![]() ![]() Still, it is strongly advised that people never, under any circumstances, use the term “Hardhead” in front of Harmonium members. The Harmonium now believes that the best way to spread order is to peacefully unite the celestial realms of the Astral Sea under the banner of law and good rather than forced conversion to their ideals. They have become less of a police force and more of a diplomatic body. After the Sigil Faction War, this group relocated to the plane of Arcadia in the Astral Sea. In Sigil, they served as the city’s police force, and their headquarters was the City Barracks. The planar faction known as the Harmonium is actually just a small part of a much larger political entity which rules over the entirety of the Prime Material world of Ortho. The Harmonium (“Hardheads”) believe that peace and stability can only be established under one rule - theirs. This faction recalls the Sophists of Classical Athens. The Guvners continue to delve into the laws of the planes and plot their eventual return to Sigil, which they still believe to be the fulcrum around which all worlds turn. After the Sigil Faction War, this group relocated to the plane of Mechanus in the Astral Sea, where they already had several strongholds. Their headquarters in Sigil was the City Court, where they served as judges and legal advocates. ![]() The Fraternity of Order (“Guvners”), who believe that knowledge is power they learn and exploit both the natural laws of the universe and the laws of society. They are derived from real-life Social Darwinists and the philosophies of Ayn Rand. They’ve moved their base of operations to Ysgard in the Astral Sea, but have otherwise changed little in their methods. During the Sigil Faction War, this group suffered a great loss of face because it was their factol, Duke Darkwood, who started the Faction War in the first place. Their headquarters in Sigil was the Hall of Records, where they served as the tax collectors of Sigil. It is their right to exploit any situation to their advantage, regardless of how it affects anyone else. The Fated (“Takers”, “The Heartless”) believe that those with power and ability have the right to own what they control and to take what they can from those who are unable to keep it. Since the Sigil Faction War, members of this group rarely leave their citadels, making forays outside only when some great act of creation (such as the formation of a new demiplane) demands a retributive act of destruction. Their headquarters was Sigil’s Armory, where they forged weapons as tools of destruction. They see the decay and destruction of the universe as necessary for once it is destroyed all imperfections will be gone with it, paving the way for a perfect new world. The Doomguard (“Sinkers”) believe in the sanctity and inevitability of entropy. The Athar are broadly derived from real-world atheists, agnostics, and Deists. Their membership has declined due to the isolation of their new base. ![]() After the Sigil Faction War, this group fled to the base of the Spire, the region of the Outlands where all magic (including that of the gods) fails, to escape the wrath of the deities whom they defied. Their headquarters in Sigil was the Shattered Temple, the former temple of the dead god Aoskar. They claim that the gods (whom they call “powers”) are powerful but have limits and do not deserve worship. The Athar (“Defiers”, “The Lost”) deny not only the gods’ right to pass judgment over mortals, but their very divinity. Modern comparisons and summaries also from the Wikipedia entry on Planescape. ![]() Notes revising the background behind the planar factions of 1994’s Planescape campaign setting by David “Zeb” Cook, with revisions following The Faction War book and an article in Dragon Magazine #315 (January 2004). ![]()
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