The Council

The Council was the governing organization of northern Chalice in the Fifth Age. Its reign lasted from the banishment of the Vycelant in 5A30 until the Battle of Mirt's Watch in 5A101.

Although the Council consisted solely of practitioners of magic, it governed day-to-day affairs from legislature to foreign policies. The Council listened to the advice of guilds, experts and especially nobility and imposed a loose but uniform government.

All members of the Council were renowned for their talent in a particular field of magic and were titled accordingly. They were originally considered equal, but the three most powerful members became the driving forces in the Council towards the end of its reign.

Known members
Little exact information of the Council's members has survived to present day, but the names of the last ruling members became infamous during the Zelthynese campaign to occupy northern Chalice. Noal and Vaylon, the seats of abjuration of illusion, were killed by the Greyguard. Torell, Garald and Kreth, the seats of necromancy, enchantment and evocation, died in the Battle of Mirt's Watch right before the second Zelthynese incursion. Hallen Levant, the seat of transmutation, disappeared right after the incursion, and Erwin Thrym, the seat of divination, sought refuge in Freehold and has avoided publicity since then.

History
In 5A30 the 30-year-rule of the Vycelant was brought to an end with the help of Zelthynese forces. The Council was formed by practitioners who put little value in Chrassian bloodlines and culture and instead focused on the present and regaining the trust of the people. Zelthynese forces withdrew from northern Chalice, leaving it under the Council's rule. It's said that during the early times of the Council they took some direction and orders from Zelthyn but became gradually more independent. Northern Chalice experienced decades of peace and prosperity under the Council's rule.

In 5A95 three members of the Council - Kreth, Garald and Torell - acquired magical talent unlike seen before among the Council. Surviving writings are unclear on how this happened, but suggest the source is of Chrassian or divine origin. This power shift led slowly led to bad blood between the members of the Council until its culmination in 5A98 when Torell went to war with the rest of the Council. Despite his great power, he was vastly outnumbered, and by 5A101 the Council's forces delivered their final blow against Torell during the Battle of Mirt's Watch in Northmire.

Several members of the Council were lost, and before northern Chalice could recover from the civil war, the newly-made Zelthynese potentate's forces invaded and the Council was officially disbanded.