Grand Council Hall
Nestled at the dead center of the Wise Quarter’s administrative hive of monuments, archives, and political club-houses, Absalom’s ostentatious Grand Council Hall is a bullseye of political influence and corruption. The sweeping dome atop the complex’s Conclave Chamber stands among the architectural marvels of Absalom, featuring prominently in many of the most famous artistic depictions of the city. The close-walled, winding warren of subterranean councilor offices and clerk quarters beneath the structure—known as the Pigeon Hole—likewise looms large in city lore as one of Absalom’s most infamous dungeons, filled with just as many life-draining traps and vile monsters as the Labyrinth or Delirium’s Tangle, albeit of a decidedly political stripe.
The city’s Low Council meets in months-long sessions of demagoguery and debate in the vast circular Conclave Chamber. Each of the city’s 49 low councilors peers across the distance at one another from stone thrones built into alcoves carved into the chamber’s outer walls. The alcoves are large enough to accommodate a trio of advisors, aids, or visitors, and when no primary speaker holds the attention of the entire room, the acoustics of the chamber ensure that the chattering of politicians, sycophants, and servitors on the chamber floor creates a cacophony of indistinct conversation that paradoxically seems to improve the privacy of speakers in the alcoves.
Thirteen slightly larger alcoves loom over the others from their perch fifteen feet above the speaker’s dais along the north arc of the Conclave Chamber. These, the literal “high seats” of the Primarch’s High Council, remain largely empty during the council’s debates; in most cases high councilors make rare appearances in the chamber when the entire body must vote and otherwise assiduously avoid the place altogether. Most of the High Council’s formal business takes place at private meetings in constantly shifting secret locations throughout the city.
In theory, it’s possible for citizens of Absalom to attend sessions of the Grand Council, thronging in huge crowds on the floor of the Conclave Chamber before the speaker’s dais and below the councilors’ alcoves. Each member of the council receives a small number of passes—polished bone tablets emblazoned with the seal of Absalom—meant to be distributed to constituents, heroes of Absalom’s military or constabulary, prominent citizens, and so on. In practice, these passes usually fall to lobbyists, agitators, and agents of Absalom’s wealthiest noble families and business interests, who know that proximity to power offers opportunity for profit. Most members of the Low Council claim to represent the direct interests of the city and its people, but almost all of them benefit financially from their position, and they sometimes even go so far as accepting direct bribes in full view of councilors and citizens alike.
A wide corridor ringing the Conclave Chamber connects to doors inset into the back wall of each councilor’s alcove. Closed to the general public, the curved hallway also offers direct access to the understructure’s offices and factory-like scriptoriums that serve as the engines of Absalom’s civic bureaucracy. An ostentatiously decorated entryway at the south arc of the Grand Hall allows the general public access to these cramped passages and chambers whenever the council is in session, but not actively meeting. A retinue of three-score uniformed bailiffs guard the facility at all hours of the day, ejecting unruly agitators as necessary.
The city’s Low Council meets in months-long sessions of demagoguery and debate in the vast circular Conclave Chamber. Each of the city’s 49 low councilors peers across the distance at one another from stone thrones built into alcoves carved into the chamber’s outer walls. The alcoves are large enough to accommodate a trio of advisors, aids, or visitors, and when no primary speaker holds the attention of the entire room, the acoustics of the chamber ensure that the chattering of politicians, sycophants, and servitors on the chamber floor creates a cacophony of indistinct conversation that paradoxically seems to improve the privacy of speakers in the alcoves.
Thirteen slightly larger alcoves loom over the others from their perch fifteen feet above the speaker’s dais along the north arc of the Conclave Chamber. These, the literal “high seats” of the Primarch’s High Council, remain largely empty during the council’s debates; in most cases high councilors make rare appearances in the chamber when the entire body must vote and otherwise assiduously avoid the place altogether. Most of the High Council’s formal business takes place at private meetings in constantly shifting secret locations throughout the city.
In theory, it’s possible for citizens of Absalom to attend sessions of the Grand Council, thronging in huge crowds on the floor of the Conclave Chamber before the speaker’s dais and below the councilors’ alcoves. Each member of the council receives a small number of passes—polished bone tablets emblazoned with the seal of Absalom—meant to be distributed to constituents, heroes of Absalom’s military or constabulary, prominent citizens, and so on. In practice, these passes usually fall to lobbyists, agitators, and agents of Absalom’s wealthiest noble families and business interests, who know that proximity to power offers opportunity for profit. Most members of the Low Council claim to represent the direct interests of the city and its people, but almost all of them benefit financially from their position, and they sometimes even go so far as accepting direct bribes in full view of councilors and citizens alike.
A wide corridor ringing the Conclave Chamber connects to doors inset into the back wall of each councilor’s alcove. Closed to the general public, the curved hallway also offers direct access to the understructure’s offices and factory-like scriptoriums that serve as the engines of Absalom’s civic bureaucracy. An ostentatiously decorated entryway at the south arc of the Grand Hall allows the general public access to these cramped passages and chambers whenever the council is in session, but not actively meeting. A retinue of three-score uniformed bailiffs guard the facility at all hours of the day, ejecting unruly agitators as necessary.
Type
Ministry / City hall
Parent Location
Owner
Ruling/Owning Rank
Owning Organization
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