"Did you receive my last letter? Good. I know that being placed in the high council takes a lot of responsibility. Steering the union into wealth and prosperity without bias or favoritism is not an easy task. That is why they picked you. That is why I picked you. Ensure that certain factions prosper more than the others, without being obvious, and I will make sure your political career is long and illustrious. If not, I can find someone else to assist me. ~Your Benefactor."
Your goal as a high council member is to have seven influence points by doing favors and spotting traitors. Most rounds, the active player moves a shared worker token to an empty trade deal space and players vote to raise both factions. Should be easy, but if your bias is discovered, you'll be exposed and censured. Better to play sub-optimally or spark a scandal or two. Be careful about moving up too quickly: you'll be watched more carefully and have extra administrative duties to distract you from your real work: doing the will of your benefactor.
—description from the publisher