Courthouse

Location: Situated in the Royal District near the Silver Chalice tavern, the Courthouse is a pillar of civic order. Its façade is carved from pale marble, its entryway flanked by statues of blindfolded figures holding scales. Citizens often whisper that the scales weigh coin more often than truth.

Structure & Layout

Main Hall / Courtroom:

A vast, high-ceilinged chamber dominated by a central dais where judges preside.

Benches are arranged in tiers, with room for public spectators, lawyers, and defendants alike.

Enchanted lanterns provide steady light at all hours, as trials and hearings are conducted day and night.

A shifting roster of judges ensures the court never sleeps — justice in Lygos is relentless, though not always fair.

Offices & Chambers:

Modest offices line the building’s sides, occupied by scribes, advocates, and minor clerks.

Small chambers double as jury rooms, storage for evidence, and interview spaces.

The chief prosecutor’s office (Veyra Dawntalon) is the only one furnished with real luxury: crimson rugs, a personal bookshelf, and polished furniture.

Records Room:

A sealed wing where transcripts, evidence, and rulings are kept. The fluffy orange Tabaxi archivist Pouncet Emberlox maintains this collection with obsessive care.

Holding Cells:

A small underground area where defendants are held before being brought up for trial. Often overcrowded, and always echoing with muffled shouts or sobbing.

Atmosphere

Open Court: The doors are always open, day or night. Anyone may wander in to hear a case, though most don’t linger — trials in Lygos can stretch for hours, sometimes days.

Spectacle of Justice: Citizens treat major cases like theater, gossiping about them at markets and taverns. The Courthouse is as much performance as it is law.

Corruption Lingers: Bribes, influence, and backroom deals sway outcomes as often as testimony. Lawyers sharpen their tongues, clerks sharpen their quills, and the people hope the scales tilt in their favor.

Notable Features

Rotating Judges: Each judge presides in six-hour shifts, giving the court a sense of continuity but also inconsistency — a ruling at noon might differ from the one given at midnight.

Public Square: Outside, criers announce verdicts for the crowds. Sometimes these announcements trigger cheers, other times riots.

Oath of Silence: An enchanted silver bell is rung at the start of every trial, silencing background chatter and demanding attention for the proceedings.

Hooks

A trial of a noble draws huge crowds, and the PCs are hired to sway public opinion — or protect a witness.

A juror has vanished, and the party must find them before the verdict is read.

The courthouse archives contain a dangerous document (a forged treaty, a demonic pact, or a confession) the PCs might need to retrieve.

The shifting judges create opportunity: the PCs must time their appearance to catch a sympathetic magistrate.

The Courthouse of Lygos is both a theater of justice and a crucible of corruption — a place where trials can decide the fate of a city, a faction, or even a single unlucky adventurer.