Councilor

Branch: Imperial Directorate Inquisition (IDI)
Function: Settlement-Level Doctrinal and Civil Authority
Governance Context: Dual Command under the Bifurcated Mandate Doctrine
Military Counterpart: DMDF Praetor
Doctrine Custodian: High Tribunal of Doctrine

“Where the Praetor sees the battlefield, the Councilor sees the mind. The soul of the regime does not burn, it is instructed.”

— Senator Kaelen Vy Therrik

A Councilor is not simply an administrator; they are the living conduit of doctrinal purity, bureaucratic continuity, and psychological control within the smallest unit of the Regime's societal machinery: the settlement. Their jurisdiction is absolute in all matters of civic life, law enforcement, social programming, and doctrinal alignment. To be chosen as a Councilor is not a promotion. It is a sanctification of one's service to the ideological supremacy of the Regime.

Unlike their military counterpart, the Praetor, who rises through combat and command, Councilors are drawn from among the citizenry but only from those who have demonstrated exceptional discipline, intellectual dominance, and unwavering ideological orthodoxy. The selection pool consists of Doctrine-Loyal Civilian Stratarchs, Ministry Arbiters, Enforcement Adjudicators, and Civic Logisticians who have served in frontline governance or academic indoctrination roles for a minimum of 10 cycles (years).

Required Educational Pathways

Candidates must have graduated from one or more of the following Regime institutions, all sanctioned by the High Tribunal of Doctrine:

• The Magistrate's Lyceum of Sonata: Specializing in psycho-political theory, administrative control structures, and social recalibration metrics
• The Imperial Harmonics College: A school of public manipulation, civil orchestration, and IDI behavioral patterning sciences
• The Doctrine Enforcement Institute (DEI): Focused on law enforcement alignment with ideological survivalism and enforcement psychology

Each Councilor must also be fluent in the Imperial Dialect at Master Grade, capable of delivering public programming, civic audits, and doctrinal edicts without deviation or emotional influence.

Selection Protocols and Vetting

To ensure that no individual of weak will or philosophical impurity ascends, prospective Councilors undergo the following trials:

• The Threefold Vetting Protocol
• Loyalty Analysis (administered by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and GBA)
• Doctrinal Aptitude Simulation (simulated population management scenario under stress conditions)
• Civic Purity Interview (by an IDI Senator or Regent to determine philosophical clarity)
• Service Requirement:
• Candidates must have held a Regime-recognized civilian command post for at least three cycles, with an internal efficiency rating of 90% or higher, as determined by Ministry evaluations.
• Proclamation Clearance:
• Councilors must be approved by their Sector Regent, local Senator, and receive Proclamation Endorsement from the Office of Doctrine Realization, a sub-body of the High Tribunal that ensures ideological continuity across appointments.

Behavioral, Psychological, and Doctrinal Qualities

Councilors are not rewarded for ambition, but for absolute submission to the Regime's priority logic. They must possess:

• Emotional Modulation Control
• Absolute Compliance with Schedule Doctrine 12: "Obedience Beyond Intent"
• Knowledge of all local and sector-wide Ministerial Algorithms
• Psychological Tier: Directive Class B or higher, ensuring no possibility of ideological fracture during population distress events or mass recalibrations

They are often implanted with neural recorders, allowing constant feedback into IDI Doctrinal Oversight Networks for evaluation and audit by the High Tribunal.

Final Appointment and Doctrinal Oath

Once approved, the candidate is taken to their assigned city's Forum of Calibration, where they recite the Oath of Continuity in the presence of the local Praetor and a representative of the Ministry of Government. The rite concludes with the placing of the Councilor's Insignia, a hollowed octagon etched with the motto: "Alii petunt. Nos imperamus."

Councilors are expected to serve until death, doctrinal collapse, or promotion to Senatorial Office. Failure in duty results in revocation of all memory privileges and reassignment to the Office of Penitent Doctrine for corrective review.

“The mind of the Regime is not fed with indulgence, but with function. Those who preserve it are compensated not for ambition, but for obedience.”

— Doctrine Payroll Codex

Foundational Pay Structure

Councilors, though doctrinally revered, are compensated by the doctrinal value of stability, not martial exceptionalism. Their remuneration reflects their essential status in civil management, propaganda distribution, and doctrinal enforcement while remaining deliberately subordinate to the compensation of their military counterpart, the Praetor. This pay balance reinforces the hierarchy of force over policy, a tenet core to the High Tribunal of Doctrine's governance model.

Every active Councilor receives an annual base salary of Ƶ1,750,000 cR, secured through the Ministry of Government's Civic Compensation Fund. This salary is non-negotiable and static, regardless of civil unrest, crises, or planetary emergencies, ensuring consistent doctrinal continuity in volatile systems.

While less than the military baseline, this compensation is augmented by tiered stipends, determined by settlement type, social risk level, family status, and behavioral alignment assessments submitted quarterly by the Galactic Bureau Agency (GBA).

Settlement-Based Compensation Stipends

Councilors receive annual doctrine-tier settlement stipends to reflect the size, complexity, and psychological burden of the population under their care. These amounts are significantly less than those of Praetors, in alignment with Regime philosophy.

Stipends are reviewed annually and may be subject to reduction in the event of doctrinal misalignment, loyalty irregularities, or declining compliance metrics among the civilian population.

Doctrinal Welfare & Family Entitlements

Councilors are compensated not just for their labor, but also for their existence within the ideological structure of the Regime. To this end, the state provides specific entitlements for dependents and sanctioned family structures:

• Doctrinal Dependent Stipend: Up to Ƶ400,000 cR per year, per registered dependent, for indoctrination schooling, speech therapy, and historical behavioral synthesis education
• Housing Allocation Bonus: Ƶ1,000,000–Ƶ2,500,000 cR one-time award for relocation to state-protected housing blocks (requires Ministry approval)
• Legacy Doctrine Endowment: Ƶ1,000,000 cR awarded when a dependent is accepted into the Magistrate's Lyceum, Doctrine Enforcement Institute, or GBA Junior Division

All benefits are contingent upon continuous psychological evaluations, performance logs, and compliance with surveillance requirements.

Performance and Behavioral Bonuses

Unlike military performance-based stipends tied to kinetic operations, Councilor bonuses are ideologically determined and based on quarterly performance audits issued by the Office of Civic Conformity and Enforcement (OCCE):

• Doctrinal Stability Bonus: Ƶ500,000–Ƶ1,000,000 cR for maintaining high ideological conformity across all age brackets
• Civic Calibration Award: Ƶ250,000 cR for executing successful recalibration of a non-compliant population block with minimal escalation
• Ministry Integration Commendation: Ƶ600,000 cR for coordinating with at least 4 Regime ministries with operational synergy over one fiscal cycle
• Voice of Unity Medal: (rare) Ƶ2,500,000 cR for establishing a settlement-wide compliance rate above 98% without invoking Bastion Lockdown Protocols

Failure to meet performance thresholds may result in bonus suspension or complete reassignment to the Office of Penitent Doctrine.

Summary of Compensation Potential

Economic Symbolism

Within Regime doctrine, the wealth of a Councilor is not a measure of status but of indoctrinated trust. High compensation does not imply freedom; it means total immersion in the state apparatus, including scrutiny, surveillance, and doctrinal servitude. Councilors may be well-paid, but their earnings serve the state first, invested into doctrinal projects, indoctrination infrastructure, and approved cultural programs.

Luxury is prohibited. Visibility is regulated. Wealth is monitored.

“He who manages the mind of the Regime must not indulge it.”

— Regent’s Commentary

“Where the Praetor wields the blade, the Councilor wields the syllable, and the syllable shapes the future of the Regime.”

— Senator Erros Nykh

Symbol of Doctrinal Purity

The position of Councilor grants more than command, it offers elevation into a caste of societal sanctity, a tier that is not merely respected, but ritually acknowledged across Regime space. Councilors are seen not as administrators, but as interpreters of law, doctrine, and ideological balance. As such, their presence is embedded into the cultural, symbolic, and behavioral fabric of every settlement they govern.

While their financial compensation is modest compared to military command, their social reach is far more insidious and enduring. Councilors set the tone of civilization, their words, judgments, and public speeches form the ideological boundaries of thought within their jurisdiction.

Councilors are addressed with the reverent honorific:
“Vox Impera", The Commanding Voice.
This title is not ornamental; it is codified into Regime civic etiquette protocols.

Doctrinal Immunities & Institutional Privilege

Councilors are granted unique Tier-III Doctrinal Immunity Clearance, issued by the Ministry of Justice and reviewed biannually by the Office of Internal Purity Enforcement. This status entitles them to:

• Exemption from Local Civil Audits and Random Surveillance Measures
• Judicial Override Authority over lower adjudicators, local tribunal rulings, and Ministry department conflicts
• Permanent Access to Regional Doctrine Nodes for real-time behavioral metric analysis and compliance forecasting

Councilors may also issue Priority One Recalibration Orders, effectively reassigning entire population segments for reeducation or labor without requiring military approval, so long as reports are filed with the Sector Regent within 72 hours.

Social Elevation and Educational Priority

Councilors and their families are automatically classified under the Civic Ordo Tier-2C, placing them among the top 0.01% of all non-military personnel within the UCG hierarchy. This grants:

• Reserved Admission Slots at elite doctrinal academies for their offspring (Magistrate’s Lyceum, DEI, Imperial Harmonics College)
• Sanctioned Travel Exemption within planetary zones, even under martial law
• Doctrinal Residence Privilege: Placement within “Whisper Zones", sealed residential blocks with GBA-enforced silence protocols, ensuring psychological equilibrium

Additionally, Councilors receive direct doctrinal updates from the High Tribunal’s broadcast division before regional ministers or even planetary governors, reinforcing their role as primary ideological translators for their settlements.

Cultural Embedding and Propaganda Influence

Councilors are featured indirectly in civic rituals, indoctrination dramas, and authorized literature distributed to the population. While their image is rarely shown, voiceprints, silhouettes, and quotations are embedded into daily propaganda cycles. This creates a mythicized civic presence, a blend of reverence and psychological suggestion.

Key ceremonial moments, such as recalibration broadcasts or loyalty initiations, often feature pre-scripted blessings issued in the name of the Councilor. These recordings become ritual staples, reinforcing the notion that the Councilor sees all, hears all, corrects all.

Summary of Councilor Benefits

• Tier-III Doctrinal Immunity & Executive Override Authority
• Voice of Settlement in all Civic Doctrinal Channels
• Guaranteed family legacy privileges in education, housing, and mobility
• Exclusive cultural and ceremonial presence in public programming
• Permanent legacy records sealed in the Doctrine of Continuity Vaults
• Induction into the Council of Civic Authority upon retirement (non-military high circle advisory body)

“The Councilor does not pass through society. They reshape it simply by standing within it.”

— Scrolls of Lawful Continuity

“A city does not fall when its defenses are breached. A city falls when its people forget who they serve.”

— Regent Varyon Malthek

The Councilor exists not as an administrator but as a living extension of the Regime's will, engineered to ensure that doctrine, law, culture, and population behavior remain in strict alignment with the ideological imperatives of the United Colonial Group (UCG). They are the civil executor of the divine regime's structure, the operational nucleus around which civilian life revolves. If the Praetor holds dominion over the battlefield, then the Councilor commands the theater of the mind.

Under the Bifurcated Mandate Doctrine, the Councilor operates as the civilian half of the city's dual-leadership structure. Their responsibilities extend beyond mere bureaucracy; they are responsible for the calibration of every legal mechanism, social engineering program, education cycle, and moral broadcast within their jurisdiction. They do not interpret the law; they embody the law, as distilled through the resolutions of the High Directorate Council and the enforcement mandates of the High Tribunal of Doctrine.

Core Functions of the Councilor:

• Doctrinal Oversight and Enforcement
• The Councilor ensures that every civic function aligns with approved Imperial philosophy. This includes overseeing indoctrination cycles, recalibration programs, and daily enforcement of behavioral regulation standards.
• Civil Law Execution and Administrative Continuity
• They preside over local tribunals, approve or deny Ministry operations within city limits, and maintain population control through permit systems, rationing protocols, and registry audits. Judicial sentences, especially in cases of ideological deviation, require the Councilor's final authorization.
• Civic Integration of Ministerial Operations
• Each Councilor serves as the executive liaison between settlement-level civil functions and planetary-level ministries, ensuring synchronized implementation of policies across sectors such as education, internal security, finance, and justice.
• Behavioral Conditioning and Propaganda Distribution
• All state media, cultural broadcasts, and public events must pass through Councilor oversight. They direct the timing, tone, and cadence of civic messaging to reinforce loyalty and suppress dissent.

Societal Role: Guardian of Civil Unity

The Councilor's deeper purpose is ideological preservation. They are not elected, consulted, or questioned. They preside. Their role is to ensure that every citizen, from child to elder, functions as a predictable cog within the Regime's social machine. Where deviation is detected, the Councilor initiates recalibration. Where morale falters, they deploy psychological correctives. Where resistance forms, they coordinate directly with the local Praetor to crush subversion with preemptive authority.

In essence, the Councilor is the architect of continuity, transforming raw policy into a living environment of loyalty, ritual, and law. They are the ultimate internal safeguard, standing not behind walls or guns but behind every thought a citizen is permitted to have.

Beyond Administration, A Living Node of Regime Order

To the Regime, a settlement without a Councilor is not a city. It is a perilous vacuum, a potential breeding ground for ideological stagnation and civic decay. The Councilor exists to fill every social, legal, and behavioral void with certainty, ensuring that the IDI remains not only present in the lives of the people but omnipresent.

Their authority is not measured in votes or popularity but in predictive compliance rates, ideological alignment indexes, and population loyalty curves. They do not serve the people. The people serve through them.

“To speak before a Councilor is not to be heard, it is to be evaluated.”

— Doctrinal Behavior Manual

The Councilor occupies one of the most paradoxical positions in Regime society: they are both the voice of governance and its unseen executor, simultaneously elevated in status and shrouded in fear. To the average citizen, the Councilor is not a bureaucrat; they are an embodiment of the Regime's unyielding will, a presence woven into every ordinance, every broadcast, every sanctioned ritual. Their signature dictates rations. Their decisions determine labor cycles, indoctrination frequency, and public celebrations of loyalty.

Among the citizenry, the Councilor is perceived with a mixture of awe, caution, and resigned reverence. Unlike the Praetor, whose presence is marked by a heavy militarized finality, the Councilor moves with civic subtlety, appearing at judicial tribunals, indoctrination sermons, population reviews, and state-sponsored public ceremonies. When they speak, their words are often relayed via Ministry-sanctioned holoprojectors or encrypted public channels, creating an aura of deliberate detachment. They are known but never familiar. Visible but rarely approachable.

Cultural Prestige and Psychological Distance

Despite their austere nature, Councilors are widely considered among the most prestigious civilian authorities beneath the planetary Senatorial caste. Their appointment marks the pinnacle of doctrinal education and civic service, representing decades of ideological refinement, psychological control training, and ministerial accomplishment. In scholarly and bureaucratic circles, to become a Councilor is akin to achieving philosophical ascension, proof that one has become not merely loyal to the Regime, but functionally indistinguishable from it.

However, this prestige does not translate into affection. Councilors are agents of inspection and recalibration, known to initiate loyalty audits without warning, revoke privileges, or initiate recalibration cycles for entire districts. Public interaction with them is tightly regulated. Any personal familiarity is viewed as inappropriate and dangerous, with strict behavioral codes outlining acceptable posture, diction, and eye contact.

Role Among Peers and Ministries

Within the broader framework of Regime governance, Councilors hold considerable influence. They outrank all local ministry representatives, command oversight over GBA enforcement patrols, and possess veto rights over infrastructure usage and civilian labor movements. They are regularly courted by ministry advisors for policy influence yet also heavily monitored by the High Tribunal's Office of Civil Integrity, ensuring they remain doctrinally aligned and emotionally neutral.

Their peers within the IDI, namely Senators and Regents, view Councilors as trusted instruments of stabilization, indispensable for maintaining order at the micro-level. Yet even within the halls of doctrine, Councilors are treated as methodical instruments rather than colleagues. They are expected to be distant, incorruptible, and free from sentiment, even in the face of total civic collapse.

Public Reaction and Legacy

The Councilor's legacy within a settlement is usually etched not in monuments, but in statistical upticks, higher compliance indexes, lower infraction rates, and improved efficiency quotas. Numbers, not stories, measure their tenure. While the Praetor may be remembered in song or sacrifice, the Councilor is remembered in whispers, often during private reflections on compliance or among recalibrated families.

To be appointed as a Councilor is to transcend civilian identity. It is to be recast as a vector of continuity, a flawless node within the ideological machinery of the Regime. It is honor without adoration, prestige without warmth, power without sympathy.

“For every world the Regime claims, a voice must be raised to command obedience, not with weapons, but with words crafted from doctrine.”

— Senator Orem Valliss

Within the sprawling infrastructure of the United Colonial Group's authoritarian framework, Councilors form one of the most refined and surgically selected civilian castes. Unlike soldiers drawn in vast numbers to fuel the DMDF war machine, Councilors represent an elite micro-fraction of the population, chosen through relentless civic performance vetting, ministerial advancement, and psycho-doctrinal testing. Each settlement under Regime influence hosts precisely one Councilor, matching the localized deployment of their military counterpart, the Praetor.

Based on your geopolitical layout:

• 5–10 settlements per planet
• 3–6 planets per system
• 3 systems per sector
• 8 partially controlled sectors

This produces an estimated 360 to 1,440 active settlements across UCG-controlled or contested territory. Each settlement requires exactly one Councilor, resulting in the following:

Estimated Active Councilors: 1,000 – 1,500

Relative to the total UCG population:

• Percentage of the population employed as Councilors:
• ~0.000002% (2 Councilors per 100 million citizens)

This demographic rarity is intentional. Councilors are not permitted to scale with population density. They are not democratic administrators nor scalable agents; they are singular vectors of doctrinal purity, placed where needed to enforce civic structure, psychological conditioning, and ideological loyalty. Their presence is symbolic of complete Regime oversight, regardless of city size or planetary complexity.

Recruitment, Advancement, and Role Distribution

Councilors are selected not from the military but from civilian administrative strata, drawn from the ranks of:

• Ministry of Justice Adjudicators
• Civic Doctrine Engineers
• GBA Compliance Agents
• Graduates of institutions such as the Magistrate's Lyceum, Doctrine Enforcement Institute (DEI), and Imperial Harmonics College

Despite the UCG's 70-billion citizen base, only approximately 12,000 to 18,000 individuals are on the official Councilor eligibility track at any given time, and fewer than 4% of those will ever attain an active appointment.

Turnover is exceptionally low. Councilors typically serve lifelong terms, except in cases of disqualification due to doctrinal reasons, medical incapacity, or elevation to a senatorial role. With an average tenure exceeding 30 years, fewer than 1% of the positions rotate annually, ensuring institutional memory and prolonged ideological saturation.

Demographic Summary:

Institutional Intent

This scarcity is not a resource limitation; it is a philosophical imperative. The Regime does not believe in diluting its authority through distributed governance. Instead, it utilizes councilors as strategic focal points for doctrine enforcement, where a single, calibrated individual controls an entire city's moral, legal, and cultural structure.

The Councilor-to-citizen ratio is treated as a sacred doctrinal formula, encoded into the High Tribunal's planning algorithms, and periodically audited by the Ministries of Government and Internal Affairs.

"One Councilor. One voice. One mind. One city. A ratio dictated not by governance, but by doctrine."

— Senator Orem Valliss