House Richter

## Overview

Craftbinding is, as it ever was, more of an art than a science. A skilled Craftbinder can weave circles of logic and special circumstances around a novice, bending the very rules of the universe in order to make the true untrue and the false into reality. Yet among those outside the Great Houses, even those skilled in Craftbinding may not have any recourse to enforce a broken contract through the incursion of Souldebt. Relying on such requires some measure of Craft, and most are not at all talented ins uch domains. Thus, the binding contracts and negotiated bylaws of day to day existence frequently requires an arbiter, a neutral third party to hear the matter of contention and make a Souldebt enforced ruling.

While the Oathsworn of any Great House can play the roll of Adjudicator, it is the Bound of House Richter who have truly claimed the work as their own. From within their Revealed House, the Adjudicators of Richter ply their trade, presiding over Courts of Craft and hearing petitioners. The House has risen far on the back of such labors, to the point where they are respected even among the other Great Houses for their ability to maintain their neutrality. Not that the House is wholly neutral, of course, but they have proven remarkably dogged in their determination not to dance the Dance of Houses.

## **History**

Since the founding of the city, there has always been a need for arbitration and oversight within Yosthaven. While not one of the founding three Great Houses, the Court of Craft has nevertheless been present since the beginning, instrumental in the city's birth and growth. The House's founder, Hannah Richter, sculpted the Mantle of the first High Adjudicator in the same year that Yassir, Isillideras, and Yost began their great work. While she lacked their raw power, she had vision and drive from the beginning towards how such a society might exist, and what form and functions it would need to survive. While the Great Houses could settle disputes between themselves with their own Craftbinders, the common folk would require their own means of seeking legal redress should the system wish to last more than a tenweek.

Since that day, the House of Richer has served as a hall of arbitration for the common folk of Yosthaven, a place where those without Craft or skill in Binding could seek redress should they believe the contracts that governed their lives had been violated. A long line of penitents wait outside the door each morning, seeking to be added to the House's seemingly endless calendar to have their complaints heard. The Court of Craft has a sterling reputation for neutrality, but neutrality does not mean equality. While any penitent can bring a claim against another citizen, those with the Melucrum to hire skilled Craftbinders to argue their claim will always have an advantage over those who do not.

## **Domain**

Several blocks North along [I]Sunna[/i] Way within the neighborhood of Scala rests the Court of Craft, the Revealed House of Richter. The building is unique in Yosthaven in that it is constructed in the shape of a giant three sided pyramid. Such geometries are distinctly foreign to Sundevaldan aesthetics, lending the House an eerie and unnatural quality lent purely via architecture. Smooth and unyielding, the structure rises a full seven stories over the surrounding apartments and other buildings in what would be an impressive display were it not still under the shadow of the Old City.

An insular House, despite being revealed, it is rare indeed that the Agents of Richter are seen outside their Wards. The Adjudicators in particular are famous for never stepping foot outside of its protections, for fear that their sterling reputation for neutrality might be compromised by hostile Psychecraft.

## Housebound

### High Adjudicator Alphonse Richter

Broad shouldered and stiff backed, with a strong chin and piercing eyes, Alphonse Richter has occupied the station of High Adjudicator since he inherited it from his mother 14 years ago.  That is not to say that House Richter is overly concerned with matters of blood heredity, for Lena Richter had been the first of that surname in a hundred years to occupy the position of Head of House. An ambitious man, as well as a once in a generation prodigy of Craftbinding, Alphonse has actively worked to expand the role of his House within Yosthaven.

As High Adjudicator, Alphonse oversees those rare instances when two Great Houses seek the protections of the Court to discuss a binding they do not wish to resolve between themselves.

### First Officer of the Court, Stefan Vogul

With piercing brown eyes and a well-muscled frame, Stefan looks every part an Officer of the Court. Outbreaks of violence within the Court of Craft are exceedingly rare, for only the most foolish would challenge a Craftbinder's authority within the Wards of their House, but they are not inconceivable. Tempers can flare, and in the House's Histories there are numerous accounts of the Officers of the Court needing to intervene before a disagreement turns into an outright brawl.

A Sensitive of extreme skill, Stefan Vogul has served as First Officer of the Court for 5 years. His reputation for detecting even the subtlest of Craft is surpassed only by his reputation for the brutality with which he shuts down such offenses within his Court.