Legacy of the Guildpact

Initiation

"The Zilok…probably one of the most incompetent deadwalker hunter team on the plane. Their leader often has to break up fights between the other four members, making a team with almost no teamwork. However, they are loyal to the grave…and beyond."

-Savra, Order of Death, 7 Golgar, 9891

2 Zuun, 9999 Z.C., Afternoon
Golgari Headquarters
Old Rav

"…And do you accept all responsibilities that come with the name 'Golgari'? You will become one of a scorned guild, and may be attacked by others for your standings in the Guildpact. Do you so swear?" Asked the recruiter of the Golgari.

It had been a month since all of them had been brought to the Ravnican plane. Uzemak learned the language quickly, and ascended quickly through the ranks during the training days. Though tough, she now possessed strength beyond her years. She was a Cardbearer, one of only ten in the entire plane that mastered the cards and fought as such.

"I do." Said Uzemak, now empowered by her month of training. She was a Cardbearer, and was one of the highest-ranked members of the entire guild.

The time had changed her. No longer did she wear her red dress. Now she wore a dark green dress, this one similar to the Queen's. Her hair was longer, and now flowed like water. Her left arm bore a disk that held a stack of cards. Her lips, once bright red, were now painted with black lipstick. She had transformed from expert magic-player to master cardholder in but thirty days.

"Meika Uzemak, Cardbearer of the Golgari." The recruiter said, bowing low. Green and black magic swirled around the air, and marked Uzemak with an aura of the two colors. It vanished, permanent but invisible to all but the magically trained.

"Hmph." Uzemak grunted, not answering.

"Carry always the signet of the Golgari." The recruiter produced a green stone with a symbol on it – the signet of the Golgari.

"Of course…" Uzemak clasped the stone in her hand and pressed it to her upper chest. With a jolt of pain, it sank an inch into her body. It stuck there, and couldn't be removed unless she betrayed the guild.

"Go and see Tzlok. She will give you your mission. May you live forever, Cardbearer."

"May forever last only as long as the Golgari."

Uzemak drew a card and lifted it. Her black-green aura flashed and she vanished.

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"There's another one, Zen. Shall I take it down?"

The Zilok were the best scout team in the guild. They had successfully provided nearly half of the Golgari's deadwalker army, easily making the Golgari one of the strongest in the plane. They were revered for their power, and ranked almost as high as Queen Savra herself.

"Allow me. You got the last one." Zen, the leader of the five Zilok, wore the same as all of the others – a black jumpsuit with the green Golgari symbol pressed into the chest area.

Zen took aim with his bam-stick and was about to fire when…

"Hey, wait a minute, it's my turn!" The third of the Zilok, Licci, suddenly knocked the bam-stick out of Zen's hand and took aim with his own.

"Not yours, Licci," The fourth one, Olzi, kicked Licci's leg and knocked him over. Olzi took aim at the elf and was in the process of pulling the trigger before…

"Hey, my turn!" Kix said loudly, knocking Olzi's bam-stick out of his hand and quickly pulled the trigger of his own. An orange ball of fire shot out of it and hit the elf dead-on, killing it instantly.

"It was my turn, you vziog!" The second member of the Zilok, known as Igapoiac, or just Ig for short, shoved Kix out of the way.

"All of you, cut it out!" Zen barked. The bickering Zilok immediately calmed down, though they still wore looks of irritation.

Zen growled and stepped over the rubble and towards the fallen elf. He muttered a spell and put his hand over him. Black and green magic flowed out of his hand and reanimated the dead elf. Its skin rapidly decomposed, giving it a withered, dead look. Zen put a hand on it, and it was immediately teleported to the rest of the deadwalker army.

"That's a hundred for the day, men." He growled, returning to the Zilok. "Head back to the guild H.Q."

"Yes, Zen…" They all moaned in unison.

"What was that?"

"Yes, sir!" They all barked and stood erect. Zen waved a hand, and the magical tendrils of green-black energy brought them all back to the base.

Meanwhile, a lone figure watched from above, completely invisible and out of sight.

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2 Zuun, 9999 Z.C., Afternoon
Tenth Leaguehall
Centerfort

"Do you accept your duties to the Boros Garrison, and swear to uphold the law of the City Ordinances and Guildpact Statutes?"

"I do." Foelop said, her voice now sounding like a growl.

"Then in the name of Razia, Guildmaster of the Boros Garrison, I hereby welcome you into the Tenth Leaguehall. Rise, Setsuka Bleio."

Foelop rose to her feet. She had changed drastically in the one month she had been there. She now wore the colors of the Boros – a red jumpsuit under a white plate of armor. As with Meika, she wore her magic deck on her left arm. Her hair was now cut short, down to a bit above her shoulders, but had retained its red color.

"With all due respect, sir, please call me Foelop." She said to the Lieutenant.

"Ok, then you can call me Kos." Kos grinned. He walked over to a shelf in the room and picked up a large box. He opened it and handed its contents to Foelop: a pendrek, which looked like a silver baton, a brown belt that had a small leather pouch on the back of it, and a small rock the size of a silver dollar that bore the Boros signet.

"Put it on your arm." Kos ordered. Foelop touched the signet to her arm, and it sank into it with a sharp jolt of pain. It was permanent. Foelop put on the belt, and slipped the pendrek into the loop on the belt.

"Out of curiosity…Foelop," Kos said, trying out the nickname. "Where did the name 'Foelop' come from?" He walked out of the stone room and down the hall, motioning for Foelop to follow.

"It's a long story…" She muttered. She and Kos walked through the halls of Centerfort slowly, both heading for the chambers of the brass, where both Kos and Foelop were being summoned. Neither, however, knew why.

"The chambers are on the other side of Centerfort. We've got time." Kos grinned.

"Well…ok." Foelop said. "It starts a few years ago, when I was just starting out in Magic." Kos gave her a blank stare. "The…cards I use. They're called Magic. Anyway…

"I had out a Hulking Cyclops, which was a pretty big card…big meaning powerful."

"You're losing me…" Kos said with a sigh.

"It's hard to explain this to someone who doesn't know Magic lingo, so you're not the first. Anyway, I played that, and a few turns later, I played another card called Shiv's Embrace."

"Shiv?"

"Ugh, this is hard…Shiv is from Dominaria, another plane; not Ravnica. In any case, this Cyclops gets a power bonus and gets stronger, plus I can make it stronger with mana."

"You use mana, yet you're not in the Izzet guild?" Kos asked. Foelop smacked her head in exasperation.

"ANYWAY…" She growled. "I played both spells, and my friend read the card's flavor text…a little quote or saying that's printed on the card. Somehow, when she read it, she managed to say both 'Wear the foe's form' and 'Cyclops' at the same time. It sounded a lot like 'Foelops'. She started calling me that, and ever since, I've just gone by the name 'Foelop'."

"That's weird." Kos said simply, as they arrived at the door to the chambers. They walked in.

There was a semicircle of wooden seats where several members of the brass were seated. The domed ceiling seemed to reflect light from nowhere, illuminating the brass's faces and casting long shadows. Among the high council, there was also a man clothed in Azorius robes. Foelop was surprised to see that he wore a deck on his arm like hers. Beside the Azorius lawmage was a quietman – one of the servants of the Selesnya Conclave. He was clothed from head to toe in a single garment of white cloth that concealed his face, hands, and body.

"Wonder what's going on…" Kos murmured to Foelop.

"Lieutenant Agrus Kos." The booming voice of the first man in the center, a bald commander-general that Kos knew to be nicknamed 'The Tank', reverberated through the entire chamber.

"Yes, sir?" Kos stood straight as a nail, and Foelop quickly copied him.

"At ease, both of you." The Tank said.

"What is his name…?" Kos muttered, so quiet that even Foelop could barely hear. He relaxed, but was still at attention. Foelop, meanwhile, was nervously playing with a card.

"I've called both of you here to announce several things. For starters, from now on, both of you are partners." Tank said.

"What!" Kos blurted out without thinking. The Tank raised an eyebrow. Kos quickly composed himself and said, "Sir, with all due respect, I don't want a partner. My last one was killed in action. I work alone, sir."

"I understand that Lieutenant Rilom was killed fifty years ago. However, this mission that you two are going on is rather dangerous, and Foelop needs to develop her cardbattle skills. Whether you like it or not, you're her trainer."

"Fine…sir." Kos sighed, defeated.

"The second piece of information is, of course, your new mission." The Tank began. "Over the past month, activities in the Di…" He suddenly cut himself off. "I mean, the Rakdos, have increased. Many have been gathering outside of the city, in the Husk. You and Foelop will go and investigate this, and if at all possible, stop them. We have reason to believe they are setting up for a major attack on Ravnica."

"Yes, sir." Kos said.

"And one final piece of information…Foelop, if you would come forth." Tank motioned to the Cardbearer. Foelop gulped and stepped forward. The Azorius lawmage stepped down from his perch and stood in front of her.

"Setsuka Bleio, I hereby grant you these cards for use in your deck. These will help you immensely during your mission. I am unauthorized to give any information towards the use of these cards. I can only tell you that their use will become apparent in time."

"Uh…" Foelop was at a loss for words. The lawmage put a hand up, and three white rectangles appeared in midair. He gathered all three and held them out to Foelop.

"But...they're blank." Foelop said, looking at them. They bore the same backing of a Magic card, but there was no picture or text on the front.

"As I said, their use will become apparent in time." The lawmage bowed, and Foelop backed up to Kos.

"That will be all, you two. Dismissed." The Tank said. Kos and Foelop saluted and walked out of the chamber.

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"Huh…a Rakdos uprising." Kos said, as the partners made their way out of Centerfort and out towards the city exit. "Strange, considering the Guildpact Statutes and City Ordinances."

"What do you mean?" Foelop asked.

"You don't know the Ordinances?" Kos raised an eyebrow. Foelop cringed.

"I…sort of…know them…hey, come on, I've only been here a month!"

"Well, according to the law, if any guild tries to take over Ravnica, every single one of the other nine guilds must go against the one attempting the takeover."

They had reached the gates out of the city and into the Gruul-controlled Husk. Kos nodded to the gatekeeper, a large elephant-like Loxodon. The gates slowly creaked open, and both 'jeks walked out.

"Never expected this…" Foelop muttered. "First mission, and it's a really dangerous one."

"You don't know the Boros. Their only goal is to defend Ravnica at all costs. Trust me, they wouldn't think twice about sending you off like this."

Foelop nodded knowingly and they worked their way up a hill that overlooked the site of the Rakdos invasion force. Both of them got down on their stomachs and looked at the force.

"Damn…I had hoped that his intel was off…but…" Kos muttered.

"That's a hell of a force…"

Indeed, it was. There were well over a thousand troops – spanning from trolls to elves to goblins. They were chiefly dressed in the red and black colors of the Rakdos, but a chunk of them were dressed in black and blue.

"Black and blue…that's not a guild, is it?" Foelop asked.

"It's a fairy tale that parents tell kids to scare them…the Tenth Guild, House Dimir."

"Hey, who's there?" A voice called from below. Kos swore loudly as one thousand troops all turned towards the hill with looks of pure evil in their gazes. When Foelop tried to turn around, she saw that more troops were in that direction as well. Kos stood up and looked around. The hill they were on was suddenly surrounded on all sides by thousands upon thousands of troops.

"Oh…" Foelop began.

"…Shit." Kos finished.

"Can you summon something?" Kos asked, his voice barely a whisper as he slowly panned over the entire mass.

"Nothing strong enough to take out this many soldiers…but I can try…" She growled and reached into her deck. She flung the card to the ground, and in a puff of smoke, a pair of goblins appeared.

"Great…just great." She sank to the ground as the surprised Goblin Spelunkers were blown to bits by someone's bam-stick.

"There's got to be a way out of this…" Kos said, looking around desperately.

Famous last words.

Foelop watched as the army charged, and then saw only darkness as an orc's fist descended on her head.

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2 Zuun, 9999 Z.C., Afternoon
Rakdos Hellhole
Location Unknown

"To go deep into the earth, and rise from below to reclaim this plane from the Selesnyans. Do you accept, Irsok?"

"Yes." The initiate said with a growl.

"Then rise, Daiki Irsok, Cardbearer of the Cult of the Rakdos."

Daiki's appearance was almost horrifying to someone who wasn't used to him. On the day he had arrived, his skin had been burned off of his body, leaving nothing but muscle. He wore a black robe that shielded his body, but his face was still in the open. He would force people to see his face, see what he had become.

The recruiter, a mage dressed in red armor, held out his hand. A red stone appeared on it, with the black signet of the Rakdos imprinted on it. Irsok grabbed it and pressed it into his arm, where in burned into the muscle and stayed.

"Go to Rix Maadi, Irsok. There you'll find Lyzolda; she will give you your orders."

"Yes, sir." Irsok bowed and drew a card. He tossed it into the air, and it came down at his feet. A white circle came out of the card and surrounded him, and he vanished.

He appeared several seconds later at the palace where Lyzolda ruled. He walked slowly through the heavily guarded palace, wondering what he was ordered to do. Finally, he arrived at the palace where the Guildmaster of the cult resided. Technically, he mused, Lyzolda wasn't the Guildmaster. However, the true Guildmaster, Rakdos the Defiler, hadn't been seen since he went missing in an uprising sometime during the seventh millennium. He knelt before Lyzolda's feet, bowing his head. "Your orders, my master?"

"You are ordered to go and support our invasion force in the Husk. Two prisoners from the Boros have been captured, and we need you to try and get them to join us. If you can't…" Lyzolda reached down and tilted Irsok's head so he was looking straight at her deadly red eyes.

"Kill them."

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2 Zuun, 9999 Z.C., Afternoon
Husk Region
Near Ravnica, Tenth District

"Circu, why the delay?" Shenzaku, standing atop a hill overlooking the campground where his thousand troops were situated. He hated waiting.

"Shenzaku, do you honestly think I would order my troops to attack without the blessing of all of our army's Guildmasters?" Circu growled. "We are awaiting all three of them."

"Very well. Tell me then, what of our two prisoners? Who are they?"

The lobotomist snapped his fingers, and a small thrull, a combination frog and bird, hopped up to Circu and handed him a piece of paper.

"You use the most common form of Orzhov to do your bidding?" Shenzaku asked without turning around.

"Not a thrull, Shenzaku, a doppelganger. He picks his own form; I have no choice in the matter." Circu cleared his throat and read off the report.

"Names: Lieutenant Agrus Kos, Wojek, and Constable Setsuka Bleio, also a Wojek. Their assignment was to check on us, and see what's going on here. Seems a skyjek noticed us…both answer to the leader of Centerfort, Alexander "The Tank" Dizol. Both come from the Tenth Leaguehall near here." Circu read.

"So, they know about us, huh…I'm guessing that we'll be questioned soon, if we don't attack." Shenzaku mused. "New orders, Circu. Get word to the three Guildmasters of the army: Savra, Szadek, and Lyzolda that the invasion is to be delayed until the decamillenial.

"For now, we retreat to a distance of five hundred yards away from the gates of the city. If and when somebody comes out questioning what we are doing, tell whoever it is that we are simply following orders from the Izzet to test out some new technology. Got it?"

"Of course, Shenzaku." Circu said. He snapped his fingers once again, and he vanished.

"All the pieces of the puzzle are falling into place…" Shenzaku mused as he watched the army beginning to pack up the tents. "Now for the grand finale…"