High Council

The High Council was the primary legislative and decision-making assembly of the Covenant. Consisting of two hundred San'Shyuum and Sangheili Councilors each, the High Council was led by the Hierarchs, three San'Shyuum High Prophets. Under the High Council, the Covenant's various ministries handled the day-to-day matters of Covenant governance.

Hierarchs
The Hierarchs or High Prophets were the main political and religious leaders of the Covenant. They presided over the High Council and served as the Covenant's supreme spiritual authorities. The Hierarchs were one of the Covenant's most enduring institutions, having their origins in the practices of the pre-Covenant San'Shyuum Reformists who in turn were inspired by the three seats in the command deck of the keyship Anodyne Spirit. In practice, the election of a triumvirate was also meant to ensure that no single political leader amassed too much power.

The Hierarchs were elected into power from among the high-ranked San'Shyuum, often ministers, High Councilors, and various religious authorities. Electorates often preferred cardinals from diverse backgrounds, as this would maintain tension between the Hierarchs as well as ensuring each High Prophet would compensate for the deficiencies of the others. Their term lasted for an Age, and at the onset of a new Age the triumvirate would be replaced by a new one. Common wisdom held that the Hierarch-elects' skills and characteristics should be suited to the theme of the coming Age, and this was often the case. As with the rest of the Covenant hierarchy, however, backroom politics were commonplace, and many a Hierarch rose into power via underhanded means such as bribes, favors, and blackmail. While most Prophets wished to rise to the status of Hierarch with the annunciation of a positively-themed Age, this was not viable in practice, as the Covenant also needed leadership during crises such as Ages of Conflict and Ages of Doubt; as such, the High Council was ultimately responsible for deciding which kind of Age would follow. Ultimately, it was not the theme of an Age that defined the popularity of a given set of Hierarchs, but the legacy they left behind; thus, Hierarchs that skillfully lead the Covenant out of a crisis often enjoyed widespread popularity, either among the Covenant government or the populace or both, depending on their approach to dealing with the crisis at hand.

Typically, the High Council would call for the end of an age and the election of a new Triumvirate (as the Councilors' term was not tied to that of the Hierarchs), but in some ages the Hierarchs and the Council were in such accord that both wished to stay in power indefinitely. In such cases special assemblies of religious authorities, called Grand Convocations, would be convened to settle the matter and potentially ensure passage to a new Age. Hierarchs could resign of their own volition, and stepping down at the height of one's popularity was considered the most dignified way out of the position. Following their tenure, former Hierarchs were often assigned to sinecures within the government (often on remote assignments, depending on the favor they enjoyed with the succeeding administration) or simply retired, as most were relatively old at the time. They would retain their Prophet title for life, albeit without the "High" part; this also meant other San'Shyuum could not assume the same title while the previous holder was still alive, and even taking the title of a recently-deceased Prophet was generally seen as a faux pas.

As far as the Covenant public was concerned, the Hierarchs' word was law, as sacred and true as that of the Forerunners themselves. In practice, the Hierarchs were powerful, but not untouchable. Misdemeanor or overstepping the delicate boundaries of the present power balance of any given Age could easily lead to outrage by the High Council, and investigations by High Charity's Courts and/or a special Grand Convocation, and after an impeachment process errant Hierarchs could be discredited and removed from power.

Last Triumvirate
The most infamous Hierarch triumvirate in the modern era is the last one, comprising the High Prophets of Truth, Mercy and Regret, all of whom perished during the Great Schism. Even in their lifetime, much speculation surrounded the Hierarchs' motivations and the rivalries between them. These speculations became rampant following the Schism, as the Covenant attempted to ascertain just what had gone wrong and who was responsible. The post-Covenant Grand Convocations of the Concord of Reconciliation, commonly known as the Schism Councils, organized by the Arbiter Thel 'Vadam alongside various Covenant remnants have attempted to shed light as to these ambiguities, though due to the loss of High Charity and overall chaos, this proved to be challenging.

Each of the three Hierarchs had cliques of loyalists and sympathizers among the Covenant: Truth's among many of the ministers he had promoted to power and the Jiralhanae, especially Tartarus' alliance, Regret's among the Sangheili with whom he would often travel, and Mercy's among the Holy Ecumene's religious elite, theologians and philosophers. As the Schism Councils are attempting to ascertain what part exactly each Hierarch played in the fall of the Covenant, tracking down their surviving associates is part of solving that puzzle.

At the beginning of the Covenant War, the triumvirate enjoyed enormous public support, and this is often cited as the prime reason for their rise to power. The Grand Convocation assembled before the onset of the Ninth Age of Reclamation pointed out various discrepancies in the would-be Hierarchs' testimony, and the lack of sensor data from the keyship proving their extraordinary claims was found to be both suspect and in violation of the Proscription Against Particular Revelation. Truth and Regret presented their case convincingly, though Mercy remained suspiciously passive. More importantly, Truth and Regret were sure to make the revelation public beforehand, which caused a massive uproar in both High Charity and across the wider Holy Ecumene. In the cycles before the trio's Ascension, there was a massive upwelling of zeal among the populace, which had been yearning for a religious revival after so many past Ages of relative mediocrity and inward-turning administrations. Coupled with political alliances Truth and Regret had made with prominent ministers, and the relative weakness of the then-current triumvirate, this secured the new trio's rise to power.

But the public's memory is short, and the Human-Covenant War dragged on longer than Truth and Regret had been counting on. Within a few years, the zeal began to progressively die off, and voices questioning the Hierarchs' various policies and even their ulterior motivations emerged as high up as the High Council itself. Many questioned Truth's practices in particular, especially in regards to him rapidly promoting his favorites or associates into positions of power. Even more worrying to the Sangheili was Truth's favoring of the Jiralhanae; while the new species' incorporation to the Covenant hierarchy had begun already in the previous age, Truth pushed for more comprehensive integration policies. Jiralhanae were given better rights and higher positions in the military, more independence, superior equipment, and toward the end of the war were starting to be increasingly integrated with Sangheili-led units. Jiralhanae were settled on fertile worlds across the Holy Ecumene and being given many industrial centers as fiefs. This greatly troubled the Sangheili aristocracy, as development of this magnitude at such a rapid pace was unprecedented, especially for a species that had once been a thorn on the Covenant's side. This also had the effect of making the Sangheili's rivalry with the Jiralhanae more universal: whereas in prior centuries, the Jiralhanae had been a nuisance in just one part of Covenant space, they were now seen as encroaching on the integrity of the entire holy union. Coupled with Tartarus' arrogance, this inflamed tensions even with those Sangheili who had no preexisting grievances against the Jiralhanae.

The other obvious point of contention was the Human-Covenant War. It was not common for the Covenant to fight wars of extermination, and historically speaking such cases tended to be downplayed as they could be seen as detracting from the Covenant's message that all who believed would walk the Path. Conversion by the sword was common and accepted, a means to an end, but extermination was regarded as barbaric. The Hierarchs had justified this by declaring that humanity was unclean and unworthy of the Great Journey, and legitimized this by claiming the Oracle of the Sacred Vessel itself had attempted to launch the keyship from its moorings in order to eradicate the offending species. But as with the preceding Grand Convocation, the only proof for this were the Hierarchs themselves. The Forerunner Dreadnought's attempted launch, many said, could have been a ploy, a piece of theatrics designed to awe the masses and silence the doubters. Mercy was usually suspected to be responsible, as he had access to the Dreadnought and would have been able to activate its engines. Others believed that the incident was indeed the Oracle's doing, but possibly for different reasons, which could be many.

And even if humanity was guilty of desecrating Forerunner relics, of which there seemed to be little proof, could they not be made to see the error of their ways and made part of the Covenant? In the Covenant's early history, the Covenant had gained direct evidence of the Lekgolo destroying a Forerunner orbital in the most vile manner, yet they had been forgiven and made part of the union. Surely those few humans who did desecrate holy relics should be made an example of, but the general population showed no sign of engaging in such crimes. There was the matter of the claim that the humans had desecrated Forerunner Oracles, and made slaves of the holy messengers. But this would be disproved in the very first years of the war, when it was seen that the machine-minds were in fact associated intelligences of the humans' own making. Furthermore, the relationship between the humans and their AIs was not as straightforward as the Hierarchs had first claimed, and indeed many noted how the Hierarchs' narrative would later change to claiming that the humans had in fact made the associated intelligences their false gods, and led an unholy existence under their thrall. Regardless, as serious as these crimes were, groups of Kig-Yar and even Sangheili had indulged in the abomination of associated intelligence prior to their entry to the Covenant.

So there was clearly something the Hierarchs were hiding, and even as they dismissed any doubts or made examples of those who voiced them, the rumblings of discontent grew. Even as the Hierarchs sought to pick absolutely loyal and unquestioning commanders to lead their campaigns, many Sangheili warriors had questions and they had compunctions. Generally, warriors served the Covenant to spread the holy word of the Great Journey and destroy those who opposed it, but senseless, indiscriminate slaughter was not the Covenant way they had been raised with. While most did not voice these doubts, they were well known by the second half of the war. Some warrior crèches on the younger side were near openly human-sympathetic, and sought to avoid service in the war; these were known as the Elenchists, and they would often clash with their more zealous brethren. They were also a convenient way for Truth to justify the increased Jiralhanae presence on the Covenant's expeditionary fleets, as most of the Jiralhanae had far fewer compunctions than the Sangheili at large. Part of this was due to the species' temperament coupled with harsh cultural conditioning, but it was also known that Tartarus favored the most loyal and the most ruthless in his coalition. Eager to prove themselves to their new overlords and outdo the Sangheili, the Jiralhanae did what was asked of them without hesitation or pretensions of honor — a fact Truth would often bring up when Sangheili voiced complaints about the new species encroaching on their territory.

Out of the three final Hierarchs, Truth is easily the most widely reviled, earning titles such as "the Deceiver" and "the Unmaker". Only groups mainly led by some San'Shyuum and Jiralhanae, called Truth loyalists, continued to venerate Truth in the decades after the war against humanity. Views regarding the other two Hierarchs are more complex. Regret is still widely dismissed as a liar and a fool, though since the war some Sangheili have questioned this line based on Regret's well-documented rivalry with Truth. Some have gone as far as to claim Regret should not be blamed for the Great Schism, and his death was Truth's doing, in an effort to prevent Regret from hindering the other Hierarch's plans. Out of the three, Mercy is the most elusive. Little is known about Mercy's ulterior goals, if he had any. But he is commonly seen as an accomplice of Truth, and some even view Mercy as the real schemer behind Truth as the younger Hierarch would often defer to the old philologist's counsel. Others have more nuanced perspectives. While Mercy was the most passive on the political side of things, usually deferring to Truth, he was remarkably active in High Charity's various theological assemblies and other religious institutions, and brought much-needed theological credibility to a triumvirate otherwise occupied by ministry bureaucrats with a comparatively surface understanding of religious esoterica.

Sangheili Councilors
The Sangheili High Councilors represented the feudal aristocracies of the domains of the Covenant, along with the nobility of High Charity and select prominent worldships. These roles often overlapped with military command roles, and most Councilors had enjoyed long and successful careers as warriors and high-ranking commanders prior to their election. In practice, some of the more populated domains had more than one Councilor, while less prominent ones may not have any at a given time, with multiple domains being represented by a single Councilor. Within their home domains, Councilors were elected into power by their local synod, consisting of the high aristocracy of that region of space along with San'Shyuum authorities.

All Councilors were expected to follow a similar basic style of dress including a silver-and-gold harness coupled with a specific form of ceremonial headdress. However, most also wore surcoats, stoles and cloaks of varying design atop the armor bearing their domain's heraldic colors, symbols and other regalia. This has not always been so. In the Covenant's past, still by the time of the hegemony's Feudal Period, most Councilors would clad themselves in the ceremonial style of their homeworld and/or -region, resulting in a much more heterogeneous overall impression. The current Councilor headdress is an evolution or distillation of a specific style favored by many Councilors of the Sunlit Worlds and the Primeval Core before the Second Illumination, and became part of the Councilors' standard uniform in the ages since.

San'Shyuum Councilors
The San'Shyuum High Councilors were also known as Minor Prophets or Lesser Prophets, and included both the various Ministers of the Covenant ministries and various other classes of the San'Shyuum religio-political aristocracy. Ministers and other officials within the High Council would thus hold the titles of Minister, High Councilor and Prophet, with the latter being a religious appellation that could also be accorded to certain high-ranking San'Shyuum outside the High Council.

Facilities
The High Council met in the High Council Chamber, based in the High Council Spire, located in the Golden City of High Charity before its infestation by the Flood and subsequent destruction. From there, the Covenant's wavecaster network would broadcast their sessions across the city-station and the entire Holy Ecumene. In the earliest years of the Covenant, the Council met in what was known as the Hall of Convocation aboard the Anodyne Spirit. As the Covenant grew along with the facilities required for the Council, this space proved less than ideal, along with the security concerns raised over having so many regular visitors to the Sacred Vessel. As such, the Spire of the High Council was built within the Golden City, its interior modeled in a loose homage to the convocation chamber aboard the keyship. The spire stayed remarkably unchanged over the course of the Covenant's existence, though it was renovated and expanded several times.