The Council of the White Tree
The Council of the White Tree was first established at the end of the Last War, taking its name from The White Tree, the giant tree growing at the southern end of the River Takla. It was initially set up to act as arbitrator between the Five Empires when they met to discuss a truce, carving up much of Iscarion and Ameron among them.
The Council was formed of various neutral parties, including diplomats from southern Ameron, western Iscarion (beyond Empire of Tikhtai territory), and even the Paiashad Archipelago. Each empire was also permitted to send emissaries to ensure each one had its interests in particular territories represented. The process took months, during which it was agreed that a permanent Council should be established, where each of the Empires could have representatives discuss and adjudicate, especially on border issues.
Over time, the Council developed a number of subsidiary committees, composed of further representatives from the five empires, overseeing many issues relevant to international relations among them. This included bodies dealing with migration, refugees, international trade and exchange, and corruption at an inter-imperial level. This last was controversial; the five empires, although superficially interested in maintaining a fragile peace, were not open to the Council conducting extensive investigations into corruption either among representatives of different empires or within the governmental structure of the empires themselves.
As such, no official subcommittee was ever established by the Council to formally handle accusations of corruption. However, the problem was rife, especially between empires with fractious borders. The Council had no official power to prevent corruption within an empire's boundaries, but activities by imperial agents across borders posed a serious risk to the maintenance of peace. In order to tackle the issue, the Council employed agents on a freelance basis whose work was focused on investigating activities that occurred in White Tree itself. This enabled the Council to make a claim that it was protecting its own borders, although this, in itself, was risky. White Tree was intended to be a neutral space, and establishing an investigative or policing force could—and in some cases, was—be interpreted as the Council treating the territory as an imperial possession.
Type
Political, International
Capital
Government System
Kratocracy
Power Structure
Autonomous area
Economic System
Mixed economy
Related Traditions
Related Professions
Controlled Territories
Neighboring Nations
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