Dimir Cutpurse

No, because you don't offer black cards.

I'm liking Selesnya Guildmage of that bunch.

One is a card-advantage machine, but requires some sort of support to be effective, some sort of evasion equipment or lots of spot removal.

The next is a very respectable mana accellerator that fits well into a G/B strategy, but also requires something to ramp in to.

The third is a strategy all on its own. Once you have 4 or more mana, it can being to dominate the field.

I pick the second. I love the Golgari.

>>17608805
Second.

>Dimir Cutpurse
House Dimir keeps its secrets well, and you are honored to be included in those secrets. In life you were a hired assassin for the guild, working closely with a few of the necrosages, having wormed your way through the labyrinthine power structures of the secret-keepers. Upon your death, (undone by some knife in the back, a fellow guild member, a thug in the streets, you've never discovered), you found yourself unable to pass on, your ghost bound to the plane of Ravnica. The necrosages were able to bind your spirit to a length of rags and burial dressings inscribed with certain magic runes. The magic that keeps you alive is fueled in part by the fact that no one knows that you are still alive. The more people discover that you are not dead, the weaker you will become. This has not stopped your superiors from putting your new form and old talents to good use. Your mutable form makes you the perfect burglar or spy, and when you are not on specific assignment, House Dimir leaves you more or less to your own affairs, collecting a substantial tithe from you each month that keeps your off-duty hours filled with "extracurricular" activities, from simple muggings to elaborate heists.

The guttering torchlight flickers dimly in the puddles of the sewer tunnel. You wish that Ravnica's easiest means of moving about undetected wasn't so damp, although thankfully your mortal death took your sense of smell with it. Ahead of you the tunnel descends towards the Golgari undercity, while above you a metal grating separates this tunnel from the market streets above. It would be a simple task to slip through the bars...

>LIFE: 5
>MANA POOL: UUB
>CARDS IN HAND: 3
>TELLING TIME
>LAST GASP
>CONSULT THE NECROSAGES

>what do?

I think we should spy on the Golgari, see what they're up to.
Go up through the grate, who's there?

Elves of Deep Shadow. I think the card feature a boobies-sporting person.

>>17609093
You deftly slither up through the gateway. Although the sewers remain in a perpetual fetid twilight, following a sunbeam up through the grate brings you into the mid-day sun of a Ravnican market district. The murmur of the crowd is more of a loud roar, like the crashing waves of a sea of people--and coins. Here and there large patches of shade cover the ground, as the sun is hidden from view between two buildings, or beneath an awning set up by a merchant. You've been to this market before, and remember being able to put together a fair sum of cash with only a few hours of skulking. You hover, half-in and half-out of the sewers, pondering your next move (Note: Ponder is not one of the cards in your hand)

>What do?

>>17609158
Lets try and lay low for a bit, listen in, gather information, because that's always worth more than a heavy purse.

>>17609158
how often does our mana pool refill/expand

>>17609158
Hmm, we should cut some purses.
Get some cards, and what not.

We cast "consult the necrosages" on ourself.
Let's see what the old men trying to run the world want us to do.

>>17609204
>Mana is added to your pool at semi-regular intervals (every few posts or in-game hours or something)
>Your mana pool is expanded by drawing and playing land, representing the connections you're making with the mana of the plane of Ravnica. Up here in the market you will be unlikely to find a place sufficient for your ISLANDS or SWAMPS to form mana bonds, but in the Undercity or near the Izzet's Steamworks there should be opportunities.

Like a snake, you slide along the ground, coming to rest underneath the stall of a man purporting to be selling "Undercity Antiquities." You quickly ascertain that he is a fraud selling Ravnica's foolish some cheap pre-worn knick-knacks. You are about to depart when a man approaches him, looking far more cautious and jumpy than the average Ravnican bazaar shopper.
"Good afternoon, my friend!" the stall-keeper says cheerfully.
"Enough of that," the other man says sternly. "Do you have it?"
"Yes, indeed," the man says, still smiling cheerfully. "The people I serve are amicable to your terms, good sir."
"Good. Where is it?"
"Oh, right here, sir! This one would be lovely for your wife!" The shopkeeper says, producing a worn-looking clay urn from a shelf behind his stall, out of sight from the rest of his wares. As he hands it to the man, you hear the hollow clanking of coins echoing within. As the man tucks the urn under his arm and turns to leave, you catch a glimpse of the cyclopean spider of House Dimir inked into his arm. You're witnessing a Dimir deal! The necrosages wouldn't be pleased if they knew you were gathering secrets above your clearance.

>Continue investigating this plot?
>Or do something else?

>>17609344
Investigate.
If we have access to planeswalker magic, then we are invincible gods.
It'll take what, three packs of grizzly bears to kill us.

>>17609344
Go to the Izzet Steamworks.

>>17609344
Keep it to ourselves for now. When we consult with the Necrosages, feel them out for weather or not to admit that we witnessed this. They have other informants so it's likely that they'll know anyway.
>>17609369
Or one runeclaw bear.

>>17609419
Three runeclaw bears.
We have 5 life.

>>17609440
Or one Runeclaw Bear with 3 turns in combat. They ARE our equal in stats.

>>17609459
Yeah, or CARD stats.
Our card can't play removal spells.
We can.

>Consult the Necrosages
You retreat to the dank warmth of the sewers. Out of the reach of the Ravnican sun, you summon the magics that will connect you to the council that leads House Dimir. Tendrils of blue and black energy worm out of the handlike protrusions you form with your rags as you weave your magic.
"Why have you called us?" Comes the reply, echoing out of thin air, the voice of some unseen necrosage carried leagues away from their airless lungs.
"Wondering if there was any work for me," you ask, tentatively. There is a moment of silence, during which you contemplate the low thunder of the trodding feet above you.
"No. Nothing," the sage responds. "Your tithe is in three days, however. Do you have any secrets you wish to divulge early?"

>What do?
>Also, I assume you are choosing to DRAW TWO CARDS with this spell

>>17609344
Cast Ponder.

>>17609477
draw two cards, then rob someone

also, we should have kept that mana open for removal

>>17609499
Now we pretty much HAVE to go to the Undercity or the Steamworks to get some mana.
So let's do that after drawing two cards.
Also, say that we have no secrets that they don't already know of.

>they'll never make an MMORPG in the Ravnica universe

>>17608790
Guildmage is a bomb.


The other two aren't.

>>17609509
>>17609499
These. Draw two cards, then go to the Steamworks.

>>17609509
"I know nothing that the secret-keepers do not know already," you say, trying to keep a sufficiently reverent tone.
"Then I assume your financial contribution will be sufficient," the necrosage responds. "Go, then, an be enshrouded with our favor."

>You have drawn TWO CARDS
>SWAMP
>HEX
>You have regained ONE MANA
>+B (1/3)

>Investigate the shopkeeper back in the market? Or find somewhere in the Undercity to form a new Mana Bond?

>>17609544
Play the swamp.
Now we can play last gasp!
So removal is a go.
Hex is pretty fucking dumb though, I mean when will we ever need to kill EXACTLY 6 creatures?

Meh, might come in handy SOME time.
So, mana bonding time!

I agree, Mana Bond.

Find a purdy sewer? Both blUe and Black?

Implying we can only go to the Izzet Boilerworks or the Undercity.

Narrator! Take me to the Simic Growth Chambers!

>>17609640
What the hell are we gonna do with all this green mana, boss?

>>17609649
Play Golgari spells. They are allies of house Dimir, no?

>>17609664
More that I want more mana in general. Simic Ramping would greatly help our cause.

IZZET STEAMWORKS

STEAL US SOME RED MANAS WHILE WE'RE THERE

Moving deeper into the sewers and away from the surface, you seek out somewhere dark, where the wet earth of Ravnica has started to worm its way through the stones. You can feel the energy of the plane flowing through the ground here, the shadows that have always protected you and have always shepherded you to your victories.
>SWAMP played
>B +B (2/4)

"I'm telling you, he came this way!" You can hear a voice echoing off the moist walls. The clatter of footsteps rattles from up ahead.
"Where are you, you little Tin-Street shit-eater?!" a different voice cries out.
Creeping forward, you see a flickering torchlight illuminating two people, wojeks by the look of them. Ravnica's police force, eternally overworked and unloved. No enemy to House Dimir, if only because they practice their professions under the impression that you do not exist. The larger of the two humans, the one holding the torch, swings it about at the corners and shadows, one hand on his silvery baton. They appear to be seeking someone out.

>What do?

>>17609702
Follow them, see what's up. Maybe grab some valuables?

>>17609702
Continue to mana bond.
We need to build up our power before we act.

THEN AGAIN

What is our tithe? We need to pay that or we are dead.
Well, dead-er

>>17609702
if they're not our enemies we should simply hide from them...
unless we can steal from them

Choosing inaction for the moment, you merely observe from the darkness as the two peacekeepers stumble around in the dark.
"He's probably just going to try and fence it a few doors down from where he stole it!" the smaller man said. "I'm not getting eaten alive by some sewer-monster over a goblin thief and some trinket."
"That is because you are a coward," the larger man stated plainly. "We are wojek, and it is our duty to risk ourselves for the good of Ravnica."
"Old Gods, you could shame Razia herself," the other responded, but then pointed further down the tunnel.
"There! I think I saw him down there!"
The two took off down the sewer. Following curiously behind them, you see them knee-deep in sewage, trying to corner a terrified-looking goblin that keeps covering itself in more and more filth as it attempts to dodge and splash its way around their arms.
"Don't make us hurt you, you little hooligan!" the burly wojek threatens.
You see a small necklace clutched in the goblin's hands. More importantly, you see the glint of the red gemstone catching the light of the torches, a coin-sized ruby clutched in the hands of a stylized bronze dragon.

>What do?

>>17609726
>Always a cautious man...thing...you have two months of your tithe stashed away in cash throughout the sewers, in case you ever run into a string of bad luck.

>>17609848
Hmm
We have BB, right? That's enough for a removal spell.
We might need that.
Would we be able to fuck the wojeks' shit up, if we last gasp one of them?
>>17609857
Never mind, then.
Just steal it, I mean we ARE a cutpurse

>>17609848
>>17609857
Try to grab the trinket in the commotion.

>>17609877
this, it's what we do

Skittering forward, you dart into the chaotic light thrown by the torch.
"Angels, above! What is that?!"
You catch a glimpse of the three terrified faces of the wojeks and the goblin before the torch is dropped into the murky sludge and the tunnel is plunged into perfect darkness. You feel your tendril-like body wrap around the object in the goblins hand and you carry it with you down the tunnels into the safety of the shadows. When you are a safe enough distance away, you stop to examine your find. It hums with energy, and you're certain it must be valuable, perhaps even useful.

>IZZET SIGNET acquired!
>What do?

Investigate the shopkeeper back in the market?

Mana Bond?

At the boilerwerks?

Which guilds are we allies with again?

How hard is it to sell a signet? Are they the sort of things that shops won't accept for political reasons or are they like any other trinket?

>>17610019
Use our BB on it
You can never have too much blue mana

>>17610019
awwwwww fuck yeah!
can we use this in our deck for mana?
the red isn't perfect, but the blue should be helpful

>>17610085
Implying we won't steal Grixis stuff at some point, or get some Red spells going from the Rakdos guild.

>>17610095
>grixis
>Ravnica
>what

>>17610124
Hush you. Grixis Colors - RBU - exist on Ravnica.

>>17610062
You pour some of your black mana into the signet, and you are rewarded with the warm flush of power enveloping your "body"
>BB -B +UR (3/4)

>House Dimir has feelers and proxies that are both allied with and working against all of Ravnica's guilds, as the situation demands. They maintain no official standing alliances.

It's always easy to find the Izzet districts. You just look for the smell of steam and burnt hair. Not burnt flesh. That's the Rakdos.
You emerge from a sewer grating on one of the lower levels of the city. An enormous tower, so oddly designed that it looks like it could topple at any moment, spears the sky, reaching up past the clouds and descending into the darkness, out of sight in both directions. Elaborate metal piping carries hot water and magma up and down the building, while task-mages and their assistants bustle in and out of the many entrances up and down the spire. No doubt the Dimir have at least a handful of spies in this facility, but there's no telling what you might be able to put your hands on in there.

>What do?

>>17610137
Not on one spell, though.
Or do I remember wrong?
I remember no tricolor spells in Rav

>>17610151
Bond with the mana, so we can play hex if shit hits the fan

>>17610156
I can't remember either.
7 years are a lot, to remember every card from a block.

>>17610164
>Bond
You have no Islands or Mountains in hand, and therefore you cannot feel out the particular leylines of blue or red mana in this area.

>>17610203
Oh.
Cast telling time

>>17610137
three-color cards were only on split cards
four color was nephilim only
five color was for faggots

>>17610156
Quadcolors, though...
Let's get this nephilim ball rolling.

>>17610151
Let's see if there's a small unused duct we can slip in though.

Man I miss Ravnica block so much. The lore behind the Izzet, Dimir, and the Simic were great.

>>17610211
I second this

>Telling Time
Burning the mana within you brightly, you stretch out with your mind, towards the powers of the future.
>TOP 3 CARDS
>ISLAND
>CLUTCH OF THE UNDERCITY
>DOUSE IN GLOOM
>Pick one card to go in your hand, one card to be returned to the top of your library, and one to be put on the bottom of your library.

>>17610291
Island to hand, darkness to top, clutch to bottom.

>>17610291
Island in the hand.
Clutch on the bottom.
Douse on the top.

>>17610307
>>17610308
>Bestmovemind.

>>17610291
What other spells are available for the purpose of transmuting?

>>17610291
Do you have an actual library in front of you right now/on Cockatrice?

Island in hand
Clutch on top
Douse on bottom

bump

>>17610291
island into hand, we need the mana

clutch on top because holy shit transmute. that's our entire library we can check out

douse on bottom becuse it doesnt have transmute

>>17610349
>LackeyCCG. But yes.
Perfect! you think to yourself, discarding the cumbersome Clutch in favor of the utilitarian mana bond. You feel the surge of power as you bind yourself to this place.
>Mana
>UBR -BU +U (2/5)
>You have regenerated ONE MANA
>UR +U (3/5)

You shift yourself easily along the shadowy streets, winding in and out of peoples' paths. Slithering up the side of the tower, you swiftly work your way through the slats of a grating, feeling the sensation of hot steam flowing over your animated rags. You surge through the passageway, penetrating deep into the core of the structure. Winding your way downwards, you pass by experimental laboratories and testing chambers, all fully staffed and unfortunately brightly lit. Finally, you spot something through another grate that catches what passes for your eyes these days.
"The Consortium is paying you for results, not for ideas," a man says, hands folded in his blue robes. He seems deep in a heated conversation with a viashino wearing a white lab coat. You can't tell, but you think there may be an arcane glint in his eyes. Not that that would be uncommon here.
"Progresssss is being made," the viashino hisses. "The technology you brought usss is very old, very damaged. Where in the Undercity did you get it?"
"That is irrelevant," the man says. "What I need to know is whether or not you can get it to work again."
"Of coursssse," the viashino says with a deep bow. "It is ssssimply a matter of patience on your part, Master Beleren."
"I'd like to see it," the human mage says. "Where do you have it hooked up?"
"Down, farther down," the lizard replies. "Thissss way..."
The two depart towards whatever secret technology they're trying to crack. By the sound of it, though, it doesn't sound very portable. Perhaps you'd be better off poking around for something you can sell off for your tithe.

>>17610544
>assassinate jace beleren
>alter the course of history

Follow the viashino and the one called 'Master Beleren' so we can sell what secrets we find to the Necrosages!

>>17610544
Is this vanilla jace, jms or memory adept?
Either way, don't fuck with him.

Kill the Viashino then run away like a little girl

Does jace have any sort of reputation or is he completely unknown due to blue faggotry?
If the former, keep your distance, maybe try to look at whatever he had but don't touch. If the latter, try to steal whatever it is, and maybe try to pickpocket jace himself because he looks kinda rich.

>>17608790

Dimir Cutpurse, I play blue/black anyway and he has the best ability for my strategy. Having said that I'd hardly rip any of them up.

Clinging to the multitude of piping criss-crossing the ceiling of this floor, you follow along behind the two, neither of whom give any indication that they have seen you. They lead you on a merry chase down stairways, across catwalks and through rooms filled with bubbling casks and whirring machinery. Finally they enter into a large chamber, down deep enough to be considered the Undercity.In the center of the chamber a large rectangular piece of what looked like a stiff fabric was stretched out on the floor, while several task-mages scuttled around it, attaching various wires and connections. One corner of the device sprang up, knocking a goggled goblin off his feet entirely with a shower of sparks, but they hurriedly moved to pin it back down while Master Beleren and the viashino watched.
"It utilizes a power source unlike anything we have here," the viashino explained. "The ancient Ravnicans must have been so far beyond what we have-"
"The ancient Ravnicans had no part in the creation of this device," Master Beleren said, his face still hidden within his cloak. "And perhaps this is what it needs..." reaching into one of his sleeves, he produced a polyhedron that glittered with its own inner radiance. Twin reflections of the gem sparkled in the viashino's eyes.
"Be careful with it," the mage said, in a voice that was a clear threat, as he pressed the gem into the lizard's hands.
"Of course, of course..." the viashino said, stepping towards the device with the gemstone. At his approach, the surface of it began to shimmer and undulate. The taskmages stepped back suddenly, and in his surprise, the viashino dropped the stone completely. Where it landed on the floor, it sent out a wave of sparks and arcs of energy, curving towards and seeking out the device on the ground, which began to crackle dangerously.

>What do?

>>17610756
I have no idea what the thing is supposed to be, but it seems both rare and valuable so you should find some way to steal it. Or at the very least, steal information.
But seriously, what is it? A hedron or something?

>>17610756
Sit tight
Observe
Then last gasp on the human faggot. He's probably some.. some.. Orzhov, disguised as an... Izzet?

If I think there is a possibility of running out, grabbing the crystal and getting away with my life in tact then do that. Otherwise slink futher back into the shadows while still keeping an eye on what's happening and start looking for an escape route just in case

bump

Gauging the danger of the situation and the level of distraction among the crowd, you dart out into the open, snaking along the ground like greasy oil. Master Beleren takes a step back and almost pins you to the ground with a booted foot, but you writhe your way around him towards the gemstone on the ground. Just as your rags caress it, there is a sensation of pressure as the air in the room is sucked downwards onto the device, and then a great backdraft of wind as the pressure equalizes. Where there was once a featureless rectangle of fabric, there is now a portal set in the floor, through which you can see only darkness.
"What...what is it?" The goblin task-mage asks, settling his goggles on his face.
"Where is it?" the viashino asks, perhaps a somewhat shrewder question. No one seems to be looking at you, and you tuck the gemstone away in the many folds of your rags.
"The portal leads home, to the place it was made," Master Beleren says, and you can clearly see his eyes now, pupilless spheres of glowing blue. "It leads to the Nine Spheres."

>You gained a WORN POWERSTONE (currently tapped)
>That's all I have time for this evening, fa/tg/uys. If you liked it, throw it up on suptg and vote it up to show your appreciation. I should be able to run the quest again after the weekend, if people seem interested. Either way, I hope everyone had fun!

>>17611000
FUCK YEA

>>17611085
Glad you enjoyed it.

>>17611085
I agree, never been into quests but this one really grabbed me.

>>17611000
>Nine Spheres
you mean the plane of Phyrexia...
FUCK
wait, it's still around?
why did Jace do that?

>>17611653
Could be he wasn't sure until it was activated.

bump because this looks fucking awesome