The main governing body is a town council consisting of 9 members and at least 5 members must be present for a quorum. The head of the city guard is always a member, a proxy ambassador from the capital is always a member, and the city's mayor is always a member. These three are known as the “permanent members”. The other 6 seats are the “term members”.

The Mayor is voted on by the people; the city guard is appointed by the King; and the proxy is appointed by the King's 'court'.

The term members are broken into “appointed” and “open” seats.

Three of the six seats are appointed, one each by a permanent member. In other words, the mayor appoints 1 seat, the city guard appoints another seat, and the capital's proxy appoints another. Only one is appointed each year, so there is a constant cycle of a brand new permanent member and so forth.

The remaining 3 seats are “open” in that anyone agreed upon by 4 of the Permanent and appointed members can be an open member provided that they reside in Steepost for the duration of their term.

Terms are 3 years for appointed, and 2 years for open seats. Open seats have no term limits and a member could serve forever so long as the rest of the council approves. Appointed seats cannot serve consecutive terms. I.e., they can only serve 3 years on, then 3 years off. However, this tends to cause “good” appointed members to be “open” members kept on indefinitely.

Current Council Members

Permanent and Appointed Members

1. Mayor Freya Thurgis, human female, age 45
   1. Astrix Myris, gnome male wizard, age 65, divination specialist, 1 year remaining in term
2. City Guard Captain Ilmins StrongArm, hill dwarf male, age 125
   1. Rexis Stanchon, human male, age 25, second in command of City Guard and rumored to be the region's “spymaster”, 2 years remaining in term
3. King's Ambassador The Honorable Solveig Friggsiff, human male, age 30, and cousin of the King
   1. Bjorti Honeyhair, half-elf female, 50, frequent royal courtisan in the capital but living in Steepost. Full three years remaining in term.

Open Members

1. Odin's Hand (Leif Sagason), human male, age 60, highest ranking priest in Steepost, 20+ years on council.
2. Bearselino Checshee, goliath male, age 40, a powerful trader dealing in ores, coal, etc. Brand new on council.
3. Quisitar Othelsimir, high-elf male, age 400+, head of the Wizard's Consortium, 75+ years on council. Frequently absent in second home outside of Steepost. Rumored most powerful magic user in the region.

Steepost has courts similar to the American judicial system but a jury is only allowed when the potential sentence is death, or the judge determines it necessary. The judges are appointed on 6-year terms by vote of the council. Steepost currently has 3 judges.

The city jail has capacity for about 50 prisoners humanely, and about 200 prisoners inhumanely. It's unknown to the general public how many prisoners are currently there.