Setting: The Emerald Council

In the previous post I mentioned the Emerald council – the ruling body of Wyrmweb Station.

The Emerald council was originally formed from the 13 dragon lords and headed by the now deceased Yarluth, who called herself the Celestial Fire. At her right hand sat Shahrukh, the Nebula Queen – her lover and and matriarch of the green dragons. They weren’t called that at the time – having taken their titles after the conquest of Wyrmweb, so in Yarluth’s case she was never called that while alive.

Anyway, the dragons fought the shardminds and the Emerald council opened its ranks as a peace offering, forming essentially a dual-government, lording over the galactic travel hub. As of right now, the council holds 30 seats including representatives from the major worlds and exceptional individuals who the dragons see value in. Dragons are prideful and greedy, but intelligent enough to know it is easier to gain the trust of an ally than attempt to conquer them and their planet so soon after a war, so while the majority of seats on the council are draconic, the other representatives are treated with fairness. At least, as much fairness as dragons are willing to give, which would be a lot less had the council not included powerful archmages and warlords who can and do “negotiate” right back.

The result is that the council is effectively the seat of galactic power, holding absolute dominion over legitimate trade routes, and including representatives from most of the civilized galaxy. Their jurisdiction, while focused on Wyrmweb is essentially limited only to their influence – with no concrete borders to speak of, all that determines their power in the remote sections of the galaxy is how many enforcers are stationed there. And enforcing for a group of not only the most powerful, but the richest beings in the galaxy is an appealing prospect when over half the council doesn’t care how you do your job.

That said, it is not without its enemies – The Wild Man being the chief among them. His insurgents are a constant thorn in the council’s side, but so far they have yet to gain any real ground. Additionally, those claiming to work for the Huntsman often attempt to undermine the Council’s plans. The fact that those two options aren’t particularly pleasant for more virtuous would-be revolutionaries means that the seat of their power is essentially unshakable. Of course, should a more charismatic leader arise, that could well change. The real threat for them is, often council members will actively employ any forces at their disposal to undermine any initiatives they didn’t approve. Keeping plausible deniability means that mercenaries and adventurers are often used – the untrustworthy types whose word under torture can’t be verified. Of course, while the “good” council members deny such accusations, the rumors in ports and taverns say otherwise.