Guildpact (spell)

For other uses, see Guildpact (disambiguation).

The Guildpact is an ancient and powerful spell that reverberates across the plane of Ravnica.

Description

Originally conceived of by the lawmage Azor I, the Guildpact serves as a basis for all Ravnican law, setting statutes and ordinances for each guild so that each of the ten guilds has its 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.

Authorized guild representatives, such as officers from the League of Wojek, can enforce the Guildpact's magic. 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 are capable of breaking such a seal.

As a failsafe, the Guildpact could be altered with the agreement of all ten guild leaders.

As of c. 10,080 ZC, the original Guildpact is housed in Vitu-Ghazi. It is a large book containing both the text of law, as well as explanations of the decisions made during the founding of the guildpact.

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. It was signed in -5517 AR, a year which became known as 0 ZC. The first draft of the Guildpact, pressed under three inches of magic-treated glass and authored by Azor himself, is still preserved in the Old Laws Library of the Azorius Jelenn Column complex. Its second signatory was the Boros parun Razia, followed by the Golgari parun Svogthir.

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 plans. The Guildpact's spell was finally broken when Agrus Kos arrested Szadek for crimes against the Guildpact when he tried to destroy it by taking control of other guilds. This generated a loophole 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 Guild of Ravnica was drafted by Teysa Karlov. Since it was not backed up by metaphysical forces, no guild took it seriously.

Living Guildpact

The Guildpact's magic was later reestablished after the events of Dragon's Maze, 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 they were 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.

Text

On The Purpose of the Cult of Rakdos

"The Cult's purpose is to be twofold: to serve the people of Ravnica, and to placate the demon Rakdos through blood and through fire. They shall satisfy their hungers as they see fit, and in so doing, shall keep Rakdos satisfied. We hope, by binding the guild to him, that he will find a greater purpose than destruction." Following this are a series of unspecified duties of the guild and its members.

An explanation of this section reads:

"It is the hope of the founders that, by binding the demon Rakdos to a people of his own, we can prevent his continuing to instill murderous rage in the citizens of Ravnica. This disruptive pastime has resulted in random slaughter and rampages, with even the meekest of people turning on their kin without warning or due cause—"

Amendments

At least ten amendments to the original Guildpact exist. One bans the quietmen.

Amendment	Title	Text
VII	The "Ledev Act"	No guild may control access to or travel upon any road, street, or thoroughfare designated a part of the Grand Arterial Network.
X	The "Hidden Charter" or "Guildmaster's Law"	No signatory or signatory designee shall reveal the existence of the tenth signatory. Violation of this amendment will result in immediate imprisonment and/or execution.

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 them 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 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 could 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.

In-game references

Represented in:

• Jace, the Living Guildpact
• Niv-Mizzet, Guildpact
• Niv-Mizzet Reborn
• Niv-Mizzet, Supreme

Associated cards:

• Case of the Shattered Pact
• Enemy of the Guildpact
• Festival of the Guildpact
• Frenemy of the Guildpact
• Glaive of the Guildpact
• Glass of the Guildpact
• Guardian of the Guildpact
• Guild Pact
• Guildpact Greenwalker
• Guildpact Informant
• Guildpact Paragon
• Leyline of the Guildpact
• Scrutiny of the Guildpact
• Seal of the Guildpact
• Sphinx of the Guildpact
• Tome of the Guildpact

Referred to:

• Amateur Auteur (Unstable, #3a)
• City's Blessing
• Emergence Zone
• Gateway Plaza
• Pillar of the Paruns
• Rakdos, Patron of Chaos (Dossier showcase)
• Spectral Searchlight
• Thespian's Stage
• Vindictive Vampire