House Dimir
A vampire appeared out of the darkness, as quiet as a breeze. He was stripped to the waist despite the chill underground. and his eyes reflected light like a cat's. He floated effortlessly down from the upper reaches of the chamber. and alighted on the chamber floor near the two of them.
-Doug Beyer, Return to Ravnica: The Secretist
House Dimir is Ravnica's dark secret: behind a facade of respectable messengers and reporters lurks an association of spies and assassins whose existence is barely suspected by the populace at large. Secrecy is both House Dimir's best weapon and its best defense, and much of the guild's work is hidden even from other members. Dimir agents leave no trace of their covert activities, warping the memories of witnesses to their crimes and even wiping their own minds to remove any evidence of their completed assignments.
-Doug Beyer, Return to Ravnica: The Secretist
House Dimir is Ravnica's dark secret: behind a facade of respectable messengers and reporters lurks an association of spies and assassins whose existence is barely suspected by the populace at large. Secrecy is both House Dimir's best weapon and its best defense, and much of the guild's work is hidden even from other members. Dimir agents leave no trace of their covert activities, warping the memories of witnesses to their crimes and even wiping their own minds to remove any evidence of their completed assignments.
Structure
House Dimir has a clandestine aspect hidden from all but its most important members. The guild master, Lazav, and his direct contacts guide and manipulate the covert operations of the guild. Members of House Dimir ultimately receive their orders from this source without having any idea of who issued the order or why. Messages to agents are funneled through thought strands and telepathic couriers.
By design, you don't have much interaction with other members of your guild. You might never meet your primary guild contact face to face, instead receiving assignments and sending reports by way of secret message drops and codes.
By design, you don't have much interaction with other members of your guild. You might never meet your primary guild contact face to face, instead receiving assignments and sending reports by way of secret message drops and codes.
Public Agenda
House Dimir is all about secrets and misinformation, even where its own members are concerned. Any given Dimir agent knows of no more than a handful of alley-way contacts and dossier drop spots. One agent knows another only by a code name, or receives communications only at a particular meeting spot at a specific place and time. Every self-proclaimed expert with an opinion on the matter has a theory about the guild's intentions, and all those guesses about Dimir's motivations and pursuits contradict each other, frustrating any attempt to get to the truth of things. The public face of Dimir remains inscrutable, which some interpret as the best evidence that the guild's true plans mean something dire for the Ravnican populace.
To House Dimir, knowledge is power. The guild hungers to learn everything it doesn't already know, especially the weaknesses of its adversaries, and to exploit those weaknesses for its own gain. Conversely, the house holds its own secrets tightly, because it doesn't want its enemies to turn the tables. The Dimir lurk in the shadows, methodically gathering the knowledge they need to remake Ravnica to their advantage.
House Dimir's progress toward its goals depends on a web woven from meticulously gathered intelligence. Unpredictable behavior by other guilds can destabilize that web. When the Boros take sudden. forceful action inspired by an unexpected burst of zeal, the Dimir can be caught off guard. The Selesnya behave predictably on the whole, but the members of the conclave are so numerous that it can be hard for the Dimir to keep track of their activities. Of all the other guilds, the Izzet and the Gruul concern the Dimir the most; their erratic methods of decision-making, combined with their unflinching approach to danger, can quickly undermine any Dimir strategy designed to contain them.
To House Dimir, knowledge is power. The guild hungers to learn everything it doesn't already know, especially the weaknesses of its adversaries, and to exploit those weaknesses for its own gain. Conversely, the house holds its own secrets tightly, because it doesn't want its enemies to turn the tables. The Dimir lurk in the shadows, methodically gathering the knowledge they need to remake Ravnica to their advantage.
House Dimir's progress toward its goals depends on a web woven from meticulously gathered intelligence. Unpredictable behavior by other guilds can destabilize that web. When the Boros take sudden. forceful action inspired by an unexpected burst of zeal, the Dimir can be caught off guard. The Selesnya behave predictably on the whole, but the members of the conclave are so numerous that it can be hard for the Dimir to keep track of their activities. Of all the other guilds, the Izzet and the Gruul concern the Dimir the most; their erratic methods of decision-making, combined with their unflinching approach to danger, can quickly undermine any Dimir strategy designed to contain them.
History
The first guild master of House Dimir was a vampire named Szadek, whose organization agreed to serve as Ravnica's couriers, information brokers, and librarians. But Szadek also used his guild's expertise at gathering information to build a vast spy network, and before long, the secret operations of the guild vastly outweighed its overt ones. Eventually the guild disappeared into the shadows, and most Ravnicans came to doubt its existence. An immortal entity, Szadek ruled the guild for ten thousand years until he was arrested and killed in the turmoil of the Decamillennial Celebration.
Foreign Relations
To House Dimir, every other guild is a potential source of information, its members all potential foils and patsies.
It's hard for a guild built on stealth and secrecy to maintain a positive relationship with any other guild. ALI guilds are monitored with suspicion, and they assessed for their current and prospective levels of threat, as well as for their usefulness to House Dimir's schemes. Each cell may foster its own relationships with the other guilds, but it ultimately defers to Dimir's enigmatic leaders to steer overarching strategy.
Your missions might put you at odds with any other guild by calling on you to infiltrate that guild and gain insight into its plans, steal proprietary information from its guildhall, or subvert its leadership. For instance, you could be tasked to steal the transcript of an Azorius interrogation, the memories of Golgari spy, or the contents of an Orzhov ledger.
You might cooperate with members of other guilds, openly or in disguise, insofar as their goals don't conflict with yours. Sometimes, the easiest way to assassinate one of your enemies is to put the forces of law on their trail, so joining forces with the Azorius and Boros, for example, can be a beneficial arrangement for everyone concerned.
It's hard for a guild built on stealth and secrecy to maintain a positive relationship with any other guild. ALI guilds are monitored with suspicion, and they assessed for their current and prospective levels of threat, as well as for their usefulness to House Dimir's schemes. Each cell may foster its own relationships with the other guilds, but it ultimately defers to Dimir's enigmatic leaders to steer overarching strategy.
Your missions might put you at odds with any other guild by calling on you to infiltrate that guild and gain insight into its plans, steal proprietary information from its guildhall, or subvert its leadership. For instance, you could be tasked to steal the transcript of an Azorius interrogation, the memories of Golgari spy, or the contents of an Orzhov ledger.
You might cooperate with members of other guilds, openly or in disguise, insofar as their goals don't conflict with yours. Sometimes, the easiest way to assassinate one of your enemies is to put the forces of law on their trail, so joining forces with the Azorius and Boros, for example, can be a beneficial arrangement for everyone concerned.
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