side, you can count on access to the considerable re-
sources of the zonot as long as your research is going
well. On the other hand, you can expect your Speaker to
try to meddle in your work to ensure that your efforts re-
main relevant to the overall goals of the Simic Combine.
RANK4:CLADELEADER
Prerequisite: Rank 2 and renown 50 or higher in the
Simic Combine
As a famous researcher or a successful project leader,
you stand ready to take on a supervisory role for an en-
tire clade. New clades rarely form, so you must wait for
your clade leader to retire (one way or another) before a
position exists for you to fill, except in truly exceptional
circumstances. Similar to a project leader, you are re-
sponsible for directing the efforts of researchers explor-
ing a wide variety of projects related to the focus of your
clade. Unless an experiment turns out to be especially
interesting, these efforts can carry on w ithout your su-
pervision. If you need to, you can enlist the aid of Sd 12
researchers (which use the stat blocks of commoners
or merfolk from the Monster Manual), and you can
also request the support of hybrids, krasis, or any other
creature associated with the Simic Combine (see the list
in chapter 6) from the Speaker of any zonot where the
members of your clade live and work.
Because most clades span multiple zonots, you
have status equal to the Speakers of the zonots. You
have no voice on the Speakers' Chamber, unless you
can persuade one or more of its members to speak on
your behalf.
SPEAKER (SPECIAL ROLE)
Prerequisite: Renown 50 or higher in the Simic
Combine
You are eligible to become the Speaker of a zonot. The
selection of a new Speaker (in the event of an existing
Speaker's retiring, dying, or otherwise leaving the po-
s ition) takes place through a combination of popular
election and the input of the other eight Speakers, with
the current Prime Speaker having the final word. If you
emerge as the victor after this rigorous process, you as-
sume the leadership of your zonot and are empowered
to bring its concerns before the Speakers' Chamber.
You are a political leader rather than a scientific one,
so you have authority over other members of the com-
bine only if they live and work in your zonot. If a clade
has a laboratory in your zonot, you have the right (and
responsibility) to supervise its activities to ensure com-
pliance with laws and regulations, but not to interfere
in its research beyond that point. And if the clade leader
lives in a different zonot, you have no authority whatso-
ever over that person.
ENEMI ES AND ALLIES
The Simic Combine has an affinity for guilds that care
for the forces of nature, and as such it has worked along-
side the Selesnya, Gruul, and Golgari in the past. To a
lesser extent, the combine also has a rappor t w ith the
other scientific guild, the Izzet. But overall, the Simic
attitude toward other guilds is one of healthy caution
bolstered by a general tendency toward isolation.
Any guild could break the peace and send the entire
world spiraling into war, so all the guilds are potential
enemies-particularly if they direct their aggression at
the Simic Combine. The Golgari Swarm has launched
a direct attack against Zonot Four (located in the Sixth
District), and they could expand that attack to other
zonots at any time. Azorius arresters a re prying into all
the zonots, looking for evidence of wrongdoing. Thus,
the Simic efforts at preparing for war are in danger, and
the need for those efforts to be brought to fruition could
arise at any time.
Your most obvious allies are those who seek to re-
strain the ambition of other guilds and maintain the
balance of power. At various times, that category could
include members of any other guild, particularly the
Selesnya Conclave. Everyone (with t he possible excep-
tion of the chaotic Rakdos and Gruul) has an occasional
interest in maintaining the status quo, no matter how
revolutionary that notion might seem at other times.THE StMIC V I EW ON OTHER GUILDS
The most insular members of the Simic Combine avoid
interacting with other guilds entirely. No one but another
Simic scientist could ever fully grasp or appreciate the
work of the guild, and too many of the other guilds react
with fear to what they don't understand.
Azorius. "An absu rd and inelegant construct, forever
trapped in a maze of their own making. They would
outlaw evolution if they could. And if any of them truly
seek utopia, the rest are far too busy shuffling papers to
notice. Avoid their attention at all costs."
Boros. "They style themselves the agents of'justice.'
But the law is no better excuse for aggression than
any other.''
Dimir. "We need not compete. Let them be, and they will
let us be-but observe them closely."
Golgari. "Less an organization than an infestation. They
are nearly as adaptable as we are, and they seem intent
on competit ion. More than any other guild, they pres·
sure us to improve."
Gruul. "The Gruul conceive of nature only in terms of
savagery and privation. But their ways are no less a
response to civilization than our own. They will survive,
barely, and perhaps one day they will understand."
lzzet. "The lzzet have s pent ten thousand years mimicking
the appearance of research, producing more pyrotech·
nics than progress. Surely that is a performance to rival
the Rakdos ."
Orzhov. "They hoard their treasure throughout their point-
less lives and lengthy afterlives. With such riches, we
could swiftly bring about a future in which gold is as
irrelevant as death."
Rakdos. "Camouflage, mimicry, resilience, and versatility.
If the guilds were species, we would count the Rakdos
among the most impressive. But they aren't, and that
makes the Rakdos far more erratic-and dangerous.''
Selesnya. "Like us, they seek a synthesis between 'natural'
and 'artificial' systems. Unlike us, they wish to achieve it
by unconditional surrender. They are adequate partners
in stable times, but in the present climate they have little
to offer."CHAPTER 2 I GUILDS OF RAVNICA 97