Plane of Ravnica

Ravnica is a plane in the Magic: The Gathering multiverse that is a single, massive city covering the entire world. Its rich and intricate lore revolves around the constant tension and cooperation between ten powerful factions known as the Guilds of Ravnica.

Here is a breakdown of the key lore for Ravnica:

### The Guilds and the Guildpact

The core of Ravnica's lore is the relationship between its ten guilds. Each guild is defined by a two-color mana combination and has a specific role in the city's society, which was originally established by a magical contract.

* **The Guildpact:** A powerful magical document created by the sphinx planeswalker Azor thousands of years ago. It established the roles and functions of the ten guilds to prevent a perpetual, plane-wide war. The Guildpact magically enforced a state of tense balance, with each guild having a designated purpose, preventing them from openly destroying one another.

Here are the ten guilds and their core identities:

* **Azorius Senate (White/Blue):** The official government and law enforcement. They are the lawmakers, judges, and police force, believing that bureaucracy and strict laws are the only way to prevent chaos.

* **Boros Legion (Red/White):** The military and zealous police force. They are the soldiers and angels who enforce the law with a fiery passion, often acting as a more direct and aggressive arm of justice compared to the Azorius.

* **House Dimir (Blue/Black):** The spies, assassins, and information brokers. They are a secret guild, so much so that many citizens of Ravnica believe they don't exist. They deal in secrets, information, and manipulation from the shadows.

* **Golgari Swarm (Black/Green):** The masters of life, death, and decay. They function as the city's waste management, sewer dwellers, and main source of agriculture, using necromancy to manage their vast undead work force.

* **Gruul Clans (Red/Green):** The anti-civilization anarchists. Once tasked with protecting the wilds of Ravnica, they became disenfranchised as the city grew to cover the entire plane. They now seek to tear down the city to return the plane to its natural, wild state.

* **Izzet League (Blue/Red):** The scientists and engineers. Led by the ancient dragon Niv-Mizzet, they are responsible for Ravnica's technology and public works, but their unhinged experiments often cause dangerous and unpredictable side effects.

* **Orzhov Syndicate (White/Black):** A combination of a church, a bank, and a crime syndicate. They are a rigid hierarchy that controls commerce and religion, with a belief system that equates wealth with absolution. Their power extends even after death, with many debtors becoming ghostly thralls to serve the guild.

* **Cult of Rakdos (Black/Red):** The hedonistic entertainers and thrill-seekers. Led by the ancient demon Rakdos, their purpose is to entertain him with spectacles of performance art, debauchery, and violence to keep him from destroying the city out of boredom.

* **Selesnya Conclave (Green/White):** A nature-loving collective and religious cult. They are a communal guild that seeks harmony and peace, nurturing what little nature remains in the city and serving as a spiritual congregation.

* **Simic Combine (Green/Blue):** The bio-engineers and scientists who work with life. They are responsible for medicine and ecological preservation, but their experiments often involve creating bizarre and monstrous biological chimeras to adapt life to the city.

### Major Events and Story Arcs

Ravnica's history has been marked by several major story arcs that have shaken the balance of the plane.

* **The Original Ravnica Block (2005-2006):** This storyline centered on a plot by the Dimir guildmaster Szadek to destroy the original Guildpact. His plan, which was ironically assisted by the Boros and Azorius guilds, succeeded, shattering the magical contract and throwing the city into a state of chaos. The event was known as the Decamillennial.

* **Return to Ravnica Block (2012-2013):** After the Guildpact was broken, a new magical failsafe created by Azor, known as the Implicit Maze, was activated. A planeswalker had to complete the maze to become the "Living Guildpact," a person who would embody the law and order of the plane. Jace Beleren won the race and reluctantly became the Living Guildpact, though he was often absent from the plane due to his interplanar duties.

* **War of the Spark (2019):** This was a major, multiverse-spanning event that took place on Ravnica. The evil dragon planeswalker Nicol Bolas trapped numerous planeswalkers on the plane to harvest their sparks and become a god. The ten guilds united to defend their home, and in the aftermath, the mantle of the Living Guildpact was passed to Niv-Mizzet, the Izzet Parun, who was resurrected in the process.