Golgari Swarm

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The Golgari Swarm

Alternative name	The Swarm
Colors:	Black and Green
Guild leader:	{{{parun}}}
Guild leader:	Sisters of Stone Death
Guild champion:	Savra, Queen of the Golgari
Guild hall:	Svogthos, the Restless Tomb
Keyword:	Dredge
Featured set:	Ravnica: City of Guilds
Signet flavor text:
Depending on your point of view, the seal represents a proud guardian of the natural cycle or one who has sold her soul to darkness for eternal life.

The Golgari Swarm epitomizes the cycle of life and death. Death is little barrier to people of Ravnica but for the Golgari, it is only a single step on a cyclical journey. They value power through growth. Planting and re-growing their dead into an army of plant zombies, the Golgari spread like a slow fungus, taking over bit by bit. Because of their necromantic habits, they are the biggest guild on Ravnica. Their major role is to provide other citizens with food.

Svogthos, the Restless Tomb, is the headquarters for the Swarm. It was once an Orzhov cathedral but is now a living structure housing the severed head of Svogthir, the parun of the Golgari. It is said that the Restless Tomb moves with the shifting of Golgari territory.

There are several subgroups within the guild constantly struggling for control. The most prominent of these subgroups are the Devkarin (dark elves) and the teratogens. The latter are mostly plant-zombie hybrids, but harpies, giant bats, and gorgons have also been named teratogens.

The teratogens ruled the guild until the events of the Decamillennial, when the Devkarin took over.

[edit] Guildmasters

The parun of the guild, Svogthir, was a powerful necromancer. After his death he reanimated his own body, which he began to alter by incorporating parts of other beings into it. For example, he had the chest of the Gruul parun Cisarzim. He was also known as the god-zombie.

Less than a millenia prior to the Decamillennial the Sisters of Stone Death, a quintet of gorgons, overthrew Svogthir. Two of them died in the attempt. They could not completely kill Svogthir however, as his necromancy kept his head intact at all times. So they rotted his body away and locked him in a tomb in Grigor Canyon.

Savra, Queen of the Golgari

Shortly before the Decamillenial the ambitious Devkarin matka Savra set her sights on the Golgari throne. With the help of Szadek she resurrected Svogthir and used him to overthrow the Sisters. She then used ancient matka magic to free his spirit from his head (adding it to her scepter), and proclaimed herself as the new guildmaster. Later on, Savra had infiltrated the Selesnya Conclave with her quietmen and tried to sieze that guild as well, but Szadek double-crossed her and snapped her neck to weaken the Conclave.

After the threat of the vampire had been dealt with, Savra's brother Jarad, who had helped in defeating Szadek, took over the guild. He was later killed by Izolda, but used necromancy to become a zombie, and he is still the guildmaster.