House Dimir

In the dark, slick corridors of the undercity lurks the unfathomable network of the Dimir guild. House Dimir is Ravnica's dark but open secret: the people know Dimir exists but they pretend it doesn't. The Dimir's role in Ravnica is to provide covert services that other guilds can't or won't, using secrecy as both weapon and defense. Dimir is hidden even from itself, using pockets of covert agents who are aware of only a few other contacts. Dimir agents leave no trace, destroying memories of witnesses to their crimes, and even going so far as to eliminate their own memories of assignments. The current guildmaster is a shapeshift mage who goes by the name of Lazav.

Dimir: Above and Below. There are at least two levels of the Dimir: the overt level, the face of the guild the general public of Ravnica is allowed to see, and the covert level, that which consists of the inner guild and the members Ravnicans suspect exist but rarely, if ever, see.

Overt Level. The Dimir are just like any Ravnican guild, serving a public purpose for the good of the city. They often serve as couriers, investigators, reporters, and archivists. They serve twin purposes: to give the rest of Ravnica a "friendly" face of the guild and to be the street-level eyes and ears of the Dimir. Many entry-level candidates to the Dimir guild begin as overt agents until they can prove their trustworthiness.

Covert Level. The Dimir are a network of agents, spies, assassins, and mind mages. The covert level of House Dimir uses secret symbols, runes, and signals to communicate, often in plain sight. Covert Dimir also employ various mysterious forms of mind magic, such as telepathic communiqués that are erased from memory as soon as the operation is completed.

Clandestine Level. But there is a level of Dimir hidden even from its own members. At its lowest level, the guildmaster Lazav and his direct contacts guide and manipulate the operations of the guild. Members of House Dimir assassinate, extort, and destabilize without knowing who made the order or why. Orders pass through thought trails and mindcouriers, leaving no trace of their connections with this deepest level. This bottommost level of the guild is protected by Lazav's memory wards, powerful one-way enchantments that allow contacts and witnesses to receive their orders but prevent permanent memories from taking hold.

In Plain Sight. Anything predictable can be tracked, so the Dimir have no special days, customs, or rituals. If a gathering at Duskmantle occurs, one can almost be certain another will not occur again at the same time or the same day. Some have even suspected that the location of Duskmantle is never in the same place twice, that the guildhall is taken down and rebuilt again like some moveable fortress. On the surface of the guild, the Dimir are encouraged to live predictable and custom-filled lives, being as normal as possible, holding steady jobs, and taking part in the community, but always keeping their eyes and ears open, absorbing all possible bits of information, and awaiting their moment to finally serve the guild.

Sleeper Agents. When Lazav contacted the spirit consciousness of Szadek, or claimed to, he became aware of several Dimir sleeper agents scattered around Ravnica—even some who are now embedded in other guilds. Szadek's intent was that these sleeper agents would be able to receive missions telepathically, "activate" to undertake those missions, and then magically forget their involvement again. So far, Lazav has only begun to learn how to control the sleeper agents, and he has been able to activate some to gather data about the other guilds. If he learns to control them more deeply, he may be able to destabilize, exploit, and terrorize the other guilds to enact his own schemes.

Dimir Locations:


 * the Duskmantle, Restored but undisclosed.


 * the Ismeri Library


 * Dinrova Heights : Mage's Meeting Grounds.
 * Bane Alley
 * Nightveil

Dimir Attitudes Toward Other Guilds
 * Azorius: "What a waste of knowledge's true power. Let them shuffle their papers some more."
 * Orzhov: "Their ostentatious structures are a façade for their rotten, tiny minds."
 * Izzet: "They are true seekers of knowledge, but their tools are chaotic and lacking in direction."
 * Rakdos: "Their flesh is willing but their minds are weak."
 * Golgari: "Take our corpses and our trash, and don't forget to take your stink with you."
 * Gruul: "Whenever we need a riot, a scapegoat, or both, the Gruul are always so doltishly accommodating."
 * Boros: "Anything so predictable can be destroyed or altered with a minimum of forethought."
 * Selesnya: "As soon as we can infiltrate the Worldsoul, they will serve us as no other guild could."
 * Simic: "Their minds are alien but their inquisitiveness intrigues us. We must find a way in."