I noticed that if I make a character (for a prelude say) then logout , when it logs me back in it will put me into the city hall even though that character has not actually entered sanctuary yet.
Is it possible that it use some local stored info that means you'll spawn in the CHARACTER start areas unless you've actually entered the underdark or sanctuary portals?
(also in another thread I suggested prelude characters may even be treated differently to normal ones, you walk into a special PORTAL (for prelude characters) in that they can design and colour their "outfits" for free but arent allowed into sanctuary at all until a d.m puts them there, knowing they've finished the prelude) <note: they also dont keep ANY non-worn items they get in the prelude area>