Amongst the chaos of the invasion of the orcs and xvarts and the conquest of Daring Heights, the refugees of the town camped back on the other side of the portal discovered that Viscount Willum Daffles, the Mayor, had vanished.
They wouldn't learn for some time that he had been sequestered into a gemstone by Granny Longtooth as a consequence of many of his deals with her being set to last 'for as long as he ruled Daring Heights.' In the interim however, to make decisions on behalf of the town as to what would happen next - how they would retake it and how they should operate going forwards, the fractious elements of Daring settled on rule by council.
Almost by default, Aurelia Archselon was at the centre of these discussions, as Daffles' closest advisor and friend, as well as the person who controlled the portal so key to their operation. Between the interested figures, they hashed out a plan for a nine person council over the course of some fierce discussion in a large tent one afternoon.
The council of nine was divided into three representative areas. Three seats would represent the merchants and nobility - the wealth of the town so dedicated to profit; three seats would represent the citizenry and small businesses - the heart and core of the town; and three seats would represent the various defences of the town - the strength of the town.
The original council was assembled swiftly, and ruled even after Daring Heights was retaken and rebuilt. They continued for a few years, before finally mounting tensions and accusations that the council did not seem to achieve a great deal, unable or incapable of deciding more strategic policies finally forced Aurelia to propose that they seek to form a new council, this time with the backing of the people. A novel approach, but in this new land, where they stood relatively alone in a small community of a city, everyone's opinion mattered.
Here are the members of each council as there have been:
Note: 2 new seats were added to this council to better represent the population centres of Port Ffirst and New Hillborrow
Merchant Seats
Lady Saria Underwood
Lord Jean Auber
Mavis Thovian
Citizen Seats
Archmage Aurelia Archselon
Lara Layland
Tasselhoff Bitterberry the Bold
Warden Seats
Commander Kegotta Mira
Captain Balto Thundercog
Cecil Bahtenda
Populace Seats
Port Ffirst: Percival Wentworth Von Muspelheim III
New Hillborrow: Jacinta Montajay
Merchant Seats
Lady Saria Underwood
Jean Auber, representing The Noble House of Auber
Mavis Thovian
Citizen Seats
Samed Mirass, blacksmith (deceased)
Aurelia Archselon
Rholor Vuzekh, High Diviner of the Church of Selune (left)
Warden Seats
Commander Cordelia Jadefist of the armed forces (deceased)
Captain Balto Thundercog of the city watch
Cecil, Coll and Cobb, representing the adventurer community (1 left, 1 deceased)
Merchant Seats
Duke Geoffrey Kensington (deceased)
Lady Saria Underwood
Jean Auber, representing The Noble House of Auber
Citizen Seats
Samed Mirass, blacksmith
Aurelia Archselon
Rholor Vuzekh, High Diviner of the Church of Selune
Warden Seats
Commander Cordelia Jadefist of the armed forces
Captain Balto Thundercog of the city watch
Cecil, Coll and Cobb, representing the adventurer community
Merchant Seats
Duke Geoffrey Kensington
Tabetha Winslow, representing the Guild of the Emerald Tradition
Jean Auber, representing The Noble House of Auber
Citizen Seats
Samed Mirass, blacksmith
Aurelia Archselon
Rholor Vuzekh, High Diviner of the Church of Selune
Warden Seats
Commander Cordelia Jadefist of the armed forces
Captain Balto Thundercog of the city watch
Cecil, Coll and Cobb, representing the adventurer community