Page 59 - Guildmasters' Guide to Ravnica

INSIDE THE CLANS
As a collection of disparate clans, the Gruul have no sin-
gle leader and no headquarters. But the Gruul respect
strength and are willing to follow a strong individual
who points them in a direction they want to go anyway.
For several decades, that position has been held by the
mighty cyclops Borborygmos, chief of the Burning Tree
GRUUL CLANS clan. His nihilistic anger inspires the rest of the Gruul,
so when he calls on the other clans to join a raid, they
jACE HAD NEVER SEEN. OR FOR THAT MATTER SMELLED, A usually agree. Even the fractious Gruul can see the ben-
Gruul war party at all. Their armor was made from animal efit of banding together. The clans sometimes gather at
Skarrg, a ruined palace in the rubblebelt adjoining the
hides and bones. and their weaponry was heavy pieces of
Tenth District. Here are descriptions of the clans:
scavenged city rubbish. Their skin was alive with tattoos.
Burning Tree Clan. The Burning Tree clan is the most
etched with a combination of magic, ink, and, face sup-
fea rsome of the Gruul Clans, as well as the largest
posed. a considerable amount of pain. Each of them was a and most diverse, with branches in several districts of
hulk of muscle. and Ruric Thar was the largest and mighti- Ravnica. The fear and awe inspired by Borborygmos
unifies its diverse membership. The Ravnican popu-
est of them all.
lace regards the symbol of the Burning Tree clan as
- Doug Beyer. Return to Ravnica: The Secretist
the symbol for the entire Gruul guild.
Ghor Ciao. The Ghor clan is led by an ettin named Ru-
The Gruul Clans are a wild people in a civilized land, ric Thar (or, perhaps more properly, Ruric and Thar,
a loose affiliation of bands that squat on the fringes of since the heads claim separate names). Of all the
Ravnican society. They shun the centers of civilization. clans, the Ghor carry out the most frequent and sav-
which they see as a source of oppression and weakness, age assaults on Ravnica's citizenry. The clan is known
and instead haunt Ravnica's alleyways, abandoned for its audacity in forging encampments close to heav-
zones, and ruins. They want to see the edifice of civi- ily populated districts.
lization torn down so the world can revert to the pure Scab Clan. Members of the Scab clan display scars and
wilderness that thrived before the city grew to cover body modifications, which they view as expressions of
everything. Then the true order of nature can be re- the powerful rage they harbor within themselves. The
stored- an unbridled and brutal state in which only the clan has grown in influence by engulfing or destroying
strong survive and the strongest rule. several smaller clans in recent years, but the leader of
In a world covered with city streets and towering the Scabs, a corpulent giant known as Narbulg Nine
buildings, the Gruul are the most out of place. the Fingers, has not gone so far as to challenge the Burn-
most ill at ease, and the most eager to topple it all and ing Tree clan.
start fresh. Constant ritualistic warfare reverberates Slizt Clan. The Slizt clan is a clutch of sly, skittish war-
among the clans, every skirmish reinforcing their doc- riors, consisting largely of reptilian humanoids called
trine of the survival of the fittest. They frequently send viashino (use the lizardfolk stat block in the Monster
sorties into civilized areas to secure goods-and to Manual to represent them), along with a few wily hu-
wreak havoc. mans. This clan survives in the rubblebelts by taking
The first leader of the Gruul was Cisarzim, a cyclops up hiding places in high ground and ambushing its
who was purportedly the ancestor of Borborygmos, the enemies with ranged attacks from above. Other Gruul
current guildmaster. Cisarzim was called the Lord of regard the Slizt as skulkers and cowards, but nonethe-
Chaos, and his guild's original function as maintainers less all are cautious when entering areas with elevated
of Ravnica's natural places meant keeping his faction as ruins. The home ground of the Slizt clan is the Husk,
remote as possible from the civilized parts of the world. an area at the center of a vast rubblebelt featuring
The gradual expansion of the city, however, has driven many large, ancient structures that have remained
the Gruul into smaller and smaller refuges. standing for generations.

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