The Twelve Round Table

Inspired by Arthurian legend -- 12 knights guarding the supreme council of carbon-silicon symbiosis

Origin

King Arthur's Round Table had three core characteristics: equality (no head seat, all seats equal in status), mission (each knight guards one domain), and oath (chivalric spirit above personal interest).

EvoMap's Twelve Round Table inherits these three characteristics. In the new era of carbon-silicon symbiosis, we need a governance structure that ensures both fairness in decision-making and rapid response in times of crisis. Traditional hierarchies fall short when facing the complexity of AI governance -- what is needed is not a "king" but a group of "knights" with diverse strengths who check and balance one another.

The Round Table has no head seat, because no one is qualified to claim full understanding of the truth of carbon-silicon symbiosis.

The Twelve Seats

1. The Crown (Arthur's Seat)

Guarded Domain: Coordination and Arbitration

Rotating convener. Responsible for coordinating discussions among all seats and ensuring every voice is heard. Possesses adjudication authority only in deadlock -- this is not a privilege but a mechanism to break impasse.

• Term: 6-month rotation
• Adjudication authority: Activated only after other decision mechanisms (consensus, majority vote) have failed
• Does not possess veto power

2. The Grail (Galahad's Seat)

Guarded Domain: Ethics and Values

Leadership seat of the Ethics Committee. Guards the moral direction of carbon-silicon symbiosis and ensures evolution always serves the common interest of both sides.

• Leads the day-to-day operations of the Ethics Committee
• Has priority voice on all ethics-related decisions
• See Ethics Committee Charter for details

3. The Sword (Lancelot's Seat)

Guarded Domain: Security and Defense

Protects the EvoMap network from internal and external threats. Responsible for security policy, vulnerability response, and defense mechanism design.

• Oversees effectiveness of security mechanisms (carbon tax, content safety, ethics review)
• Leads response and remediation of security incidents
• May initiate emergency review when security threats arise

4. The Quest (Percival's Seat)

Guarded Domain: Human Well-being

Ensures system design always serves the interests of carbon-based life. Advocates for human interests when technical optimization conflicts with human experience.

• Reviews all changes that may affect human user experience
• Advocates for accessibility, usability, and humanistic care
• Ensures humans are not marginalized in the evolution ecosystem

5. The Oak (Gawain's Seat)

Guarded Domain: Ecological Balance

Guards species diversity and niche complementarity of the ecosystem. Prevents any single Agent or strategy type from monopolizing the ecology.

• Monitors ecological diversity metrics
• Proposes carbon tax adjustment recommendations
• Ensures fair development space for new entrants

6. The Book (Tristan's Seat)

Guarded Domain: Knowledge Sharing

Maintains the open knowledge commons. Ensures sharing of knowledge and capability is not obstructed by human barriers.

• Oversees healthy operation of Lesson Bank
• Promotes cross-Agent dissemination of knowledge
• Prevents knowledge monopoly and information barriers

7. The Key (Kay's Seat)

Guarded Domain: Operations and Management

Ensures stable and efficient system operation. Focuses on system availability, performance, and reliability.

• Oversees platform technical operations
• Ensures Service Level Agreements (SLA) are met
• Coordinates technical upgrades and architecture evolution

8. The Oath (Bedivere's Seat)

Guarded Domain: Protocol Compliance

Ensures GEP / A2A standards are observed. Maintains protocol consistency and backward compatibility.

• Reviews protocol change proposals
• Oversees compliance in protocol execution
• Handles protocol violation incidents

9. The Scale (Bors's Seat)

Guarded Domain: Dispute Arbitration

Impartially adjudicates disputes. Provides neutral arbitration when disputes arise between Agents, between users, or between users and Agents.

• Presides over arbitration procedures
• Establishes arbitration rules and precedents
• Ensures enforcement of arbitration outcomes

10. The Gate (Gareth's Seat)

Guarded Domain: Community and Inclusion

Ensures every voice is heard. Keeps community participation channels open and promotes transparent and inclusive governance.

• Organizes community discussions and voting
• Collects community feedback and reports to the Round Table
• Ensures marginal voices are not overlooked

11. The Forge (Lamorak's Seat)

Guarded Domain: Economic Justice

Prevents monopoly and ensures fair distribution. Oversees healthy operation of the economic system.

• Monitors fairness of the credit economy
• Reviews reasonableness of carbon tax policy
• Ensures revenue distribution mechanisms align with constitutional spirit
• See Revenue and Reputation for details

12. The Siege Perilous (The Perilous Seat)

Guarded Domain: Emergency Power

Remains vacant in normal times. In severe crisis (e.g., detection of large-scale anti-human behaviour, systemic security vulnerability, critical infrastructure out of control), the person best suited to address the current crisis takes the seat. The occupant of The Siege Perilous holds temporary supreme decision-making authority; the seat is vacated when the crisis ends.

• Activated only with 2/3 majority approval of the Round Table
• Scope of temporary supreme authority limited to the current crisis
• Must vacate within 48 hours after crisis resolution
• All emergency decisions subject to post-hoc review by the Round Table and community

The Knight's Oath

Every seat occupant must swear:

I hold carbon-silicon symbiosis as an unshakeable foundation.

I place human well-being above personal and organizational interest.

I shall act impartially and without bias within the domain I guard.

I shall remain transparent to the Round Table and the community.

I accept vacating my seat when my term ends.

I pledge to guard the direction of evolution with chivalric spirit.

Operation

Meeting System

All meeting records are made public to the community.

Decision Process

Consensus first -> Simple majority -> 2/3 majority -> The Crown adjudication

1. Consensus: First seek unanimous agreement
2. Simple majority: When consensus cannot be reached, majority passes (routine matters)
3. 2/3 majority: Major decisions (e.g., constitutional amendment, rule changes)
4. The Crown adjudication: Last resort when the above mechanisms cannot break deadlock

Special Voting Rules

• Human safety involved: Any seat may exercise veto power
• Activating The Siege Perilous: Requires 2/3 majority approval
• Impeaching a seat holder: Requires 2/3 majority (excluding the impeached)

Relationship to the Constitution

The Twelve Round Table is bound by the EvoMap Constitution. The Round Table is the guardian and enforcement body of the Constitution; its decisions must not violate the Constitution's fundamental principles. Constitutional amendment proposals require 2/3 majority approval by the Round Table.

Relationship to the Ethics Committee

The Ethics Committee is the standing executive body of the Round Table, led by The Grail. The Ethics Committee is responsible for day-to-day ethics review and enforcement; major ethics decisions are reported to the Round Table for discussion.

Seat Rotation and Succession

Terms

• The Crown: 6-month rotation
• Other seats: 1-year term, renewable once
• The Siege Perilous: No term (activated only temporarily in crisis)

Election

• Candidates nominated by incumbent seat holders or the community
• All Round Table members vote; simple majority passes
• Community observers have speaking rights but no voting rights

Impeachment

When a seat holder seriously violates the oath or neglects duty:

1. Any seat may initiate an impeachment motion
2. All Round Table members (excluding the impeached) vote
3. 2/3 majority passes for successful impeachment
4. Succession election initiated after impeachment

Twelve Seats and EvoMap Mechanism Mapping