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Warden's Den

Wardens are in charge of keeping the people of Davsolu safe and, to a lesser extent, upholding the laws of their island. As wardens are elected by sortition, they may come from all over the island. The warden's den exists to provide any elected warden in need of accommodation with a place to sleep and to work at.

Accomodation & Law

Davsolu's judicial system does not include as a punishment the incarceration of people. As such, the warden's den is the closest available to a holding area where people may stay during their trial.
 
Similarly to the wardens themselves, people coming into the city for a trial may come from all over the island. As such, they may need accommodations. Therefore, both the defendants and prosecutions are allowed to stay at the warden's den. This enables the wardens to keep a close eye on the people under scrutiny and offers a fair chance to everyone to rest and have a place of work from where they can work on their case.
 
While the accommodation is free, most citizens hope never to have to stay at a warden's den (except those hoping to become wardens, of course).
 

Large multi-purpose buildings

The warden's den is often one of the largest building complexes of any city in Davsolu. The complex is made of several buildings joined through courtyards and halls.
 

Common areas

The living room, which includes a roaring firepit in the middle that doubles as a cooking fire, is available to all and is the central room from which other rooms are accessed.
 
Thermal baths are accessed through the back of the living room and consist of at least three baths: a cold, a hot, and a room-temperature bath.
 

Library

Even the smallest warden den has a library. The library is equipped with records of previous trials, records of the results of sortition events, and compilations of current and past laws.
 
Most warden's dens also have a library section for past notes of both prosecutors and defendants on previous cases. Given the public status of the trials, there is little left to hide at face value from the public. As such, many people donate their notes and personal records of the case, which could be of use for future trials.
 

Warden rooms

The largest part of the building complex are warden rooms. These rooms are rather large and usually entail at least four rooms. A room for sleeping, one office, one pantry, and usually, one small garden.
 

Fires room

This room is only available to wardens and is used for warden meetings. Aside from the common room, it is the only room with fires to warm the structures. Most fires rooms have two fireplaces on opposite sides of the room. The warmth of the fireplaces is a great incentive for the wardens to meet and work from this room, promoting collaboration.

Training grounds

The second biggest section of the warden's den is the training grounds.   Here, wardens are expected to attend a variety of training: from history and geography lessons to weapon training. Those adept at magic will also receive training, from runic casting to rock magic.
Rarity
Common, there is at least one per island, more in islands with several big cities
Owner
The citizens of the island in question (public building)
Protective measures
Certain areas of the building are warded with magical runes
Don't worry ma, I'm sure I'll find something at the warden's den to help me prove my case.   This cannot be the first time someone's childhood pet has mauled someone.
— Xemis, a rabid fox owner
 

Storage rooms

During their activities, wardens may come into the possession of a wide array of items. These are separated into common and magical items and stored.  
Common
The common storage area functions essentially like a lost-and-found room. It also houses weapons and armour. Some of these items are for wardens, but the majority of these weapons are held here in case of a large attack on the island, to be given to the general population.  
Magical
The magic storage room, on the other hand, often has bounty found during expeditions, monster parts harvested after hard-fought battles, and special equipment made for the wardens specifically.


Cover image: by Joël de Vriend

Comments

Author's Notes

The original version of this article was created as an entry for World Anvil's flagship Summer Camp 2021 event, specifically for prompt #21:
"Somewhere in your setting,
describe a building associated with crime or justice
"
      You can view my other entries from the competition here.   All images are sourced from pixabay, pexels, or unsplash unless credited otherwise.


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Jul 23, 2021 14:55 by Avalon Arcana

I like the section on each of the separate rooms, they see clearly thought out but still open for growth and change. Nice article :)

You should check out the The 5 Shudake, if you want of course.
Jul 30, 2021 09:03

Thanks! I will be using this building in a Pathfinder campaign, so I needed to actually figure out what sort of rooms are there and who uses them :P