Prime Tribunal

The Prime Tribunal (referred to as the Tribunal) is the oligarchic council that oversees the development and governance of the Serpentum Imperium, dominated by two factional divisions namely the Kara that consists of the highest ranking and most powerful of the military and star-fleet commanders and the Vogala that form the most influential and wealthiest of the priestly clergy that dominates Drakenhelm. While the two divisions are almost exclusively Varanus, the civil government is also represented through one elected official of each planet and species under the Imperium, who appeal their concerns to the two factional divisions.
In order to reach a conclusion to decisions the Tribunal requires a 3/4 majority vote on issues, only the Keeper who has exclusive veto power over the Tribunal can authorize and deny the results of the vote. The Tribunal gathers in one of the two Tribunal Spires on New Serpentum and Drakenhelm respectively with the power-base of the two divisions split at each, the New Serpentum Spire is favoured by the Kara and Drakenhelm by the Vogala. Because of the distances between the spires, physical attendance is supplemented if required by a sophisticated holographic simulacrum system for the council members in addition to the use of quantum communications to eradicate the limitations for communication at such distances.
While the Prime Tribunal holds the executive power the day to day functions of the wider state are performed by the Civil Council and the High Judges whose branches and departments serve under the direction of specific Kara and Vogala benefactors.
In matters of political policy the Kara often rule in matters relating to external factors for the Imperium such as expansion, defence, diplomacy, foreign aid and trade (which is often facilitated by the networks of the clerics and the Exchange) while the Vogala dominate matters of internal policy such as economic, education, welfare, infrastructure and civil justice and rights among other things. As such the two factions can be regarded as the two faces of the Imperium as a whole, the one it shows to the outside world and the one it's citizens see.