Palace of Judgement

The Palace of Judgement is the divine realm of Yen-Wang-Yeh, the judge of the dead in the Celestial Bureaucracy. It exists on the Outlands.
The Palace is the size of a small city, and inhabited by thousands of souls - not just the dead waiting to go to their eternal rest, but the petitioners, functionaries, clerks, and guardians of those souls, and immortal creatures responsible for them. The palace is constantly in a bustle, because the flow of the dead never stops. It is a massive compound with promenades, courtyards, gardens, granaries, libraries, towers, kitchens, stables, residences, storehouses, and workshops. The construction is of red brick, wood, and stone, with roofs of half-moon glazed tiles. The Palace is designed with an eye toward artistry and aesthetics, with even the smallest and meanest of buildings containing architectural flourishes.
Just outside the Palace is a small suburb of sorts for folks who need to visit or work at the Palace for one reason or another, but cannot stay there. It's called the Place of Waiting, and it has a few inns, restaurants, and shops for visitors.

Purpose / Function

The arrivals, shepherded by Yen-Wang-Yeh's servants, are herded through the Iron Gate and into one of the Thousand Greeting Halls. There, a low-ranked proxy passes judgement on the petitioner, and then get passed on to a clerk, who records the judgement in scrolls stored in the infinite library here. A placard gets hung around the spirit's neck that lists their vices and virtues and their destination hall, and then they get put in a waiting hall that connects to their destination plane.
Those who aren't being judged by Yen-Wang-Yeh may travel here to gain knowledge from the recently-dead, or to use one of the hundreds of gates to other planes that network here. It's also a relatively safe place on the planes - the strict and orderly command of Yen-Wang-Yeh enforces a peace, even between the demons and celestials that may roam the halls. Visiting the realm gets you assigned a go-zu oni guide (or a men-shen guide for important guests) that also ensures you don't deviate from your path.

Architecture

Build out of almost entirely wood and a type of paper for interiors. the palace of judgement takes on an abstract appearance even for primes Standards.

Tourism

Important locations:
Drunken frog hotsprings.
A small hotsprings not far from the palace proper, a fine place for a warm calming bath after a long day of adventuring. Entry is 4 silver pieces, and a gold if one wishes some sake along with their bath.
You can see slight amounts of steam and fog pouring out from the inside of the entry building, many customers leave with light grins or cheery smiles, some clearly drunk from something strong, noses red and faces flush as if they had drunk strong mead. As you enter a man frog hybrid greets you with a bow. “Welcome to the drunken frog, I hope you enjoy your stay.”
Owner: Nushosh, a bullywug who drunkenly stumbled into a portal from sigil and began a business venture here as a way to keep away from suspicion that he may cause problems.
Crouching tiger inn: a peaceful inn with a few mahjong and shogi tables. The sake is cheaper than some other inns, since they get it straight from a nearby field instead of through portal.
Inside of the inn, you see various characters drinking and discussing, while playing games involving white tiles with various images drawn onto them, like a more artistic version of games involving runestones. Certain tables have small crowds of spectators placing bets and offering advice to the players. In the corner theres a small band playing stringed instruments akin to the lutes and lyres you’ve seen carried by bards. The bartender offers a small bow as the two of you enter. “Welcome to the crouching lion! Can i get you two anything?
Services
Rooms: 3 silver
Sake: 7 copper, 2 silver for a bottle.
Meals: from 5 copper to 2 silver depending on the ingredients, much involves fish and rice patties, some meals include fine beef and pork wrapped in dough or added to soups. or served with noodles slightly sauced with what tastes of salt.

Owner: Shen Chang, once a rather famous monk aligned with the transcendent order, but has retired in recent years, using the inn as a rest stop for adventurers like him, even hiring adventurers for jobs now.

Type

Palace

Parent Location

Outlands