The Imperial Council

The Imperial Council is in charge of the Imperial bureaucracy. This means the Council manages and handles almost all background administration tasks (with the exception of affairs within the Domain of Anaxes, which are mostly under the direct control of the Domain’s Veracity Bureau). Thus, below the Council itself, the bureaucracy remains a bureaucracy; supervisors answering to supervisors.

The Council itself is made of various Core world nobles, Imperial bureaucratic heads, and other high ranking officials all living in exile in the Outer Rim, each running a different bureaucratic department. Also, as the Imperial Council is the “face” of the Empire, the Council also handles all “foreign affairs” with non-Imperial systems.

Technically, Grand Admiral Yularen is the Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial military and thus a member of the Imperial Council. In reality, no one on the Council is under the belief that if Yularen and the rest of the council come to a disagreement, the military would side with the Council. The Council has a regiment of Imperial Royal Guards, the headquarters of the Imperial Knights, and whatever security a given member hires out of pocket. That’s it. If the Council wishes to project strength, it is done because the military leadership agrees with this use of Imperial military assets.

Thus Yularen remaining a loyal Imperial commander to the Council has been very beneficial to the Council. And while no one on the Council lacks an opinion on what to do after Yularen’s time has passed, most keep it to themselves.

No one in the Imperial Remnant really respects the Council. The Council’s authority had always come from being an extension of the Emperor, meaning there was little need to develop any power themselves. Now without an Emperor, there is little consequence to disrespecting a given Council member. So most do.

That being said, there is no Empire without an Emperor, and while there isn’t an Emperor currently, as long as it is expected that there will be one in the future, then the Empire continues. So while most power players in the Empire have little respect for the Council, it is vitally important that everyone else still believes in the power of the Imperial Throne. So while everyone doesn’t respect the Council, everyone has to be seen respecting the Imperial Council. This ironically means the Imperial Council has near absolute power in one space; foreign affairs.

Because the perception that the remnants of the Empire are divided would be the end of the Empire, no internal faction of the Empire can be seen publicly negotiating with any external political entity. Thus all external forces must publicly interact with the Imperial Council, and so all diplomacy (at least any done outside the shadows) falls under their domain.

The need to hold the Empire together means that, publicly, the Council cannot afford to show any internal divisions. But there is indeed one major source of division; who should be the next Emperor.

Some believe the Grand Moff is inevitably gonna take the seat, so have been lobbying for him in hopes he will reward those who supported him earliest. Others lobby for a given champion that just happens to be related to them by blood. Some argue that they should hunt down the closest blood relative to Sheev Palpatine and put him/her/they on the throne. But the majority seem to want to keep the throne empty, though the reason why is for a diversity of motives. The one option that is never going to happen is Yularen, as Yularen has directly turned down the throne when it was offered to him years ago.

The Imperial Council exists for two narrative reasons. One, all other Imperial factions draw their legitimacy from the Imperial Throne, which the council is the administer of until there is a new Emperor. Thus, they all need the Imperial Throne to maintain the appearance of having power to maintain their own power, and so have to at least pretend to be loyal to the Council and thus publicly act like they are the same faction.

And two, the Council exists to function as a hostile social opponent during diplomacy and investigation sessions.