Council of Families

Composed of delegates representing the Ruling Families, the Council of Families acted as the main legislative body of the Chiss Ascendancy. In addition to its legislative duties, the Council also held certain judicial powers used to oversee the actions of both individuals and Ruling Families, thereby guaranteeing equal footing for all Families. In the event of a tie vote within the Council, the representative from the Chiss Expansionary Defense Fleet would cast the deciding vote. Members of the Council wore full-body robes in the color of the Family they represented, which served to conceal their identities.

In 27 BBY, after Force Commander Mitth'raw'nuruodo, whose core name was "Thrawn," led a force of warships from the Chiss Expansionary Fleet and crippled the Galactic Republic exploration and colonization vessel Outbound Flight, a Chiss fleet commanded by Aristocra Chaf'orm'bintrano of the Fifth Ruling Family was approaching the battle site. Thrawn, based on a suggestion from the Human trader Jorj Car'das, became convinced that the Aristocra intended to seize the damaged Outbound Flight for the Fifth Family. Syndic Mitth'ras'safis, whose core name was "Thrass," from the Eighth Ruling Family, along with Admiral Ar'alani of the Chiss Defense Fleet, were of the opinion that the Council of Families would likely object to any Ruling Family acting in such a way as to disrupt the balance of power by forcefully acquiring the technology aboard the ship, giving them an advantage over the other Families. However, they noted that this process was lengthy and complex, rendering it largely ineffective in practical terms. They agreed that the most effective course of action would be to have Outbound Flight declared property of the Defense Fleet at one of its bases.

However, Thrass was secretly planning to destroy the vessel in a nearby star. As Thrass and Car'das moved forward with this plan, they came across Lorana Jinzler, a Jedi Knight who was among the small group of crewmembers and passengers from Outbound Flight who had survived the Chiss attack. Upon realizing that evacuating and destroying the ship before its capture by the Fifth Family was not feasible, Thrass suggested following Thrawn's original plan of taking the vessel to a Defense Fleet base. However, they understood that such a course of action would essentially make the survivors of Outbound Flight prisoners of the Chiss. Instead, Thrass gave them information about a safe location within a star cluster known to the Chiss as the Redoubt, where they could remain hidden while Thrass secretly negotiated with the Council of Families regarding the return of Outbound Flight to the Republic. Following Jinzler's instructions, Car'das remained behind while Thrass and the Jedi steered the ship on its final journey into the star cluster.

During their search for the sentient planet Zonama Sekot in 28 ABY, a Jedi delegation led by Jedi Master Luke Skywalker journeyed to the city of Ac'siel on the planet Csilla. There, they had a meeting with members of the Council of Families, among them "Bronze," "Rust," "Gray" and "[Copper-green]", who wore bronze, rust-red, silver-gray, and copper-green full-body robes, respectively reflecting the colors associated with their Families. During this meeting, the representatives debated whether to allow the delegation to pass through Chiss Space, with some members being open to the idea. Because the Council could not reach a consensus, Chief Navigator Peita Aabe, representing the Chiss Expansionary Defense Fleet, cast the deciding vote in favor of a compromise. With the Council's unanimous approval, Aabe granted the delegation access to the Expeditionary Library for two days, and Gray provided them with Tris, a guide from the Inrokini family.

The Council of Families was first seen, though unnamed, in the 2003 novel The New Jedi Order: Force Heretic II: Refugee, which was the second book in the Force Heretic trilogy from The New Jedi Order series, and was authored by Sean Williams and Shane Dix. It was first given a name in the 2006 novel Outbound Flight by Timothy Zahn.