Munificent Herald,

I would like to ask about historical precedents concerning members of a given faction or group running for a position in Council, and the legality of such an attempt.

Send reply to Fortress Tigereye, with the information, or the name of the archive-keeping scribe that I may direct further inquiry towards them.

My thanks,

- Mercenary Nogüeyra

Mercenary Nogüeyra,

Candidates may not be members of any organization receiving resources from the Council. This clearly includes the Watch, the Spellguard, the Seekers, and the Tigereye Mercenaries, as well as the staff of the city's Mausoleum. It is ambiguous whether this includes the Spellguard Associates, the Civil Defense League, and/or the "Tigerfangs" (which are funded by the Spellguard, Watch, and Tigereye Mercenary Company respectively). It is ambiguous whether this includes the Society of the Ordered Mind (which, although it does not receive civil defense funding, was granted its Chapterhouse by the Council and is exempt from property taxes). Such ambiguous cases would likely be decided by the present Council, should they come up.

This restriction has been in effect since the early days of the Council. It is designed to prevent the city's civil politics from being directly dominated by the defense organizations, to prevent divided loyalties when considering the budget, and to ensure separation between the arresting officers and the trial judges. Over the past hundred years there have been a handful of scandals in which candidates believed to be in the pay of the Seekers were elected to the Council, but such incidents are controversial and ambiguous. No organization in recorded history has directly violated the restriction.

- Herald Jafar