Concord of Reconciliation

The Concord of Reconciliation, commonly known only as the Concord, is a coalition of several dozen post-Covenant polities and organizations. It is the largest grouping of Covenant splinter polities to arise from the Great Schism, and is recognized by many (including the UNSC) as the Covenant's legitimate successor state. Arbiter Thel 'Vadam symbolically leads the Concord in a role analogous to the warrior-king Arbiters of old, but in practice, the organization's power structure is quite diffuse, and it inherited much of the byzantine internal politics which characterized its predecessor.

The Concord sprang from the Schismatics, the predominantly Sangheili-led groups that were united in their opposition to the Covenant loyalist Jiralhanae during the first months of the Great Schism. At first, vanquishing the loyalists was the Concord's primary motivation and the glue that bound most of its members together, though several of its core founders -- the Arbiter included -- harbored grander ambitions from the start. It were these ambitions that also gave rise to the Concord's name: for the Arbiter and his allies sought nothing less than to provide a functional and attractive alternative to the now-failed Covenant.

The foremost function the Concord fulfills is organizational. They seek to bring order to the chaos left behind by High Charity's fall by taking over the Covenant's basic roles: facilitating trade and an overall functioning economy by policing shipping lanes and spaceports, bringing relief to worlds struck by famines or disasters, and to some extent regulating access to key technologies and reliquaries, particularly strategic Forerunner sites such as the Halo rings. The Concord has also taken it upon themselves to gather and archive what they can of the Covenant's technological, scientific and historical knowledge, which have become immensely valuable following the loss of High Charity. Finally, the Concord has a cultural goal, seeking to provide a common purpose for a meta-civilization in a crisis of faith.

In practice, the Concord has had varied success. The Great Schism created dozens of competing political and religious movements, many of which held influence within the Concord's decision-making. It quickly became apparent that the goal of cultural, ideological and even religious reconciliation would be difficult to achieve due to the myriad political differences that existed among its members. Ultimately, the Concord's ability to police its member states or their individual policies is limited, which has at times worked to the coalition's detriment. As well, its leniency to internal strife and division caused some to perceive it as ineffectual, and the Arbiter's unwillingness to rein in the excesses of some of his more fanatical followers has ended up alienating some of his traditionalist allies.

Eventually, these festering disagreements and divisions gave rise to a series of secessions and civil wars beginning in the 2570s, which would last over two decades and eventually usher in a radical restructuring of the Concord, marked by political consolidation and a renewed focus on the organization's core mission of reconciliation.

Origins
As a formal coalition, the Concord of Reconciliation began with the Singular Bond, the pact made by the 24 Sangheili commanders in the wake of the Human-Covenant War. As the newly-created Concord, these commanders then proceeded to enter the Treaty of Luna with the UNSC in February 2553, considered by many to be the formal end of the war. However, historical commentators have pointed out that the seeds which would eventually flower into the Concord were planted much earlier. Such views postulate that the origins of many of the philosophies that shaped the Concord in its formative years lay in war-era movements that expressed disgruntlement with the war or the Last Triumvirate's rule for various reasons.

Many Sangheili, particularly among the generation that had come of age in the years after the war began, began to question the Hierarchs' motivations for the war, giving rise to movements that characterized the zeitgeist of the later Ninth Age of Reclamation, such as the Compuncta and the Elenchists. As the war dragged on and Covenant troops became more familiar with humans and their ways, these movements called into question the basic premise of the war. Not only did humanity seem to lack the purported collective cultural hatred of Forerunner artifacts, they seemed to have very little knowledge on the Forerunners in general, most of it having come from the Covenant themselves. Not only that, but many would point out that even if the humans' crimes were true, the Lekgolo had once sinned as well, perhaps more gravely, yet they had eventually been welcomed into the holy union. Surely, then, there must be something the Prophets were not telling the masses about the causes of the war? Then there were the Enquirers and the Stipulants, whose compunctions with the genocide itself were less overt; rather, their grievances lay in the Hierarchs' elusive motivations in general. To them, the prolonged holy war began to seem like a convenient way to draw their attention away from the numerous internal issues and points of unrest within the Holy Ecumene, issues that had simmered under the surface for many generations- including the rising influence and power of the Jiralhanae, once the scourge of the Spinward Realms, the gradual decline of the Sangheili aristocratic class, and the Hierarchs' tampering with the delicate balance of power among the Ministries, which severely upset the fabric of the Covenant.

Such movements largely existed under the surface, but they troubled the Hierarchs enough to eventually implement their ultimate divisive mandate, which would spark the Great Schism and prove the death knell of the Covenant. And when that turmoil struck, the socio-cultural undercurrents would come erupting to the surface, directly or indirectly inspiring the creation of countless new movements, groups, polities and religions.

Governance
The Concord's politics are a complex interplay of political movements and factions, various martial orders, guilds and other organizations, and member polities.

In its early years, the Concord had no formalized government branches. Power largely rested on the Arbiter and the First Signatories, as each party largely concerned themselves with their own matters. However, it was apparent that such a tenuous and vague state of affairs could not stand for long, as it would likely lead into the Concord quickly breaking up into warlord fiefdoms. In response, the Arbiter and his inner circle began to assemble periodic Councils of Deliberation, beginning with the Concord's first Grand Council. Part of an ages-old tradition, the summoning of a Grand Council would both appease traditionalists concerned about the old ways being forsaken altogether, and give legitimacy and weight for the budding Concord in the eyes of many.

Political influence within the Concord is heavily tied with the ability to contribute to the whole, either in the form of military power or basic amenities like foodstuffs. Most of the smaller member polities which cannot contribute much are merely protectorates (known as Enfolds), and have little to no say in the Concord's affairs on a high level.

Constituent polities
The Concord is composed of hundreds of post-Covenant polities ranging from individual worlds, ships or space habitats to entities on the level of the former primary domains. These signatories are engaged with the Concord's core mission in various capacities, ranging from passive (e.g. allowing Concord ships to pass through their space lanes, spaceports and refueling outposts) to active (e.g. being actively engaged in the Concord's politics and military operations).