Ravnica is a city-world. An entirely urbanized plane, divided among ten guilds that have shared power for millennia. The Guildpact maintained a precarious balance — but that balance has been broken, and Jace Beleren finds himself at the heart of a crisis that could destroy civilization itself.
The Ten Guilds
Each guild of Ravnica represented a unique combination of two mana colors, with its own philosophy and role in society:
- Azorius (white/blue) — The Senate, guardians of the law
- Orzhov (white/black) — The Syndicate, bankers and extortionists
- Dimir (blue/black) — The secret guild, spies and assassins
- Izzet (blue/red) — The League, inventors and experimenters
- Rakdos (black/red) — The Cult, entertainers and sadists
- Golgari (black/green) — The Swarm, recyclers and necromancers
- Gruul (red/green) — The Clans, anarchists and destroyers
- Boros (red/white) — The Legion, soldiers and lawbringers
- Selesnya (green/white) — The Conclave, harmony and nature
- Simic (green/blue) — The Combine, biologists and mutants
The Guildpact
The Guildpact was a magical document that bound the ten guilds to certain rules. Signed millennia earlier, it prevented open warfare and guaranteed a minimum of cooperation.
But the Pact had been broken — its magical protections had ceased to function. Tensions between guilds, long contained, threatened to erupt into civil war.
Jace, the Living Guildpact
Jace Beleren discovered, to his great surprise, that he had become the new Living Guildpact — his mind now contained the magical rules that bound the guilds. This unwanted responsibility placed him at the center of every conflict on Ravnica.
Bolas's Scheme
Behind Ravnica's troubles lurked a familiar hand. Nicol Bolas had infiltrated the guilds, manipulating their leaders for his own ends. His ultimate goal: turn Ravnica into a trap for the planeswalkers of the Multiverse.
The ancient dragon had discovered that Ravnica, due to its unique position in the Multiverse, could serve as a convergence point. The right ritual could draw all planeswalkers there — and strip them of their powers.
The Heroes of Ravnica
Facing Bolas's machinations, several heroes emerged:
Aurelia led the Boros Legion, maintaining order through force. Teysa Karlov tried to reform the Orzhov from within. Lazav, master of House Dimir, pursued his own secret agendas.
And in the midst of it all, Jace desperately tried to keep the peace — an impossible task in a city where everyone plotted against everyone else.
In the next episode...
Episode 8f: Theros — The Tragedy of Elspeth
Theros is a world inspired by Greek mythology, where the gods are real and intervene directly in the affairs of mortals. Elspeth Tirel finds refuge there after the horrors of New Phyrexia — but even the gods have their own tragedies to write.
Sources
- MTG Wiki: Ravnica — The city-world and its guilds
- Return to Ravnica (Magic expansion, 2012)
- Gatecrash (Magic expansion, 2013)
- Dragon's Maze (Magic expansion, 2013)
