The Magistracy of the Evenlode

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### Notable Figures

The Light-in-Exile
The Creditor (formerly)

> *"On one side of the large, dusty square is the railway track, with its attendant buildings. On the other side is a Cyclopean edifice huge enough to rival even the Shuttered Palace. In its shadow, the railway station and offices are little more than a huddle of shacks."*
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The **Magistracy of the Evenlode** is a legal institution near the **Evenlode** river in the Hinterlands. It is the third station of the Great Hellbound Railway.

## The West Wings

> *"It is the most distant post of London law, with its own courts, and its own police force."*
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The Magistracy of the Evenlode is an enormous, ancient courthouse built from stone. The landscape nearby is marked by ancient roads, and sinister tombs. The Evenlode river itself is home to fish and drownies, and its water is used to brew pungent **Magisterial Lager**.

The Magistracy handles all cases beyond London's borders, as well as cases too unimportant, or esoteric, for London's courts. Despite its distance from the city and dour atmosphere, it receives frequent visits from lawyers, litigants, police, and legal students. The Magistracy can be a daunting place for ordinary humans: its interior is frigid, its stairs too large for comfort, and its courtrooms range from huge, open spaces to small rooms resembling caves.

## The Constabulary of the Evenlode

> *"The police quarters fill only a wing of the Magistracy, but it is more than sufficient. Rooms have been set aside for cells, interrogation, police dormitories and offices."*
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The **Constabulary of the Evenlode** police all territory outside the scope of London's Constables. They work out of the same Magistracy building as the courts, and consider themselves a cut above their city counterparts. However, some disagree and refer to their haughty colleagues as "self-righteous bullies." The Constabulary may bestow privileges called **Special Dispensations** which, in their words, allow an officer to "act according to their best judgement rather than the exact letter of the law."

Evenlode constables adhere to unique superstitions and traditions, such as staying clear of small whirlwinds, or requiring new recruits to perform "drownie duty" by repelling drownies who come ashore.

## The Magistracy's Depths

> *"The Magistracy is already unrecognizable as soon as you are below the water. Green moss covers the walls. Tiny, misshapen fish swirl around your diving bell."*
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> *"Glimpses: Of monster-light and vast, curved needle-teeth. Something about this glow, this point of light in the dark water, draws you to it. Has drawn you to it."*
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The lower levels of the Magistracy are completely flooded. They are home to lamp-cats, and a diverse, self-contained aquatic ecosystem. They contain detritus from the inhabitants above, as well as relics from the First City. Some areas have evidence of human habitation, as well as architecture meant for larger creatures.

The depths are inhabited by the Light-in-Exile, who befriends outcasts and returns any other would-be visitors to dry land. The Evenlode constables traditionally send new recruits for a dip in the Light's waters: if they return, the Light has rejected them, implying they are a true member of their group. It is implied the judiciary also incorporates the Light in their practices, away from public view; it may play a role in discussing tough cases, or processing guilty defendants and "particularly obnoxious litigants."

## The Place of the Judge

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You can find out more about our spoiler policy **here**.

> *"One defendant at a time came before this Judge – summoned here if they tried to pass through these lands without leave. The Chamber built anew for every trial, by workers who all resembled the defendant exactly."*
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> *"FROM EACH HER OWN LAW; AND NONE SHALL ESCAPE THE LAW SHE HAS MADE."*
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Long ago, the Magistracy served as the court of the Creditor: where trespassers through the Hinterlands would be judged. Interlopers were summoned to the court's throne room, which was rebuilt and redesigned for each defendant. Defendants' promises were written on the walls, and the room would be more compact the weightier the promises they made.

The Creditor abandoned its court sometime during the era of the Second City, but the ruins, and ancient memories, still remain.

## References

2. ↑ Enter the Magistracy of the Evenlode, *Fallen London*
3. ↑ Outside the Magistracy of the Evenlode, *Fallen London* *"[...] a Cyclopean edifice huge enough [...] In its shadow, the railway station [...] little more than [...] shacks."*
4. ↑ Breathe an ancient air, *Fallen London* *"Breathe an ancient air"*
5. ↑ Dig at the crossroads, *Fallen London* *"[...] beyond the [...] Magistracy, [...] the remains of old roads [...]*
6. ↑ Make the train take you to a designated stop in the hills, *Fallen London* *"[...] he keeps pointing out hillocks that he says are haunted barrows [...]"*
7. ↑ Consider the Magistracy with new eyes, *Fallen London* *"Fishers gather downriver of the Magistracy."*
8. ↑ Find the Source of the Uproar, *Fallen London* *"The river [...] he is [...] in the murky water, fending off a drownie [...]"*
9. ↑ Magisterial Lager, *Fallen London*
10. ↑ Build the station at the Magistracy of the Evenlode, *Fallen London* *"[...] a court that hears all cases of law involving plaintiffs far west of the city bounds."*
11. ↑ Consider those who pass through these vast halls, *Fallen London* *"[...] there is a [...] sense of second-rate to the cases that pass through here [...] some are embroiled in cases too... strange for the London courts."*
12. ↑ Who is bustling about the Evenlode?, *Fallen London* *"[...] a distant outpost, it's heavily trafficked. [...] two lawyers climbing down from the carriage [...] police carriages stand outside [...] officers climb down, [...] escorting someone in handcuffs [...] this pair [...] they are on either side of a civil case [...] A parade of legal students clamber off a carriage [...]"*
13. ↑ A Return Journey, *Fallen London* *"The Evenlode is [...] cold and the architecture unwelcoming. There is no social life [...] no art, or music, or even poetry [...]"*
14. ↑ Who is bustling about the Evenlode?, *Fallen London* *"A defendant is ushered [...] towards the [...] the Magistracy of the Evenlode. They stop, and look up. And look up. [...] it must look grotesque [...]"*
15. ↑ The Constabulary of the Evenlode, *Fallen London* *"It is cold; it settles into the bones."*
16. ↑ Foyer of the Magistracy, *Fallen London* *"The stairs would only be practical if you were twelve feet tall."*
17. ↑ The Courts of the Evenlode, *Fallen London* *"[...] the court rooms [...] some are in huge, airy spaces [...] Others are in rooms more [...] cave than [...] courtroom."*
18. ↑ The Constabulary of the Evenlode, *Fallen London*
19. ↑ Ask for your good sense and reasoned judgement to be recognised, *Fallen London* *"The Constabulary of the Evenlode performs all police-work in the Neath not covered by our inner-London colleagues."*
20. ↑ The Constabulary of the Evenlode, *Fallen London* *"The police quarters fill only a wing of the Magistracy [...]"*
21. ↑ Hear what he has to say, *Fallen London* *"They told me they were better than the London lot. [...] But they're self-righteous bullies [...]"*
22. ↑ Ask for your good sense and reasoned judgement to be recognised, *Fallen London*
23. ↑ Special Dispensation, *Fallen London*
24. ↑ Who is bustling about the Evenlode?, *Fallen London* *"There is a whirl of dust [...] a little dirt cyclone. [...] The police [...] skirt the edges. [...] You superstitious?" The police are [...] quiet in response."*
25. ↑ Let him be, *Fallen London* *""Drownie duty. [...] Every Evenloder has to do it. Keep the [...] away from shore.""*
26. ↑ Diving in the Magistracy, *Fallen London*
27. ↑ Search the lowest Floors, *Fallen London*
28. ↑ Construct a Diving Bell in the Magistracy's Basement, *Fallen London* *[...] who knows how many flooded basement levels the Magistracy has."*
29. ↑ Observe a gilled lamp-cat, *Fallen London*
30. ↑ Go spear-fishing, *Fallen London* *"There are fish swimming down here, [...] The basement of the Magistracy [...] [...] No two look exactly the same."*
31. ↑ Send your Abyssal Sawtooth out to hunt, *Fallen London* *"The creatures of the Magistracy have flourished [...] cut off from the ecosystems of the Neath."*
32. ↑ Search the upper floors, *Fallen London* *"Things from the Magistracy above fall into the water here [...] waterlogged files [...] tin of zzoup [...]"*
33. ↑ Search the upper floors, *Fallen London* *"You [...] identify what you have [...] unmistakeably First City. There must be more, down below."*
34. ↑ Study drowned architecture, *Fallen London* *"People lived here, once. The signs of habitation are clear [...] But the proportions are too big. [...] People lived here, but alongside what?"*
35. ↑ The Light-In-Exile, *Fallen London* *"You [...] see a fraction of the creature before you; [...]"*
36. ↑ Reach for it, *Fallen London* *"The Light-in-Exile makes friends of outcasts that disappear beneath the water [...]"*
37. ↑ Reach for it, *Fallen London* *"The Light-in-Exile [...] it rejects Constables, and sends them back up to their fraternity above. [...] neither does it accept you. [...] You wash out on the banks of the Evenlode [...]"*
38. ↑ The Rite, *Fallen London* *"[...] at the bottom, a light gleams [...] the novice constable [...] He is fully submerged."*
39. ↑ Reach for it, *Fallen London* *"The Light-in-Exile [...] rejects Constables, and sends them back up to their fraternity above."*
40. ↑ Keep watching 3, *Fallen London* *"He emerges from the water [...] "Not outcast. I'm not outcast." [...] The gathered officers [...] reassure him that he has passed, [...] he is one of them, part of the law of the Evenlode."*
41. ↑ Look closer at the daily practice of the court, *Fallen London* *"Is the judiciary aware of what lurks beneath them? [...] on [...] complex cases, judges [...] leave to confer. [...] they reemerge [...] as if they've spent some time in the dark. [...] There is also the way guilty defendants exit court. [...] led out a door reserved only for them. [...] never spot any departing the Magistracy building [...] perhaps there are holding cells [...] But, occasionally, particularly obnoxious litigants from civil cases are shown out this way, too."*
42. ↑ Breathe an ancient air, *Fallen London*
43. ↑ Study the evidence, *Fallen London*
44. ↑ The Deeps of the Magistracy, *Fallen London* *"The Creditor used to live above," [...] "The Magistracy belonged to him; he [...] held his court [...]"*
45. ↑ Ask how she learned about the Creditor, *Fallen London* *"Once the Creditor presided over judgements at the Evenlode [...]"*
46. ↑ Breathe an ancient air, *Fallen London* *"[...] defendant [...] came before this Judge – summoned [...] if they tried to pass through these lands without leave."*
47. ↑ Look for the Throne Room, *Fallen London* *"Look for the Throne Room [...] the Bazaar's Creditor held court here."*
48. ↑ Breathe an ancient air, *Fallen London* *"The Chamber built anew for every trial [...]"*
49. ↑ The Place of the Judge, *Fallen London* *"The masonry is inscribed with your own promises [...] Before you is a chair, hardly worth the name of throne [...]"*
50. ↑ Breathe an ancient air, *Fallen London* *"Sometimes it was [...] hardly constraining at all. The Merchant, [...] had promised so much to so many people that he had to crawl [...]"*
51. ↑ The Deeps of the Magistracy, *Fallen London* *"[...] his court vanished, sometime after the Second City." [...] the Creditor. He must have gone elsewhere."*
52. ↑ Ask how she learned about the Creditor, *Fallen London* *"Once the Creditor presided over judgements at the Evenlode. Its throne room is still down there."*
53. ↑ Breathe an ancient air, *Fallen London* *"Fill your lungs with the past, and see this room as it was."*