Cult of Rakdos
Jace walked into the Rakdos club, pushing into a wall of scents and sounds. The ceilings were surprisingly high inside, draped with banners and spiked chains. An impish creature hooted as it dangled from a high wire while a man in leather chaps swallowed orbs of fire and breathed them back out through his snaggly teeth. Scarred, black-scaled drakes fought viciously in cages that swung from the ceiling, and the stink of sweat and singed flesh wafted from adjoining alcoves. Against the wall stood an enormous sentry, somewhere along the spectrum between rotund man and compact giant, dressed in what looked like the motley attire of a harlequin jester crossed with barbed wire.Tomorrow is nothing but a mere illusion, a deceptive trick to keep the denizens in line. Members of the Cult of Rakdos have seen it all before, the endless grand speeches and conceited plans of the other guild of Ravnica. The cult believe that other guilds take themselves much too seriously. Since nobody ever escapes death, their time comes for everyone and order eventually turns to chaos, the Rakdos maintain that the only rational way to live is in unrestrained, in the moment, hedonistic debauchery. Although sane is not a way other Ravnicans would describe Rakdos. The Cult of Rakdos is named for the demon lord who founded and leads it. In the Guildpact it is written that the guild was initially formed to cover the roles of entertainment, mining and manual labour tasks. Some would suggest that giving a demonic cult and form of responsibility in society was destined to fail. Yet the cult continues to be a part of the realm's social fabric regardless. The cult's murderous ways are forbidden in the Guildpact but it's..... entertainments, as sadistic and debauched as they are, hold a popular appeal to many. From rowdy mobs who love to see the Rakdos skewer the powerful elites to decadent socialites who come to the Rakdos for illicit amusements, most of Ravnica’s people don’t really want the Rakdos to go away, as much as they might publicly protest otherwise.
Inside the Cult
As one of Ravnica’s original guild founders, the demon Rakdos has been part of Ravnica for millennia. Members of other guilds know Rakdos through his reputation for capricious cruelty and megalomania, but those who join the guild idolize him for his magnetic presence, which inspires art and encourages utter wantonness. Because Rakdos finds destruction entertaining, his cultists incorporate deadly acts into their performances in hopes of catching his eye and earning his favour.
Stages for Rakdos performances appear on streets and plazas throughout Ravnica every night, and they’re gone by morning — carried to and fro on the backs of giants. Permanent establishments that cater to dark desires are tucked away in the seediest neighbourhoods of the city, such as the Smelting Quarter in Precinct Six of the Tenth District.
Goals of the Rakdos
The Cult of Rakdos is centered on a demon lord who exemplifies the concepts of chaos and evil. At its worst, the cult is driven by a lust for power, extreme selfishness, and a lack of compassion. Cultists take delight in causing pain to others to make sure they know their place, which is subservient to the powerful adherents of this self-centered philosophy.
The cult’s chaotic nature fuels its passion, impulsiveness, and obsession with freedom. A guild of unbridled hedonism, it does what it wants, driven by base desires and a strong streak of cruelty. The Cult of Rakdos was originally recognized as a guild as part of an effort to channel the impulses of demons, giants, ogres, and humans into an acceptable direction. That effort has never been completely successful. Now, as tension builds in Ravnica and several guilds attempt to crack down on chaos and criminal activity, the Rakdos cult reacts to this building pressure with increasing violence.
The Cult of Rakdos already serves a megalomaniacal demon of chaos, so its members have no interest in seeing any other ambitious figure achieve supreme rulership over Ravnica. They fear that any other guild might gain enough power to overwhelm all the others and impose its own values on everyone. For this reason, they focus their efforts on subverting other guilds’ schemes, by undermining popular and powerful leaders and interfering — often violently — with any effort to build a centralized concentration of authority.
The Azorius Senate currently stands as the greatest threat to the Rakdos way of life. The cult targets Azorius senators and arresters for ridicule, harassment, and occasionally assassination. The Boros Legion’s zealous pursuit of order and justice poses a similar threat. Although Boros’s attention is focused on the Gruul at the moment, Rakdos cultists are well aware that any sufficiently disruptive performance with a high enough body count could bring the wrath of the legion down on their heads. The overreaching of the Azorius and the self-righteous wrath of the Boros engender true fear in the anarchic Rakdos cultists, and the Rakdos respond to fear with bloodshed.
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