Council of Stars
The Council of Stars is the governing organisation of Desolation. The public opinions of the Council very greatly, from putting wholehearted trust in their system to actively attempting to dismantle them. The Council is very secretive, with most of its members remaining entirely anonymous, never revealing their faces or names.
Structure
The Council maintains a governing body of around 10-15 people. Each new addition to the Council must be added with a unanimous vote from the rest of the council, a vote that only occurs when a Council member has died.
The Council keeps their identities anonymous, and the population does not even know for sure how many Council members there are. However, the Council always seems to be well-informed about the state of the world around them and what is going on very shortly after it happens, leading some to believe that they are capable of constant surveillance. While this is not entirely true, the Council does nothing to dissuade these rumours, instead encouraging and feeding them. This is done to make the population less fazed by the concept of being constantly watched, and to create a sense of paranoia and accountability.
The Council keeps their identities anonymous, and the population does not even know for sure how many Council members there are. However, the Council always seems to be well-informed about the state of the world around them and what is going on very shortly after it happens, leading some to believe that they are capable of constant surveillance. While this is not entirely true, the Council does nothing to dissuade these rumours, instead encouraging and feeding them. This is done to make the population less fazed by the concept of being constantly watched, and to create a sense of paranoia and accountability.
Headquarters
The members of the Council of Stars spend their entire lives after appointment on the Prime Station, build specifically for their needs. Any materials, foods, or other resources that they require are imported from other stations - typically MOON-XV. Any non-Council member who ever enters the station is forbidden from speaking of what occured there, under threat of prosecution of treason.Public Agenda
To the general public of the starstations, and according to the propaganda that it sends out, the Council of Stars is concerned with the "wholeness of society and the betterment of its people". While they can be a bit vague on what this means, the general idea among those in favour of the Council is that they are meant to unify the people scattered in orbit around Desolation, focusing on establishing order in the chaos left in the wake of the planet's destruction.
History
The Council was formed shortly after the catastrophic event that broke the planet. According to the Council themselves, their predecessors saw the world break into chaos, people killing one another over the now-dwindling resources, others in despair about what to do in the wake of this catastrophe. They established themselves as the leadership as a last-ditch attempt to stop this fighting, and it worked - the people began to be able to live in peace.
There are other accounts of the Council's formation, however. Though it is forbidden to spread, and doing so is considered treason, there are some who tell a different story: that of people who had just learned to live in peace after the world had nearly ended, and the Council that placed themselves as leaders by disrupting this peace and causing in-fighting. The most prominent group that spreads this story are the Planetbreakers.
There are other accounts of the Council's formation, however. Though it is forbidden to spread, and doing so is considered treason, there are some who tell a different story: that of people who had just learned to live in peace after the world had nearly ended, and the Council that placed themselves as leaders by disrupting this peace and causing in-fighting. The most prominent group that spreads this story are the Planetbreakers.
Military
The Council enforces their laws through the Spacekeepers, an organisation loyal to the Council that keeps the population in line. The Council appoints the higher-ranking members of the organisation personally, to ensure their continued loyalty, and heavy background checks are required - particularly to discover any potential involvement with the Planetbreakers.
Dissent
The Planetbreakers are a rebel group that is actively fighting against the Council. They believe that the Council is lying about its true nature, and misleading the people for the sake of power.The Planetbreakers are the victims of an excess of propaganda from the Council, who wants to paint them as selfish terrorists and pirates whose only concern is themselves. The efficacy of this propoganda largely depends on class; those in the upper class are more prone to believing this campaign than those living in stardrifters.
"A broken planet needs a unified people"
Type
Government, Leadership
Power Structure
Unitary state
Location
Controlled Territories
Council of Stars propaganda poster by notahumanhand
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