Conclave session
Traditionally, the Conclave has one formal session each evening during the Imperial summit. The first session is usually dedicated to the appointment of the grandmasters of the orders, which generally takes place on Friday night. Sometimes this is immediately followed by a full session, but more often full sessions take place on Saturday and Sunday evenings, to allow sufficient time to prepare the agenda.
During these sessions, the magicians of the Conclave vote on subjects related to the good conduct of their fellows and the use of their resources.
The Agenda
The agenda for each formal session of the Conclave is determined in advance. Any magician can add an item to the agenda. The process for doing so is reasonably simple; the magician approaches a Conclave functionary and raises an agenda item. This costs one crystal mana. The civil servant adds the item to the agenda. At the next Conclave session, each item on the agenda is raised and resolved by the meeting, generally in the order in which they were raised.
Each archmage has the power to add a single agenda item for each session at no cost, and may elect to do so under the veil of night, in which case the agenda item is described as being raised by them but no further details need be given.
Any Magician can ask to review the agenda for the next Conclave session. The agenda is normally closed half an hour before the session is scheduled to begin.
The two most common agenda items are address and declaration".
Address
The magician, or one named individual to whom they defer who must be present, can address the Conclave for up to five minutes on whatever topic they desire.
When this item is raised, the civil servant will ask if any of the grandmasters wish to silence the speaker; if one chooses to do so, a vote is called. If the vote passes, the agenda item is removed from the agenda and the address does not take place. As is usual with conclave votes, the mana crystal paid to place the item on the agenda counts as a vote in favour of the address.
Propose a Declaration
The magician proposes that the Conclave votes on an issue, generally the use of one of its legal powers in the form of a Declaration. The crystal of mana always counts as a single vote in favour of the declaration.
The Conclave has a number of powers to enable them to fulfil their constitutional role of protecting the Empire from the abuses of magic. These powers are grouped together as the Declarations of the Conclave.
Declaration of Candidacy
The Conclave can declare someone to hold a specific position controlled by the Conclave. This is most commonly used to propose someone for the post of archmage or Dean of the Lyceum. If there is someone already holding the position, they obviously lose it when the vote passes. Occasionally, this same declaration has been used to simply remove someone from their position, by declaring that their post should be filled with nobody.
It is typical for the civil service to group all declarations of candidacy that effect the same position together at the point on the agenda where the first one is announced and for the position to be claimed only when the last vote for that position has taken place.
Declaration of Sorcery
The Conclave may declare a magician to be a sorcerer. The most common reason for this declaration is as a result of an abuse of 'legal curses' against citizens or allies of the Empire. If this Declaration is made:
- the sorcerer is prohibited from contributing to rituals.
- the sorcerer is prohibited from carrying or using crystal mana.
- the sorcerer is not permitted to run a mana site. Such a resource is confiscated by the Conclave, and its production added to the vault.
A sorcerer who violates these prohibitions will be subject to arrest and trial before a magistrate.
Declaration of Reconciliation
The Conclave may reconcile a sorcerer with the Empire. If this declaration is made, all rights that were taken from them are returned. They regain possession of any confiscated mana site, but not of any crystal mana it may have produced while they were sorcerers.
Declaration of Enmity
The Conclave may declare a specific Eternal to be an enemy of the Empire. If this declaration is made, it becomes illegal for anyone to consort with the Eternal named in this declaration, or with their Heralds. Such an act can result in the alleged offender being arrested on charges of sorcery or treason, and the case taken before the magistrates.
Performance of rituals that deal with, or appear to deal with, an Eternal subject to the declaration of enmity (such as Ephisis' Scales, Clarion Call of Ivory and Dust, Missive for Sadogua and the like) may be treated as sorcery; the magistrates will often seek the assistance of the archmagi to clarify this, unless there is a separate declaration of interdiction against specific rituals.
As of 374 YE, the only well-known Eternal subject to declaration of enmity is Wendigo, a Winter Eternal that promotes unspeakable acts and cannibalistic feasts. He was made subject to this declaration in the 306 YE Winter Solstice session of the Conclave following exposure of his involvement in no less than three cannibalistic cults dedicated to blasphemy, idolatory and heresy.
Declaration of Amity
The Conclave may declare a specific Eternal to be an ally of the Empire. Imperial citizens are encouraged to demonstrate courtesy and even aid these Eternals, or their Heralds, where it is possible for them to do so. The Heralds of that Eternal receive the same status and protection under Imperial Law accorded to any mortal foreigner.
This declaration is also used to rescind a declaration of enmity.
Declaration of Interdiction
The Conclave may censor material that could pose a supernatural risk to the citizens of the Empire. They can use this to declare the use of a specific ritual or enchanted item to be an act of sorcery, meaning that anyone found guilty of using that magic is arrested and brought before a magistrate.
Specific items that have been declared under interdiction are usually given to the civil service for secure disposal; scrolls or tomes containing rituals that are placed under interdiction are generally destroyed. However the Conclave can also declare something interdicted without the supervision of the Conclave - generally meaning without the specific intercession of one of the archmagi. In this case interdicted items or tomes are handed over to the Conclave for appropriate disposition.
Declaration of Acceptance
This declaration will remove or modify a ban placed by the declaration of interdiction.
This declaration can also be used to suggest that a specific ritual be added to the body of Imperial Lore, allowing magicians all over the Empire to receive training in the ritual. This process can be quite costly, and requires Imperial Senate approval - it is the senate that meets costs involved, although the Conclave may offer additional support to the Senate if an appropriate gambit is raised. If this declaration is made, the civil service functionaries will add it to the Imperial Senate agenda. Adding a ritual to Imperial lore also requires that a ritual focus detailing the ritual is handed over - this is a specific item created when a ritual is researched to the point where it may be mastered. The cost to the Senate to add a ritual to Imperial lore is ten Thrones. The Senate cannot add a ritual to Imperial lore without the approval of the Conclave, and vice versa.
Declaration of the Balance
The Conclave may require the civil service to arrange the election of the grandmasters again. This declaration rarely passes unless more than one order (and thus grandmaster) wishes to re-evaluate the voting strength of the orders as a whole. The civil service will attempt to arrange the re-election after the current session, and before the next session, ensuring sufficient time is allowed for all magicians to be aware of the re-election.
Voting on declarations
A declaration is always considered to have a single vote in favour. If nobody opposes it, it passes automatically. If any grandmaster chooses to oppose the declaration, a vote is called
During a vote each grandmaster may commit an amount of crystal mana to either support or oppose the declaration. Crystals are placed secretly, then counted by the civil service. A grandmaster cannot commit more crystals than the voting strength of their order, as recorded during their election.
Declarations pass or are defeated after a single pass. In the case of a tie, the declaration is considered to have passed.
Any crystal mana used during a vote is transferred to the Conclave's reserves.
Concluding the Agenda
Once all agenda items are dealt with, or (in some very rare circumstances) once the time allocated to the agenda expires, the Conclave session either concludes or moves on to the consideration of the gambits. Any remaining agenda items are added to the start of the next conclave session.
Hearing the Gambits
After all agenda items have been raised and resolved, the Conclave proceeds to resolve the gambits put forward by the Grandmasters of the orders. Gambits are usually proposed and decided twice during an Imperial summit, assuming time allows.
The Conclave has a store of resources, usually referred to as the Conclave Vault. This exists predominantly in the form of crystal mana and ilium, but some other materials also end up in Conclave coffers. These reserves are built up from a range of sources including Conclave politics; seizures from sorcerers and barbarians; and the production of some resources controlled on the Conclave's behalf by the civil service. The Conclave is responsible for ensuring that these magical reserves are put to the use of the Empire. This is achieved through gambits and through the decision of the archmagi.
Proposing a Gambit
A gambit is a proposal that formally requests the use of the Empire's magical resources. It usually takes the form of a statement with three components.
- The name of the conclave order that proposes the gambit, and the name of the specific magician who requests the use of, and takes responsibility for, the resources
- The exact resources needed, clearly identified by type and amount
- The specific use to which this magical resource will be put is clearly stated; it is common to include a deadline after which any excess materials will be returned to the Conclave.
Examples of past gambits have included:
- The Rod and Shield requires thirty-five crystals of mana for Amelia Larkwood de Rousillon so that she may enchant the armies of the Earl de Rousillon with the Shining Panoply of War before they face the Druj in battle tomorrow morning.
- The Unfettered Mind require magician Serval i Riqueza receive forty crystals of mana to engage in an investigation of the mechanisms whereby the ritual Tribute to the Thrice-Bound Court functions; he will deliver a report to the Conclave on his findings in one year.
- The Shuttered Lantern require ten crystals of mana for Garrett of Osterly so that he may scry the dispositions of the Thule armies near Skarsind and deliver a report to the Warmage by tomorrow evening.
- The Celestial Arch require that the Icewalker Felendahnk of the Rod and Shield order receive twenty crystals of mana so that he may help the forces defending Mahnraking Hall in Hahnark by raising the Standard of War on their armies.
- The magician Heldregard requests that she be given thirty-five crystals of mana so that her coven may perform the Devastating Scythe of Anguish and Loss during the battle tomorrow morning against the Jotun.
Each grandmaster may place a single gambit for consideration prior to each session, at the cost of one crystal of mana.
A magician who is not a grandmaster may also place a gambit for consideration, but this requires five crystals of mana, and all gambits from individual magicians are heard after the gambits presented by the grandmasters.
Presenting a Gambit
Prior to the Conclave session, tokens are drawn at random to determine the order in which the gambits will be heard by the archmagi. These tokens may be swapped with other token holders as part of a negotiated arrangement. Gambits raised by grandmasters on behalf of their orders are always heard before gambits raised by individual magicians on their own behalf.
The named magician has five minutes to present their case for the gambit. The archmagi then take a short time to discuss the gambit with each other and the magician who has presented it, before deciding if they will resource the gambit.
Resourcing the Gambit
The materials available to resourcing all gambits in a session is determined before the first gambit is presented.
- One-sixth of all mana crystals and materials belonging to the Conclave is assigned to each archmage, which they can apportion as they wish to resource a gambit.
- Archmagi can agree to co-operatively pool their allocations to resource a gambit, and may discuss their intentions as they wish.
- After deliberation, each archmage writes down the amount they will contribute to the gambit and passes to the civil servant who announces the numbers and whether it has been resourced or not.
- If the gambit has been resourced, all materials assigned to that gambit are removed from the archmage's reserves. If the gambit has been over-resourced, excess materials are returned to the archmage's supply after the gambits are heard, after the materials have been assigned proportionally by the civil service. This engcourages the archmagi to be sensible with their pledges.
- If the gambit has not been resourced in full, no materials are assigned, and all materials remain in the supply of the archmagi. The gambit is said to have failed..
- There is no requirement for archmagi to utilise all, or even any, of their allocation of materials. The tally of unused materials allocated to each archmage accumulates from season to season, but is the property of the position, not the individual magician.
If the Gambit received sufficient material, it is resourced; the mana is given to the designated magician at the end of the session.
Concluding the Gambits
Once all gambits placed by grandmasters are heard, remaining gambits are presented in a random order, At any point after the six order gambits are heard, an archmage may withdraw from the proceedings.