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ACT 2: THE HIVE – OVERVIEW
Congratulations on escaping the Mortuary, and welcome to the Hive sector of Sigil! Your next goals are to find the elusive Pharod and your missing journal.
This act is much less linear than the Mortuary. I can tell you how to find Pharod and your journal in less than five minutes – and I do at the bottom of this page – but first I strongly recommend that you thoroughly explore the Hive and complete as many of the side quests as possible.
The Hive consists of six areas:
Besides which there is also a number of smaller areas plus the Player's Maze, which is an area you will visit if you displease the Lady of Pain, the ruler of Sigil.
What happens in Act 2?
This act begins when you exit the Mortuary and ends when you enter the Trash Warrens from Ragpicker's Square.
The purpose of the act is to figure out where Pharod is hiding and how to find your journal. You can get valuable hints from speaking to the people in the streets and houses.
My best advice to you is to explore the Hive thoroughly and speak to all creatures, with a few exceptions (see under "Creatures" below). You will be assigned a lot of large and small side quests which are described on the area pages. You should probably save the Alley of Dangerous Angles for a while as it can be a bit tough for an inexperienced cutter.
Before doing anything else, you should take a brief chat with Morte and ask him if there is anything he can do except chatter. He will tell you about his special ability "Litany of Curses" (see his character description for further information). He also suggests that you should look for Pharod and your lost journal.
If you want to play as a Mage or Thief, or if you want to improve your skills as a Fighter, you should seek out the Trainers (please see below).
You can find another companion in the Smoldering Corpse Bar in the Southeastern Hive Sector.
Creatures
Apart from the named characters who are described on the different area pages you will meet the following generic creatures:
Hive Dwellers are the unfortunate people who live in these slums. A lot of them are standing around in small groups. Most of them have nothing of value to say to you but a few will recognize you from your earlier lives. Some of these will give you items or money, while others will flee at the mere sight of you.
Thugs aren't worth talking to, unless you are looking for a fight. Often they will even attack you without provocation. Each thug is worth 65 XP and some random treasure. And most probably a few extra scars for your collection.
Harlots will answer some questions about Sigil, the Lady of Pain and Pharod if you pay them for their time. On parting Morte asks if you can lend him some money for a roll in the hay. If you tell him that from the looks of her you're probably saving him from dying twice, the Harlot will teach Morte a few new insults, making his Litany of Curses (please see Morte's info in the NPC list) more effective. You can also sleep with a Harlot for 10 copper pieces.
You should already have met some of the Dustmen in the Mortuary. Most Dustmen can't tell you much of use to you but you should seek out their bar, the Gathering Dust Bar, for information on Pharod and a few interesting quests.
Collectors are the unfortunates who have to scrape a living by dragging the dead to the Mortuary, where the Dustmen pay them for the corpses. They can tell you much of use but will generally direct you towards Ragpicker's Square, the particularly depressing part of the slums which they call home.
Dabuses are the "janitors" for the Lady of Pain, doing maintenance work around the city. They speak in rebuses. If either your Intelligence or Wisdom is at least 13, you can understand them, otherwise you will have to get a companion to translate for you. Your Intelligence must be at least 15 for you to understand them fully. Understanding Dabus-speak earns you 1,000 XP.
Abishai are creatures from the lower planes. If you try to speak to them, Morte will warn you that they are fiends and that you should leave them alone. I suggest that you heed his warning; otherwise they will attack you. At this time they will prove quite a handful; they are very tough opponents and can only be harmed by magical weapons.
Githzerai are people from Limbo, the plane of chaos. They can't tell you much of value but once Dak'kon joins your party you will want to speak to at least one of them.
There are three trainers in the Hive who can train you as a fighter, a mage or a thief:
As explained on the Gameplay page, you can switch classes as often as you want simply by speaking to a trainer.
Some Information about Sigil
Sigil is called "The City of Doors" for a reason. It is located around The Spire, an infinitely high structure in the middle of The Outlands. The only way in and out of the city is through portals, which can best be explained as "wormholes" to other places that can be activated by certain keys. The key to a portal can be literally anything – a tune played on a tin whistle, a wave of your hand, a knife, a particular thought; you name it. You will not find all of the portals in Sigil, but you will come across a fair number of them.
Sigil is ruled by the enigmatic Lady of Pain. Little is known about her, except that she seized control over the city after killing the former ruler Aoskar, God of Portals. She doesn't like being worshipped or mocked, she does not allow anyone to upset the balance of the city, and she is very intolerant of anyone who murders her subjects; in particular the Dabuses, her "janitors". You will want to keep this in mind if you're playing a Chaotic Evil character: Slaughtering an entire section of the city will attract the Lady's gaze. Which, as any Sigillian will tell you, is something you do NOT want to do!
Those who annoy the Lady are sent to her Mazes – pocket planes in existence with a single way out through a portal that is cunningly hidden. Those who attract her attention a second time, or who do so for grave disturbances of the peace, fall under her shadow. They are found hideously slain and so badly slashed that not even an immortal like you could survive it!
Get hold of some Junk, go to Ragpicker's Square, proceed to the trash-filled passage at the northwestern part of the map, and activate the portal (the Junk is the portal key). Enter the door at the western edge of this map to enter the Trash Warrens, and proceed through the warrens to the Buried Village. You will find Pharod's Court in this area. The Trash Warrens and the Buried Village are described in detail in Act 3.
You can find several old journals of yours:
