Magic Council (Enriant)

The Magic Council (魔法評議院 Mahō Hyōgīn) is the ruling body of the magical world, acting in the Ishgal Continent. This version of the Magic Council appears in the author's storyline

Description
As the main ruling body of the entire Magic world, the Council possesses almost utmost control over it, acting as a leading government of sort. The Council rules all of the Legal Guilds scattered throughout Earth Land, overseeing them and keeping them in check, and they are responsible for the events caused by Mages, also possessing the right to punish Mages who break the law and to confiscate magical artifacts which could potentially cause large-scale damage. Among the things prohibited by the Magic Council is the use of Magic for assassination, something which, if perpetrated, could lead the Council to oust the offender's guild. The Council has the right to apprehend Mages charged with crimes anytime, with their messengers being highly respected. Gray Fullbuster went on to say that "Even if something is white, once a Council member says it's black, then it becomes black", showing that the Council's authority is extremely large in the Magic world. However, despite this, the Council is known for sometimes displaying its power as a mere formality, finding scapegoat Mages and trying them of recent, calamitous happenings just to subsequently release them without any punishment

Being essentially the overseers of guilds, they do not hold Fairy Tail, in high regard, due to their tendency to cause tremendous damage to property during Jobs, and generally due to the troubles they're known for causing. Some of the Council members have even tried to have Fairy Tail disbanded but to no avail due to their interventions and help to the order in the magical world in the last years

After it's destruction by the Dark Guild Tartaros, the Council was reconstructed and much of it's internal organization was changed. To start, their building and main seat of power was rebuilt to be a maze-like structure and with the guard increased. However, the problems in the last years made a doubt over the power of the Council. This led some of the countries in Ishgal to refuse recognizing it's authority and taking over the power of their own magical communities. Currently, that are four countries who refuse to recognize the Council's authority over their own magical community. These countries are Seven, Caelum, Bellum and Enca. Currently, the Magic Council is in war against Seven, has a bad relationship with Bellum and is in terms with Caelum and Enca. Actually, the Council of Nine is in negociation with Caelum to receive their own recognization and rumors are that Enca's problems in managing their magical community is leading to make them recognize the Council too

After it's reconstruction, the Council divided better their management, separating their military into seven different regiments, each responsible for a different affair in the magical world

Members
The Magic Council has several members, however, the most powerful and recognized are the members of the Council of Nine (九の評議院 Kyū no Hyōgīn), composed by nine members at a time. They have full authority over the council affairs and are ranked from 2nd Seat to 9th Seat. Their leader is the Chairman, the effective leader of all the magic council

Rune Knights
A military subdivision within the Council, acting as a personal constable of sort, Rune Knights are the Council's army. Their job is to enforce the Council's ideals of justice and to investigate crimes related to the Magic world. They are also responsible for dealing with issues such as detaining criminals and passing judgement on to them. They patrol over a large span of land all across the country. They are known to possess several garrisons scattered throughout Fiore, with their numbers being consistent, and have battleships at their disposal for sea transportation. They are divided into squads, with some of them performing particular duties, and most of them being led by a ranked officer

After the reconstruction of the Council, the Rune Knights were divided into seven regements, each one with an specific purporse or task inside the magical world. For the first time, was given insight into untouched questions of magical importance. When mages make the test to be Rune Knights, their power is measured in a scale of seven levels. The ones who rank first are placed in the First Regiment, with the most powerful member being their Captain. The weakest ones are placed in the Seventh Regiment, with the most powerful member as their Captain as well

Currently, the First Regiment is responsible for magical law and rule enforcement, the Second Regiment is responsible for dealing with magical accidents and catastrophes, the Third Regiment is responsible for the care and problems with magical fauna and flora, the Fourth Regiment is responsible by dealing with affairs with the nations and their problems who are magical-related, the Fifth Regiment is the intelligence section of the military and are responsible by spying and registering information and the Sixth Regiment is responsible by the regulation of magical objects, weapons and artifacts. The Seventh Regiment, however, don't have any specific task and are responsible for all problems who don't fit in the previous six regiments

Weapons and Equipment
Since it's rebuilt, much of the old power was lost and almost all their weapons and equipments were destroyed. The only one who remains from the old days is the Etherion. However, in the last years, both Second and Sixth Regiments have been working to recharge the power of the Council with new magical objects of arguable danger and power

Etherion
The Magic Council is in possession of the Satellite Square: Etherion (衛星魔法陣・エーテリオン Eisei Mahōjin : Ēterion), an extremely powerful Magic taking the form of a satellite structure composed of glyphs, which is held in the Council's headquarters in Era, and can be used to target any point of Earth Land from the sky. Known as "the Magic of destruction that transcends space-time". Etherion is the Council's most powerful and ultimate weapon, capable of targeting anything on the surface with a devastating beam on huge scale, which has been described as damaging enough to make an entire country disappear. The destructive blast produced by Etherion is known for possessing an astonishing amount of Magic Power, at least 2.7 Billion Edeas. In order for the Magic to be employed from Era and placed in the atmosphere to strike its targets, a certain amount of time is needed, during which Etherion is charged up and positioned above the target

As damaging as it is, Etherion can't be employed light-kindheartedly, due to extreme amount of casualties while fired against its targets, catching others in its radius. In the absence of the Chairman, for the firing of Etherion to be permitted, a majority of votes within the Council itself is required. If the voting were to end in a draw, then Etherion wouldn't be fired. Measures seem to have been taken to prevent civil casualties from damaging the Council's reputation itself if the weapon were to cause them. However, the death of innocent people would still weigh the concerned councilors' conscience. If Etherion is to be fired, all of the Council members, both Members, Employees and Rune Knights, are known to religiously pronounce the words "Thus we pray" before the firing, collecting their thoughts in prayer and hoping that the ultimate weapon doesn't wreak havoc on innocent lives

Trivia

 * The musical theme of the Council in the anime is an instrumental version of the famous aria "La Habanera", from Georges Bizet's opera "Carmen"