Nobody says her name aloud, for fear of invoking her fearsome presence. Silent and bladed, she appears as a tall lady in loose, brownish robes. Embedded around her face in a circular fashion are numerous glittering blades, and her serene face belies any emotion as she floats through Sigil, several inches above the ground. Those who try to talk to her get no response, or more commonly are flayed, as if their bodies were rent apart the Lady’s own glittering blades with but a single thought. The Lady never speaks. In the past, when she has seen it necessary to deliver a message, it is through her also silent messangers the dabus. The Lady is the undisputed ruler of Sigil, even though she does nothing in its rule: she does not appear at the Hall of Speakers, nor does she make or enforce the laws of Sigil. She acts only in the interests of Sigil: when it is threatened, she moves to protect it. Minor concerns such as law, chaos, good, and evil are of no concern to her: she cares only for the safety of Sigil. Not the people in it, but the city itself. She is called The Lady of Pain because if someone gathers Her attention, then there is indeed pain. Other names she is called by, when people actually gather the courage to speak of her, are Her Serenity (because of her serene expression) and simply The Lady. Of course, one should keep in mind that one doesn’t quite talk about The Lady in public or in private, because that just might be enough to gather her attention… and the attention of Her Serenity isn’t something that anyone wants.

What does The Lady do? Well, it’s pretty obvious that she keeps the peace in Sigil. She prevents the powers from seizing it as their own. She prevents the fiends from rising up and tearing the city apart. She is there to protect Sigil from the many dangers that threaten it, wanting to own it or manipulate it for their own use. She’s all that stands between the rest of the multiverse and the citizens of Sigil, and while they may not speak her name, they are certainly grateful for protecting them and letting them live their own lives, relatively free from the influence of the powers, the celestials, and the fiends.

Nobody knows if the Lady is omniscient in Sigil, but an awful lot of people are guessing no, preferring to plot silently and preparing for their final confrontation. Some seek a mysterious orb where the soul of an ancient wizard that supposedly almost defeated The Lady of Pain years ago. The wizard, Shekelor, almost toppled the Lady all by himself, such was his power. That was many, many years ago however, and he has since vanished into obscurity and legend. But he did exist, that much is certain. People still search for his soul throughout the Lower Planes, hoping that when they find him, they’ll be able to manipulate him into deposing The Lady. Others search for a way to revive Aoskar, knowing that he’ll return to Sigil full of anger and vengeance, reading to strike down the upstart Lady. There are others that can only dream about controlling Sigil… and that’s all that they’ll ever do.

That’s because if those plotters ever decide to act on their mad schemes and dreams of conquest, they’ll be put in the mazes or flayed into a thousand pieces by The Lady’s cruel blades. Evil? Maybe. But this is Sigil, and this is town of The Lady of Pain. If a body wants a philosophical debate with her, he’s more than welcome to track her down as she moves slowly through the streets of her City. Such fools will be be justly rewarded.