The Consul

* The Consul is the representative Monarch of the Gaean System. They are always the representative monarch, their DNA designed for an ideal leader, and although they do not hold too much explicit power, they serve a key government function and as an idealized icon for the system as a whole.

## Appearance

The Consul is an intersex human, designed to appear perfect an encompassing of all the best traits of humanity.

They had a medium skin tone, broad nose, thick brows, and a very strong bone structure. They have dirty blonde wavy hair that has been historically worn in a variety of styles. They are very physically strong, broad, and 6' 5" in height.

They are often seen in video footage and in-person with a honest, small closed smile and an expression that seems to be deeply considering what is around them. You are given the distinct impression by them that if they ever let themselves forget their preoccupations and smile full and open it would be very striking.

They wear the simple apparel of the Consul, lighter fabrics that are not ostentatious but are rich, with some embroidery of the Phoenix symbology that is associated with the position. They do not wear a crown, their face is known across the galaxy and as it is passed down throughout the generations it serves as a crown.

There are always two Consuls at a time, they serve as council to each other and a backup system incase of an emergency. Because of this they are never together. They are not spoken of as individuals, the Consul is a royal "we" and they are spoken of as if they were one person who happens to have two bodies. They are seen as one unit, not unique identities.

## History

After a series of dangerously flawed democratically elected leaders, followed by a flailing senate-based system that would occasionally stale-mate (infamously once for three years), it was decided that an ideal leader would be engineered, one that would help temper and balance the senate rule, and would also serve as an Icon for the Systems as they grew, a figure for all to admire and look up to.

The Consul was genetically engineered as a concept to embody traits deemed to exemplify an ideal leader: Perception, Humility, Righteousness, Strength, Valor, and Compassion. There are statues placed in different locations around Phobos representing the Consul embodying those traits.

The current Consul is the 6th Consul in the lineage. As with all Consuls they inherited the throne from their predecessor as their predecessor turned sixty and they turned thirty. This is also the day that they are given the next Consul as an infant to raise.

The Consul was raised (as with all Consuls) by A.I. and a security force of select members of species from across the system who have been with the Consul from a very young age so as to give the Consul a means of known different species but without risking them having bias that could effect the the Consul's future judgements.

The Consul's responsibilities include overseeing the deliberations in The Curia, where the laws and designs of the system are crafted. They serve as a tie breaker and moderator. The Consul also serves as a Supreme Court. All Courts rulings can be Appealed to the highest authority of the Consul, and their rulings in the cases they select to hear have system-wide repercussions.

All Consuls are given an opportunity as they become adults to go with great secrecy out into the world in order to experience it as others do. This is called The Seasoning. It is seen as important perspective building and Consuls have many diverse experiences, designing their Seasoning themselves personally.

For the current Consul's Seasoning they disguised themselves as a Rory Eddy, a Wing Cadet on the ship Perseverance of the Discovery Corps vessel. Their identity was apparently not known the the captain of the ship, nor anyone else onboard. They were identified as the Consul when Rory Eddy's ship was marked as destroyed on a mission to scout the planet of Glutt with Lei Carter, who's ship was also marked as destroyed. This alerted Phobos that the Consul's life-signs were lost and triggered emergency responses.

Stranded on Glutt and trying to make their way through its jungles, The Consul's face-masking tech ultimately ran out of power and revealed their true identity to a stunned Lei. After recovering from the shock, the two continued on their way and eventually encountered two Glutt children named Crunch and Crush. Further confusion and surprise followed, as the children were terrified encountering two non-members of their species, but once they calmed down, they ended up forming a great attachment to both the Consul and Lei.

## In-Game Appearances

* Vox Tempest observed the Consul deliberating over The Curia via a projection over the dome of The Curia while on his way to the Praetorian. They expressed a desire to prioritize communications establishment on the recently overtaken Sagi to let families regain contact.
* They appeared at the Glory of the Glutt performance at the Foundings opera display at the Harmonia. A scan from his cyber-eyes revealed that it was not actually The Consul themselves, but a holographic avatar of themselves they were manipulating from another location.
	+ The Consul appeared uncomfortable with the performance and its portrayal of the events on Phrike.
* The Consul was visible on the usual projection scenes over The Curia one rainy night in Phobos, this time witnessed by Terra - the former Toska Research and Development HOST that was built for The Consul. Terra's hooded face stared up at the projection and watched quietly, before he was surprised by Gimble sneaking up on him.
* The Higher Being found a recorded message that The Consul composed to Terra, after their ship crashed onto the planet Glutt. They confessed that when they found themselves clinging to a cliffside, they had wanted to let go - before Lei Carter had suddenly appeared and insisted upon pulling them up. Inspired by the determination in Lei's eyes, The Consul held out their hand and allowed themselves to be rescued.
* The Janitors recruited the members of The Nova to travel back to Prague in the year 2018 to fix a suspected discrepancy in the timeline. After an incident encountering The Higher Being, Vox's eyes were glitching wildly after they completed their travel through time. He attempted to scan the first person he saw in order to reset them - which happened to be Lei Carter - and saw a vision of a much younger Lei trying to contain her shock and anger as she argued with The Consul on an unfamiliar planet.
	+ The vision turned out to be from when Lei and The Consul had crashed onto Glutt, and in the moment that The Consul's face masking tech had worn out of battery. Lei was grappling with trying to show respect for the Systems' Heir Apparent, but also furious they had disguised themselves. The two were interrupted when two Glutt children - who Vox recognised as Crunch and Crush - burst out from the undergrowth. All four stared at one another in shock for a moment, before erupting in terrified confusion at one another.
	+ Vox scanned Lei again, as they took their leave of the Janitors once the mission was complete, and saw a vision of Lei, The Consul and the two hippo children making their way through the jungle, seemingly all now working together. As the group traveled, they appeared to grow closer. The last thing he saw was Lei watching with a small smirk as The Consul faux wrestled with young Crunch and Crush, before her expression turned as she realised she was completely and utterly in love with this person - and she hated it.
* During the Festival of Virtues, The Consul entered the Baring Of Hearts Duel on Truth Day whilst wearing face-masking technology to pose as a civilian, as was annual tradition. They chose the alias 'Pomp', and whilst they bested Quince Malady, they were knocked out of the competition by the ultimate winner, a civilian named Buckwheat Thorngod.
	+ The Consul listened to witness testimonies from Quince and Kaz Konnor regarding the trial of the traitor Lyanna and her actions on Sagi.
* On Intrepid Day of the Festival, Elsy Speck won the annual race that took place between the Bright Wings and three highly skilled civilians over the skies of Phobos. She was awarded her crown by The Consul themselves, who congratulated their success. Both Elsy and The Consul were startled to discover they shared the same eye colour.
	+ During this interaction, Elsy was surprised by how familiar their voice sounded - before realising it reminded her of her brother's, Helsing Speck, if he had not endured the hardships that he had.
	+ The Consul was also present to listen to the arguments made between the Systems representatives and Lyanna in the Trial, with respect to the accusation that she had betrayed the Systems. Public favour amongst the citizens seemed to swing towards Lyanna's defence.
* On Justice Day of the Festival - aka The Consul's 'Birth Day' - one Consul was present at the Ball in celebration of their Birth Day, whilst the other was at the Trial, delivering Lyanna's sentence.
	+ As Vox Tempest made his entrance alongside Tailor Wren, he attempted to scan The Consul. He was startled to find that he was unable to see absolutely anything when he used his cyber-eyes to look at them.
	+ Vox later scanned Lei again, still intent on knowing what exactly happened on Glutt. This vision showed The Consul, Lei, Crunch and Crush, surrounded by a group of Glutt, all their weapons trained on them as they demanded Crunch and Crush be handed over, as they were 'forefeit'. The Consul offered that they take them in their stead, and began to walk forward. Lei yelled her dissent, and, when a disciplinary looking figure approached The Consul, took out her gun and warned them to stop or she would shoot them. The Glutt official stopped, before suddenly running towards the Consul. The Consul shoved the person out of the way, and as a result, Lei's shot hit the industrial center behind them. The contact of this alien weapon caused an explosion of white electric power, and the discharge spread throughout the entire city - which was partly submerged in water - causing thousands and thousands of people to die. Lei began to open fire on the rest of the people in the group, whilst The Consul curled themselves protectively around Crunch and Crush - and in the background, the ships of the Discovery Corps arrived, and thus the war began.
	+ Arno Stern was given a task by Anek Allegro to touch The Consul with a special 'glove' which would transmit some kind of data to him. Arno thus accompanied Elsy up to meet the Consul, and when he shook their hand, they very briefly disappeared.
* The Consul present at the sentencing of Lyanna declared her guilty of treason, citing that separation from the Systems was too risky. Lyanna stood tall, and proclaimed the Consul a tyrannical ruler. She then spread her mouth wide, and out burst a swarm of nanobots that resembled locusts. The nanobots flew towards the Senators, and snapped onto their faces, shorting out their circuits and thus all interstellar communications.