True Communion

The True Communion is a large post-Covenant polity, or political bloc, formed out of the Great Schism. Originally established by the Imperial Admiral Gervul Jar 'Shaol, the Communion began as a splinter faction of the Concord of Reconciliation but drifted apart from the Concord over the years, starting with the rulings of the Council of Disharmony in 2567. There were several reasons for this split; the most commonly cited one is that the Communion's founders saw the Concord's reforms to the Covenant society, politics and religious makeup as too radical and hasty. For example, the Communion is far more invested in maintaining the Covenant's rigid caste system, which the Arbiter Thel 'Vadam has openly spoken out against. Other reasons were astropolitical, stemming from a longtime cultural and religious split between the Holy Ecumene's trailing and spinward halves. With the Covenant fallen, the members of the Communion were able to fully embrace certain cultural and religious traditions endemic to their side of the Covenant.

The Communion still subscribes to most of the rulings made in the first two Schism Grand Councils, in which the Prophet of Truth's rule (and by extension that of the last Hierarch triumvirate) was deemed illegitimate, and along with it the anathema on humanity as well as the elevation of the Jiralhanae. Their doctrine represents a reversion to 23rd Age of Doubt-era "Long Path" teachings, which downplay the role of the Sacred Rings in the Great Journey, but they reject the Concord's lack of firm religious oversight and liberal interpretations of scripture. As a more religiously unified group, the True Communion seeks to rebuild the religious and political institutions of the Covenant largely as they once existed, though internal disagreement on the specifics persists. As opposed to the Concord's more decentralized nature, the True Communion has sought to return to a centrally-led model in order to better reinforce both their common identity and religious dogma. Even so, they remain more of a bloc of aligned states than a fully unitary entity. The role of the ecclesiastic domain structures is emphasized, with the church-states both providing regional governance and filling various civil and military roles; a hierarchic military aristocracy is largely retained from the original Covenant. The implementation of this model is most evident in practice in the Communion's core regions, though marches and politically divided areas of space tend to have more exceptions made to the specifics.

Located primarily in the Covenant's trailward side in the Orion Arm, the Communion is one of the largest post-Covenant factions, though it remains smaller and more astrographically contained than the Concord. Since its formation, the Communion and the Concord have existed in a state of cold war, though at times they have also begrudgingly cooperated against common enemies. Many worlds and minor states located along the two polities' diffuse borders exist in a complicated relationship to both, attempting to balance their interests between the two major groups. Consequently, some worlds are effectively part of both the Communion and the Concord due to the complex nature of allegiances in the Covenant sphere. The True Communion's leadership is primarily composed of Sangheili, with a number of San'Shyuum religious figures, as well as Yanme'e queens in an important role, as the Yanme'e are most predominant in the Covenant's trailward side. Indeed, the Yanme'e may in time become even more politically powerful in the Communion than they ever did in the Covenant.

The renegade warlord Jul 'Mdama was backed and sheltered by the True Communion for some time as he built up his influence, even as many of the key leaders of the Communion had political differences with him.