Council of Eight Chancellors
The Council of Eight Chancellors (Rashimic: ⱄⱐⰴⱓ ⱎⰰⰵⰾⱅⰻⰿ ⱎⰿⱁⱆⱀⰻⰿ, Sĕdū š-Helṭīm šmounīm; commonly known as the Privy Council of Terophan or as per Rashimic ⰰⱄⱓⰴ ⰰⱄⱔⱅⱐⱃ, h-Sūd h-Sētĕr, the Secret Council) is the highest body of the Terophatic government, below only the Emperor himself. The Council is composed of its eponymous eight members, who act together as collective adviser to the Emperor and executor of his will. The Council is in theory a group of equals, though this may be affected by other Court appointments held by particular members. In contrast to the typical model of government ministries, a separation between government agencies and their effective heads prevails in Terophan, and responsibility for particular agencies is commonly rotated between Chancellors. The Chancellors also maintain small administrative staffs of their own, which are known as Chancelleries and named after famous historic figures in Vaestism. Government agencies will therefore be rapidly attached and dissociated from particular Chancelleries, though this in practice causes little confusion since all communication goes nominally directly through the Emperor, meaning that the vast Private Imperial Chancellery (the Shakleem) will mediate all communication as necessary.
The Chancellors are appointed directly by the Emperor, and barring serious scandal or incompetence, will often hold their position until their death or permanent retirement. They are expected to keep a low public profile, precluding external influence or corruption, and to live at the Imperial Court. To symbolise their subsidiary role in the presence of the Emperor, they wear distinctive black robes and hoods when present at official imperial appearances.The Chancellors will typically meet personally on a regular basis with high-ranking Scholars, military officers and industrialists to decide the precise course of state policy. Chancellors must maintain strict Vaestic orthodoxy and display unfaltering public loyalty and devotion toward the Emperor. Due to the nature of the position, becoming a Chancellor is often considered to be the final result of an exemplary public career, a position occupied after political importance has already been attained and practised: with their personal luxury provided for directly from the Imperial Treasury, within the limits only of good Vaestic practice, there is effectively nothing else for a Chancellor to attain. The Chancellors, therefore, have a near-mythical reputation for incorruptibility (a reputation constructed, to a large extent, by imperial propaganda).
History
The Council of Eight Chancellors was constituted in 1925 by Emperor Vsevolod I to replace the position of Protector over the Throne, which he had abolished in 1923, as the Emperor's chief source of direct advice. Vsevolod aimed to ensure that no single person could gain enough power to challenge the imperial autocracy, and hence conceived the Council as a collective grouping of equals with no chairman or leader, and without fixed policy responsibilities. At first, the Council was allowed to operate much as any other body of the state, but as Vsevolod continued the Second Restoration, members of the Council became increasingly dependent on his personal favour. Vsevolod instituted the black robes and hood which became characteristic of the office in 1930.