The Council Edifice is the only building in Kira's village that remains from before the Ruin, a time in the distant past during which destroyed the civilization of their ancestors. The building is evidently a large brick church with some stained glass windows that remain intact. Kira comes to live in the Council Edifice, which contains many rooms off long corridors. She learns that Thomas the Carver lives there as well. A person called a "tender," who brings Kira and Thomas their meals and provides for their other needs, no doubt lives in the building as well. Although the story doesn't clarify whether all the guardians live in the Council Edifice, that appears likely. While Kira is living at the Edifice, a new resident arrives: the little girl singer, Jo. Eventually Kira learns that the current singer of the Ruin Song lives in the Council Edifice in bondage. The Council Edifice, a church that survived the Ruin, houses the privileged people of Kira's society: the guardians, the artists, and their servants.