The Gruul Clans

The Power of Anarchy

"If the other clans want a war, they should know we've been ready the whole time." -Ruric Thar, Ghor Clan Chieftan Millenia ago, when the Guildpact was signed, the Gruul has a reason and purpose for being: to represent the wild, natural expanses of Ravnica. Now those expanses are long gone, buried under centuries of stone and glass, and the Gruul are displaced and essentially functionless, broken into assemblies of anarchists, beggers and tribal gangs, lumped together under the name of the former united guild. The mentality has changed, though; the Gruul see civilization as a mockery, and intend to do what they can to bring the elaborate, suppressive cage crashing down. The term “Gruul” has become a catchall name for a large swath of people and ideals that share a common theme. Though the various clans of the Gruul are each different and unique, they all share the same the same bitter anger. The Gruul live for the moment, fighting with a passion that could rival the Boros. The clans tend to eke out an existence in reclamation zones, abandoned portions of the city, where they carve out territory in the old ruins and fend off intruders with guerrilla tactics. Larger groups in more populated areas survive by going on large, destructive raids that reduce entire blocks to rubble and then squatting on the refuse, living off what they find. When resources run dry, they move on and repeat this process. Many Gruul have spiritual motivations for their actions, practicing druidic and shamanic traditions that supposedly date back to a time before Ravnica was covered with city. They seek to bring about the wildness and primal splendor of ancient Ravnica, and woe betide anyone that gets in the way of these Gruul. Most Gruul are illiterate – some can’t even manage more than a few simple words in common Ravi – and the other guilds see them as unintelligent, violent savages. The Gruul know differently, though. It is the spineless men in their lofty towers that know little, cut off from the hardships and realities of the world, and it’s high time for a wake up call.

Structure

Alignment: Any Chaotic (most Gruul are Chaotic Neutral) Domains: Animal, Liberation, Ruins, Strength, War Guildmaster: None, since the clans are not united under a single banner; however the Burning-Tree clan is considered the most powerful among the Gruul, and their leader is the massive cyclops Borborygmos. Guildhall: None. Some say that Skarrg is the closest thing the Gruul have to a guildhall. Values: Freedom and anarchy. The Gruul want to see the collapse of society, for it has no place in the natural order. For the Gruul, the city is a shell that the weak hide within to gain false affluence, and in the law of the wild, only the strong survive.