Guildpact

Glass of the Guildpact by Dimitar Marinski

The **Guildpact** is an ancient and epic piece of magic that reverberates across the plane of Ravnica. It is a fundamental magical treaty that regulates the coexistence and balance of power among the ten guilds of Ravnica. This pact is at the core of plane governance and politics, serving as a foundation for the city's social organization and structure.

The Guildpact was established millennia ago after a period of open conflict and instability between the factions that would give rise to the ten guilds of Ravnica. It was created to put an end to the wars and turmoil that would eventually destroy the entire plane, channeling guild competition and rivalry into a system of cooperation and negotiation.

> *"Counterbalanced forces sustain this city. No faction above others. A beautiful idea.*”
> — Emmara Tandris
>
>

## Description

Originally conceived of by the lawmage Azor I, it serves as a basis for all Ravnican law, setting statutes and ordinances for each guild so that each of the ten guilds has its own place. The Paruns pooled their magic to create a treaty that could enforce itself. Certain agreements in the Guildpact, if broken, brought automatic magical consequences on those who defied them. The power of the Guildpact was subtle; it prevented any guild from dabbling into the business of any other guild or disturbing the stable power balance among the ten by twisting circumstance and coincidence to nullify the disruptive guild's actions. While the Guildpact was credited with bringing relative peace and prosperity to the plane, sporadic clashes between guilds still occurred. Despite any conflicts between the guilds at a particular time though, the anniversary of the Guildpact's signing was celebrated every year with a day-long festival, where all the people laid down their weapons and made merry. This celebration was called *The Festival of the Guildpact.*

Its magic is enforced especially in the most significant representatives of the guilds, such as the League of Wojek. For instance, when a Wojek officer wishes to imprison someone who has directly violated a Guildpact law, it is possible to restrain them utterly. Not even paruns, the signers of the original Guildpact are capable of breaking such a seal.

### Amendments

The Guildpact could be changed through amendment, though only with the agreement of all ten guilds; which became practically impossible after a certain point. At least ten amendments to the original Guildpact exist. At least one of them banished the quietmen.

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### Areas of influence

While the laws of the Guildpact are metaphysical binding forces across the whole plane, there exist spaces that are exempt from it. One of it was the Agyrem, where the laws of the broken guildpact still held sway. Additionally, the inner sanctum of the Obzedat is a dead spot within the law, allowing the Obzedat to even countermand guildpact laws with their own edicts.

As a planeswalker, Jace Beleren's influence as the Living Guildpact was able to extend beyond the plane of Ravnica, so long as the target of his law magic was a member of the guilds. Even on Ixalan, Jace is able to force Azor to spend the rest of his life in solitude, because Azor was still the parun of the Azorius Senate and therefore susceptible to his own Guildpact.

### The Failsafe

Foreseeing that one day the original Guildpact might fail, Azor created a contingency plan known as the Implicit Maze, an intricate network of magical leylines scattered throughout the city of Ravnica, designed to be activated in the event of a significant breach in the Guildpact. If that happened, the Implicit Maze would be triggered to test the guilds' ability to cooperate and solve it.

The purpose of the Implicit Maze was to recreate a symbolic version of the original signature of the Guildpact. Guilds would have to work together to unlock the secrets and solve the challenges presented by the Maze. If they managed to reach the center of the Implicit Maze, it would indicate that the guilds had overcome their differences and restored a sense of cooperation. But if they failed, the Maze would trigger the Supreme Verdict, which was a global spell that would destroy all of Ravnica.

The Implicit Maze played an important role in Ravnica's history. It was activated in the year 10,075 ZC when the Planeswalker Jace Beleren assumed the title of the Living Guildpact, and was a crucial part in resolving the tensions and challenges that arose after the breaking of the original Pact caused after the Decamillennial.

## History

### The Original Guildpact

The Guildpact itself is focused upon an ancient, primeval living document signed with blood and magic by each of the paruns to represent their willingness to work together to hold the city together. The first signer of the original Pact was Azor I, who also drafted and proposed the document. Its second signatory was the Boros parun Razia, followed by the Golgari parun Svogthir. It is said that for the magic of the original Guildpact to come to life, a great sacrifice had to be made. This sacrifice was willingly made by the parun Mat'Selesnya, a coven of twelve dryads who thought and acted as a single elemental being. Mat'Selesnya gave up her body so that her spirit could be bound by the powerful magic of the Guildpact, thus becoming Worldsoul. In this way, as long as Mat'Selesnya's spirit lived, so would the Guildpact.

The first draft of the Guildpact, pressed under three inches of magic-treated glass and authored by Azor himself, is still kept preserved in the Old Laws Library of the Azorius Jelenn Column complex.

Not surprisingly, since its signing the leaders since then — including the still-living paruns — have worked hard to find loopholes in which to set forward their own plans. The original Guildpact's spell was finally broken when Agrus Kos arrested Szadek for crimes against the Guildpact itself, when he tried to destroy it by taking control of other guilds, During the celebration of Decamillenial on 1st Seleszeni 10,000 ZC. This generated a paradox because the Guildpact dictated House Dimir's task as opposing the Guildpact, making it impossible for Szadek to be legally arrested for crimes against it .

### Teysa's Guildpact

Later, a new non-magical Guildpact known as *The Official Accord and Guidance of the Guilds of Ravnica* or the *New Accord of the Guilds of Ravnica* was drafted by Teysa Karlov. Since it was not backed up by metaphysical forces, no guild took it seriously.

### The Living Guildpact

*Main article: Living Guildpact*
The Guildpact's magic was later reestablished after the Implicit Labyrinth Race, but this time in the form of a living being: Jace Beleren. Any law that the Living Guildpact verbally affirms received a magical binding force similar to that of the old Guildpact. Although Teysa's Guildpact was now verbally affirmed by the Living Guildpact, its power was not binding in the chamber of the Obzedat, the Orzhov ghost council. It stated, in part: "*By order of the united guilds of Ravnica, it is decided that the betterment and progression of any one guild over another may be seen and understood as an act of war. Should proof of such subversion be discovered by another representative of any other guild, it may be confiscated and turned over to the Living Guildpact for investigation*."

### Second Living Guildpact

At the beginning of the War of the Spark, Nicol Bolas destroyed the Chamber of the Guildpact by summoning the Planar Bridge within it, disrupting the leylines that maintain the Guildpact's power. Because of this, Jace lost his abilities as the Living Guildpact, and was thus unable to wield its hieromancy against Bolas. Later in the conflict, the Guildpact was reestablished through a ritual using representatives of the ten guilds and the spirit of Niv-Mizzet, mending the leylines disrupted by the Planar Bridge and reviving the Firemind as a new Living Guildpact.

The second Chamber of the Guildpact was destroyed during New Phyrexia's Invasion of the Multiverse, but the powers of the Living Guildpact were not disrupted as seen during the War of the Spark. Guildpact Paragons bolstered the plane’s defenses, and in the invasion’s aftermath, the Firemind reaffirmed his position as Ravnica’s supreme authority and protector.

## References

1. ↑ Rei Nakazawa (January 9, 2006). "Signing Onto the Guildpact". Magicthegathering.com.
2. ↑ Django Wexler (August 14, 2019), The Gathering Storm, Chapter Ten.
3. ↑ Cory J. Herndon. (2006.) *Ravnica Cycle, Book III: Dissension*, Wizards of the Coast.
4. ↑ Cory J. Herndon. (2006.) *Ravnica Cycle, Book III: Dissension*, Chapter 18, Wizards of the Coast.
5. ↑ Cory J. Herndon (2005). *Ravnica Cycle, Book I: Ravnica*, Wizards of the Coast.
6. ↑ Cory J. Herndon (2005). *Ravnica Cycle, Book I: Ravnica*, Wizards of the Coast, Chapter 4
7. ↑ Cory J. Herndon (2005). *Ravnica Cycle, Book I: Ravnica*, Wizards of the Coast, Chapter 20
8. ↑ Cory J. Herndon (2005). *Ravnica Cycle, Book I: Ravnica*, Chapter 8, Wizards of the Coast
9. ↑ Nicky Drayden (February 27, 2019). "The Ascension of Reza". *magicthegathering.com*. Wizards of the Coast.
10. ↑ Cory J. Herndon. (2006.) *Ravnica Cycle, Book III: Dissension*, Chapter 10, Wizards of the Coast.