Consul of the Federation
The rank of consul in the Federation of Vay is one of great political power. The consuls, each officially the head of one department of the Federal government, constitute the Council of the Federation, which serves as a board of expert advisors to the Magelord and, more recently, the New Federal Committee.
A relative unknown in politics, Octavius was a scholar of Mythomechanics and the history of magic at the time of her appointment to the Council. Septimus Tarquinia: Consul of Commerce. Appointed as Consul of the Treasury in 696 by Claudius Triari, and appointed as Consul of Commerce in 718 by Novia Celsa.
Tarquinia was the vice president of Triari-Cato-Decimus, the largest bank in the Federation, prior to becoming a consul. Raythe Blackhand: Consul of Defense. Appointed in 717 by Novia Celsa.
Blackhand is a well-regarded master of abjuration magic who spent many years as a director at the Vitalis School of Arcana. Lathlaer Mahr: Consul of Diplomacy. Appointed in 717 by Novia Celsa.
An archmage and former ambassador to Solisvar, Mahr was one of the final three candidates for Magelord before Madam Celsa was chosen by the Grand Court. Concordia Triari-Livio: Consul of Education. Appointed in 717 by Novia Celsa.
An academic who has published extensively on arcane pedagogy, Triari-Livio taught at several highly-regarded universities prior to her appointment to the council. Anastasia Djernina: Consul of Energy. Appointed in 683 by Claudius Triari.
The sister of Cyrillus Djernina, the head of Eclipse International, Anastasia Djernina worked as an executive at EI prior to accepting the consulship. She was briefly a candidate for Magelord before Madam Celsa was chosen by the Grand Court, but Djernina quietly withdrew her candidacy in 715 and has not publicly spoken of it since. Polaris Archoides: Consul of Infrastructure. Appointed in 375 by Proximus Augustus.
Before serving as consul, Archoides was the executive supervisor of the Federation's aerorail system. Leto Melite: Consul of Justice. Appointed in 717 by Novia Celsa.
Leto Melite was the chief clerk to the Grand Court before he accepted the consulship. Lucien Octavius: Consul of Research. Appointed in 717 by Novia Celsa.
A relative unknown in politics, Octavius was a scholar of Mythomechanics and metamagic at the time of his appointment to the Council.
History
The guidelines for the formation of the Council and the appointment of consuls were laid out in the Treaty of Vay, the treaty that united the four metropolises of Auria, Caelus, Cethandir, and Vay Proper into a single state, and the structure of the Council changed little until the restructuring of the Federal government initiated by Madam Novia Celsa in 717. Originally, the Council was designed to ensure that all four cities would be represented in some capacity in the highest ranks of the government no matter the origins of the reigning Magelord, so previously, the Magelord was required to ensure that three of the twelve consuls come from each of the four cities. Since 717, no such restriction is upheld, a change that occurred due to the significant change in the demographics of the Federation following the secession of Caelus from the Federation and the destruction of Vay Proper. While appointment to the Council occurs at will by the Magelord, most past Magelords have elected to keep most consuls on the Council when they ascend to the throne, replacing at most three or four. However, upon her ascension, Madam Celsa selected six new consuls, and after several departments were consolidated into others, only three of the nine current consulships are held by consuls that have been on the Council since before Madam Celsa's ascension. All of those three predate even the administration of Astoria Nethrani, Madam Celsa's predecessor.Responsibilities
The primary task of the consuls is to interface between the executives of their respective departments and the Magelord: they advocate for actions favored by their departments and apprise the Magelord of the status of the tasks and projects for which their department is responsible. As such, familiarity with both high-level politics and the work of one's respective department are required for success as a consul, and consuls are largely appointed due to their expertise in fields relevant to their department.Titles & Styles
In formal settings, a consul is styled "The Honorable [Full Name], Consul of the Federal Department of [Department Name]." They may be addressed firstly as "Consul [Surname]," and thereafter as "Sir," "Madam," or "Lire," though unlike for the Magelord, the honorific is not expected in further uses in writing. Formerly, consuls were granted the right to use the aristocratic surname "ce'[City Name]" (e.g., ce'Cethandir appended after the last name for a consul from Cethandir), but after the rule of equal representation from the four cities was abolished, so too was the right to the aristocratic surname, though former consuls may keep using it.Current Consuls
The following individuals currently constitute the Council. Lucina Octavius: Consul of Arcana. Appointed in 717 by Novia Celsa.A relative unknown in politics, Octavius was a scholar of Mythomechanics and the history of magic at the time of her appointment to the Council. Septimus Tarquinia: Consul of Commerce. Appointed as Consul of the Treasury in 696 by Claudius Triari, and appointed as Consul of Commerce in 718 by Novia Celsa.
Tarquinia was the vice president of Triari-Cato-Decimus, the largest bank in the Federation, prior to becoming a consul. Raythe Blackhand: Consul of Defense. Appointed in 717 by Novia Celsa.
Blackhand is a well-regarded master of abjuration magic who spent many years as a director at the Vitalis School of Arcana. Lathlaer Mahr: Consul of Diplomacy. Appointed in 717 by Novia Celsa.
An archmage and former ambassador to Solisvar, Mahr was one of the final three candidates for Magelord before Madam Celsa was chosen by the Grand Court. Concordia Triari-Livio: Consul of Education. Appointed in 717 by Novia Celsa.
An academic who has published extensively on arcane pedagogy, Triari-Livio taught at several highly-regarded universities prior to her appointment to the council. Anastasia Djernina: Consul of Energy. Appointed in 683 by Claudius Triari.
The sister of Cyrillus Djernina, the head of Eclipse International, Anastasia Djernina worked as an executive at EI prior to accepting the consulship. She was briefly a candidate for Magelord before Madam Celsa was chosen by the Grand Court, but Djernina quietly withdrew her candidacy in 715 and has not publicly spoken of it since. Polaris Archoides: Consul of Infrastructure. Appointed in 375 by Proximus Augustus.
Before serving as consul, Archoides was the executive supervisor of the Federation's aerorail system. Leto Melite: Consul of Justice. Appointed in 717 by Novia Celsa.
Leto Melite was the chief clerk to the Grand Court before he accepted the consulship. Lucien Octavius: Consul of Research. Appointed in 717 by Novia Celsa.
A relative unknown in politics, Octavius was a scholar of Mythomechanics and metamagic at the time of his appointment to the Council.
Notable Former Consuls
Atilius Castran ce'Auria: A former Consul of Research. Appointed in 707 by Astoria Nethrani; served until his death in 715. Castran was one of the five plausible claimants to the title of Magelord identified by the Grand Court after Nethrani perished in the the Severing. On the 10th of Nightwinter, 715, Castran was assassinated by former Vanguard agent Anarch, a wanted fugitive linked to multiple high-profile assassinations, whose whereabouts are still unknown. Eridanis Ūdris ce'Cethandir: A former Consul of Weapons (previously its own department, now a subdepartment of the Department of Defense). Appointed in 523 by Pollux Adionati; served until he was removed from the Council by Novia Celsa upon her ascension. Under Ūdris' leadership, the Department of Weapons initiated Project Vanguard, a top secret program with the aim of developing squadrons of elite supersoldiers psionically controlled by brainwashed kalashtar commanders. Thousands of individuals were "recruited," disappeared, and made subject to brutal human experimentation as part of this project, and hundreds lived as Vanguard soldiers, some for decades. The work done under the auspices of Project Vanguard was revealed to the public in late 717, shortly after Novia Celsa ascended to the throne, retroactively providing a motive for Ūdris' removal from the Council. Eridanis Űdris died, cause unknown, shortly thereafter.
Type
Civic, Political
Form of Address
Consul
Current Holders
Past Holders
Reports directly to
Related Organizations
Comments