The Guildpact

Overview

The Guildpact is an ancient and powerful spell that reverberates across the plane of Ravnica.
Originally conceived of by the lawmage Azor I, it serves as a basis for all Ravnican law, setting statutes and ordinances for each guild so that each of the ten guilds has its own place. The Paruns pooled their magic to create a treaty that could enforce itself. Certain agreements in the Guildpact, if broken, brought automatic magical consequences on those who defied them.
Its magic is enforced especially in the most significant representatives of the guilds, such as the League of Wojek. For instance, when a Wojek officer wishes to imprison someone who has directly violated a Guildpact law, it is possible to restrain them utterly. Not even paruns are capable of breaking such a seal.
As a failsafe, the Guildpact could be altered with the agreement of all ten guild leaders.

History

The Original Guildpact

The Guildpact itself is focused upon an ancient, primeval living document signed with blood and magic by each of the paruns to represent their willingness to work together to hold the city together. It was signed in -5517 AR, a year which became known as 0 ZC. The first draft of the Guildpact, pressed under three inches of magic-treated glass and authored by Azor himself, is still kept preserved in the Old Laws Library of the Azorius Jelenn Column complex in New Prahv. Its second signatory was the Boros parun Razia, followed by the Golgari parun Svogthir.
Not surprisingly, since its signing the leaders since then — including the still-living paruns — have worked hard to find loopholes in which to set forward their own plans. The Guildpact's spell was finally broken when Agrus Kos arrested Szadek for crimes against the Guildpact, when he tried to destroy it by taking control of other guilds. This generated a loophole because the Guildpact dictated House Dimir's task as opposing the Guildpact, making it impossible for Szadek to be legally arrested for crimes against it.
Naturally, the Guildpact having been broken, the guilds were plunged into a brutal struggle for power and in some scenarios, open warfare.

The Era of the Council

With the threat of open conflict threatening to plunge Ravnica into another dark age of war reminiscent of the pre-Guildpact era, the guilds banded together and formed a new more robust Guildpact, this time comprised of a chosen official to represent each guild and form The Council of the Guildpact. This council forms a living embodiment of the guildpacts ideals and works tirelessly to ensure The Guildpact is constantly amended, strengthened, revised, and upheld. By order of the united guilds of Ravnica, it is decided that the betterment and progression of any one guild over another may be seen and understood as an act of war. Should proof of such subversion be discovered by another representative of any other guild, it may be confiscated and investigated. The Guildpact has the authority to exact swift and harsh punishment should the need arise.

Type

Manuscript, Magical (Tome/Scroll)