Chapter 7: Guildpact Informant
"So, let me see if I have all this straight," said Teyo, his voice reverberating around the brick walls of the bell tower's lengthy staircase, "here on Ravnica, which is an entire plane of existence that's just a city and its outskirts, there are ten guilds you can join."
"Yes," Lavinia responded curtly from behind him.
"And they're not, like, normal guilds, like the ones I had back home. There was a Carpenter's Guild in Oasis, and I think an Artisan's Guild. But these aren't like that. These guilds are magic-focused and run the biggest parts of the city."
"Right," Kaya answered, her head facing forward despite Teyo standing behind her.
"And the guilds are…" he paused, bringing relative silence back to the stairwell, save the clacking of shoes against stone steps. "Um, what are the guilds again?"
Lavinia heaved a massive sigh. She wanted to ignore the young man's questions, but since they were now on a mission to gather the guild leaders, he needed to know just what he was in for.
"The ten guilds are, and listen carefully, because I don't want to repeat myself: Azorius, Orzhov, Izzet, Boros, Selesnya, Simic, Gruul, Dimir, Rakdos, and Golgari."
"Right, right," Teyo muttered, his eyes drifting up as he attempted to commit the names to memory. "You're a member of Azorius…"
"Former member," Lavinia grumbled, not loud enough for Teyo to hear.
"…who are basically the people who keep the laws. Kaya is the leader of the Orzhov, which is like a church mixed with a bank that holds all the ghosts of dead Ravnica citizens, right?"
Kaya turned her head slightly and looked at Teyo from her periphery. "Pretty much sums it up. Though they're not too happy with me at the moment after I freed a bunch of trapped debtor souls."
"Right, and then Mr. Zarek is the leader of the Izzet, who are the people who invent things for the city to use."
"Good memory, kid," Ral called from the front of their procession, "but I'm not the leader, just a member." The most senior, most powerful member, who was the right-hand to the leader that just died. Ral ignored this thought, choosing to focus on Teyo's listing practice.
"The Boros are the city's military and police, the Selesnya are the people who worship a big tree, the Gruul are the wild ones that live outside the city, the Simic are the ones who do creature experiments to try and make life better, the Dimir are the spies and assassins, the Golgari are the people who live in the underground, and the Rakdos are the crazy people who like violence and blood. Did I get that all right?"
"Spot on," said Ral.
"Thanks, my mentor always said I had a way with names." Teyo smiled, proud of his quick adaption, but no one saw it. Then, a question popped into his mind, something he didn't truly want to ask about, but he figured he would need to know everything as long as he was trapped here. "Um, what guild did your other friend belong to? You know, the one we left in the bell tower?"
The air grew thick and heavy, and everyone but Teyo stiffened at the mention of Hekara. There was a long, pregnant pause before Lavinia answered.
"Her name is Hekara, and she belonged to the Rakdos. She was a razorwitch, someone who specializes in small magical blades."
"Oh, she was one of the crazy people." Teyo paused, contemplating this odd fact. "Well, I guess that means the Rakdos are on our side, if she was working with all of you."
"They were," spat Kaya, "but I can't imagine the big boss'll be happy when his emissary doesn't come back."
Ral turned his head to Kaya. "Then we'll just need to focus on getting the other guilds behind us."
"Easier said than done, Zarek. I may be the guild leader of the Orzhov, but they don't listen to me since I killed of that blasted Obzedat. They follow Teysa, and there's no way she'll give up a cent to help us."
"Maybe I can talk to Tomik," Ral said, trying his best to keep his voice even and unemotional. It didn't work, and Kaya smirked.
"Your boyfriend may be Teysa's right-hand man, but I doubt he'd go against her wishes. Besides, you and I both know you don't want to talk to him about this."
Ral snapped his head forward, hoping Kaya did not see the flush in his cheeks that her jibes had produced. Silently, he reached into his pants pocket and clenched onto the white piece of fabric he had been carrying for weeks. Tomik had given him a piece of his robe just before the meeting to make Niv-Mizzet the Living Guildpact, just before his careful plan had gone up in smoke. Ral had done the same, tearing a red piece of cloth from his shirt to gift him. He hadn't seen Tomik since that night, his plans against Bolas keeping him preoccupied. He wondered if Tomik was still carrying his piece of Ral.
Lavinia's hard voice broke through Ral's thoughts of Tomik. "Ok, so the Orzhov might not work. The Azorius will oppose us, since Baan is still in charge. I've heard the Gruul have a new leader who's aligned himself with Bolas, so they're out too. The Rakdos already didn't want any part of this, I doubt they'll help now. The Dimir are probably held up in Duskmantle, and the Selesnya will be secured in Vhitu-Gazi, so neither of them will want to help either. Simic might help, and the Boros will definitely fight with us. The Golgari are stagnant as they try to figure out who the rightful leader is in Vraska's absence. And with Ral here, we have the Izzet behind us, right?"
"Uh, yeah, right," Ral stuttered out, "though I am, once again, not the leader."
"Whatever you say," Kaya said sarcastically. "So that gives us two definite allies with Izzet and Boros and two definite enemies, Azorius and Gruul. Everyone else is up in the air. Shit, we really have our work cut out for us."
"It can't be that bad, right?" asked Teyo, nearly stumbling on the steps as he listened to the others talk. "You've worked with the other leaders before, and if you explain what's happening, they should want to help the city too."
"That's the hope," Lavinia huffed, "but you haven't been here long enough to know that getting the guilds to work together is much easier said than done. Especially when the worst thing Bolas has done so far is put up a new building and statue in the neutral district."
As soon as Lavinia spoke these words, the sound of a ripping explosion blasted through the echoing stairwell. The whole tower shook violently as a surge of energy buffeted its spires. The four allies did their best to maintain their footing, hunkering down until the sudden tremor died down. Once it passed, they all shared a silent look before rushing to the bottom of the stair and out the door.
Ral was the first to step into the morning sun, and he stopped dead in his tracks as he looked over the rooftops to see the source of the explosion. Kaya, Teyo, and Lavinia soon followed, each stopping next to Ral to gaze at the same awesome spectacle. There, in the middle of the Azorius district, was a massive circle of pulsating electric energy. It stood over fifty feet, filling the sky with an ethereal purple light and casting long, ominous shadows across the adjacent buildings.
While the local Ravnicans stood transfixed, Teyo broke the silence. "So, I take it that isn't usually there?"
"No," Lavinia muttered, too shocked to muster her usual harshness, "no it is not. That area is normally home to the office of the Living Guildpact."
"But what is that thing?" Ral asked.
"I don't know," Kaya answered, "but if Bolas brought it here as part of his plan, it can't be good."