Planescape
ANYA ASKS QUESTIONS
Anya will ask Katrina what they know about the worship of said god ... and why he was banished or slain or whatever. "If we can talk about that."
Katrina purses her lips slightly over their tea and shakes her head.
"We don't speak of it much, but here, in the Shattered Temple, we are possibly safer than anywhere else in Sigil.
"A long time ago," she begins, settling into the story the way she may have once settled into stories told to her son, Mikhael, "The Lady of Pain became displeased with Aoskar, the Power of Portals, the Keeper of Gateways and the God of Doors. Some say it is because Aoskar's followers began to consider him the lord of Sigil. At that time about half the planewalkers worshipped him. Others say it is because the dabus began to turn from The Lady of Pain and worship Aoskar. Nobody knows for certain, because this was all long, long ago, and all we have now are stories and rumors. But you have seen for yourself the dabus Fell."
She creates a swift illusion, dabus-like, of a circle with a jagged bolt cutting diagonally through it, as she names Fell.
"He's the only dabus who walks, and people consider him a very ill omen. He runs a tattoo shop in the Market Ward. People say he walks now because he turned stag on The Lady of Pain by declaring himself a priest of Aoskar, long ago. Fell doesn't answer many questions about his past; probably wise, since the Harmonium keep a close eye on him.
"As you know, this temple was once Aoskar's -- although that is, again, something to avoid discussing openly on the streets of Sigil. When The Lady grew angry at Aoskar she did this," Katrina gestures to the temple, which the Athar have only maintained enough to be livable, preferring to keep the cracks and chips and broken walls intact wherever possible. "Aoskar's husk floats in the Astral plane -- I have seen it, myself -- and his image and holy symbol are forbidden in Sigil.
"Now," she says more briskly, "that dwarf Garmundi has been around regularly, begging at the Shattered Temple. He was barmy but enthusiastic, and his prattle seemed nothing more than a madcap hodgepodge of other litanies, spoken here to defy the Defiers. But about a week before the Incident, he started making sense. He began to actually name Aoskar, and preach about his return. What you saw was the culmination of his preaching -- the point at which it became too obvious and the Hardheads were called in. And we called them in -- it is dangerous enough living here where The Lady's wrath has fallen once, without tempting her a second time. We have a prime member working as a liasion with the Harmonium now -- Coranthol, a half-elf."
Anya will definitely be asking in the SoS about the Great Modron March -- what it is, what's known about it, why it happens, all that kind of stuff.
"Well," says Chase, the elf who answers her questions, "that's a hard one to answer." He passes a box of chocolate-covered brandied cherries to her as they lounge on divans. "Nobody knows why they take off and wander around the planes, and they won't say. They don't investigate anything or ask questions. They're just sightseeing, it seems -- they march through and that's that. Nasty bit of tourism, if you ask me -- I hear they take heavy casualties whenever their march takes them through the Blood War. And they don't deviate, you know -- not a foot in any direction. Plow straight through whatever's in their path, never breaking rank. They will fight, if necessary, but only in order to continue their march.
"And other than that," he shrugs and sips from a glass of wine, "the powers only know what's hared them out two hundred years early. I think it's promising, though. Perhaps they're finally becoming more open to the multiverse around them...
"Their itinerary? Oh, it never varies, of course, but you'll have to look it up. I don't recall."
The itinerary, Anya can find without too much difficulty, is:
The records also show that the modrons invariably start out with the following force:
"Well, for one thing, Balthazar, why did you choose that particular icon for your business cards? Or, no, wait - someone *gave* them to you, right? Did *they* say anything about the reason for the choice?
"Why, no -- I have no idea who sent them to me," Balthazar explains. "They just appeared out of nowhere on my doorstep. I thought they might be a gift from someone I'd helped in the past ... I get paid in all sorts of ways, really. And they were certainly useful enough. May still be, who knows?!"
And, for that matter, are there any other things in particular we should be looking out for? I mean, if this is a cycle that you've been able to read about, are the triggers to the other doors mentioned anywhere? Um ... I've got some of what the dwarf said about what the doors were *for* written down, but that doesn't really give any hints, does it. And really, is this the kind of thing we *should* be exploring further? Isn't this just exactly the kind of stuff that's likely to get everyone the wrong sort of attention? Not that I'm not terribly curious...
"Ah, well, yes, the other keys. Hmm." Balthazar shuffles through his papers and leans back in his chair, giving Anya a bright, winning smile. "Let me tell you what we know so far. Lissandra tells me that the other gates are located in the catacombs beneath the Shattered Temple, on the corner of Wharf and Bizarre in the Market Ward, and at a tower in the end of Lady's Row, in The Lady's Ward. We're not sure what the key to the Shattered Temple door is, although I have an appointment to see Fell about it. Perhaps you'd like to come along when I interview him. Lissandra knows that the key to the Market Ward door isn't a physical object, but what exactly it is, she hasn't discovered yet. And we haven't yet learned anything about a possible key to the door in The Lady's Ward.
"Oh, I understand that the Athar and Harmonium are getting ready to send somebody down into the Shattered Temple. I recommended your group, since you did such a good job with the first door. I expect you'll be hearing from them soon. And don't worry about the problem of looking into this -- it *needs* to be looked into. We can't just have heretics running around loosing who-knows-what on Sigil without trying to find out what's going on. If nothing else, best we try to stop it before The Lady does!"
