Council of Elders and Crones
The Free Folk's law-speakers and judges: three elders and three crones, the oldest and wisest of the community, with a seventh to break the tie
Three elders and three crones, the oldest and wisest of the Free Folk, with a seventh seat that breaks the ties and moderates the rest. The seats are interchangeable. They are the law-speakers of the community and its judges, which makes them the half of the government the Council of Many Voices is not: the council decides what the Host will do, and the elders and crones say what the law is and what is owed for breaking it.
Most of what they hand down is small and material. Rations are cut, reparations are paid to whoever was wronged, or a member’s voting rights are revoked for a time and he sits out the councils until they are returned to him. Beyond those, and short of death, the harshest sentence they can pass is banishment from the community.