Council Protocol (CWS)

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There are currently 88 dragon clans scattered throughout the Io's Blood islands. Each of these clans possesses an orb of Io, and each is allowed one voting position on the Council of Wyrms. However, since not every clan has a dragon that can fulfill the age requirements of the Platform of Wyrms, fewer than 88 positions are now active. By current count, 54 wyrms are available to sit on the Council. Making quorum requires the attendance of 2 7 of these wyrms. Due to the concerns of the domains and the requirements of dragon sleep (see Chapter Seven), sometimes even making quorum takes great effort on the part of the Grand Custodian. 
A meeting can't begin earlier than one dragon week (fifteen days) after the notice goes out. Once one week has passed, the meeting can begin as soon as enough wyrms arrive to make quorum. It doesn't matter how many members of the Platform of Dominates show up as these dragons have no voting rights. Once a quorum from the Platform of Wyrms is achieved and the custodian has called the meeting to order, none of the platform members may leave the aerie until the debates have ended and the votes are counted. 
Each item on a meeting agenda must have a sponsor from either the Platform of Wyrms or the Platform of Dominates. When the custodian calls a particular item to the floor, the sponsor must come forward and present the item to the gathered assembly. Through powerful enchantments and clever acoustic design, the aerie's great hall amplifies sound and projects it for all to hear. There is no need for a dragon to shout. Its voice carries easily and clearly to all corners of the huge hall. 
As soon as the item has been presented, the debates begin. Every wyrm has an opportunity to ask questions and give opinions, though its time 
is limited. The custodian uses a gigantic measuring device to fairly track the time allotted to each dragon-wyrms speak first and have the most time allotted to them, while dominates must wait and decide how to use their shorter time slots to best advantage. 
Members of the Platform of Dominates may each speak once on any given agenda item. Wyrms, however, have the option to respond after the first round of debates has ended. Either during the debates or in the period following their conclusion, various members of the Council are expected to put forth solutions for consideration. The custodian takes the best of these and condenses them for voting purposes. Then the custodian calls for the Platform of Wyrms to render a decision. Decisions are not simply of the yea and nay variety. The Council of Wyrms must also come up with solutions, appropriate compensations, punishments, or whatever else is called for depending on the issue at hand. After a decision has been reached, the custodian may form a committee of wyrms and dominates to work on the details necessary to carry out the Council's ruling. 
Every action within the Council follows formalized procedures. For example, the order in which members of the Platform of Wyrms are allowed to speak follows a strict pattern of oldest wyrm to youngest wyrm. Members of the Platform of Dominates have no set order, but each dragon must wait until the custodian acknowledges it before it addresses the assemblage. (Although this may seem a rather arbitrary method of address, the approach is one of tradition and respect for the aged. Naturally, once a member of the Platform of Dominates reaches wyrm status, it may move on to the Platform of Wyrms, provided the respective dragon lord so chooses.) The Grand Custodian, who usually tries to place the most important topics at the head of the list, determines how items are arranged within a given agenda. 
What types of problems come before the Council of Wyrms? The most common petition concerns the hostile actions of one dragon clan toward another. Hostile actions range from disturbing trade routes, to encroaching on hunting grounds, to making incursions into the sovereign territory of a (and usually because the instigator is stronger than the victimized clan), a clan brings its complaint before the Council in hopes of restitution. At the very least, the clan hopes to be saved from further violence and loss. The Council will also be called upon to settle disputes over new territory, 
trade agreements, natural resource rights, the order of succession within a clan (if no other process already exists), and other disagreements that constantly spring up between dragons. 
Not every item brought before the Council concerns dragon disputes, however. Any topic that could potentially affect more than one clan falls under the jurisdiction of the Council. This includes determining plans of action for dealing with natural disasters, hostile monsters native to the island chain, invaders from outside the islands, and rogue dragons bent on terrorizing the countryside. Of all the possible threats, the one the Council watches for most diligently is the return of the human dragon slayers who once almost destroyed the dragons of the Io's Blood isles. 
==The Human Decree==
The Council of Wyrms takes the threat posed by humans very seriously. Though shorter lived, humans have the capacity to breed large numbers in short periods of time-easily far more populous than dragonkind. While an individual human rarely poses danger to even the youngest dragon, in large numbers they are nearly invincible. The war fought against the dragon slayers demonstrates this fact all too well. 
By special decree, the Council and the clans keep a sharp eye on those humans living on the isles. Though few in number and living in a primitive state of existence, the possibility exists that these humans could achieve the same status enjoyed by their slayer ancestors. Therefore, if any human tribe begins gaining a more advanced culture or grows too large in number, the Council sends a force to thin out the tribe. For some clans, this has taken on the aspect of culling a vile, over-populated animal, certainly an aspect that sits poorly with the humans. 
A few clans have such hatred for humans that they do not wait for signs of looming danger. If humans enter their territory, the dragons make a sport out of eliminating them. This is especially true of the chromatic dragon clans.