Parliament of the Concordance

As formulated by the Council of Know at the 564,231st meeting on Knowledge and Other Things that can be Known. Any comments expressed in this transcript are not endorsed by the Council of Know and may be considered opinions only.

Representatives of the various celestial races periodically gather together to discuss matters involving the plots and actions of the fiends - baatezu, tanar’ri and yugoloth. The gathered celestials normally design and plan defenses against the threat of invasion and debate whether various forms of direct attacks should be used to lessen the threat. This assembly is called the Parliament of the Concordance, or as it has come to be known, the Parliament.

The Parliament was formed several centuries after the Celestial Concordance formally began, which was an unknown number of millennia ago. A logical method was needed to provide the sharing of information between the upper races. Additionally, they needed a common venue to begin formulating a plan to protect the Upper Planes. The Parliament was formed to satisfy that need.

The Parliament is held in a huge temple on the third layer of Mount Celestia. When the holy body convenes, representatives of the aasimon, archons, asuras, eladrins, and guardinals discuss and debate the best way to implement their forces and resources. Long arguments are routinely held regarding what role each race should play in the structure of the Concordance. These meetings, which have never been recorded in any written form, are monumental and can often decide the fate of hundreds of thousands of planar beings.

Leading the Parliament and directing the coordination of the defense of the Upper Planes is the Arch-Penitar. The current Arch-Penitar is Zora Sebirati, a solar aasimon in the service of the Egyptian god Ra. Representatives of the Parliament usually elect a new Arch-Penitar every three centuries, but are not bound to a formal election or specific date. Zora has been one of the most astute and cunning Arch-Penitar in recent millennia. Within the celestial hierarchy she is known affectionately as “Z”.

Zora Sebirati has also been one of the most outspoken celestials regarding the threat that the fiends pose. She has actively pursued a strategy of monitoring, maintaining, and limiting the Blood War to the Lower Planes. The recent incursion of the warring fiends into the Outlands has worried the Arch-Penitar and she has moved swiftly to investigate the reason for these new invasions. It is during this troubling time that rumors of a celestial intelligence force have grown.

(Reference source: Warriors of Heaven, pg. 4-5)