Ravnica's History

The basic info you'll need in Ravnica

The World
More than ten thousand years ago, a war tore across the world of Ravnica. Ten armies battled for control of the world in a conflict that ended with the creation of a magical contract of immense power known as the Guildpact. The leaders of each of the ten armies — ancient beings known as paruns — were the signatories to the Guildpact, and they became the first guildmasters of Ravnica.

The text of the Guildpact spelled out specific roles for each guild within the infrastructure of Ravnica, allowing the city to grow while the guilds coexisted in relative peace. But the true power of the Guildpact was the strength of its magically binding force, which absolutely prevented large-scale violence among the guilds.

For ten millennia, the city grew and flourished under this structure as the guilds evolved into unique and powerful forces, often venturing far from their original purpose.

The signing of the Guildpact marked the beginning of the modern Ravnican calendar. Years prior to that pivotal event are denoted as “Al Concordant,” or AC, and counted backward from 1 AC. Years after the signing are “Zal Concordant,” ZC. The current date is 10,175 ZC, usually referred to as ’76.

The Guildpact
During the Decamillennial Celebration of 10,000 ZC, commemorating a monumental anniversary of the Guildpact’s signing, the pact was broken, the ancient balance was shattered, and Ravnica was thrown into chaos. It didn’t take long for wealthy power-mongers to begin seizing control of elements in the city, turning the guilds to their service instead of the other way around. Eventually, the ten-thousand-year-old guild culture and division of duties reasserted itself. The ten guilds regained their dominant positions, but without the magically binding force of the Guildpact to maintain the balance among them.

Years later, in 10,075 ZC, the Izzet guildmaster discovered that Azor, founder of the Azorius Senate, had created a contingency plan that would take effect if the magic of the Guildpact were ever broken. An intricate network of ley lines sprawling across the districts of Ravnica, called the Implicit Maze, offered a test to the guilds: if they could cooperate to solve the maze, they would secure the power of a new Guildpact. That power was eventually bestowed — incarnated, actually — in the person of Jace Beleren, who became the Living Guildpact. His word became the binding law of Ravnica. Any law he verbally confirmed became magically unbreakable, and the responsibility of keeping the guilds in balance fell to him.