Peoples: The Higharc

The Higharc is the controlling government on the planet of Eray. Their job is to ensure that all the "rulerships" and republics of Eray get along, as well as providing guidance and universal policies to unify the peoples. The Higharc is so influencial that about half of all business conducted by an Erayic government is overseen by the Higharc.
On Eray, drem (a race of dragonlike-men) are deemed "superior" to all non-drem. They are given special rites and powers (such as extra freedoms, the right to use the more accessable drem-entraces to buildings...) because they are supposedly smarter. The most well known freedom they have over non-drem is the right to govern themselves. All non-drem societies live under puppet governments called "ruleships" which are not legally true administrations, but elected magistrates who attend to the most basic needs of their subjects, while all other choices are made by the Higharc for them (because the Higharc knows best).
The Higharc itself is a council of fifty individuals: all drem and their staff. They sit in their palace in the flying city of Starseran and distribute their rule to all from there through an efficient system of messengers who utilize airships to get around the world of Eray.
As tyrannical as the Higharc may seem with its extensive control, it is actually quite fair. While no one can live independently from their rule and no non-drem administrations can make their own choices, the Higharc is largely a fair government remarkably free of corruption at the time of book 1. They ensure that a democratic society prevails all across Eray (albeit, votes cast by drem citizens are more valuable than other votes).
The most well known accomplishment of the Higharc is the fact that war is a rarity on Eray. The rebellion that occurs in book 1 is the first war that Eray, the whole planet, has had in two generations.
Higharc symbols make heavy use of griffin imagery since they were originally founded to be the successors of the griffins in the wake of the Sky War. Starseran itself is built on the back of a giant griffin statue. The representative colours of the Higharc are yellow and black, often checkered.