Sigil: City of Doors

Chapter 1: The lament of a whore.

Four long years it had been since Amaku Yamikaze had risen from the filthpiles of the Hive. She brooded before a single pint of ale and stared at it for a long time. The world rippled and four years dwelled back as she recalled the moment she was thrust face first into a pool of urine.

The younger Amaku coughed and spluttered as the berks responsible laughed over her. Three men all stout and strong and all of them delighted to see her.
"Your due your jink whore, pay up."
Amaku fondled hastily with her ragged shorts and retreived as much jink as she could, spilling it onto the floor infront of the largest of the three.
The man was a tall and monsterously muscular half-orc with a toothy grin of delight watching down upon her with accusation. Amaku stared up and shivered as the three men approached.

"B-but I paid up lads, I-" the two thugs grasped her as the half-orc advanced, she started protesting and screaming as she was dragged off into an alleyway crying for help invane.
A few hours passed as she was thrown again, face first into the filth stained pavement.
Her face struck the concreate with a wet thudd as she grasped her head, a little trail of blood fell from her temple. She stared at the floor and forced herself not to cry. Despite her best efforts, a few stray tears fell as she dusted herself off and tried to cover herself up as best she could.
She moved on towards a building no larger than a cabin, what she knew to be her home, the orphanage so they called it.

In the present, Amaku stared at the ale a moment longer. Her thoughts wondered to the idle banter of the Bazaar and her comrades Fargul, Maelfina, Tria, Huntress, Nilme, Hildmor, Cratten, Chari. There were many other names and the list went on, she was surprised how much it had changed. She blinked her eyes and saw a flash of her memory, as the younger Amaku stepped through the Orphanage door. There was utter darkness, then a light.

The room she stood in was a single box made of wooden scaffold. One corner of the room had been slightly cut open leaving an exposed hole that blew soft drafts of cool air through the open streets. In the center of the room three young figures were sat around a table. Each one sat down on a cushion and a single chair lay empty on the other side.
"SURPRISE!"
A unanimous series of voices cried, three. Two males, a Hin and a Drow and a single Human. All of them were almost as young as she was. But she alone was the oldest especially today.
The light came from a wax candle standing atop a makeshift decorated cake. The cream had been half licked and was still dripping and the quality looked a little dry and left out. Still they had made an effort for the birthday girl and despite the ruined look on her face she smiled.


Christabel, the Human stood. "Oh bloody hells dont tell me those berks rough handled you again?" Her look of modest concern actually helped Amaku who felt a sense of strength from her weakness.

Christabel was as steriotypical a portrait. Her hair was a rough mousy blonde and horribly unkempt while her eyes were a deep azure blue. She stood in a makeshift dress that exposed parts of her pale flesh. She was pretty for a rough diamond but still a whore under the clothes, or rather, paid to be one.
"Look at you" she said while using apart of her dress to wipe off the muck on Amaku's face. "We make all the effort to give you a cake and you look like its another day outdoors. Its your birthday love you shouldnt look down on this day of all days ducky."

Amaku lifted her head and nodded with a soft smile. "Thanks Chris... and Xav, stop scoffin it up, I aint even blown out t'candle yet."

Xav was the Hin, the youngest of the group looking as childlike as the young Human orphans nearby. However Xav was well on his way to becomming a young adult if his personality didnt contrast it all the time. The Hin's tan was deep and his eyes were a deep green. He had a bright golden bush for a head of hair, quite frizzly and curled.

Xav scoffed the edge of the cake and then whistled innocently. "Sorry Amy, were just so bloody hungry, aint had anythin all day, took me ages t'nick this you know!"

Amaku laughed, all was forgiven and forgotten.

"Well love, how about you take a seat next to Bryn and make yourself comfy. You get the chair today."

Amaku took her seat and Bryn nodded quietly. He had come out of convinence more than compassion being akin to her and raised in the same Orphanage. Despite this, his behaviour today was well mannered and polite as he offered a curt nod.
Bryn had a peirced right ear and a spiked layer of white hair. His skin was no different to any drow, deep obsidian with a series of bizzare swirling patterns and the crest of a Xaositect tatooed into his chest. His eyes were bright red like sanguine orbs of blood with only deep dark pupils to stare at her calmly.
"Its been a while since I got invited to a party, I figure I would come along for the ride this time. Hope you dont mind too much."

Half of Amaku's smile faded as she knew very well who Bryn really was. Despite his being raised in the Orphanage he was infact the prominant Namer of a Xaositect pack nearby. His odd behaviour wasnt so odd anymore, having been used to it for a few years now she had gotten to know him on a mutual friendship kind of basis. Despite this, Bryn was not something of a friend to Amy who did not look to him in any inviting manner.
After all, the thugs responsible for ravaging her moments ago, belonged to him.

The shadow of the drow set upon her, but the other two made some neutral light of it all. She stared at the cake as Xav started to sing humerous tunes about Hardheads and vulgar refferandum. After a few giggles and laughs between parties the situation settled to a goodluck wish.

"What are ye gonnae wish for ducky? Everyones got a wish in them." Christabel looked eagerly at Amaku who sat there a little dumbly.

"Well I uh-"

"Wish for some fated bugger to give you a nice big mansion, thats what i'd do!" Xav exclaimed while reaching to the cake. Chris slapped his wrist as he whimpered and looked at her, the two glanced to each other.

"Why not wish for somethin nice duck, like a fancy fella or lass to be your true love, oh I wish I found me one." Chris eyes dwindled into lovelust as Xav sighed rolling his eyes as did Bryn.

"Why not wish for power? You know, to the revolution and all that? Be selfless." Bryn suggested, despite the fact his actual intent was entirley selfish, knowing it would benefit him somehow if she did.

Amaku sighed a moment and thought hard of what she wanted. Then it hit her as she stared over to a group of friends laughing and cheering through one of the broken windows exactly what she wanted more than anything else.

"I wish-"

"That I were a free woman, sitting in a fancy tavern, with lots of friends." She laughed as she took another drink of her ale present tense. What a stupid girl she was, wishes dont come true and she learned that the hard way. It wasnt the wish that had given her all the things she wanted that day, it was her own hard work.

But that was for a later time, for now she had finished her ale.

Chapter 2: Sigil's darker streets.


She stirred in her slumber, remembering the darkness that had engulfed her. The atmosphere of the Hive was always the same, unforgiving and brutal.

The Younger Amaku also stirred in her slumber as Bryn woke her in the middle of dusk. She jolted upwards and looked to the black skinned figure as he stared back down at her for a long moment.
"Its time, Amy..., lets go."
She looked to the snoring Xav and the peacefully sleeping Christabel. She rose to her feet and brushed herself off before following Bryn out of the cabin quietly.

The two left into the open pathways of the Hive.
Bryn moved quickly to avoid Harmonium patrolls as one swept past the two of them. The red armour shined in the dark lanterns and torches as Amaku watched with facination, for a moment she was inspired.
The Drow grasped Amaku tightly and pulled her away from her awestruck expression. She was taken into the heart of a dark alleyway where the two stopped before a hollow wall.

"Wha's goin on Bryn? Its time fer wat? Exactly?" Amaku spoke with inquisition in her tone, she had been dragged here without really knowing anything other than Bryn being a Xaositect.

"Oh you'll see soon enough. Just keep quiet and do exactly what I say, im going to make your wish come true, very soon." He knocked the wall as it slid to the side, inside there was only darkness.

Amaku jolted upwards in bed, she grasped her chest and breathed rapidly. Her hand glowed with a bright red light as she looked down and clenched her fist. The outline of a pattern glowed across it as she shuddered and hit it under her leather glove.
She sat up in bed, retreiving a bottle of wine nearby. She took a sip and sighed, staring at the floorboards.

The Younger Amaku would find herself inside what was a makeshift temple or cultistic lair of some kind. It was a single room with dark lit torches of bright red outlining the makeshift stonework that had gone into its construction.
To the left and right of the room were dark doorways both leading downwards into the Under Sigil.

Surrounding the room were randomised trinkets. Peices of junk to mutilated animals. Amaku spotted the severed arm of a corpse mixed with the severed arm of a living being, her eyes widened in horror.

"W-what t'hells is tis place Bryn? Where have you taken me?!" She jumped as the door behind them shut, locking her inside.

"Taken you? Amaku listen to me, things dont make sense right now but it will all come to you, I promise. You'll see things exactly as you want to, soon enough. Trust me, please?" Bryn did not answer her question, instead, he deviated from the topic with his subtle undertone. Amaku was shaken, but reluctantly nodded.

She spoke nervously: "A-arite, but you still havent answered me question, where are we, whats goin on?"

Bryn rubbed his forehead deeply as if suffering the side effects of an inhaled drug. "Just a little gathering point, nothing fancy, look just... shut up a second, will you?"

She gulped and became silent. From the doors, several more figures emerged one carrying a bag.

"O-oi... whats that for?" She blurted out, eyeing the scenery. There were peices of mutilated fish hung on the wall with reels of cheese dangling from them. And an unusual scent in the air, intoxicating her thoughts.

"Oh just a bag of goodies that will let us do a little, experiment. Something ive long been working on to this day really. You see Amaku, I like you but I need you to trust me. The bag will take us to a special place, a place that will give you everything you've ever wanted."

Her eyes felt faint as she wobbled dazedly. She tried to focus but her vision swam as inanimate objects began to move in her mind. She fell back against Bryn and blinked several times, forcing herself to concentrate.

"What... place?"

Present tense Amaku climbed into bed as the shadows around her crept in on her form. She shut her eyes and shook in discomfort.

"A place of wonder."

Chapter 3: Closing doors.



Present tense Amaku had not consolodated the final chapter of her memoirs for some time. It had been a while since she had considered the events of Selphara's death. Compleating the puzzle was easy enough though, she realised, the key to moving on, was accepting the past had been and gone.

But what had been her past?

It was there she recalled entering the portal for the first time. Traveling into the stinking festering mess that was Minotauros.

Bryn had braught hirelings waiting on the other side. His group comprised of a reasonably balanced set of troops. A pair of halflings, a sun elf to his dismay, three humans at least and a couple of tieflings aswell as a single aasimar.

This, was not including Amaku herself who was currently amoungst the group as a naievette. She repulsed the pungent smell, for even though the Hive was rather grotesque, this place was far darker.

The musky air and the horrid bog made her eyes water with the sheer discomfort of it all. Bryn approached his comrades rather unhesitantly.

"Alright, whats the trip all about?" One of the Human hirelings asked, a male with short blonde hair and brown eyes.

Bryn gave his instruction briefly: "We need to find our way into Stygia. Your being paid not to ask questions and follow me. Listen well to what I say here, because it will serve you well. Dont ask what happens, just go with it, because once we travel forwards there "is" no going back."

The group looked to each other pensivly, but each figure nodded agreeingly. Amaku however looked pensive and uncertain. She inquired to the Drow with a worried tone:
"Tis aint wonderful Bryn, seems a bit of a shite'ole to me... why are we here? Really, whats tis all about?"

The Drow looked back to her and grasped her shoulders tightly, she gasped and jumped. He sighed and softened his grip though he continued to grasp her firmly.

"Listen to me Amy... those idiots in the orphanage have nothing you could ever want, nothing you will ever need. They are just fodder, bait, for the slaughter. As time goes by they will brush into the dust of history because they just didnt understand what it was to achieve something. You and I... were achievers, your blood, my blood, its the way it works for us Drow, we do things and we do them well."

Amaku remained unconvinced, her eyes followed him carefully as he circled her while he continued in a charismatic tone:

"Think of the adventure, the excitement. Do you think that halfling is ever going to do anything besides get fat on cake that he supposedly made for you? Do you think that whore of a human is ever going to do anything with her life worthy of memory?"

Amaku's expression turned to worry and consideration as she looked away uncertain, her conviction had faltered as his red eyes glinted with delight.

"I braught you, not the others. I braught you because you were the most worthy, the most noble of a bloodline, granted, your only half-breed in comparison. But you have something I need on this journey and without you, we cannot seal our destiny here. Come on Amaku, take a chance with me, whats the worst that could happen?"

The woman reached out towards him...

...In the present, Amaku noticed her hand was being extended outwards unconsiously. She recoiled it and held it back with a concerned expression on her face.

She took a long stroll through the place that had been her home. Seeing the ruins of the old Orphanage now long abbandoned when the Harmonium had ravaged the place and rounded up the anarchists responsible for training young rebels into murderors.

She considered Selphara's haunting words as she stepped into a puddle, it rippled vibrantly.

"Without me, your life would be... Chaos." The last word, Chaos, rippled like the reflection. As she entered her memories once again, confronting her dark past.

The group had been reletivly undetected. They had entered a long cavern where swarms of Dogai came wave after wave. Despite the difficult battles ahead, the Dogai were kept at bay well enough with the combined force of the group.

Amaku had been rushed to the close company of Bryn, unarmed and unable to fight at this time, she was just a helpless young girl carried on through a river of madness.

As the depths went darker, inconsistant shouting rippled across the caverns as orders barked between the party leader and his cast. One of their party, a Tiefling male was swarmed by the Dogai as they tried to clamber down a stairway. Rather than rushing to the aid of the male all Amaku saw was a man being slowly mauled and brutally torn apart and cannibalised alive. Her eyes shuddered with terror as she was forced on her ride of madness.

They entered a large room, where several dark walls echoed a whailing groan. Amaku looked around ready for anything as the group surrounded her and Bryn. The latter carried in his grasp a phial which he held aloft into the sky, as nothing happened initially.

"What gives?!" One of the Humans asked in frustrated panic, as the whailing noise grew louder.

"The blood... this isnt good, the blood isnt working. Quickly, which of you here is a Virgin!" He asked rather swiftly.

There was a look of hesitance amoungst the party before the youngest halfling raised her hand confessingly. "I aint sir, I aint..."

Bryn approached the halfling with a dagger drawn. Just as he did, the ground began to rumble as they all looked around confusedly. Amaku was rocked back and forth, gasping as she clinged onto a rock, looking around in panic.

"Bryn?! Wha-whats going on!" The Half-Drow yelled in confusion and fear. The fullblood responsed by giving her a cold stare and only replied two words.

"Shut up." With that, he advanced on the halfling as she looked at him panicedly. A wide lipped smile formed as he viciously slit her wrist, and let her blood poor onto the ground.

The Hin struggled in his grasp as the others looked reluctant to get involved. He squeezed her hand tightly as she yelped in pain. Then, he threw her to the floor away from the portal where the other halfling approached to tend to her.

"Oi, you cant just go attacking yer own!" The small man barked protestingly. Bryn gave him no more than a glare as the halfling recoiled and reluctantly began to stand back. Bryn smiled rather black of the tounge as he stepped over to the small pool of blood.

The blood began to glow and sink inwards as a great rift formed in the ground. The walls of the cavern crumbled inside leaving just a black empty hole leading into nothingness.

Amaku clambered away from the pillar. Walking towards the hole. The rest of the group soon followed as everyone stared at it with facination.

"Where does it lead?" The Aasimon asked modestly as Bryn shrugged.

"It leads where ever it leads, all I know, from a reliable source, is that this portal leads to the next realm which will lead us towards Stygia..."

The Aasimon looked pensive. "Why Stygia anyway, what do you need from that place? Its temperature is brutal to the touch and we will soon die in its unbearable climate. What could one possibly want from it?"

Bryn looked at the Aasimar with a questionable gaze. His expression could only be described as an uneasy barrier between sanity and an absense of it.

"Because were going there. Your being paid well, and with one less character to pay off, the situation is only in your favour." He smirked darkly as some were persuaded, others, including Amaku remained guarded and fearful.

"What ...what if it dunnae lead to t'place yer lookin for Bryn? It looks like a dark hole t'me.... maybe we should go back."

Bryn stared at the woman for even suggesting such an idea, he looked at her with a death glare. But before he could act on it, the room shook again as the hirelings rumbled violently.

"Wh-what were that?!" Amaku asked frightfully as something large began to make its approach towards them from the shadow of the cave.

"Quickly, there isnt much time. Everyone into the portal, you stay behind, you get left behind." Bryn didnt bother to answer, seemingly, even he didnt want to find out.

"B-but we dunnae whats down there!" Amaku stared at him while looking over her shoulder every so often as the shadows appearence widened.

"Theres no time to worry about these things, jump Amaku. Jump!"

Jump she did.

Amaku in present tense noticed a stormcloud brewing over the city for a brief moment as little rattles of thunder flashed in the sky. She wondered if it was a rogue druid experimenting with their natural magic but she doubted it. Either way the rain gathered more passionatley. In the end she was forced to stay indoors.

She ran as far away as possible from the company of the others. Taking shelter in Muriels. The confused bar patrons looked at her oddly as she decided to shut herself into one of the usual group rooms, peering at the floor for a long period of time.

She drew forth her scythe and leaned it onto the wide table, staring at it for a long moment. She considered for a long time, just what drove her to start wielding a blade such as this.

Then she remembered, arriving in that dark castle. There was a dampness below her feet as the rift closed both the halflings and a single human had been left behind. The last thing the group heard of them was their brutal fate as flesh pudding their bodies ripped apart in graphical manners by the large devil.

It had begun to grow on Amaku. All the loss, the loss of hope, the loss of life and most importantly, the loss of a perception of reality. As the adventure went on, her curiousity remained ever vast, but her heart had begun to sink to a sad realisation.

Bryn had a dark plan for her.


Amaku sheathed the Scythe on the table and shook her head. That was another life, a life of grim dispair and tradgic tales. Now there was hope, Selphara was gone, and so to was Bryn who had ruined her so horrendously.

But a dark shadow still loomed, there was still one more thing she had to do.