, the Lady of Pain
Perhaps the most curious thing is just how little is known about the Lady of Pain. She seldom appears in person. And she is as dangerous as any entity in the multiverse. To the point that even crossing her shadow’s path on accident might spell catastrophe.
People who stumble into her shadow have been flayed to death, or imprisoned in one of the Lady’s Mazes. And perhaps because of this, no one knows how the Lady came to be, or what her true purpose or nature is.
Some have said that she was a renegade demon lord or one of the exiled Archdevils. But Sigil’s long history has never recorded a moment when the Lady of Pain was not in command.
Even Vecna, who masters all secrets, does not know her true nature. A lesson he learned firsthand when he attempted to challenge the Lady of Pain’s rule in Sigil. She rewrote the rules of reality (that’s one hundred percent how they justified the switch to 3rd Edition), defeated Vecna, and demonstrated for all, that Sigil has but one master: the Lady of Pain.
Power Incarnate in Sigil
A city as diverse as Sigil would be all but impossible to maintain order in. But the Lady accomplishes it. And has for eons. In the city’s history, none have challenged her rule successfully.
She is said to control every portal in Sigil. If you’re familiar with the City of Doors, then you know this means she can decide who gets in, or who gets out. When she is displeased, she banishes the objects of her ire to an extraplanar Maze. Most often, this looks like some overgrown segment of the city, overrun with vines and worse.
Those who escape one of her Mazes are often quieter, and less willing to revel. If anyone knows what truly happens in they’re, they aren’t telling.
The Lady of Pain works through the city in mysterious ways. But also more directly too. The goat-like beings known as Dabus are her eyes and ears and at times hands on the city. They speak in hovering, floating symbols. And like the Lady of Pain, their feet never touch the ground.
Whatever they see and hear, the Lady can as well. Though this is not one source of how she rules the city.
Challengers to the Lady
There have been some small foolish mortals and immortals who have challenged the Lady of Pain. Here is a short summary:
- Vecna – defeated, reality rewritten
- Aoskar, god of portals – defeated with a thought, temples razed and banished
- Sigil’s former factions – ordered, in person by the Lady to disband and never reform. To this day they have not.
She is powerful, and in Sigil, few will even speak her name for great of attracting her attention.
You’d be wise to do the same.
