Dark Council

"With us, you are ruler of all the Sith, answerable only to the Emperor himself."

- Darth Marr to Darth Nox

The Dark Council was a 12-member council that served as the ruling body of the reconstituted Sith Empire throughout much of the government's history.

Authority
As the single ruling body of the Sith Empire, the Dark Council consisted of twelve Sith Lords who each held the title of Dark Lord of the Sith. When Darth Vitiate, the Sith Emperor, retreated into seclusion within the Dark Temple, the Dark Council took over and was responsible for the day-to-day managing of the Sith Empire. A seat on the Council meant that the Sith Lord who resides in it was among the most powerful individuals in the entire Sith Empire; albeit second only to the Sith Emperor himself.

Becoming a Dark Council Member
In the traditional order of succession on the Council, a Council member's apprentice was the first choice to replace them following their death. However, there were also other different ways to gaining their seat as well. The Emperor himself could select new members of the Council, while the death of a Councilor at the hands of another Sith or their apprentice guaranteed that the victor would be granted the title of Dark Lord of the Sith and take the seat of the fallen Council member. Should both these traditional order of successions fail, the other members could select new Councilors during their meetings through a unanimous vote, though due to their constant bickering, the Council was hardly if not never unanimous on which candidate to select.

The Spheres of Influence
Each Council member controlled one of the twelve Spheres of Influence within the entire Sith Empire, and the various Sith Lords who served each Dark Councilor maintained power bases of their own. Through that system of power bases, every single Sith within the Empire answered to at least one of the Dark Council members, and every non-Sith organization also fell under one or more of the Councilors' Spheres of Influence. The Dark Councilors who ran The Spheres of Military Offense and Defense of the Empire were advised by the leaders of the Sphere of Military Strategy, and together those three Councilors controlled the Imperial Ministry of War and commanded the entire Imperial Military. The Dark Councilor who was the head of the Sphere of Imperial Intelligence oversaw the Ministry of Intelligence, while the leaders of the Sphere of Production and Logistics controlled the Ministry of Logistics.

The Dark Councilor who was in charge of the Sphere of Ancient Knowledge commanded the Imperial Reclamation Service. The member running the Sphere of Mysteries worked in secrecy to guard the secrets of the Sith. The member running the Sphere of Sith Philosophy ensured that the Code of the Sith was upheld and spread anti-Jedi sentiment throughout the Empire. Councilor in charge of The Sphere of Expansion and Diplomacy oversaw the Imperial Diplomatic Service and the expansion of Imperial borders. The member controlling the Sphere of Laws and Justice maintained order and justice within the Empire itself. The Councilors in charge of the final two Spheres, The Spheres of Technology and Biotic Science, oversaw the Empire's technological advancements and medical science respectively.