THE CONCLAVE OF SELECTION is the secretive gathering held by the  League of Overseers on the occasion of the death of a  Grand Master  in order to appoint a successor.

Venue and Process of the Conclave

The Conclave of Selection is held in the  Piltdown Room of the Darwintern Head Office on the Galapagos Islands. 

The Conclave may take weeks or even months to agree the successor Grand Master.  The method of selection is a carefully guarded secret, although some details have been worked out from the leaked (but controversial) document,  Protocols of the Elders of Darwin.  According to that source, the League determines the successor by means of  Pimento Prognostication, an otherwise unknown process.

The Conclave of 1882-83

Some fragmentary documents shed some light on the Conclave of Selection believed to have been held in 1882-83. Suggestively called after the death of Darwin in April 1882, the League of Overseers assembled for the first time at the not-yet-completed Head Office in the Galapagos in July, and their meeting continued ''in camera'' until August 26 of the following year, when the selection of a successor (whose identity has never been revealed) was finally made.

To exhultant cheers of "Habemus Dominum Maximum''," and by means of an infernal machine designed by Charles Babbage, a majestic tower of flame rose above the glowing summit of the Fernandina volcano.  This was the signal for an earth-girdling ring of mountain-top beacon signals, equipped with Mr. Babbage's remarkable engine, to spring to life and bear the joyous tidings to loyal Darwintern agents around the globe. 

The resulting mishap at Krakatoa, however, put paid to this ritual, which has not been repeated.