Overview
The Simic Combine is Ravnica's steward of biology and the ecosystem; its mission is to preserve the natural mechanics of the world, even as Ravnica's cities continue to grow, and even help nature adapt to the overpopulated urban conditions. The guild uses magic to coax new morphologies from existing creatures, as well as to combine traits from multiple organisms in one. Some of these are unique creatures that can't reproduce. A few multiply and become part of the guild's fabric.
The emotionally distant relationship that the Simic biomancers have with the rest of Ravnica's society makes the common man wary of the guild, thinking of them as crazy mutant makers. Even so, the Simic make up most of the physicians of Ravnica and, unless they have money to go to one of the few privately owned doctors, most citizens take their injuries and illness to the reputable and low cost Simic hospitals.
The true nature of the Original Parun of the Simic Combine has been lost to the ages, the only knowledge of them remaining is that they were a Vedalken and their first name was Simic. Their reputation with the populace isn't the best due to the actions of past members, but since the reemergence of Ravnica's Merfolk from the large sinkholes known as Zonots, the combine has been heading in a much more positive direction.
Purpose
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.
Organization Structure
CLADES
Where other cultures are divided by species, caste or role, within the Simic Combine, members are divided by Clade. A Clade is a group that's focused on a specific aspect of nature. Some of the clades include:
- Hull Clade, focusing on protection, defense and durability.
- Fin Clade, focussing on movement of creatures (especially flying creatures) as well as, movement of resources through systems.
- Crypsis Clade, focussing on camouflage and magic designed to hide knowledge or operations.
- Gyre Clade, focussing on redirecting or nullifying magic and advancing nature.
THE SPEAKERS
Each of the Zonots contains a sprawling research facility that reaches from the surface all the way to deep beneath the underground oceans. These facilities include enclaves from each Clade and the daily activities of each of them are monitored by the leader of that Zonot, known as the Speaker. The Speakers' Chamber is a secretive body of all nine Zonot speakers. The Prime Speaker, one elected by each of the other Speakers, is considered to be the guildmaster of the Simic.
FACTIONS
Independently from the Clades operate two factions about the interpretation of Simic philosophy.
The Utopians, who focus on a harmonic union between civilization and nature, where evolution is a slow, guided process
The Adaptationists, who believe that the guilds exist in a fragile ecosystem in which the slightest imbalance can have cascading effects, and thus seek to make steps that will ensure their survival.
Though they have long been officially dissolved, the followers of Momir Vig, a past leader of the Simic, constituted their own faction, the Vigeans, who saw nature as something to be molded and subdued in order to enhance civilization.
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