Chapter 2535: The Retired Elder System

"The ninth item, the establishment of the Department of Divine Affairs, please vote!"

The new system under the new order will integrate all the power of Netheril, which naturally includes the Temple and sectarian forces; this is inherently beyond reproach.

However, the past model is not necessarily impossible to continue, allowing local Temples and sects to remain under the management of local lords; Netheril does not have a single piece of ownerless land, so naturally, there is no need to worry about those Temple and sectarian forces being unregulated.

As for clergy members becoming Pioneers themselves and then being promoted to lords, this is not without precedent, but the conditions are actually very harsh; in the past, the basic prerequisite for wanting to become a Pioneer was to be at least an Archmage-level Spellcaster.

And in recent years, although with the strong support of the Princess, the individual hard requirements for Pioneers have been lowered significantly, and it is not impossible to specifically impose restrictions on clergy members under the new system.

There is no need to create a separate Department of Divine Affairs.

Xia Duo now naturally understands that this is the Seven Towers' desire to establish an "Ascension Order" that refuses to die; the reasons on the surface alone are actually insufficient to convince all the Council members.

But unexpectedly, during the exchanges over the past few days, almost no Council member felt there was any problem here, and they even treated this clause as an option passed by default.

Even when Xia Duo pointed out to their faces that this item still needed discussion, the others just laughed it off and wanted to skip the topic; from this, Xia Duo could know that the Seven Towers must have had private exchanges or even deals with the Council members.

So today, when watching the Council members ahead of him being asked one by one and all actively expressing their approval, even though it was still daytime, Xia Shao felt as if the sky of Netheril had already darkened.

With the option of the Arcane Association gone, lords will also more actively strive for excellent Arcanist Seeds among their territory's residents, indirectly increasing the popularity of Magic.

"The tenth item, the establishment of the Elder Spellcaster 【institution】, please vote!"

Of course, Retired Elders do not necessarily have to live in the Green Field Plane; they can completely continue to shine and heat up in the Main Plane. Except for being unable to serve as Council members, they can do any other position or work.

There is nothing much to say about that; those who are unwilling to become Council members, or Archmages (and above) who have made contributions to Netheril, can all enter the Elder Spellcaster 【institution】, with the Council allocating funds to support their retirement for the rest of their lives.

But it was of no avail, and in the end, it was passed by a high vote; next, it depends on the scope of authorization below. Fortunately, the matter of Ascension to Godhood is not very convenient to mention in public, otherwise, it would be even more troublesome.

Under such circumstances, suppressing the emergence of new Council members is no longer a necessary measure; instead, looking for new variables outside of existing Council members might be more worth doing.

It can be said that under the new system, as long as one is an Arcanist, there are almost unrestricted upward channels in all aspects.

But this is also a necessary move; Archmages who are unwilling to become Council members do not equate to losing their channel for voicing opinions, and precisely because they voluntarily gave up decision-making power, their other rights should be respected even more.

If a lord does not actively cultivate the Arcanists within their territory, one consequence is the outflow of Archmages—that is, assuming there are Arcanists—and the other is falling into a disadvantageous position in the competition for discourse power with other lords.

Under the new system, the most important discourse power in Netheril lies at the level of Council members; lords are of course also not to be ignored. When Council members' opinions are divided, the lords play a role.

Of course, a very important point is that the external environment of Netheril is not that peaceful, and the internal interests of Netheril have not yet reached the point where people completely lose their sanity. If others have allies with close relationships or even deep emotional bonds, and only you don't, then who can you expect to voluntarily stand on your side and speak up for you?

As for Council members joining forces to suppress the emergence of new Council members, that is indeed possible, but in reality, it is not very likely. In order to maintain a certain bottom line of external deterrence, it is necessary to maintain a certain number of Archmages, which is to say, Council members.

The Seven Towers will take out the Green Field Plane for the Elder Spellcaster 【institution】 to use; that plane's attributes are similar to the Main Plane, but the entire plane environment is filled with powerful Positive Energy, and living there naturally extends one's life.

As for ordinary people, crossing the threshold of Spellcasting is not too difficult. In the future, the Grand Library might take over the Arcane Association branches in various parts of Netheril that have basically become decorations in the past, providing necessary basic Magic Education for the local ordinary people.

Only Council members and Retired Elders cannot hold concurrent posts; all others can be compatible. The main purpose of this institution at the time of its design was to give Archmages who have no intention of participating in politics a place to go.

Even if one cannot become a Council member for the time being, becoming an Elder Spellcaster can still win a large amount of benefits for the territory, not to mention that one can also sponsor the other party to become a Pioneer, form a lord alliance, and launch a challenge to the Council members together.

If it is used as the residence for Elder Spellcasters, it is actually quite good. In the past few years, after Kangjienio stepped down from the position of President of the Arcane Union, he spent most of his time recuperating in the Green Field Plane.

It can be said that once the channels for obtaining power are clarified and the corresponding supporting systems are perfected, it will inevitably attract a large number of people of insight to join.

Badijiaer suggests that whether it is the Council or the subordinate institutions of the Council, any questions raised by Elder Spellcasters must be given a positive response within a limited time frame.

The Seven Towers doing this is not entirely a spur-of-the-moment decision.

But once the number of these Council members exceeds a certain critical point, the possibility of collectively reaching a consensus for private gain will drop sharply, because Council members themselves have conflicts of interest; only public interests can allow them to collectively reach a consensus.

Xia Shao dares to assert that education will surely become a key area valued by all regions in the future. Just think, as long as one cultivates a Council member with consistent interests, it is even possible to change the political landscape of Netheril.

Other Retired Elders who are not Archmages are similar; having made contributions to Netheril, they naturally need to be treated seriously.

In the end, he and Niya could only use abstention to express their silent resistance.

In the past, that plane was only open to those who had participated in the Green Field Plane War. Xia Shao had residency qualifications there, but he is in the prime of his life; at most, he would go there for travel, and would not live there for long.

In a sense, this is also a form of checks and balances.

Furthermore, in the agenda outline drafted by Badijiaer, it is explicitly mentioned that Elder Spellcasters are granted the right to discuss politics; although it is not participating in politics, discussing politics is still possible.

Although nominally, the Elder Spellcaster 【institution】 is set under the Council, in reality, if it is as Badijiaer suggested, this new institution will become a special institution parallel to the Council.

Xia Shao can foresee that after this institution and this mechanism are established, future Netherese will surely take pride in entering the Elder Spellcaster 【institution】. If one has the intention to participate in politics, first becoming an Elder Spellcaster is also an excellent transitional qualification.

Or one could narrow the scope a bit; this institution is actually prepared specifically for Kangjienio and the future Yinaole.

It is just that in order not to appear so obvious, the statement "Archmages who have made contributions can also enter the Elder Spellcaster 【institution】" was added.