Post by Guildpact on Feb 6, 2023 4:55:02 GMT -8
Precinct One
The grandeur of Precinct One is the heart of Ravnica’s civilization, and visitors gawk at the impressive architecture and rub shoulders with the rich and powerful. Immaculately maintained avenues and manicured gardens create an impression of order, civility, and high culture. During the day, the streets are filled with tourists, government officials, diplomats, and wealthy merchants and financiers. At night, most of Precinct One is quiet, with a few lit carriages drawn by constructs and well-groomed beasts making their way to exclusive nightclubs and restaurants.
The people who live in this precinct are accustomed to having high-quality goods and spending a lot of leisure time in social engagements. Neighbors are polite and affable toward others of their station, but gossip is quite common and accepted.
Affiliated Guilds
All the guilds have interests here. Lawyers, bureaucrats, and soldiers of the Azorius Senate are found throughout the precinct. The Orzhov Syndicate runs many of the clubs and restaurants here, and this is the location of both its guildhall, Orzhova, and its monumental Vizkopa Bank. The Selesnya Conclave helps to maintain the grounds around the plaza and is often involved as diplomatic envoys for meetings and negotiations that take place here.
Neighborhoods and Landmarks
Precinct One has few permanent residents, except for the very wealthy and some government officials who live in well-appointed apartments. Buildings here are of modern construction and well maintained.
Tenth District Plaza
A popular place for meetings, recreation, shopping, and simply being seen, Tenth District Plaza is a beautiful oasis of calm and cleanliness. Kept perpetually clean through magic and constantly patrolled by Azorius arresters, the plaza is considered neutral ground for every guild, gang, and faction in the city. Drawing a weapon within the confines of the plaza is met with a swift response from the arresters and marks the offender as a person who can’t be trusted.
Chamber of the Guildpact
The long promenade of Plaza Avenue connects the south end of Tenth District Plaza to the great meeting hall of the guilds. The Chamber of the Guildpact is accessible by a grand staircase leading up into a cavernous hall where visitors and dignitaries from all over Ravnica meet. The Living Guildpact has an office here, but he is seldom present. In his absence, various functionaries who occupy the upper levels of the chamber try to carry out his work of adjudicating disputes between guilds and maintaining a semblance of peace.
Plaza East
This neighborhood is home to many government officials, and it offers temporary housing for diplomats. Stately homes intermingle with more modest apartments. Transportation by carriage between Plaza East and Tenth District Plaza is readily available, especially in the morning and evening.
Plaza West
The best nightclubs and restaurants, most of which are run by the Orzhov, are in this neighborhood. There are few permanent residents in Plaza West, aside from the very rich who reside in spacious, luxurious, multilevel homes.
Plaza South
Derogatorily known as Downside by the nobles and elite, this neighborhood is the hub of commerce in Precinct One and has more permanent residents than the other neighborhoods. Specialty shops catering to tourists and the wealthy line the route of the Transguild Promenade as it runs through the area. The residents here tend to be well-to-do merchants and crafters, making their living off visitors and a few rich clients.
Orzhova
The Orzhov Syndicate’s lavish guildhall, also known as the Church of Deals, is on the western edge of Tenth District Plaza. The towering spires and stained glass windows house the grand gatherings of the guild and also serve as the quarters for its most elite members, including the ghosts of the Obzedat. Below the cathedral lies the mausoleum, glittering with opulence and serving as a resting place and a gathering point for secret meetings far from prying eyes and the Guildpact.
Vizkopa Bank
The Orzhov-controlled main bank of Ravnica, and also the place where the Orzhov mint their coins, Vizkopa Bank is a giant, opulent structure guarded by gargoyles. Spirits in debt to the Orzhov float within its halls and around the outside of the building.
Goods and Services
There are few general shops in Precinct One, but luxury items, grooming supplies, and fine clothing are available in boutiques in the area. Even practical items, such as backpacks and lanterns, are expensive and of the highest quality, bearing artisan’s flourishes. Standard adventuring gear, including weapons and armor, is difficult to procure.
Meals and lodging suitable for a wealthy or aristocratic lifestyle are readily available in Plaza West, and comfortable accommodations are the norm for the officials in Plaza East and the merchants in Plaza South. Poorer people, including anyone who maintains a lifestyle as expensive as modest, might be seen as uncouth or undesirable.
At the DM’s discretion, adventurers who don’t maintain a comfortable or more expensive lifestyle might have disadvantage on Charisma checks when interacting with residents of Precinct One.
Law and Crime
The privileged and wealthy people who live in Precinct One believe that the purpose of law enforcement is to serve them and keep them protected from the more unsavory elements of the city. Government officials here are more practical in their view of the law, recognizing that Precinct One is the entry point into the Tenth for many visitors and thus it must keep up the best of appearances. Azorius law enforcement officers are ever-present here, with at least one arrester assigned to patrol each street in Precinct One. It is illegal to brandish a weapon here, and people who walk around with unconcealed weapons (even sheathed ones) draw attention. Minor crimes are reported as soon as they are witnessed or discovered. Due to enhanced monitoring by precognitive mages, the typical response time to any crime is 1d6 minutes, and the squad consists of an Azorius lawmage and three soldiers.
Very little street-level illicit activity takes place within Precinct One due to Azorius’s constant surveillance. Private rooms in exclusive establishments are, however, sometimes used by the Orzhov and other wealthy criminals to conduct high-end black market transactions away from the eyes of law enforcement.