Chief advisor

"My loyalty, like the loyalty of the chief advisors before me, has always been to another place and to a far greater master."

- Prandine. The chief advisor is the monarch of Deltora's head advisor. For generations the position has been held by Ols posing as humans sent by the Shadow Lord to infiltrate and influence Deltora. However, this practise ended after Prandine's revelation of the chief advisors serving the Shadow Lord.

History
It is unknown when the first chief advisor was installed or who it was, but the first advisor to be an agent of the Shadow Lord was Agra. She was installed during the reign of King Elstred and was the first advisor to suggest that the Belt of Deltora be worn only on ceremonious occasions. Agra continued to serve as chief advisor to Elstred's daughter Adina, and ensured that she only wore the Belt of Deltora five times during her reign.

The unnamed chief advisor to King Brandon ensured that he wore the Belt of Deltora only three times in his reign. Brandon also became the last king of Deltora to wear the Belt outside of his coronation day.

Drumm, the chief advisor for King Lucan, used his position to place the Four Sisters around Deltora and commissioned a raised platform be built in the palace chapel to hide the Sister of the South. He worked to undermine the efforts of Doran the Dragonlover and erase any love of dragons from the kingdom.

During the reign of king Alton, his chief advisor, Prandine, ordered the destruction of the Deltora Annals to rob Deltora of its important history. Prandine also told the king that Grippers had gone extinct. Without the royal guards regulating their population, many fields in Jalis territory were overrun by the carnivorous plants.

35 years into his reign, Prandine poisoned both the king and his queen, killing them over the course of several weeks. During this time, he assumed full control over their compliant son, Endon. After Endon was crowned king, Prandine framed his best friend, Jarred, of attempting to kill the king, forcing the only voice of opposition out of the palace.

When it was time for Endon to marry, Prandine selected a "painted doll," from Tora, named Sharn, to be his wife. On the day of the Shadow Lord's invasion, Prandine confronted Endon, Sharn, and Jarred, who had returned to help his friend, with a poisoned blade. However, Sharn tricked him into looking out the window and pushed him to his death. This made Prandine the last chief advisor who worked for the Shadow Lord.

After Lief expelled the Shadow Lord and became king of Deltora, he installed Jarred—now going under the name Doom—as his chief advisor. Doom assisted Lief in creating a fake Belt of Deltora, and tracking down Lief's heir in Marilen, a woman from Tora. . Scholastic Australia. 2002. He was also left in charge of governing Deltora when Lief and Barda left to pursue Jasmine and Glock into the Shadowlands.

Doom later assisted Lief in destroying the Shadow Lord's crystal on the night of the full moon meeting. He was again left in charge of governing Deltora while Lief, Barda, and Jasmine travelled to destroy the Four Sisters.

At some point after the wedding of Lief and Jasmine, Doom resigned from his position as chief advisor to travel Deltora. Ranesh was appointed his replacement.

Duties
The chief advisor's primary duty is to advise the king or queen of Deltora on their day to day running of the country. As the years went on, the advisors took more power from the royal family, effectively reducing them to figure heads. Their duties at this time included receiving letters for the ruling monarch, and signing off on new laws with the royal seal. They were also tasked with educating the prince or princess of Deltora on the Rule.

Known chief advisors

 * Agra (Chief advisor to King Elstred and Queen Adina. Deceased)
 * Drumm (Chief advisor to King Lucan. Deceased)
 * Prandine (Chief advisor to King Alton and Endon. Deceased)
 * Jarred (Chief advisor to King Lief. Resigned)
 * Ranesh (Current chief advisor to King Lief)