The meeting chamber of The Concord’s High Priests, The Council of Six rules over the Church, its beliefs, and its goals. A place of great power equal to The Senate or the War Chamber.
Function
While the Concordian Church of the Divine Spheres is fundamentally a faith held and governed through the consensus of thousands of priests and even more faithful, the Church as an institution answers to the Council of Six. This group of High Priests, each one representing one of the Divine Spheres, oversees the Churches' many concerns, be they financial, political, or divine. Through the powers of this council they can move the vast faithful towards important undertakings, spend church funds, and more.
Importantly, the Council of Six is not infused with any powers towards theology. While each of the High Priests of the Council wields immense personal and political power, it is not the place of the Council to define and decide how the faith of the Spheres is conducted or understood. Rather, this remains the purview of the faithful as a whole. Instead the Council of Six can be seen as a political entity wielding the power granted to them as the foremost priests of The Concord.
Resources
Like any part of the Concordian government, the Council of Six requires resources to pursue its tasks. Primarily these are The Church Treasury and Endeavours, which are both detailed below.
The Church Treasury
Much like The Senate, the Church maintains a central treasury. However, unlike the Senate, this treasury is not fed by any regular source. The Church treasury draws a vast amount of its income from donations. Heroic donations are simply funds given to the Church from the heroes of The Concord. Tithing Donations are given to The Church from Congregations across The Concord, reflecting their duty to maintain the Church. Any time a Congregation takes the ‘Tithing’ Downtime action, The Church gains a matching amount of income.
The Church Treasury can hold currency, measures of resources, wains, artisan crafts, artifacts, and conceivably any other objects.
The Church Treasury cannot be used in auctions (be it bidding or selling), make purchases or sales, or similar activities. The Church treasury can only be used to pay for Church costs or to be dispersed to individuals who then go on to take these actions.
The Church Treasury is held by The Curates.
Endeavours
The Concordian Church is a vast apparatus that includes many members of the Civil Service to oversee its affairs, as well as hundreds of faithful who volunteer and support the organisation. This manpower can be utilised by The Council of Six in pursuit of its goals, but is a limited resource. To reflect this, some actions that the Council of Six can take are defined as ‘Endeavours’ and the Council of Six is limited in the amount of Endeavours it can pursue.
By default, the Council can pursue 3 Endeavours. For every 30 Tiers of Congregations (not counting temporary enhancements such as enchantments), the Council of Six gains another endeavour. The Curates will inform the Council of Six of their number of available Endeavours at the start of the first meeting of the Council each Summit.
Powers
Conviction
Through its weight as leaders of The Church, The Council of Six can call upon the faithful and congregations of The Concord towards particular projects. When the Council of Six calls for a Conviction, it will create an appropriate downtime action for priests and congregations to pursue in the following season. Convictions are generally limited to actions within The Concord, granting support to crises or similar actions. When in doubt, the Council can confer with the Curates to create their Conviction.
Each Conviction is an Endeavour.
Study
Calling for a Study reflects the Church descending into its archives and pursuing research in the wider world to answer questions or uncover mysteries relevant to the Council of Six. The following Summit, the Council will receive a written result of their request, for them to do with as they wish. A Study request requires a focus that can be as broad or as targeted as the Council wishes, however focused requests are advised if you want meaningful returns. Generally, it should be focused on matters of religious or divine history, theology, mythology or other similar pursuits.
Each Study is an Endeavour.
Consignment
A Consignment is the Council of Six commissioning the construction on creation of a large piece of Church infrastructure or the purchase of goods and services in the support of the Church beyond simple dispersal of funds to heroes. The list of Consignments can be found here. All funds and resources for each Consignment must be in The Church Treasury by the end of the summit it is commissioned.
Each Consignment is an Endeavour.
Expedition
Pursuing an Expedition results in a delegation of priests, followers, and civil service workers departing The Concord for a particular foreign nation, location, or event, to represent The Church in foreign affairs or great moments. Unlike Convictions, Expeditions are composed of non-heroic characters pursuing distant causes and projects for the Council of Six such as ministering to non-spheric nations or attending vast Church meetings in foreign lands. Each new expedition costs the Church 3 Vaults and is an Endeavour. All ongoing Expeditions are managed by the Concordian Consular, who will receive their reports and manage their actions.
Each Expedition can be maintained provided the Council passes another motion of Expedition for it. These subsequent motions cost fifteen locks a season to maintain, and consume an Endeavour. This would allow the Concordian Consular to manage these expeditions as continuing projects.
Exaltation
The Council of Six has the power to recognise individuals as Paragons, Locations as Holy Sites, individuals into the positions of Throne, and to grant individuals access to Past Life Visions. The power that collectively grants these options is Exaltation. The process for recognising a Paragon or Holy Site can be found on their respective pages,
Unlike some other powers, Exaltations are automatically brought to the Council of Six as pieces of business requiring a response. As such they do not require a motion by a High Priest. Exaltations of Paragons and Holy Sites require the preceding motions to have passed through the Church Motions system, then their arguments must be brought before the Council of Six, which in turn prompts an Exaltation.
Unlike other votes, Exaltation votes must be unanimous.
The Council of Six must Exalt a visionary and guide for the Past Life Vision during their meeting on the second day of Summit.
Exaltations are not Endeavours.
Endowment
The Council of Six has the ability to spend and grant parts of the Church Treasury without requiring a Church Motion through standard channels. The Council of Six may Endow up to fifteen locks, and/or ten measures, and/or five wains, and/or 2 artisan crafts, and/or 1 artifact per endowment motion.
Grants of funds or supplies from the Church are paid out in the following order:
- The Bursar's due through the Coinmasters Hand
- Requests through the larger Church Motions of the Faithful.
- The High Priest of Panoply’s due.
- The payment of any Consignments or Expeditions.
- Council of Six Endowments (in order of motion)
If at any point during this process (fulfilled following each Council of Six) the Church treasury would be empty, all subsequent endowments or requirements for funds are voided.
Endowments are not Endeavours.
Proclamation
A proclamation is a public statement on behalf of the Council of Six that:
- Clarify the position of the Council of Six.
- Support or Decry an action, individual, cause or event on behalf of the Council of Six.
- Offer guidance on an aspect of doctrine or theology.
- Make public announcements on behalf of the Council of Six.
Proclamations are used to have the Council of Six communicate with the faithful across The Concord, rather than just the heroes of Passage. The Council of Six will do well to remember the importance of skilled articulation.
Importantly, proclamations cannot be used to:
- Change doctrine.
- Mimic any other Council of Six power.
Proclamations are not Endeavours.
Publication
The Council of Six can approve documents for publication. Doing so distributes copies of the document to libraries, churches, and makes the document available to Civil Service offices. This will make the information available to the people of The Concord. These documents will be available on the Concordian Documents page, or another appropriate page, of the Wiki for any player to read and have their character know.
Documents proposing the Exaltation of a Paragon or Holy Site are automatically published as a Document of the Church, and do not require a separate Motion of Publication.
Publications are not Endeavours.
Veto
The Council of Six holds one of the two vetoes within the Concord, allowing them to halt and cancel a single senate motion that requires a greater majority. Every time a motion is passed in the Senate that prompts the Council’s veto, it will be brought up at the Council meeting that follows it. The Council may veto this motion following a successful vote. The Council may only veto one motion per summit in this manner. The Council only receives one opportunity to veto a motion and once this opportunity has passed they may not attempt to veto it again.
The exception to this system is the final Senate session per summit, or any emergency Senate session that occurs after the final Council Session of a Summit. In both circumstances the High Priest of Cervitas may use the Council's veto, provided the Council of Six has not used their veto earlier in the Summit.
Past Actions of the Council of Six
| Year | ||
|---|---|---|
| 225 | Autumn | Spring |
| 226 | Autumn | |
Membership
Membership of the Council of Six is split into three forms:
- True Members of the Council of Six are High Priests. These are individuals whose attendance ensures that a Council of Six will begin and are responsible for decisions. True Members each have a vote on all matters requiring a vote, may speak at all times, and count towards quorum (known as having the True Right to Speak).
- Members of the Council Six are any Church title that is not a High Priest. These titles are granted seats at the Council of Six and may speak where they feel they should, but may be silenced or ejected at the request of either a True Member vote or a member of the Civil Service (known as having the Right to Speak). Members do not have votes.
- Civil Service of the Council of Six are Curates and other civil service members attached to the Church. They have control over the Council and its operation.
Chambers
At present, the Council of Six sits its meetings within the Senate Chamber. Appropriate setup is the responsibility of Civil Service. While the Council of Six is in session, the Senate may not call emergency Senate sessions. If the Council of Six is still in session when a scheduled Senate session is about to occur, the Council of Six session ends.
Meetings
The Council of Six meets twice per Summit, at midday each full day. Each Council of Six meeting requires the attendance of each High Priest and at least one curate. The Council may sit a maximum of an hour later than intended. If all elected High Priests cannot be brought to the Council chambers within an hour, the meeting is cancelled. Each meeting follows the same layout:
Introduction.
Each of the High Priests introduces themselves to the assembled members of the Council. In circumstances where a new High Priest is being announced, it will be completed during this period.
Opening Words.
A single member of the faithful is given an opportunity to speak before the Council of Six. Traditionally an opportunity for prayer and blessings. Would be speakers are selected by the Curates.
Essential Business.
Matters which are being prompted by external circumstances are completed. These include but are not limited to:
- Elections
- Exaltations
- Vetoes
- Declaration of Motions from the Church
Each matter of essential business has a maximum time of twenty minutes, at which point the motion is either dropped or a vote is called.
High Priest Motions.
Each High Priest is given a maximum of twenty minutes to speak and put forward a single motion that utilises one of the appropriate powers of the Council of Six. Given the Councils limited meeting opportunities, motions may not be tabled. High Priests may end their motion time at any point.
Conclusions.
Any clarifications that are required are given and the Council meeting is ended.
Speaking in the Council of Six
There are three types of right to speak at a meeting of the Council of Six;
- True Right to Speak (Held by Civil Service members and the High Priests). These individuals may speak at any time, count towards quorum and may compel others (who do not have the true right to speak) to cease speaking.
- The Right to Speak (Held by any other Church title and The Throne). These individuals may speak at any time, do not count towards quorum and may be compelled to cease speaking by any individual with the True Right to Speak. They do not have any votes.
- Limited Right to Speak (Held by all other individuals). These individuals may indicate they wish to speak by raising a hand. If one member with the True Right to Speak recognises them (by stating “I recognise [Name] to speak, I seek a second”) followed by another member with the True Right to Speak seconding (by stating “I second the recognition of [Name].”) Following this, the individual may speak, provided they begin and end their speech with “In the light of the Spheres”. These individuals may still be compelled to cease speaking by a member with the True Right to Speak. They do not count towards Quorum. They do not have any votes.
Voting in the Council of Six
Each of the High Priests has a single vote in any circumstance where the Council of Six must pass a vote. For a vote to pass in the Council of Six it must obtain 4 total votes in favour. No Councils hold a veto over the Council of Six.