The Underground Canals
Location: Sigil / Lurking beneath the clean-swept streets of the Lady’s Ward
It’s a well-known fact that most of Sigil has no sewer system. This accounts for much of the filth of the Lower and Hive Wards. But the streets of the Lady’s Ward are much cleaner. Certainly, there are more street cleaners, but that hardly accounts for the sheer cleanliness of those spacious byways, especially in the Noble District. The reason behind this lies below the streets.
Centred in the Noble District and branching out through much of the Lady’s Ward, a series of canals wind. These underground canals are surprisingly large, and very clean for a sewer. Occasionally, there are landings which lead into the catacombs beneath the ward, or into the basements of the High Houses. There are even the occasional crypts connected to the canals. I saw one cemetery purposefully flooded, with the lids of stone coffins and headstones sticking out from the water, making macabre islands in the dark chamber.
Needless to say, the high-ups of the city try to keep word of these canals under wraps, fearing theft from the bottom up. They need somewhere to dump their refuse, so they can’t brick up their basement doors, but they do post guards, and the Higher Houses use magical wards as well. So to any opportunistic rogues reading this guide: forget it! The canals pose a chance only slightly better than the regular gates, and are a lot less pleasant.
Still, the canals have legitimate uses. I have seen quite a few marraenoloths in the canals, hinting that the systems flow out into the Styx. Though they are hesitant to do so, they will, for a higher price, guide a traveller through the canals. I hired one myself when I was lost in the tunnels, and though I wouldn’t trust a ‘loth father than I could throw it, it served me without fail. According to its testimony, the marraenoloths can access the Styx from the canals, so with the aid of the marraenoloths, a person could use the canals to go anywhere in the Lower Planes.
Another interesting thing I discovered was the source of the water. I asked my skeletal oarsman to take me to the source of the water, and I was led into a massive circular chamber, at least sixty feet wide. At the centre of the room was a forty-foot wide tube sticking five feet above the murky water, which bubbled purest water from its top. My best guess was a permanent gate to the elemental plane of water, but I cannot say for sure. Again, an intrepid explorer might be able to make it to the Inner Planes from there, but I really couldn’t say for sure.
When it comes to getting into the canals yourselves, dear readers, I wish you the best of luck. I had a lot of difficulty finding a safe entrance, and was sworn not to tell its location. I would recommend scouting the catacombs accessible from the Twelve Factols’ Inn, as I believe there is a canal not far from there.
Services: Access to the Styx and (maybe) Elemental Water. Prices vary depending on the distance and Marraenoloth.
Source: Belarius
