The secrets of life are revealed in the laboratories of the Simic, and their research notes plumb and catalog nature’s wonders. Their original mission was to oversee issues of public health, but the Simic came to believe that complete health — of individuals and of society as a whole — depends on the mutual adaptation of nature and civilization to one another. Thus, biological experimentation has always been among its primary concerns.
Historically, the guild’s approach to its mission has been one of incremental progress toward a utopian ideal of thriving biology, and it remains more aloof from politics than other guilds. Its fundamental mission remains unchanged by the current political instability, and the isolation of its laboratories protects most Simic guild members from immediate harm.
Little is known about the combine’s founder, except that this individual’s first or family name was Simic.
Inside the Combine
Vast sinkholes called zonots are the primary geographic divisions among the Simic. Each zonot pierces layer upon layer of crumbled city as it descends deep below the surface and connects to ancient, long-forgotten ocean waters. A zonot is a distinct Simic habitat with its own culture and ecosystem, as well as a leader called a Speaker. The Speakers of all nine zonots form the Speakers’ Chamber, and they elect a Prime Speaker from among them to serve as the Simic guildmaster.
Zegana, the current Prime Speaker, is the Speaker of Zonot One, which is located in a remote, sparsely inhabited part of Ravnica far from the political activity of the Tenth District.
The Simic guildhall,
Zameck, is located in Zonot Seven within Precinct Five of Ravnica’s Tenth District. A huge chamber just below the street serves as the gathering place for all the Speakers, as well as a location where non-Simic visitors can meet with the Prime Speaker or other combine emissaries.
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