A S Q l U G W H A + RIBPUC)IABhG N G W S R A G P U B h I S H l f i D I N +HG UNDlfiRCIC)IY

- SIGIL'S I N D B P B N D f i N * G L d B A L INF@RIIIA+IBN SBRVICB

YESTERDAY, SIGIS CULLERS learned that Factor Wanneck Durkayle, a Mover Pour of the Harmonium, was called Lo answer questions before a panel of Guvner Justiws at tho City COW. Thr: chant guthered h m bushes in the know a the courthouse is that the Guvners are investigating rumours of Hadhead vigilanres roaming the streets of the IIive Ward puaing Indeps in the dead- book. AJIhough the situation has a number of cagers upset, the aides and administrators we spoke with down-played the impartance of the hearing as only prciiminary innature. "No chargo8 have bwm levcllcd at Factor Durkaylc," said Bureau Chief Jamis of the Ad Hoc Bureau of Courts. "Some of the officers under Factor Durkayle's command are accused of the crime of vigilantism and the justices are curious as to the Factor's knvwledge of his office=

d.

activities OVM the past few instant confumation the weeks. 'Ihe tribunal is in no way rumours floaling around the pwryoftheFactor."However, C a g e o f H a r m o n i u m Guvner Jamis admitted that this involvement with the fiends. was the first inslance in liily As the trio wnrinued to ascend years that a Hardhead of this the step, members of the croivd high a rank has paid any kind of recovered h m their shock and music at the. m a s but she stam shouting angry words d i s m i w d t h e ~ o f t h i s about Durkayle and the fact. "Factor Durkayle's rank is Harmonium in general. For the irrelevant to these proceedings. Factor's part, he seemed to The tribunal is merely interested ignore ,the words and was the in the dnrk of the-se mrnwrs," embdment of PUIPOEI(: and Jarnis said. contidence as he entered the This morning, however, the courts. He did not answer any situation appeared ready to turn questions put to him by cullers stag on Guvner Jamis's lithehesteps. assurances Lo the press. Factor The general thoughts of the Durkayle arrived at the City crowd were summed up by an Courts escorted by two Indep named Glin who had Bahazu, armed with Fight f a waiuxl since morning for the long aidonts. A small crowd of amval of h k a y l e . "Who does Indeps gathered around the hesteps thal berk Lhink he is? Showing waiting for news of the hearing his cross-trading face with stared in stunncd silence for a w k b g Bnatczu! Tho Guvner's moment b e f m giving the trio a are gonna t h w him in a wide berth as they ascended the birdcage for sum!" steps. The arrival of the Factor But a few members of the crowd

pressed doubts of this c-uwlunp.dge2

Thir d Week of Regula

THIS IS A TRAVELOGUE submitted by culler Daam~ Intwood who has been following the incursion uf fiend-led forces from Rigus into the realm of the Egyptian p o w e r m .

DAY 1 'lhu cloud of dust from the approaching Rigus army continua to grow in the baking sun of the d m . I a n see the cloud for many miles across the featureless sand and it will soon block out the sun. Every now and again, I see specks of red, green and black darting in and out of the cloud- I p m m e these specks am Abishai. Why the Abishai havc not advanced to terrorise the slower refusees remains a mystcry w me. I suspect that the strict command of a powerful Baaw-u high-up is the only thing thDl mighi scrve to ~wrb their blocdlus~. Yesterday, I journeyed out of Thebestys by camel following the river Ma'at and mwed against t h e cur ren t of humanoids flowing towards the safety of their power. Many of them stare at me and shake

their heads ind i i l i e f as Ipass by. nPey no doubt wonder whnt kind of barmy would move in the path of a fiendish army marching from the merciless burg of Rigus. Caravans of bashers wearing long robes leading camels or pu&g arb seemto b2-h for miles along Ma'at. At the moment, them seems little hope that these poor sods will give tho ~ a n s the laugh and, from the look on the faces of the refugees, they seem to be aware of this. Not a minute passes where I don't see some petitioner kneelkg in prayer to Thoth asking for deliverance h m this mysterious foe. They better get an answer soon or a lot of theso berks will be lvst by dawn.

DAY 2 I was awabned today by triumphant shouts and cheers d m n d me; '1- has apparently answered the prayers of the MW! Dwing the niglx, the Ma'at ro% an cx~aordlnaly tcn hl allowing the passage of hundreds of craft canying villa-en fleeing

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CULLERS WANTED FOR 4.1. 6.11.4. MUS1- BE LITERATE AND ON THE C X E

Applicants should contact the Editor, Scott Kelley

m a 0 -mu 'Ir Ir.llllm A I - A 1- 4 1 1

- - -- -- -------- -------- d in Sigil and it's Bariaur Chariot Racing. Who's have thought people goat-men strapped to shaky buggies run around the arena TO THE

despite signs posted all over the Cage, no one actually lost their emonstration game, except the murder of some poor berk from the Beast-

what the Harmonium says was an unrelated case. Like they know! Pff.

Sigil's Independent Global Information Service

Third Week of Regula

NewsChant

Durkayle GrilledOver Vigilantesassessment. "Durkayle'd bebarmy to go into the courts if hedidn't already know he couldslip the blinds on the tribunal,"said another Indep standingnearby. "Did you see the smirkon that sods face? Cutters havebeen spotting fiends waltzing inand out of Durkayle's kip formonths now, he's just decide tocome out in the open with it.He's up to some cross-tradingall right." [SIGIS attempted toquestion this particular basherfurther on his knowledge ofDurkayle's activities, but thetiefling had disappeared into thecrowd.]It turned out that the hearingswere closed to the public soSIGIS was unable to reportdirectly on the proceedings, butin addition to the Guvnerjustices, bashers wearing thecolours of the Harmonium andthe Mercykillers were observedto enter the room where thetribunal deliberated.

A mere hour later, FactorDurkayle emerged from the CityCourts with a triumphant grinapparently exonerated by thetribunal. Flanked by the twoBaatezu, Durkayle stopped toanswer questions put to him bywaiting cullers. The Factorreported that on the basis of histestimony, the panel hadcomple t e ly dropped theinvestigation of his officers."There will be no furthercredence given to the barmychant of Hardhead vigilantism,"stated Durkayle. "These are liesobviously spread by Anarchistsand no attention should be paidto them." When asked aboutpossible fiend involvement withthe Harmonium, Durkaylepraised the Baatezu's sense oflaw and order saying many haddone great service to the goals ofharmony in theMultiverse.These answers enraged thecrowd standing outside thecourthouse and started a whole

new round of slurs andaccusations. SIGIS cullersreported that the Indeps seemedon the verge of rioting as theFactor left the courts but wereheld in check because ofHarmonium nearby and thethreat the Barbazu posed to anyfoolish enough to threatenDurkayle directly.Glin, the Indep interviewedearlier was in complete disbeliefat the verdict. "This isou t rageous ! The b loodyHardhead strides into the CityCourts with a bunch of fiendsand with a few words theleatherheaded justices free allhis cross-trading scumbagofficers! Where's the justice forthe Indeps lying dead in theMortuary?!" If Durkayle wastruthful in his statement, whichno one has reason to doubt, thenthe answer to Glin's question isthat there will be no justice forthe time being.

(sk)

Letters

The Dark of the Stones - continued[Response to Tenemus Al Karak�s Piece printed last week]

THERE HE GOES AGAIN. Good old Tenemus trying to findmeaning in a senseless Blood War battle. Face it berk, the fiendslove to put each other in the dead-book for no good reason. Why fightover a bunch of stones in a swamp? Because that's what fiends doand any excuse to do it is reason enough. None of the sods have everbeen able to hold the hill and Cronus probably lets them fight over itjust amuse himself: not much else to do in prison. Letting one sidetake over the hill for a short time, particularly the Tanar'ri whonever have, might incite more battles and more entertainment for thePower. How could the Tanar'ri on a bunch of sleds take the hill?Luck and skill pure and simple. They used their brain-boxes andslipped in under the noses of the Abishai overhead.As for the portal business, only an addle-coved leatherhead wouldthink that the Tanar'ri could organise themselves enough at the rightplace at the right time to mount an invasion. Could you imagineTanar'ri exercising enough patience to do that? More likely one ofthe portals opened into a layer of the Abyss and lots of the sods justcharged at the smell of Baatezu. No, like all the other battles of theBlood War, this one has no meaning and no greater significance nomatter how hard you look. It is just further proof in thesenselessness of the Multiverse.

- Juam TollFactioneer of the Bleak Cabal

(sk)

Angry ThothSmites Rigan Armiesthe fiendish-led forces of Rigus.But the shouts were for the moreamazing demonstration ofThoth's wrath that appeared inthe desert this morning. Wherewe had seen the marauders lastn i g h t , a s a n d s t o rm o ftremendous size and power hadblown straight into the face ofthe oncoming troops, blastingthe sods with sand and lancingthem with lightning. Thankfullyfor the villagers, this battle maybe over before it has properlybegun.

It seems my conclusions of twodays ago were premature. Thesandstorm abated late lastevening and, to my amazement,the Rigans had not abandonedtheir march. In fact, it seemsthey actually made someprogress through the storm. Ican only suppose that fiendishabjurers provided a measure ofprotection from the storm andlightning, the fiercest this land

has seen in many an age. Evenso, after the tremendouslightning storm, many of thesods are piles of charred ashesblowing slowly away in thewind.By this time, the refugees havemanaged to slip the blinds on themarauders but I'm no longerconvinced that putting Thoth'spetitioners in the dead book orinvading Thoth's realm was thegoal of the Rigans. Theycontinue to march steadfastly inthe direction of the villagesalong Ma'at and I aim todiscover the dark of theirpurpose. From what I have sofar observed, I can only guess attwo possible explanations:Thoth made these berksrecons ider a t tacking hispetitioners or the fiends havealways had some other purpose.Either I'll have the chant soon orI'll find myself dangling from aleafless tree in this blazing heat.

DAY 4

(sk)

Xaositect SurpriseMarks New CycleT H E B I Z A R R EACTIVITIES

(ta)

of the Xaositectsover the past three days can nowbe understood. The first cluecame when the Xaosmenthemselves stopped referring totheir construction as "thesecret" or even "the BIGsecret", or "the surprise!", butas "the Spoke".Combined with the fact that thetwo construction sites arelocated diametrically oppositeone another in Sigil, it appearsthat the Xaositects have decidedto "bridge" the City of Doorsacross its centre.The first tower, the one near theGreat Foundry, is now nearly200 fee t h igh, and i t scounterpart across Sigil near theHall of Records is now pushing50 ft. So far 14 people have beenkilled and over 30 seriouslyinjured due to on-site accidents.Harmon ium pa t ro l s a r ebeginning to evacuate residentsfrom the areas around bothtowers.Exactly why the Xaosmen havesuddenly decided to undertake aproject of this magnitude forwhich they are so ill preparedremains a mystery, probablyeven to themselves.

Stop Press

Xaositect Surprise Marks New CycleTHE "SPOKE"

(ta)

b e i n gconstructed by the Xaositectswith the intention of spanningSigil from the Great Foundry tothe Hall of Records reachednew heights last night; butalready the first half of thestructure is showing signs ofinstability. The side of thetower near the Foundry isstarting to develop a distinctlean...a lean which theXaositect builders seem to beattempting to correct by heavyreinforcing of the lower partsof the structure."There's no way they can doit," architect Humbert Edd ofthe Guvners said this morning.

"The lean of the first half of thespoke puts it out of alignmentwith the second half by a factorof over six-and-a-half degreesalready, and this is widening bythe hour."Unperturbed, the Xaositectfaction has garnished a bunchof Signer telekinetic psioniciststo help stabilise the spoke.Despite this support, thecollapse of the tower seemsimminent. The Harmonium hascompleted the evacuation of allnearby parts of Sigil, and theDabus remain ready to pick upthe pieces when it falls. Thedeath toll has now reached 44.

Angry ThothSmites Rigan Armies

DAY 5

THROUGH SOME LUCK

(sk)

and a bit o' cross-trading, I'vemanaged to worm my way intothe ranks of the Rigan armyand what I've discovered givesme pause. The army iscomposed of thousands ofbashers: fiends, tieflings,goblins, humans and evendwarves march to the music ofa Pit fiend named Gomory.

After operating as a mercenaryfor a short time, I now know atleast some of the dark on thesesods - all day and night we've

been busy bobbing the villagesof all that's movable and thensome. I've seen berks takingeverything from jink andjewellery to bricks andwrought iron. Systematically,the Rigans have loadedeverything of value onto cartspulled by camels and footsoldiers and sent it packingtowards the sea of Tir foThuinn. Seems they've scaredoff the villagers in order to raidtheir kips and cases withoutwasting any of their strength.

My overall impression of thistidy little operation is that thefiends are preparing for somemassive operation in the daysahead. The chant is that thearmy is planning to bob moreburgs on the way towards Tirfo Thuinn. The berks that I'vechatted with (mostly footsoldiers) are grumbling forsome action. The way thesebashers are itchin' for battlemakes me think the nextvillages we come to won't haveit so easy as the last.

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