Simic Combine Write-Up

Simic Combine:

Food & Cuisine:
	The Simic are generally not that concerned with food. Despite ostensibly being a nature-oriented guild, the Simic do not care for food production. Food quality is decent, because the Combine realizes that people need to enjoy food. So food is generally acceptable and designed to be as nutrituous in the least amount of calories as possible. Where the Simic Combine shines however is pharmacology and distillation. They make the best hard liquors - from completely neutral ethanol, to complex multi-layered flavors that are tailored to someone's personal palate. The same applies for drugs - the Simic can synthesize anything that makes you feel a certain way. At the same time, the only drugs they accept are intelligence-boosting nootropics, and even then they would prefer an additional cogitation graft rather than relying on a steady drip of pharmaceuticals. They'll just fund their research by selling these drugs to the Rakdos and the guildless.

Leisure & Recreation:
	The Simic enjoy intellectual pursuits more than the physical. Each Simic has their own personal library, and access to several public libraries. Due to their nature, they generally organize these libraries by topic - so you'll have science fiction libraries, fantasy libraries, aquamancy libraries, biomancy libraries, and so on. Books are usually printed on water-and-chemical resistant materials, just in case.
	The other thing that few people expect from the Simic is an interest in boating. Most of Ravnica's seas, lakes, rivers and so on have been turned into channels and reservoirs, but river traffic is still a thing. The Simic lead the pack in boating, with the Dimir and Izzet participating as well, with a fierce rivalry between the two science guilds - one makes better steamships, the other uses aquatic monsters for propulsion.
	There is a darker side to Simic experimentation. Many organisms that they create are discarded. It used to be that they would get broken down into components and recycled. An ex-Rakdite introduced the idea of making money off of them: have them fight each other for entertainment. They collect a lot of physical data about this - shear strength, muscle function, limb rotation - and the people that come to watch these fights offer sources of revenue to funnel into better experiments.

Friendship & Conflict:
	The Combine doesn't have any particular rules and regulations on friendship. Usually they develop organically via people working in the same laboratory, or on similar projects - so mutual interest. Generally speaking, this leads to an uptick in productivity, so this isn't unwelcome, and often friends will request (and usually have it granted) to be transferred to work on the same project. Other than that, the Combine doesn't interfere.
	Conflict resolution is done in an organized fashion, somewhat similar (although less volatile) than the Izzet. The two conflicting parties are going to find a supervisor, lay out their grievances, and provide supporting evidence. A decision is made and either accepted or escalated to a Luminary. Escalation past that is generally frowned upon, but if necessary can be elevated to a Speaker, but rarely. ((As cool as it would be to have the Simic grow battle beasts and duke it out, the nature of the guild is against it.))

Relationships and Sexuality:
	For the lack of a better term, very progressive. The Simic see gender and the body as something of a quaint hold-over from a more primitive age. Anything is mutable and adjustable. Cosmetic and transformation magic are their forte, so if you identify as a woman, you better believe you'll be able to be a woman. And if the next day you change your mind, more power to you. Since their forms are mutable, gender roles are not a thing, and neither is a hard-and-fast sexuality. Offspring are welcome, but when either partner can choose to gestate the fetus, again, it's not really an issue.
	Courtship and sex is fairly standard, although generally speaking difference in rank matters. It's considered bad form if a superior is having sex with an underling, due to issues of concern over funding and preferential treatment. Despite the aforementioned fluidity in gender and sexuality, monogamy seems to be preferred, because Simic generally find minds more attractive than bodies, since the latter can be changed on a whim.

Childhood & Old Age:
	Simic schools are very much up there, since they realize that a strong foundation leads to better results in the long run. Schools are multi-disciplinary and holistic, so that the child would be able to be adaptable and be able to come up with new unique ideas, not necessarily based on old ones. They also teach children to be able to think outside of existant paradigms and not be constrained by what is. By the end of their educational period, the child has a lot of knowledge, and then gains hands on experience by working as a lab assistant to a researcher, until they are ready to work on their own independent field of work.
	Old age isn't that much of a consideration for the Simic. While they don't have biological immortality, with their expertise in medical science and biomancy, they can easily extend lifespans for at least 50% past their maximum. Generally speaking, these old people don't really retire - they'll keep working in the lab, although in a more advisory position than actively running all-nighter experiments. Upon death, the person is given honors, and entered in a record book, but usually not disposed of, since that would be a waste. Instead, their bioaugmentations are re-purposed and improved, so that they can contribute to science one last time.

General Notes: The Simic are defined by what they do moreso than what they are, because what they are is constantly in flux.