Name of building: Justice Hall, Halls of Justice, or the Courthouse
Submitted by: Scott Bonner
Type of building: 4-story stone and brick structure, with 3-story wings.
Business conducted: Arylon's Legal Affairs
Owner: City property
Number and Types of Employees:
- 5 High Magistrates
- 2 Ward Judges, from Inner and Field Wards
- Numerous secretaries, scribes, and assistants
- Janitorial and maintenance staff
- A gardener and 2 assistants
Description of Building:
Fittingly enough, Arylon's Justice Hall was originally a prison. The first
structure to stand on the current site was built in 1098. Amn held Arylon
then, using the Chionthar as a primary trade route as they continued to
build new trade ways. On what was then the north end of Arylon, Amn built a
prison to hold criminals captured on the waterways. The original building
was a 2-story stone structure with two additional floors below ground.
In 1178, with less trade passing along the river as the overland tradeways
neared completion, the prison was closed. Grand Magister Dartlansh, the
fourth ruler of Arylon appointed by Amn, took the former prison and
surrounding lands as his own. Dartlansh endeavored to fix his place in
history through monument. He seized for city ownership a series of gardens
and parks between the prison house and the central gate of the wall that
runs along the center of the city. He razed the structures there and began
building a massive park and finding suitable statues and fountains to fill
it, pronouncing it the Promenade Walk and renaming the central gate
Promenade Gate. He took the prison house and tore down the aboveground parts
of the structure, keeping and expanding what lay below. In its place he
began building a manor house, which he called a palace, to serve as both his
private residence and the seat of city government. Dartlansh was determined
to build a city-state to be turned over to expanding Amn.
Dartlansh was ill fated. To pay for the structure and park, he not only bled
the city of wealth but also began taxing traders more heavily and,
foolishly, stealing from Amn's share of Arylon's profits. In addition, he
became increasingly self-absorbed, eccentric, and petty. In two years he
built his monument, drained the city of much of its wealth, and as a
consequence was deposed. He lived in his palace for 48 days before the
Amnian government forced him to return to his country of birth.
But the palace remained and continued to serve as the seat of government.
Shortly thereafter, many of Arylon's judges moved their practice out of
private residences and into the structure. Because of this, and for
political reasons, the palace was renamed The Halls of Justice, or Justice
Hall. Eventually, the next ruler placed by Amn took up residence in Justice
Hall.
Dartlansh had hoped to impress Amn with his sturdiness and his commitment to
Amnian culture. He requisitioned a huge, 4-story block-like structure with
two large 3-story wings angling back and north from the central block.
The entire structure forms a shallow, angular crescent of thick buildings.
The walls are fortress-like, with smooth, unadorned surfaces and rows of
very small, tall windows. The design proved intimidating and somewhat
defensible. To show his devotion to Amnian culture, Dartlansh then decorated
his massive creation with elements of southern architecture. He kept the
walls smooth, but decorated the seams of the structure with a six foot wide
strip of intricate bas-relief carvings celebrating southern art. To each
corner of the central building he added a short onion dome tower. He built
an ornate and massive double door to serve as the front entrance, and an
equally ornate set of doors at the rear. He turned the plot of land
encompassed by the arms of the building into an ornate maze garden and
planted thick hedges to shelter it from commoners. Finally, he built his
escape, a long tunnel running from beneath his palace to a stone storehouse
owned by the city. Inside, he kept the structure stark and spacious, even
lonely in its barrenness. In 1241 invading orcs failed to take it, the
damage was quickly repaired, and Inner Ward was rebuilt around this proud
and imposing structure.
The construction has remained essentially unchanged until modern day. The
front doors enter into a central hall 120 feet long, 40 feet deep, and three
stories high not counting the arched roof. Two huge pillars help support the
weight of the ceiling and provide meeting points for the veins of two dome
arches. Outside, the shallow domes are barely visible from nearby buildings
due to a stone facade reaching up ten feet from the walls of the central
hall, and a secret walkway forms an "S" shape between them to connect the
wings in times of emergency. To the rear of the central hall are the Garden
Doors.
To either side of the central hall are two lesser halls, forming the wings
that angle north where they join with the central hall. Each is 60 feet
long, 40 feet deep, and 15 feet high. Above these halls are 2 low stories of
smaller rooms, making the wings as tall as the central hall. The west wing
holds what is currently the meeting chamber of the city magistrates. Each of
the two wings has been turned over to government offices, private chambers
for the magistrates, and little-used courtrooms. Nearly one third of each
wing is essentially used as storage space. No one lives in Justice Hall,
though Silver Crescents guard it at all hours.
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