The Council/Mad

Four organizations working on behalf of Aaronev Sturmvoraus and now his son Tarvek have been mentioned; the Order, the Knights of Jove, the Council, and the Smoke Knights.

Tarvek is a descendant of House Valois on his mother's side.

The Knights of Jove are a military organization, and their loyalty has been identified as being specifically with House Valois.

The Smoke Knights are specifically an organization devoted to espionage, presumably including everything from assassination to intelligence gathering.

The first mention of the Council contrasts them with the Order. Although the Order is noted as having sworn loyalty to the Geisterdamen and the Other, on behalf of House Valois, its real loyalty is estimated by Anevka to lie with House Valois alone. But Anevka does expect she will have to conceal her plans from the Council until she can present them with the fait accompli of the Geisterdamen and the Other having been defeated.

The Council is later shown as being behind the plot to establish Zola as the new Heterodyne, to validate Tarvek's claim to be the new Storm King. This would seem to indicate that the Council also works for House Valois instead of House Sturmvoraus, but it is not definitive, since seizing power for the son of Aaronev Sturmvoraus by this means would serve both groups' interests. As well, unlike Anevka - and Tarvek, for that matter - Aaronev, despite on occasion being by them, was always completely faithful and obedient to Lucrezia.

Thus, it seems reasonable to view the Council as a conspiratorial organization operating on behalf of House Sturmvoraus. Since Aaronev's - and Tarvek's - rule over Sturmhalten derives from the claim of that house, the Council, even though its existence is likely also secret, is in some sense more public, or more official, than the Order. And, since Aaronev was loyal to Lucrezia without qualms, while the Council's loyalty is still to House Sturmvoraus first, and to Lucrezia only as a consequence of that, it is reasonable to conclude that it would not cooperate in any attempt to betray Lucrezia until such time as direct orders from the Sturmvoraus heir - which is Tarvek, not Anevka - were received by them.

The activities of Zola and the Pink Airship, on behalf of the Council, while directly benefiting Tarvek, are not in conflict with the goals of Lucrezia and the Geisterdamen, but would simply give him more power to aid them, even if also less need for their services.