The Council
| Type | Governing council of Eslura |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | The council room in The Sacred City, destroyed |
| Notable members | The Sacred Rulers, and representatives of Eslura's peoples |
| First appearance | Sacred: Eslura's Calling |
The Council, also called the Sacred Council, is the body in which Eslura settles what is to be done. The Sacred Rulers of the four kingdoms sit on it, alongside representatives sent by Eslura's peoples, and it meets at the High Moon Festival when the moons eclipse and every Ruler is in one place.[1][2]
Membership
All four Rulers attend, which is why the Festival is the natural time to convene: Alistair Archibald notes that they will all be present for it regardless.[1] He speaks of the whole body as "the entire council in Galecrest", so the Council is understood to be larger than the Rulers alone.[3]
Peoples send representatives. An elderly blue-finned Olphin who steps out of the crowd at the fall of Zybersia tells Obellius Kalaar that she served on the Sacred Council as the representative for the Olphins before the city fell, and Obellius treats her as the leader of her people.[4] No other seat is named, and the books do not say who presides, how many sit, or whether the Sacred Head has a place at the table.
Authority
The Council decides. Tabitha Glowdish takes the Eyearke Stone toward the Rulers precisely so that the Council can rule on what becomes of it, rather than keeping it or destroying it herself.[2]
Its assent comes before action. When Seely presses for a plan to rescue the Olphins from Morgaedion on the strength of his research, Alistair twice refuses to make one until the council has been consulted, and says as much even while accepting that the research is sound.[3]
What the Rulers decide binds whole peoples. The Olphin Survivors hiding inside the walls of Morgaedion remember four Rulers who pushed to have them locked away for crimes they had not committed, and one of them says she would not forget the name of any of the four.[5]
Meetings
The Council's own room stood in The Sacred City and is destroyed, so Galecrest serves as the next best place to gather.[1]
The gathering called for the Festival never becomes a session. Three Rulers reach Galecrest, Zybersia's seat standing empty since Elmryn's murder, and then an earthquake brings the roof of the Galecrest Library down on the square and the Nelazgians set fire to the east side of the city that same night.[6][3][7] By the time Obellius is loose the Rulers are scattered, Lumikki Otsby a prisoner at Veskadoth and Zybersia in his hands, and no further meeting is recorded.[4][8]