The Harmonium
“Move along, berk, nothing to see Here”…
The Harmonium are usually touchy when you start asking questions. More often than not they’ll try to clap you in planar mancatchers if you start trying to record their speeches into mimirs. Nobody really knows why the law-enforcing faction of Sigil’s so jumpy these days, but there are plenty of wild theories.
Some cutters reckon the Hardheads are worried they’ll be displaced from Sigil when the next sect with enough power challenges them. See, the Harmonium are a pretty new faction as these things go, and they haven’t had so much time to build up power bases on the planes as other groups. Add to this the fact they’re making themselves pretty unpopular by enforcing the laws of the Cage, and you come up with a pretty grim conclusion…perhaps the Hardheads think they’re an easy target.
A casual observer would probably laugh at this notion, after all, the Harmonium are the most prominent faction in the Cage, especially now they’ve established a secondary headquarters in the Hive (as SIGIS reports). But some touts reckon they’re spreading themselves a bit thin. The Communals, the Expansionists and the Ring-Givers all have their greedy eyes on the Cage, and any one of ’em is a potential threat to the Harmonium.
Perhaps this is why, as the dark whispers go, the Harmonium are trying to weaken other factions on the sly. Many a rumour’s gone round the Harmonium are actively trying to drive the Indeps out of the Cage by harassment and persecution. It seems to be working…there are fewer Free Leaguers hanging around the Bazaar these days, anyone will confirm.
Or perhaps the Harmonium are worried about something else. Strange things have been happening on Arcadia, recently. Berk, it’s a gossipmonger’s paradise…
We have the Truth, You do not. Our proximity to the Truth
—Anonymous Anarchist, stating her faction’s view of the Harmonium philosophy
entitles us to oppress you; to force you to say and do
things in which you do not believe, to imprison and mutilate you,
and even to execute you, for your own good.”
Faction Headquarters
- The City Barracks — The Harmonium run Sigil’s City Watch; in the better neighbourhoods at least
Philosophy by Numbers
- The Book of the Harmonium — “The Multiverse has always needed someone like us“
Visionaries
- Imam ‘abd ar-Rahman — Who punishes Beliefs, not Actions
- Tomis Oathmaker — Who forces Creatures to Conform to their Natural Stereotypes
Coteries
- The Conformatists — Who believe a Body should Act According to their own Nature
- The Inquisition — Who Track Down Sinners for Re-Education
Cage Rattlers
- Havrm Ghex — A loyal Hardhead, or a ‘Loth-garnished stag turner?
- Malkalotl & Caruther — A couatl Hardhead of radiant Goodness who carries an Anarchic and unseen Spy on his Back
- Christopher Verdue — A psychic Hardhead who can See where others Cannot, and seeks to Banish the Darkness from Sigil
Source: Jon Winter-Holt, mimir.net
See Also: kriegstanz.com, a Harmonium D&D 3rd edition conversion here