Council of Peaks
The wind does not choose one voice—it carries them all
At the heart of the Skyward Compact’s confederated rule stands the Council of Peaks, a summit of chosen voices from across the windswept holds, sky-cloisters, and highland settlements that make up the mountain realm. It is not a court, nor a senate, nor a throne room. It is a circle of equals—each bearing the burden of their people’s will, bound by oath rather than ambition.
The Council convenes in a stone amphitheater called the Crown of Winds, nestled on a natural plateau near the crossing of three great Skypaths in the central range. Open to the sky and wrapped in singing chimes and high banners, the Crown of Winds is a sacred site: here, wind is allowed to speak freely, and every envoy must learn to speak over it-or listen through it. Each member of the Council is known as a Voice, selected by their home region according to local custom—some through votes, others by rite, others by succession. No two Voices govern the same way, and no law dictates how they must be chosen. Some are storm-priests, others are herders, warriors, or reclusive lore-keepers. But all are expected to carry the truths of their people with them to the table.
There is no central ruler of the Compact. The Council governs by consensus and formal oath-binding, not by decree. Proposals must be sung into record, debated in the open air, and agreed upon with at least a three-fifths majority. Once sworn into stone, a decision becomes binding on all member-holds, and breaking that oath is considered a betrayal not just of the Compact but of the wind itself. While the Council of Peaks moves slowly, it is not weak. Its unity allowed the Compact to resist absorption during the League’s decline and weather the long silence of the Elemental Wars. In times of grave threat, the Council can call a Cloudwarden Assembly, a rare and sacred convocation in which every hold of the Compact sends a representative to vote on matters of war, exile, or foundational change. Disputes within the Council are not uncommon. Debates often last days, with Voices sleeping in their cloaks beside the stone hearth fires of the Crown of Winds. Heated arguments are expected, so long as the wind may pass freely between those who speak. Even when fierce divisions arise, the Compact prides itself on resolving conflict with words, not blades.
To outsiders, the Council of Peaks is a strange and ponderous body—an archaic relic of mountain stubbornness. But those who dismiss it often find their emissaries returned, politely but firmly, with wind-chimes tied to their saddlebags and no answers in hand. The Council may be slow, but its roots are deep, and its silence is never accidental.
“We do not shout above the wind. We wait until the wind listens.” — Veyla Thorne, Skyward Seer of High Kareth
