The Ten Guilds

The Guilds of Ravnica are ten sociopolitical factions that hold power on the city plane of Ravnica. Each guild has its own distinct ideology that unifies its members with one another, with the guild itself, with its functions and purposes, and with its structure. Each guild has a Parun, which is the founder of a guild and first guildmaster. Besides a guildmaster, each guild also features its own guildmages and a champion.   Collectively, the guilds of Ravnica have ruled the plane for 10,000 years, since the signing of the ancient and magically potent Guildpact, a binding spell, document, and contract, that details the specific role and responsibilities of each of these guilds.   Prior to the events of the novel Dissension, guilds would try to find loopholes so as to increase their power without breaching it. Following Dissension, however, guilds are no longer bound by the document; and, although the guilds themselves did not completely collapse, their influence on the city and plane of Ravnica diminished,   After the breaking of the Guildpact, Teysa Karlov of the Orzhov Syndicate drafted a new, non-magical document amongst the guilds in the interest of cooperation and stability for Ravnica; however, the powerful and wealthy became even more powerful and wealthy and, by and large, the guilds had disappeared.   Gradually, the general populace's distrust of the guilds diminished and, once again, the guilds returned and became ascendant. Old guild and factional loyalties rekindled, and new guildmasters assumed the mantle of a majority of the guilds; only the Izzet League, Orzhov Syndicate, and the Cult of the Rakdos retained their original guildmasters.