Azorius Senate

Blue White

Bringing order from chaos--that is the mission of the Azorius Senate. Without the extensive legal code crafted and enforced by the Azorius, society would crumble, transforming Ravnica into a field of rubble where the Gruul and Rakdos do whatever they please. The Azorius carry the weighty responsibility with stoic pride, and they perform their work of legislation, investigation, and enforcement with steely determination.

The first guildmaster of the Azorius Senate was Azor. He was the author of the original guildpact, as well as the creator of the elaborate contingency plan that resulted in the creation of the Living Guildpact. The Azorius Senate was meant to carry on his legacy by serving as the legislative body of Ravnica.

Azorius Characters

Alignment: Usually lawful, often neutral.

Suggested Races: Human, Vedalken

Suggested Classes: Bard, cleric, fighter, paladin, wizard

You might enjoy playing a character who belongs to this guild if one of the following statements are true:

1. You're drawn to the idea of a hard-bitten police officer trying to impose order on a chaotic world,
2. You like the idea of using magic to control enemies,
3. You like playing enchanter wizards, clerics of law, or unbending paladins.

Structure

The Azoruis Senate is supported by three branches, called columns, each led by an arbiter(also called a capital). The capitals of the three columns form the Triumvirate, which advises the guildmaster, Supreme Judge Isperia, an ancient and wise sphinx.

The Sova Column consists of judges and the extensive legal apparatus surrounding them. It is tasked with adjuncting and arbitrating the effects of the law. The column employs legal aides, pages, librarians, experts on precedent, advocates dor the accused, public prosecutors, and judges.

The Jelenn Column writes and enacts the laws of Ravnica, involving the efforts not just of the designated legislators but also a network of bureacrats: aides, writers, researchers, lobbyists, clerks, and so on.

The Lyev Column enforces the law as Ravnica's police force. The many-leveled hierarchy of the Lyev Column includes arresters, investigators, officers, and lawmages. The Lyev Column is also venturing into the work of managing surveillance and precognition. Most adventuring characters, by their nature and because of their capabilities, are associated with the active work of the Lyev Column rather than the behind-the-scenes activity of the other columns.

Public Agenda

The Azorius Senate's ultimate goal is the perfection of society. They want to protect the people of Ravnica and foster a community of peace and harmony. A society's values, they contend, are reflected in the laws it creates. Something is good if it is lawful. To the Azorius, the highest virtue is a society built on stability and order, and the guold's elaborate system of laws is structured to prevent wrongdoing first and foremost, even at the expense of certain liberties. The Azorius can act as a benevolent proactive force that keeps evildoers in check, but it can also act as an oppresive bureauctratic force that stifles freedom and expression.

In the absence of the Living Guildpact, the Azorius are uncertain who is supposed to maintain balance among the guilds. As a group, they are convinced that the system can't be disrupted, but they are challenged by the reality that the one person who is meant to to hold their world together never seems to be around. The Azorius Senate is invoking emergency powers with increasing frequency, and the Lyev Column's enforcers are wielding and ever-growing amount of influence.

The Azorius huild embraces the belief that Ravnica society has come too far to succumb to chaos. Civilization can be saved only through the guidance of of a strong, saftey-focused government. In the mind of the Azorius, the threat of chaos is imminent. They believe it is time to face facts and do whatever is necessary to protect the peoiple and preserve the force of the law.

The Azorius, as always, see agents of disorder as their greatest enemies. They have cracked down on the Gruul Clans and imposed a variety of creatively written laws outlawing that guild's presence in as many public places as possible. The Azorius also abhor the satirical shows of the Rakdos (in part because the Azorius are frequently ridiculed by the Rakdos performers) and attempt to curb the, with new decrees about public performances. In response to attempts by other guilds to edge their way around the system, the Azorius routinely create new laws to support or countermand old ones.

Assets

As a recruit for the Azorius Senate, you were quickly immersed in the law. You might have clerked for a judge or legislator, been an apprentice to a practitioner or law magic, studied rhetoric with diplomats, or trained to patrol the streets and enforce the law. As your training comes to an end and your adventuring career begins, you must decide whether to focus on law enforcement or to operate primarily within the bureaucracy of the senate.

Law Enforcement

Most Azorius adventurers belong to the guild's police force. They are soldiers or spellcasters who patrol the city in teams or singly, preventing crimes or stopping them in progress. If you want to pursue a career in law enforcement, choose the path of the lawmage, the precognitive mage, or the arrester.

Lawmages. As a spellcaster in the Azorius Senate, you use your magic to compel or restrain malefactors and scofflaws(perhaps a wizard specialised in the School of Enchantment). You might also use your magic to protect Azorius soldiers and innocent bystanders from harm(perhaps a wizard specialised in the School of Abjuration or a cleric of the Order Domain). In any case, you're called a lawmage, and you can aspire to the title of justiciar and then deputy as your standing within the guild increases.

Precognitive Mages. If you are a spellcaster with some ability to glimpse the future(perhaps a wizard specialised in the School of Divination or cleric of the Knowledge Domain), you can use this ability to try to prevent crime before it occurs, serving as a precognitive mage. These mages occupy a small niche on the periphery of the guild, and the guild hasn't developed a bureaucratic structure to accommodate them. so they advance through the same ranks as lawmages.

Arresters. As a martial character, you can serve as an arrester in the Azorius Senate. You might be a fighter(of any martial archetype) or a paladin who has sworn the Oath of Vengeance, for example. Arresters maintain the peace by removing threats--both actual and potential--identified through regular patrols, citizen reports, and occasionally alerts from the precognitive mages. As you gain respect of your superiors, you can be promoted to the rank of officer or imperator.

Bureaucracy

Bureaucracy might seem like the opposite of adventure, but it is possible to immerse yourself in the life of a civil servant in the Azorius Senate and still live and adventurous life. You might be a mild-mannered judge's clerk or scribe who got caught up in a whirlwind chain of events beyond your control, or you might moonlight as a vigilante in defiance of the law you are supposed to uphold. Or you could serve a diplomatic function as an elocutor.

Elocutors. As a skilled orator and diplomat(perhaps bard of the College of Lore), you can put your talents to use in the guild as an elocutor. The Azorius are known for their measured, patient speech, and the elocutors are the primary voice through which the senate communicates with the other guilds and the people of Ravnica. Thus, you might serve as an emissary from the Azorius to another guild, working to settle trade or territorial agreements, temporary alliances, and the like. You might have the task of securing the support of key senators for a particular peice of legislation or treaty. Well established elocutors can be awarded with the rank of scribe or emissary.

History

Guild Background

Azorius Functionary

The brutes are at the gates, chaos is looming, and the only thing standing in the way of disaster is the foundation of law and order--as embodied in the Azorius Senate. You're a proud member of the Azorius guild, which both enacts and enforces the laws that make Ravnican society finction smoothly and safely.

Skill Proficiencies Insight, Intimidation

Languages Two of your choice

Equipment An Azorius insignia, a scroll containing the text of a law important to you, a bottle of blue ink, a pen, a set of fine clothes, and a belt pouch containing 10 gp (Azorius-minted 1-zino coins)

Features

Legal Authority

You have the authority to enforce the laws of Ravnica, and that status inspires a certain amount of respect and even fear in the populace. People mind their manners in your presence and avoid drawing your attention; they assume you have the right to be wherever you are. Showing your Azorius insignia gets you an audiance with anyone you want to talk to (though it might cause more problems than it solves when you're dealing with incorrigible lawbreakers). If you abuse this privilege, though, you can get in serious trouble with your superiors and even be stripped of your position.

Azorius Guild Spells

Prerequisite: Spellcasting or Pact Magic class feature

For you, the spells on the Azorius Guild Spells table are added to the spell list of your spellcasting class (If you are a multiclass character with multiple spell lists, these spells are added to all of them.) You can view these spells in Spells by Guild Tables

Your magic often takes the form of blue or golden runes floating and glowing in the air in circular patterns or of shimmering azure barriers of magical energy. If you cast ensnaring strike, for example, the vines created by the spell might appear as rune-inscribed glowing bands that wrap around the target and hold it in place.

Suggested Characteristics

Members of the Azorius Senate tend toward a demeanor of cold dignity and a pragmatic, orderly nature. Steeped in the law as they are, their ideals and priorities resolve around legal issues.

Traits

1d8	Personality Trait
1	I try never to let my judgment become clouded by emotion.
2	I have infinite patience with the dolts and boors I'm forced to deal with every day.
3	When I give an order, I expect it to be obeyed.
4	I just want things the way I like them: neat, orderly, and clean
5	No wrongdoing can escape my watchful gaze.
6	I always say exactly what I mean, no matter how many words it takes to communicate the particular nuance I am attempting to convey.
7	I'm very literal and don't appreciate metaphor or sarcasm.
8	I never change my mind once it's made up.

Ideal

1d6	Ideal
1	Guild. My guild is all that really matters. (Any)
2	Order. The law is meant to ensure that the gears of society turn smoothly and quietly. (Lawful)
3	Peace. The ultimate object of the law is to remove violence from society. (Good)
4	Compliance. Coercion is a fine way of ensuring that the laws are obeyed. (Lawful)
5	Legislation. The law embodies excellence in its precision and detail. (Lawful)
6	Punishment. A public display of consequences is an excellent deterrent for other criminals. (Evil)

Bond

1d6	Bond
1	I am beholden to an Azorius arrester who captured the criminal who killed my parents, saving me from the same fate.
2	I hope one day to write the laws, not just enforce them.
3	I tried and failed to prevent a murder, and I have sworn to find and arrest the perpetrator.
4	I successfully prevented a murder, and the would-be perpetrator wants me dead.
5	One of my parents was prominent in the guild, and I resent constantly being compared to that standard.
6	I've modeled my career after a highly respected lawmage or arrester, but I fear that my role model might be involved in something illegal.

Flaw

1d6	Flaw
1	I'm unable to distinguish between the letter and the spirit of the law.
2	I seem like a harsh judge to others, but I judge myself most harshly of all.
3	I have a secret, illegal vice.
4	I was traumatized by witnessing a crime as a child.
5	I'm incapable of deception.
6	I wish I had joined the Boros, but I fear they'd never accept me

Contacts

The Azorius Senate is a sprawling bureaucracy, and people in a variety of positions throughout the guild can pull strings to make things happen. Because of the guild's role in making and enforcing laws for the entire city, your place in the Azorius can easily bring you into contact with members of other guilds, for good or ill.

Roll twice on the Azorius Contacts Table (for an ally and a rival) and once on the Non-Azorius Contacts Table.

How do I fit in?

As a member of the Azorius Senate, you are probably engaged in the work of law enforcement (even if your background involved the legislative or judicial aspects of the senate's activities). Legislative aides and judges' clerks find little reason to venture beyond the Azorius guildhalls, but soldiers and lawmages patrol the streets daily.

An Azorius soldier or lawmage is a force for order, charged with fighting crime on the streets—and in the halls of power. You might spend your time foiling thefts, putting a stop to Orzhov extortion, rooting out Dimir spies, or hunting down Golgari assassins. Perhaps you take your orders from a precognitive mage (or you are one yourself) who receives unpredictable and cryptic visions of future crimes that you and your allies must try to prevent.

Type

Political, Triumvirate

Leader

Isperia

Location

New Prahv

Controlled Territories

• New Prahv

Notable Members

• Isperia