Gruul Clans (gr-OOL)

Before and for a short time after the signing of the Guildpact, the Gruul Clans were a wild and noble guild charged with maintaining the wild places on Ravnica. They were supposed to keep civilization in check. Civilization and the other nine guilds, however, overran every wild place on the plane. This changed the Gruul.
As the wilds were torn down, so too were the Gruul's responsibilities taken from them. The Simic claimed jurisdiction over nature's future. The Selesnya preached about nature in order to bring it into its conclave. With their responsibilities taken over by others, they were seen as outside of the Guildpact and the Azorius began to write them out of the law. Outside the law, the Boros were not required to protect them and the Orzhov were free to enslave them.
The Gruul decentralized, lacking any sort of real leadership. The guild became nothing but a loose affiliation of clans. Exploited and ignored, they started to take any reason to cause chaos, any reason to destroy a symbol of civilization. Most Gruul hold contempt for those outside the Clans, referring to them as "cobble roaches".
It is common for Gruul clans to raid an area, destroy it just like the Rakdos, and live there until the resources gleaned from the destructive raid are used up. Once that happens, they move on to a new area, leaving smoldering ruins in their wake. They observe few consistent traditions but love to celebrate Rauck-Chauv, an irregular festival characterized by several days of rioting, feasting, looting, and destruction.

Public Agenda

The Gruul Clans have fallen from their former glory as the keepers of Ravnica's wilds and now are nothing but a loose affiliation of berserker clans who seek to wipe civilization from the plane.

Demography and Population

Trogs
Besides the clans there are the solitary wandering Trogs, fierce independent warriors who traverse the rubblebelts as apex predators.
Clans

• The Burning Tree Clan is the most influential in the guild, and is also the clan of Borborygmos. It is the fiercest clan, as well as the largest and most diverse. They make sure that everyone in the Clans remembers who has held them down and destroyed their guild and then lets that rage loose on civilization. They are often tattooed with the Burning Tree symbol. The Ravnican population considers this as the crest for the entire Gruul guild.
• The Scab Clan is the most violent of the Gruul Clans. This is because every member of it has been tortured, mutilated, or crippled by the organizations of civilization. They display their scars and body modifications as expressions of their terrible rage. The members of this clan make up for physical deficiency by cooperating with each other. Their leader is a corpulent Giant, known as Narbulg Nine Fingers.
• Of all the clans, the Ghor Clan executes the most frequent and savage assaults on Ravnican citizenry. The clan typically creates encampments close to heavily populated Ravnican districts. Their leader is Ruric Thar.
• The Bolrac Clan (named after an ancient Ravnican word for heavy hammers) is mainly composed of Ogres, Cyclopes, Trolls and Giants, who share a love for bringing down massive structures using mauls and battering rams. Their leadership changes frequently, sometimes even daily.
• The Slizt Clan, in contrast, are more skulker, and trust stealth attacks and using high ground to their advantage. They mainly consist of Viashino and humans. The other clans call them cowards but are cautious to avoid Slizt territory.
• The Zhur-Taa Clan (also called the skull bleachers) is the most religious of the Clans, claiming to practice pre-guild rites known as the "Old Ways". They worship the Utmungr, "gods of the deep earth," and await the awakening of Ilharg, the Raze Boar, an ancient boar god who will mount a fiery rampage and raze the over-civilized world once and for all. Their leader is a centaur, known as Nikya. Zhur-Taa druids are adept at summoning and training beasts as war-companions and mounts.
• The Gravel Hide Clan, a relatively new group, believes that resilience is the truest measure of strength. They have a reputation for shrugging off devastating attacks. Their leader is a hot-tempered goblin, Skorik Boulder Tooth.

Smash. Crush. Burn.

Type

Geopolitical, Nomadic tribe

Capital

Skarrg

Alternative Names

Rubblebelt Raiders

Leader

Borborygmos

Government System

Anarchy

Subsidiary Organizations

• The End-Raze

Deities

• Ilharg

Notable Members

• Borborygmos
• Nyrvolas Sid

Related Historical Events

• 1004
  Gruul