Dragon's Maze as Told by Flavor Text

When Selesnya needed a champion, Emmara put the ranks of her guild before herself—making her the perfect choice.

The audience quickly realized a few things: it wasn't a magic trick, there wasn't candy in there, and they'd need new clothes.

Few among the Azorius have ever spoken with the sphinxes, but all have felt their influence.

It holds within it an unsolvable riddle. A creative answer yields an invitation to the guild.

"You will pass with respect, or you will not pass at all."

Some see the world as a place of infinite wonder and knowledge. Some see it as an infinite dinner plate.

One part mizzium, two parts elemental energy, eleven parts danger.

"We are the heart of the wild, the fire in its eyes, and the howl in its throat. Come, join the battle to which you were born." —Kroshkar, Gruul shaman

"The gift of life must be freely given. Anything less would diminish us all." —Arin, Selesnya healer

Simic biomancers don't concern themselves with guarding a gate. Their ever-present creations are enough to ward off trespassers.

Every part of the gate was reclaimed from forgotten ruins and imbued with new purpose by the Swarm.

Travelers in the undercity dread the horrors and assassins of the Dimir, but nearly as many die from more mundane hazards.

Simic symbols are among the most intricate and fragile, yet few vandalize them for fear of the strange lifeforms that might be released.

"All pilots and prototypes destroyed. Extensive collateral damage inflicted. Conclusion: flawless design." —Manual of Melek

The Azorius have so many codes and statutes that you're always in violation of one of them.

"That must weigh heavily on your soul. Let me purge it for you."

"Channeling the rage of the beast is the easy part. Explaining why you woke up with no memory in a pile of mangled lawmages—that's trickier."

They fight for their home with more loyalty than any conscript.

For the Rakdos, "suicidal charge" and "good showmanship" are one and the same.

The Azorius symbol stares down like a great eye, reminding visitors of the watchful presence of Isperia and her lawmages.

"Burn. Bleed. Enjoy." ~ Cluestone inscription

The route has been known for millennia, but only by those with no means to tell it.

"You can always count on the Azorius to ruin a party." —Massacre Girl

"Ravnicans need order. If they don't have it, we shall bring it to them." —Isperia

"It's always satisfying to stymie the best efforts of a rival, but the reactions of the Gruul are particularly amusing." —Bori Andon, Izzet blastseeker

Ral Zarek's brainstorms bring actual thunder and lightning.

Every soldier returns from battle changed: by hardship, by blood, by a glimpse of glory.

Every street corner is a hunting ground, every citizen potential prey.

Maze-runners who pass through the Rakdos gate leave behind their scruples and a significant amount of skin.

"Sometimes it forgets to loosen its grip before taking flight. I lost my roof that way." —Ecaban, Boros scout

"Scores will die in the name of peace. That is what you call compromise?" —Gideon Jura, to Aurelia

The devout sacrifice themselves to it hoping for escape from their debts to the guild, but many end up owing in the afterlife.

Beyond lies the culmination of all Izzet projects, a grand experiment led by the dragon Niv-Mizzet himself.

Sentries guard Ravnica's landmarks and outlying districts, unaware of these places' import to the maze.

"In case of fire, treachery, citywide riot, political upheaval, or worldwide societal collapse, break glass." —Cluestone inscription

He doesn't care whether he's rioting about trade rights or just having a drunken brawl. He wakes up every morning eager to smash some heads.

"When the Simic say to take command of your life, we don't mean just your career." —Vorel of the Hull Clade

"The Obzedat have revived you with purpose. Don't squander their blessing." —Teysa Karlov, Grand Envoy of Orzhov

For the Gruul, bone-crushing rage is the first priority. Accuracy comes in a distant ninetieth.

"The most insidious thing in the world is nonsense that sounds just plausible enough to listen to." —Lazav

It promises protection to those in need and proclaims a warning to any who would threaten Ravnican law.

The Implicit Maze winds through Ravnica, connecting arcane landmarks of all ten guilds.

"You see a bird, an oak, a packbeast. I see the potential for an army." —Lalia, Selesnya dryad

The pattern of the Implicit Maze extends in more than two dimensions.

"We raised eelhawks to control the squidflies, then waspcrabs to prey on the eelhawks. Now what do we do with all these waspcrabs?" —Gulistan, Simic biomancer

A lawmage's runic script is an act of governance given form: legislation written directly onto the air itself.

Its three sides represent the Sova, judges and arbitrators; the Jelenn, scribes and elocutors; and the Lyev, lawmages and enforcers.

The Selesyna welcome all to help them heal the city's wounds. The price, however, is devotion to the guild and a selfless belief in Trostani.

Many Ravnicans think of nature as orderly groves and elf-tended rot farms. They haven't seen the Gruul wilds.

"We have confiscated your spells as evidence. Once we conclude our investigation, you may petition to have them returned."

Golgari mold collects whispers, intelligence that is later harvested by Jarad and his high chancellors.

"We learned something from the Simic. Unfortunately for them." —Nefara, Dimir agent

"Why do guards always look surprised when we bash them?" asked Ruric. "I think they expect a bribe," said Thar.

Make sure you bleed the fine print.

Forgotten under rocks and vines, Gruul symbols mark the sites of primitive rituals where shamans once chanted to the wild.

The consciousness of Mat'Selesnya does not always spread in peaceful ways.

Air currents whip through the city corridors, creating wind tunnels that accelerate urban drakes toward their prey.

Some of Orzhov's cruelest collectors remember their debtors by taste alone.

The scarred rubble around the gate is testament to past meetings of the Clans, summits that inevitably devolved into brawls.

"You caught something on a cold night's stroll? No, I'd say something caught you." —Mezim Magrah, civic healer

"I'm in the field of procurement, and business is good. The guilds want all kinds of maps and relics these days, though what they want them for I'm not quite sure."

"I used to hurl rocks and eat scraps of meat burned over a fire. Look at what I've become and tell me Simic does not hold infinite possibility."

There are many gates into the undercity, but few ways out.

A true Boros commando only calls for reinforcements so they can clean up the mess.

"Follow your passion, I always say. Might as well get paid to do what you love."

"Let him in. He's on the list." —Olrich, Rakdos club owner

Leaders shape the minds of their allies. It takes a master to shape the minds of enemies.

When the guilds cooperate, the guildless celebrate their peaceful society. When the guilds clash, the guildless just try to keep out of the way.

Phytohydras are banned as houseplants in many residential spires. If left unfed, they find their own exit—usually at the cost of extensive property damage.

The Golgari maze-runner Varolz hungers to prove his fortitude in battle, and his trail of victims feeds other hungers.

Not the foulest or bloodiest act at Rix Maadi by a stretch.

In the cold corridors of the undercity, misinformation unfurls from Duskmantle like a spreading stain.

The insectile kraul lurk in the tunnels below street level. Many are loyal to the Golgari Swarm, but others follow their own esoteric caste system.

"Break it if you must. The loss of one relic is nothing next to the value of enriching us all." —Suniel the Woodwise

"Welcome to my collection."

"Only the decadent think magic should be pristine and without cost."

Its victims become mindless lunatics. Conveniently, that's the first step in joining the Cult of Rakdos.

"Everything serves a purpose. Even you." —Vorel of the Hull Clade

"All that steel doesn't make them slower. It makes them bolder." —Tajic, Blade of the Legion

"We are all decaying, always in a state of near-death. One moment without breath and we begin to break down." —Cevraya, Golgari shaman

As Trostani's influence grew, vitality spread through the Conclave—much to the other guilds' dismay.

"The maaka remain loyal to us in this time of strife. We don't even have to feed them—our enemies do." —Nedja, Gruul shaman

"The maze seems to fight us at every turn, resisting our efforts to solve it." —Niv-Mizzet

They've been probation officers, army grunts, bounty hunters—anything to make their district safer.

A symbol of power and wealth, the only commodities that matter to the Orzhov.

"We do not believe in hiding our wealth in the shadows. This is Orzhov, and this is how we reward greatness." —Teysa Karlov, Grand Envoy of Orzhov

"There is no time to remedy our enemies' ignorance. Blast it out of them." —Aurelia

Wolf-riders of Selesnya apprentice from a young age. Each rider raises a wolf pup from birth to serve as a mount, hoping that one day the two will share the honor of guarding the Great Concourse.

"It preys on those who would spy on our lands, so we never prey on it." —Kroshkar, Gruul shaman

"Everyone deserves a day in court."

Rakdos rioters paint their faces to resemble the drakes' bloodied muzzles.

The rot farmer's first rite of passage is to craft a pair of work stilts.

The Dimir employ the spirits of Ravnica's ancient, nameless dead, guiding their malevolence toward selected victims.

In Ravnica's wilder districts, nature still stirs, and its protectors still mind their posts.

"When justice descends, the servant will burn with the master." —Aurelia

It returned to the leylines as quickly as it had appeared, leaving only broken bodies to mark its passage.

The Gruul seek unbounded strength. The Dimir deliver cruel irony.

Golgari reclaimers resent the gorgons, begrudging the loss of so many fine nutrients locked away in stone.

It waits in the chill of the undercity, holding nameless secrets for those who dare to touch it.

"I run the maze alone, but I fight with the full might of the Legion."

Mirko Vosk hunted anyone with knowledge of the maze, draining the chances of the other guilds.