"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."[1]
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.
"It is the most distant post of London law, with its own courts, and its own police force."[2]
The Magistracy of the Evenlode is an enormous, ancient courthouse made from stone.[3][4] It handles all cases beyond London's borders,[5] as well as cases too unimportant or esoteric for London's courts.[6] Despite its distance from the city and dour atmosphere, it enjoys high traffic from lawyers, litigants, police, and legal students.[7][8]
Magisterial Lager
The nearby landscape is marked by ancient roads[9] and sinister tombs.[10] The Evenlode river itself is home to fish[11] and drownies,[12] and its water is used to brew pungent Magisterial Lager.[13]
The Magistracy can be an unfriendly place for ordinary humans.[14] It has a frigid interior,[15] stairs too large for comfort,[16] and courtrooms ranging from huge, open spaces to rooms resembling caves.[17] Legal traditions are strange here as well, with some conducted away from public view.[18]
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."[19]
A Constable's badge.
The Constabulary of the Evenlode police all territory outside the scope of London's Constables.[20] They work out of the same Magistracy building as the courts,[21] and consider themselves a cut above their city counterparts, though some disagree, calling them "self-righteous bullies."[22] They 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."[23][24]
Evenlode constables adhere to certain superstitions and traditions, such as staying clear of small whirlwinds.[25] New recruits are required to partake in "drownie duty" and repel drownies who come ashore,[26] among other rituals and tests.[27]
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."[28]
"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."[29]
The lower levels of the Magistracy are completely flooded.[30] They are home to lamp-cats[31] and a diverse, self-contained aquatic ecosystem.[32][33] They contain detritus from the inhabitants above,[34] as well as relics from the First City.[35] Some areas have evidence of human habitation, as well as architecture apparently meant for larger creatures.[36]
The depths are inhabited by the Light-in-Exile,[37] who befriends outcasts[38] and returns others to dry land.[39] The Evenlode constables traditionally send new recruits for a dip in the Light's waters: if they return, the Light rejected them,[40][41] making them "not outcast" and a true member of their group.[42] It is implied the judiciary also incorporates the Light in their practices, such as when discussing tough cases, or processing guilty defendants and "particularly obnoxious litigants."[18]
The Place of the Judge
"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."[43]
"FROM EACH HER OWN LAW; AND NONE SHALL ESCAPE THE LAW SHE HAS MADE."[44]
Long ago, the Magistracy served as the court of the Creditor,[45][46] where those trespassing through the Hinterlands would be judged.[47] Interlopers were summoned to the throne room,[48] which was rebuilt and redesigned for each defendant.[49] Defendants' promises were written on the walls,[50] and the room would be more compact the weightier the promises they made.[51]
The Creditor abandoned its court sometime during the era of the Second City,[52] but the ruins[53] and ancient memories still remain.[54]
↑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 [...]"
↑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 [...]"
↑ 18.018.1Look 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."
↑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."
↑Let him be, Fallen London""Drownie duty. [...] Every Evenloder has to do it. Keep the [...] away from shore.""
↑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?"
↑Reach for it, Fallen London"The Light-in-Exile makes friends of outcasts that disappear beneath the water [...]"
↑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 [...]"
↑The Rite, Fallen London"[...] at the bottom, a light gleams [...] the novice constable [...] He is fully submerged."
↑Reach for it, Fallen London"The Light-in-Exile [...] rejects Constables, and sends them back up to their fraternity above."
↑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."
↑Breathe an ancient air, Fallen London"[...] defendant [...] came before this Judge – summoned [...] if they tried to pass through these lands without leave."
↑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 [...]"
↑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 [...]"
