The Golgari Swarm lore and key people

The Golgari Swarm is perhaps the most misunderstood and underestimated of all the Ravnica guilds. While the other guilds concern themselves with law, war, or commerce, the Golgari embrace the one truth all things must face: the cycle of life and death. They are the city's scavengers and decomposers, operating from the labyrinthine Undercity, a vast network of tunnels and forgotten districts beneath the streets. For the Golgari, death is not an ending but a transformation, a source of new life and power.

### Philosophy of the Cycle

The core philosophy of the Golgari is centered on the concept of an endless cycle. The city of Ravnica may seem permanent, but the Golgari know that every building, every institution, and every person will eventually fall into ruin and rot. From this decay, the Swarm believes, new life will spring. They are not simply a guild of necromancers or ghouls; they are a living, breathing ecosystem that thrives on the refuse of the city above. They manage Ravnica's waste, dispose of its unclaimed dead, and, most importantly, provide a significant portion of its food by cultivating vast farms of fungus and other bioluminescent crops in the darkness of the Undercity.

This belief in the cycle also influences their political structure. Leadership is not a permanent state but a role to be won and lost. Assassination and internal power struggles are seen as a natural part of their brutal, meritocratic system. The guild is a collection of factions—Devkarin elves, humans, kraul, and various monstrous creatures—each with their own agenda, all loosely bound by the overarching philosophy of the Swarm.

### Key Figures in Golgari History

The Golgari's history is a story of powerful individuals vying for control and shaping the guild's destiny.

* **Svogthir:** The original Parun and founder of the Golgari Swarm. A Devkarin elf necromancer, Svogthir was a formidable figure who united a chaotic army of outcasts and undead. He was a master of necromancy, but his ambition was constantly at odds with the other guilds. After the signing of the Guildpact, he was betrayed and killed by his own disciples, the gorgons, but his spirit lingered, a constant and malevolent presence within the guild's crypts.

* **The Sisters of Stone Death:** A trio of gorgon sisters who took control of the guild after assassinating Svogthir. They were the dominant power for centuries, ruling with a mix of prophetic foresight and a stone-cold ruthlessness. They were powerful figures who embodied the Golgari's love of both decay and the sinister beauty that can emerge from it.

* **Savra:** An ambitious Devkarin elf shaman, Savra was the sister of Jarad Vod Savo. She was a master manipulator who sought to become the next Golgari guildmaster. In a complex plot that involved the Dimir guildmaster Szadek, she resurrected Svogthir's spirit, used him to kill the Sisters of Stone Death, and then trapped his spirit in her scepter to secure her power. Savra's reign was short-lived, however, as she was a key pawn in Szadek's plan to destroy the Guildpact. When the paradox that shattered the pact was triggered, Szadek double-crossed her, and she was killed.

* **Jarad Vod Savo:** Jarad's story is one of redemption and grim determination. He was a Devkarin elf and a seasoned hunter who worked with the Azorius officer Agrus Kos during the events that led to the Guildpact's destruction. He witnessed his sister Savra's dark transformation and eventual death, and in a tragic twist of fate, he himself was killed by a Rakdos blood witch. However, Jarad used his necromantic powers to reanimate himself as a lich to save his son. As an undead being, he became a symbol of the Golgari's core belief in the cycle of life and death. Jarad ruled the Golgari for a long period, providing a sense of stability, though he was often aloof, leaving the day-to-day affairs to his lieutenants.

* **Vraska:** The current guildmaster of the Golgari, Vraska is a gorgon planeswalker whose personal history of injustice and persecution fuels her desire to dismantle corrupt systems. As a young gorgon, she was arrested and imprisoned by the Azorius, a traumatic event that shaped her worldview. After her planeswalker spark ignited, she returned to Ravnica with a renewed purpose: to avenge those who had been wronged and to give a voice to the marginalized. She was manipulated by the planeswalker Nicol Bolas, who promised her control of the Golgari in exchange for her loyalty. Vraska fulfilled her part of the bargain by assassinating Jarad, taking his place as guildmaster. She has since used her leadership to empower the less-represented factions of the Swarm, such as the Kraul, and to turn the guild into a formidable political force, not just a scavenger crew.

### The Undercity and Its Factions

The Golgari's realm is the Undercity, a shadowy, subterranean kingdom that houses a variety of different races and factions, all with their own distinct roles within the Swarm:

* **Devkarin Elves:** Once the masters of the Golgari, the Devkarin are a proud and ancient race of dark elves. They are masters of death magic and have a long history of rivalry for leadership.

* **Kraul:** An insectoid race that has long been a part of the Golgari, the Kraul have a distinct culture and are often seen as the backbone of the Swarm's labor and military forces. They are a rising power within the guild, a testament to Vraska's leadership.

* **The Ochran:** The elite order of assassins within the Golgari. They are feared for their cunning and their mastery of both poison and blade.

* **Trolls, Zombies, and Fungal Creatures:** The Golgari also rely on a variety of non-sentient or undead creatures. Trolls serve as powerful warriors, while zombies and plant-creatures are used as a vast, expendable labor force, a true manifestation of the Golgari's power to create life from death.