Conclave

The Xeran Conclave is a large legislative group of xeren that meet in Para-xian. it is led by an elite Oligarcy of nine Savants who are in turn led by the First Savant.

To become a member of the Conclave (A Witness) one must be voted to that position by one’s peers. Only TKs may vote for a TK Witness only TSs may vote for a TS Witness etc. To be able to vote for Witnesses one must be a Tier 3 one’s self and to be eligible to stand for election as a Witness one must be Tier 1. Those are the only criteria.

## Voting and Elections

The Witnesses are grouped by their discipline and are led by one of the Savants who is chosen by them from among their ranks. Therefore five of the nine Savants are leaders of one of the five subgroups of Witnesses.

These are elected by the masses but the system is weighted by the Savants. The process is as follows using the TD Savant for this example. Several Tier 1 TDs who are also Witnesses put themselves forward to be elected as Savant. All TDs vote ut their votes are weighted Tier 3s only count as 1 vote, Tier 2 count as 3 votes. Tier 1 Count as 5 votes and TD Witnesses count as 10 votes. The TD Savant, elected by the TDs, is their voice on the Savants’ council and their leader.

These group elections are done every twelve years and are always six years away from the other Savant elections. Witnesses are elected every six years as well but these are placed so as to run in between the Savant elections.

So for example:

 1703 PE
 1706 PE
 1709 PE
 17012 PE

The First Savant is only voted for by Witnesses and one can only stand for election as First Savant if three criteria are met.

1- You have been elected as a Savant previously at some point.

2 – You are nominated/sponsored to stand by at least ten Witnesses (Minimum of two from each discipline).

3 – Your Power Level can be demonstrated by the academies as being in the top 10% of Tier 1 abilities.

In First Savant Elections all Witnesses may vote but the Savants themselves may not.

The Chancellors both of Interior and Exterior are elected a week after the First Savant is put in post. He must put forward four nominations for each post (though he may voice his specific preference publicly if he wishes to) and then they are voted for by the Witnesses as a whole. The Savants themselves may not vote in these elections.

The Duel-Wielder Savant is elected by all Tier three and above Duel-Wielders as per the regular discipline Savants. Duel-Wielder Witnesses get the usual weighted vote. Savants may not vote in this election even if they are Duel-Wielders themselves.

## Role in Derioch Society

The Conclave is the final court of appeal for Xeren found guilty of a crime.

The Conclave is the only body recognised as a legitimate legislative body on Derioch. Only they can make laws. Savants alone can propose laws, but for something to be passed into law it must receive a majority vote of 70% to 30% not counting abstentions. Savant votes in law making count as 10 Witness votes.

Laws must be signed by the First Savant or they are rejected and returned to the Conclave for further discussion. Traditionally he can only do this a maximum of five times. If his refusal is supported by a majority of the Savants the law is vetoed and cannot be reintroduced for 100 years.

Also if a law is proposed by the first Savant and 70% of the Witnesses vote for it the ‘Exceptional Objection’ may be brought to block it. This is a specific lop hole in the law where if all eight Savants save the first Savant agree unanimously they can strike down any of his proposals and ban their reintroduction for 100 years.

Bylaws affecting only one of the five key cities and only affecting one of the five disciplines can be introduced by a Witness rather than a Savant and is only voted for by Witnesses of that discipline. The Savant does not vote.

It must be signed by its Savant rather than the First Savant in order to pass into law. If others believe it is a stealth law intended to reach beyond the parameters of the group an investigation may be called. If it is found to be too wide in its scope or powers it must be reconsidered entirely or brought by a Savant for the general Conclave to consider as a full law.