The original inhabitants of Sigil are the Lady of Pain and the Dabus who work tirelessly to keep Sigil from looking too run down. The rest of those who claim to be natives are the descendants of past people who moved into the Cage. As more people moved into Sigil, they brought along animals, plants, and resources.

Those who live here are greatly outnumbered by the sheer number of travelers and visitors. Most editions agree that the true number of inhabitants is only 50,000 souls, while there are typically just over 200,000 others visiting, traveling through or selling/buying goods at the market. Many who live in Sigil take it as a mark of pride to live in such an important location, and are quick to remind travelers of that fact.

Those who moved into Sigil also brought along with them building supplies. Sigil has no natural resources in it, in fact, if you dig up the white-grit-dirt ground it will fall to dust in your hands. Building a home requires you to bring in everything you need, or just stealing building materials from your neighbors. Furthermore, you need land to build in Sigil, which can be as easy as building on top of your neighbor, or having to demolish other buildings in the city to build your mansion, it all depends on the ward that you want to live in.

Sigil is maintained by the Dabus, a group of silent creatures that remove razorvine, put down fresh cobblestones for roads or even flatten entire blocks of buildings in Sigil so that it can be re-built. The Dabus are in charge of keeping Sigil running, this includes not only that it looks presentable to travelers, but that the sewers and catacombs remain functional and free of razorvine. All inhabitants know not to mess with the Dabus, as they have the protection of the Lady of Pain.

Razorvine

Razorvine is the only plant to grow well in Sigil, though it grows in almost every plane regardless of the environment. Some inhabitants of Sigil swears it grows up to 6 feet every day, and many use it to coat their buildings as a way of protection against thieves. Razorvine is incredibly sharp, and if handled with bare hands or even using cheap leather gloves will slice your hands into ribbons. The Dabus will cut back the razorvine infestations, and then sell the cuttings to those who will burn them in their fire pits as the plant becomes incredibly hard and brittle once cut.

Atmosphere

Sigil is a city enclosed on itself. There is nothing outside of it, so all smog produced from the forges, construction debris, and smoke from torches and lanterns accumulates in the ‘center’ of the plane. Because ‘down’ is always subjective based on where you are in the city, ‘up’ is always towards the center of wherever you are. By looking up, you are looking up to the other side of Sigil, that is if the smog isn’t currently blocking your view.

Some days, the smog is so bad that you can only see a few feet in front of you during the light cycle of Sigil. Other times, it is clear and you can easily see across Sigil to the city blocks high over your head. More frequently than some inhabitants would like, the smog isn’t limiting visibility but rather rain clouds will form in the center between the sides of the city and rain will come down, drenching the whole plane and washing away the grime and soot. Luckily, there are several permanent portals, heavily protected by the Dabus, to the Plane of Air and Plane of Water to help air and take the sewage out of Sigil and keep it hospitable, though many who stay long in Sigil’s worse wards suffer from respiratory problems.

Traits

Sigil is known as the City of Doors and is the only place like it in the multiverse. If you need to get to a plane or specific location, you first travel to Sigil. Though finding the right portal in the city is where things get difficult.

Travel to the Plane

Sigil, thanks to the Lady of Pain, can only be entered via a portal. Adventurers are unable to plane shift or use a gate spell to travel to it, everyone must use a portal that the Lady of Pain has created. These portals can appear anywhere in Sigil, and they all require a key to unlock and use. A lot of well known, and slightly obscure, portals are monitored by the factions, and several keep logs of portals along with information on how to use them. Many adventurers might find themselves having to do jobs for these factions to get access to the logs, or just being able to offer enough gold or magical items for the privilege.

Permanent Portals

These portals are the most well known and are well documented. They are the most straightforward and never change. One end of the portal is always in a specific location in Sigil, and it always leads to its linked plane and never changes. These portals often lead to gate towns or the first layer of a plane. These portals are used for trade and bringing in travelers, resources, food and the like.

Buildings form up around specific portals, like taverns will form up around portals to Arborea for food, or forges will form up around portals to the Plane of Fire. Many like to say that the Lady of Pain has a sense of humor, and they will point to where important portals appear. If a portal is located in the sewers for a Material World, well it goes to show what the Lady of Pain thinks of that world.