What is the Vanguard leadership council?

In the beginning, there was no council, it was just the three founders and a small but close group of men and women seeking to create an organization that would reach the frontier of known space, to discover adventure, wealth, and whatever else they could find. Along the way, they would help those in need, and provide some law in the lawless lands and bring order to the areas in chaos. But as the organization grew larger and larger, the burden was too great for the founders to handle it on their own.

The decision was to have a leadership council formed, starting with the three founders of Vanguard. Added to those three was an Advocate Marshal for each of the primary Wings within Vanguard, which brought the operational number to nine members. In the beginning, there were not enough trusted individuals to serve on the Vanguard Leadership Council but the premise of how it would work out was laid out as if the council was fully staffed.

Founder One, Warden Draco, would serve as the adjudicator of the VLC and would have the ultimate and final decision on what would pass or not, through the use of Veto power or by casting the final vote in a tie. Luckily, Draco was a fair and just person not known for fits of petty jealousy or power mongery. He would let council votes go in the way they were passed except in rare instances where he truly felt that the organization was threatened by the decision.

Founder Two, Randrik, was to be the founder that chose the Marshals that were to serve as an Advocate Marshal on the Council. Pickings were slim in the beginning, as not many were Marshals in the early years, so many Advocates that served were only Commanders. Of the few that served in that capacity,  some did become Marshals in their own right, like ZZGooch. The Vice Warden was also responsible for casting the vote of the Sentinel Brigade, as due to their very nature, it was best to keep them in a place that gave some plausible deniability.

Founder Three, Mason Stonewall, became the Chief Marshal and headed the Council meeting proceedings and maintained the order of the floor. Although he did have a vote, his vote was always to represent the good of all of Vanguard without prejudice to any particular Wing or idea. His was the vote of balance or change, strength or diplomacy, regardless of what was being discussed, his voice was always focused and passionate for Vanguard. He also served as the Vanguard loremaster, keeping the archives for future Vanguardians to know from where they come.

In this way, the Founders devised a way to have decisions made by a group yet decisions could be made rapidly when they were needed by the Founder to protect his own organization from harm when the need arises.

Vanguard Leadership Council Forever!