The Accords of the Solar Deliberative

As penned by Whisper Iron Wind, FY 680, the first Year of the Deliberative, Sanctuary.

The goals of the Solar Deliberative are fourfold:

• To provide guidance to the Exalted in their role as rulers, stewards, and guardians of Creation
• To oversee projects beyond the scope or resources of a single territory
• To ensure that the excesses that closed the First Age are not repeated
• To provide a structure unifying the Exalted and the territories they hold toward the protection and defense of Creation

All those Exalted of the Unconquered Sun have a place in the Deliberative. Full membership requires a recitation of name and deeds, including such past lives as are known, as well as display of the Mark of the Unconquered Sun. Acceptance is by general acclaim; No Solar Exalt should be denied a place in the Deliberative should they wish it. Whether confirmed or not, Chosen of the Unconquered Sun may address the assembly, participate in debate, advise it in whole or in particular, and vote on matters before the Deliberative; those unconfirmed may not govern territory in the Deliberative's trust, nor be elected First Speaker, nor wield the Sword of Creation.

Those Exalted of Luna or of the Five Maidens may address the assembly, participate in debate, and advise it in whole or in particular, but they do not hold membership and may not vote on matters before the Deliberative, unless they hold an office of the Deliberative; holding such an office entitles them to vote on matters before the Deliberative.

Those Exalted of the Elemental Dragons may address the assembly only by petition or when invited to do so, unless they hold an office of the Deliberative; holding such an office entitles them to address the assembly and participate in debate.

Spirits, gods, elementals, and mortals may address the assembly by petition or invitation. Demons, Fair Folk, and the undead are not permitted to enter the presence of the Deliberative, save as part of a member's bound retinue or by invitation as witnesses to a question of fact.

The Deliberative shall meet no less often then once every lunar year. It shall not meet when Luna's face is turned from Creation, nor shall it meet over the days of Calibration.

The Accords of the Deliberative shall consist of those laws which the Deliberative shall see fit to pass. They shall be entered into the records of Fate and bind all Creation. Not even the Exalted of the Unconquered Sun are beyond their authority, lest the fall of the First Age be repeated.

The Deliberative will elect from among its confirmed members a First Speaker, who holds the responsibilities of guiding debate, setting and overseeing the agenda, and attending to points of order. The First Speaker shall not vote in matters before the Deliberative unless the vote is tied, in which case he casts the breaking vote. His term shall be twenty solar years, and no member may be elected to two consecutive terms.

Most matters before the Deliberative may be resolved with a vote of the majority present. Matters which infringe on the sovereignty of a member's own territory require a super-majority of two-thirds of those present. No vote is binding unless at least three-quarters of the confirmed members entered on the rolls are present, excepting those who have not attended the Deliberative for the space of a solar year prior to the vote.

Territories held by the Deliberative may be delegated to the governorship of a member, to be held and governed in trust. Members who hold territory in their own right maintain sovereignty, however they also remain bound by the Accords of the Deliberative, violation of which is grounds for censor. Any Exalted of the Unconquered Sun who holds territory and claims power, whether in the trust of the Deliberative or in his own right, must maintain a privy council to advise him, guard against succession disputes, ensure the safety of the territory, and keep watch for signs of intemperance.

The privy council to a regional governor or territorial sovereign shall have the following composition:

• Four other members of the Solar Deliberative, chosen by the governor.
• A Chosen of the Five Maidens, selected at random from a list maintained by the First Speaker.
• Up to five additional advisers, as the governor may see fit to appoint.

Members of the council may resign, which requires that their position be filled in the same fashion it was appointed in. Members chosen by the governor may be removed by him. The Chosen of the Five Maidens selected from the Speaker's List may not be removed from his position save through death or resignation.

The lands held by the Solar Deliberative may expand in the following ways:

• New land claimed from the Wyld through Deliberative efforts are held by the Deliberative.
• Territories held by a member may be ceded to the Deliberative by an act of the sovereign; in courtesy, he will be offered right of first refusal for the governorship of these lands in the Deliberative's trust.
• Territories held by a member who betrays the trust of the Deliberative, allies with the enemies of Creation against its protectors, or shields another who has may be claimed by the Deliberative, by force if necessary.
• Territories that suffer a war of succession that exceeds the duration of a solar year or threatens to overflow into neighboring territories may be claimed by the Deliberative.
• Territories held by a member who grossly and repeatedly violates the Accords in spite of repeated censure may be claimed by the Deliberative following a super-majority vote.

Should a member of the Deliberative fall, all due effort will be made to locate the successor to his Essence so that he may be re-confirmed as a full member of the Deliberative. The Deliberative recognizes the continuity of reincarnation, but also recognizes the sharp divide between one life and the next. A member may not hold any office of the Deliberative through their own death; members who hold territory in their own right may handle the question as it applies to their own territory in whatever way they see fit.