Legion Control Act
The Emergency Amendment to the Imperial Budget for Operation of the Thousand Scales of the Dragons in the 764th Year in the Reign of the Scarlet Empress', known colloquially as the Legion Control Act, was a piece of legislation passed in the morning of the 1st Ascending Wood RY764, after a series of secret negotiations between Senators and the ministers of the Thousand Scales led by Imperial Treasurer Bal Keraz.
The amendment relived the Imperial Treasury of responsibility for the Imperial Legions, and requested that the Great Houses do the Realm ‘the greatest and most noble service’ by assuming complete financial and administrative responsibility for the Legions. The amendment also declared several Legion-associated ministries of the Scales, including the Efficient and Exemplary Manciples of the Martial Table and the Enlightened Regulators of Essence Engineering to be ‘ignoble and unnecessary drains on the coffers of the Scarlet Empress’, with the Imperial Treasury ordering them disbanded in the following days.
The amendment was quite specific in its allocation of Legions, based largely on those Houses who had served as sponsors prior to RY764, and/or who had members occupying generalships or prominent officer posts already. The distribution was as follows:
House Cathak: 1st Imperial Legion, 2nd Imperial Legion, 12th Imperial Legion, 30th Imperial Legion, 47th Imperial Legion.
House Cynis: Vermillion Legion.
House Ledaal: 16th Imperial Legion, 17th Imperial Legion, 18th Imperial Legion.
House Mnemon: 20th Imperial Legion, 21st Imperial Legion, 22nd Imperial Legion.
House Nellens: None.
House Peleps: 23rd Imperial Legion, 28th Imperial Legion, 29th Imperial Legion.
House Ragara: 6th Imperial Legion, 14th Imperial Legion, 15th Imperial Legion, 19th Imperial Legion.
House Sesus: 3rd Imperial Legion, 4th Imperial Legion, 8th Imperial Legion, 13th Imperial Legion, 26th Imperial Legion.
House Tepet: 5th Imperial Legion, 9th Imperial Legion, 10th Imperial Legion, 11th Imperial Legion, 25th Imperial Legion.
House V’neef: 24th Imperial Legion.
The 27th Imperial Legion’s fate was not declared in the Amendment. House Cynis was offered the Legion but declined, and House Nellens demanded it but were rebuffed by the other Houses.
In addition to the transfer of control, the Act granted the great gift of appointment into the Immaculate Order (where they might gain true enlightenment of their souls through monastic solitude) to the seven Legion strategoi who were outcastes rather than Dynasts. These included Erelgan the Lion (1st Legion), Puissant Mongoose (27th Legion), and Saloy Hin (17th Legion).
Support for the Act was significant across nearly all Houses in the Greater Chamber. Initial resistance by House Cathak was overcome in debate by assuring them the 1st Legion, which was initially to be split amongst several Houses. House Tepet was vehemently opposed, the Legions granted them by the Act all distant and involved in an increasingly expensive war that would now be borne by their own coffers rather than those of the Realm. Denied the 27th Legion, House Nellens also opposed the Act, though they could do little to stop it in the Greater Chamber and were viciously beaten to silence in the Lesser.
| Great House | Votes in Favour | Votes Against |
|---|---|---|
| House Peleps | 32 | 18 |
| House Cathak | 22 | 0 |
| House Ledaal | 26 | 0 |
| House Tepet | 0 | 29 |
| House Sesus | 25 | 0 |
| House V'neef | 18 | 1 |
| House Mnemon | 25 | 0 |
| House Cynis | 20 | 0 |
| House Ragara | 33 | 0 |
| House Nellens | 0 | 1 |
| TOTAL | 201 | 49 |
