Council of Eight

"Once, long ago in the early history of the Mersion race, there was an ancient order of wise elders known as the Council of Eight, who governed the isle Versuva. Despite it's honest and good intentions, the council was seeded by corruption, reducing it to nothing more than a group of dusty, squabbling senators. in the end, it was removed from power by the very people it swore to protect, due to it's growing ignorance to external threats."

- Mersery

The Council of Eight was once the Mersion governing body of Versuva.

History
The Council of Eight was originally founded 100,000 years ago by Mata Nui shortly after the creation of the Mersion species. He selected eight Mersions to rule Versuva, with the instructions to pass their titles onto a successor should members of the original council retire from their positions. Over the years the Council of Eight made several decisions that were responsible for the advancement of Mersion society, such as opening Versuva to the rest of the universe, though the council later succumbed to greed and corruption.

By the time a warlord arrived on Versuva, many were beginning to doubt that the Council of Eight were capable of protecting of ruling the isle at all. Due to the constant bickering among the council members, Versuva was swiftly conquered, and the warlord briefly assumed supreme command over the Council of Eight. Luckily, the warlord was defeated by the Hand of Artakha, who subsequently drove him from Versuva.

At this point, the Mersion known as Mersery was elected to join the council. During this time, Mersery attempted to restore the council to it's former justice and provide Verusva with new, strong leaders. However, he found that his fellow council members were unwilling to relinquish the positions, and that damage done to the council's social structure was unrepairable.

As a result, Mersery and the rest of Mersion society had the council removed from power for it's ineffectiveness, and a single leader was elected to rule Versuva.

Structure
The Council of Eight consisted of eight Mersions elders, each from the most prominent cities on Versuva. the council would gather in the central fortress in the city of Keadrah, where they would contemplate important decisions. The council made decisions when all members of the council agreed equally on them.

Originally, a series of rules were established by the original council which were intended to prevent members of the council from claiming too much power. However, by the time of the final council, the rules had either been discarded or were being bent by the ambitious members of the council.

Known Members

 * The members of the first council
 * Several Mersions who made up the last council
 * Mersery/Mersery

Trivia

 * During the council's history, there were at least seven variations of the council.