Council of Elders

Overview

The Council of Elders makes up the top level of leadership for Great House Ragara. Instituted not long after the House's founding by Prince Ragara, it has long consisted of the House's most powerful elders (including the Triumvirs who lead its caucus in the Deliberative), who combine their wisdom and influence to set the course of the House.

The Council has no strict voting procedures, instead resolving disputes through debate and economic pressures. During the time of Ragara, and continuing into the chairmanship of his successor Ragara Banoba, its members have been well aware that its existence is not *required*, but rather an acknowledgement of their power: the chair offers authority because while it might win a conflict the cost is deemed too high. This has resulted in a rare tendency within usually-cutthroat Dynastic politics: when a Ragara's power rises to great heights their ostensible rivals will often seek to invite them onto the Council, and when a Council member's fortunes fade they will usually submit their resignation rather than attempting to cling to the power a Council seat brings (these resignations tend to be accompanied by support from remaining council members, slowing or halting the fall of their former compatriot). That is not to say, of course, that the politics within the Council does not become contentious or factional, but that all parties understand shared interests and the wastefulness of fighting battles one is unlikely to win. Most members of the Council and other senior Dynasts of the Eldest House see this as the example which the whole Dynasty ought emulate in the time of the Empty Throne.

The Council meets when and where it is convened by its Chair, having no fixed location. The most common venue is the Octagonal Pavilion of Jade, within the southern part of the Ragara Wing in the Imperial Palace.