Cult of Rakdos

As one of Ravnica's original guild founders, the demon Rakdos has been part of Ravnica for millennia. Members of other guilds know Rakdos through his reputation for capricious cruelty and megalomania, but those who join the guild idolize him for his magnetic presence, which inspires art and encourages utter wantonness. Because Rakdos finds destruction entertaining, his cultists incorporate deadly ac ts into their performances in hopes of catching his eye and earning his favor.
Stages for Rakdos performances appear on streets and plazas throughout Ravnica every night, and they're gone by morning-carried to and fro on the backs of giants. Permanent establishments that cater to dark desires are tucked away in the seediest neighborhoods of the city, such as the Smelting Quarter in Precinct Six of the Tenth District.

The Cult of Rakdos is centered on a demon lord who exemplifies the concepts of chaos and ev il. At its worst, the c ult is driven by a lust for power, extreme selfishness, and a lack of compassion. Cultists take delight in causing pain to others to make sure they know their place, which is subservient to the powerful adherents of this self-centered philosophy.
The cult's chaotic nature fuels its passion , impulsiveness, and obsession with freedom. A guild of unbridled hedonism, it does what it wants, driven by base desires and a strong streak of cruelty.
The Cult of Rakdos was origin ally recognized as a guild as part of an effort to channel the impulses of demons, giants, ogres, and humans into an acceptable direction . That effort h as never been completely successful. Now, as tension builds in Ravnica and several guilds attempt to crack down on chaos and criminal activity, the Rakdos cult reacts to this building pressure with increasing violence.
The Cult of Rakdos already serves a megalomaniacal demon of chaos, so its members have no interest in seeing any other ambitious figure achieve supreme rulership over Ravnica. They fear that any other guild might gain enough power to overwhelm all the others and impose its own values on everyone. For this reason, they focus their efforts on subverting other guilds' schemes, by undermining popular and powerful leaders and interfering - often violently - with any effort to build a centralized concentration of authority.
The Azorius Senate currently stands as the greatest threat to the Rakdos way of life. The cult targets Azorius senators and arresters for ridicule, harassment, and occasionally assassination. The Boros Legion's zealous pursuit of order and justice poses a similar threat. Although Boros's attention is focused on the Gruul at the moment, Rakdos cultists are we ll aware that any sufficiently disruptive performance with a high enough body count could bring the wrath of the legion down on their heads. The overreaching of the Azorius and the self-righteous wrath of the Boros engender true fear in the anarchic Rakdos cultists, and the Rakdos respond to fear with bloodshed.

The Cult of Rakdos bears the name of the demon lord who founded it. As laid out in the Guildpact, the guild was intended to fill roles concerning entertainment, mining, and manual labor. Some argue that any effort to give a demonic cult a respectable role in society was doomed to failure, but the cult remains part of Ravnica's social fabric nevertheless. Th e Guildpact prohibits the cult's extermination, and it s entertainments - even as dark and destructive as they are- hold broad appeal. From rowdy mobs who love to see the Rakdos skewer the powerful elites to decadent socialites who come to the Rakdos for illicit amusements, most of Ravnica's people don't really want the Rakdos to go away, as much as they might publicly protest otherwise.

A cult of demon worshiper s doesn't make a lot of friends. Ideologically, the Rakdos have the most in common with the Gruul and the Golgari; all three guilds have a desire to topple the structures of power in Ravnica. Of course, the guilds disagree about what (or who) should replace the existing structures. Making the powerful look ridiculous lies at the heart of the Rakdos performance philosophy. The bulk of the guild's aggression is directed toward guilds that have power and abuse it or guilds that make blatant bids for power. That's particularly true when powerful guilds - especially the Azorius- try to use their power to suppress the Rakdos.
Making the ridiculous powerful is the flip side of the Rakdos philosophy. Usually, this means elevating the status of the Rakdos - and yourself - at the expense of others, but circumstances might lead you to cooperate with members of other guilds in pursuit of a common goal. For example, a power struggle in another guild can be an opportunity for you to install a sympathetic (or ineffectual) leader in that guild. Beyond that, other chaotic guilds have grudges against the law-enforcing guilds and would be happy to join your efforts to strike a blow against them.