The Occularium

The Occularium is the most ancient ritual of the Arcane Theocracy and serves to give the Council of 21 a gathering at which to conduct critical business and of course to reorganize. Given the treacherous nature of villains the founders of the Theocracy recognized that they needed a unique safety valve against the organization turning in on itself. The solution is to force the Council to hold a in person meeting where they are required to fill vacant seats on the Council, reassign Council Seats, Reorganize the House Royalty, or make changes to the Theocracy itself. The Occularium is only held when the Spheres align and tilt in favor of the C Sphere and the Nightmare Realms. When the Aether flows in this manner villains experience an increase in resources and power by effect and this rise. Holding Occulariums in coordination with this occurrence keeps them rare and gives the Theocracy a chance to adjust with the new power in it's ranks.

#### History

Not much is known to the greater Multiverse about the Occularium. While it is simple to learn of the existence of the gathering and it's procedures can be found in research there is no record of the historic happenings inside of previous Occulariums. The occasional rumor or legend sometimes develops concerning the inner workings of the Occularium but they are speculative or exaggerated. Even more remarkable is that members of the press have been present at the last two Occulariums and yet only the attendance and fashionable dress of the participants is ever reported. Given that the Suit Royalty and some Council members waste no time in announcing their new status official public records don't seem terribly necessary. It is known that current Council has made strides to keep better accounts of their business but where and how to see said records is unknown.

It is taught by the House of Rods that the Occularium was conceived by the arcane mages that founded the Theocracy after a schism in their ranks. A conflict over power developed between two powerful mages and the resolution of the matter ended in the deaths of some of their cabal. Recognizing the inherit danger of competition amongst villains the Theocracy Founders used their new found knowledge of the Multiverse and the Spheres to enshrine a mandatory gathering of the Council to coincide with the tilt of the Aether to the C Sphere. At the first Occularium the Theocracy founders established the Houses and their Royalty. At The Second Occularium they developed The Shuffling to reorganize the Theocracy and replace the dead and dying original Council members. The Occularium has continued ever since even when the Theocracy was in hiding. Given it's irregular scheduling no one knows how many Occulariums there have been. Attendance is by invitation only and the participants are sworn to secrecy.

#### The Shuffling

The process of reorganizing the House Royalty of the four Houses of the Theocracy in a most ruthless and cutthroat performance review. The current Royalty as well as any contenders for their seats must carry their ballots about the Occularium soliciting the signatures of a simple majority of Council members. Once the needed number of signatures have been collected the ballot wins the position of Knight, Page, Queen, or King of their respective House. House Royalty may opt to resign or even retire from the Theocracy and The Game at this time instead, though few ever do. As the Occularium is a social atmosphere mixing mingling with deadly business the Council members have been known to award their signatures on all manner of conditions. Trading favors, bribes, and loyalties is of course common but so are unusual requests from Council members. The former Fool awarded his vote to the candidates that could give a good chicken imitation. The Empress once required that candidates had to lobby her in song. There are no restrictions against such things. Once a candidate presents a majority ballot to the Prolocutor, they will verify the votes with the Council members, and then announce the winning candidate and their new seat.

##### The 13 Long Ballots

The formal business of the Council is contained to a limit of thirteen ballot measures per Occularium. These can be as simple as one sentence or as complex as several pages but the Council tend to keep their actions to broad directives and then let's the Houses sort out the daily details of running the Theocracy. These thirteen ballots also include the replacement, reassigning, or removal of Council members. Each Council member must sign or signet each long bill as they make up their mind. There are no hand votes or secret ballots. How a Council member votes is clearly written out on each long ballot for all to see including if they elected not to vote at all.

It is in these ballots and the order that that are presented for signing that the most powerful aspect of the Prolocutor position. The Prolocutor decides in what order the ballots are considered and signed. The Prolocutor also has the ability to change the order of the ballots awaiting consideration. The Long Ballots have specific majorities they must obtain to be successful:

* Ballots to fill empty Council seat can only fill one seat at a time and can only have two candidates placed on them. Each candidate must be endorsed by at least three Council members with the first two candidates to secure such being placed on the long ballot. The winner must have a majority of the current sitting Council (empty seats do not vote until filled).
* Ballots to strip a Council member of their seat or to reassign a Council member to a different seat require a two thirds majority.
* Ballots to conduct other Theocracy business require a simple majority to pass.

The Prolocutor is known to wheel and deal for the order in which these ballots are considered as it is the one point of leverage in his position.

##### ENIGMA Involvement

At the end of the Multiverse War the Arcane Theocracy had just seized the C Sphere from the imploding Dark Order and was in no condition to continue the fight against the Grand Alliance. In order to be recognized as the principle new power in the C Sphere and the voice of the Nightmare Realms in the Multiverse the Theocracy sued for peace and signed the Accords. The Accords clearly defined that the Multiverse need a custodial caretaker entity that would monitor the Enlightened Realities and their interactions with each other. ENIGMA was selected as this caretaking agency and their Accord prescribed powers include attending the organizational meetings of factions to enforce Multiverse law and arbitrate conflicts with other interdimensional powers. This means that ENIGMA will send a team of agents to the Occularium the next time it is held to ensure that Arcane Theocracy abides by the Accords and keeps it's mayhem within it's borders and The Game.

### The Occularium, A Gathering of Villains Special Event

*September 23rd thru 25th, 2022 in Dallas, Texas Mad Raven Productions will host The Occularium, A Gathering of Villains. This couture LARP event will be limited to 100 participants and will feature a immersive experience in the beautiful Quixotic World event space in Deep Ellum. This LARP will feature all of the above power struggles and drama as a colorful cat of villains attempt to out wit each other for power and riches.*