Hall of the Elders
The Hall of the Elders is where the council meets to discuss issues affecting the city. The seat of Everlund’s government is this low, circular stone building located on the east side of Bell Market. It sits atop a wide plaza decorated with flowerpots in the spring and summer. The members of the Council of Elders meet here regularly. The building is defended by a detail of guards from the city’s army. Guards at the doors prevent armed citizens from entering the hall, checking weapons as they enter and locking them in a sturdy chest.
The members of the Council of Elders are as follows:
- High Captain Horix Zoar, commander of Everlund’s army and a self-important windbag.
- High Sorcerer Vaeril Rhuidhen, a quiet voice of moderation and reason who keeps the peace between the council’s more fractious members (and who formerly served as liaison to the Lords’ Alliance).
- The Keeper of the Bridges, Kythora Shen, a retired soldier and skilled bureaucrat charged with overseeing the city watch and the conduct of commerce in the city.
- The Master of Guilds, Boldor Steelshield, representing the merchants of Everlund, who is prone to hyperbole and rumored to accept bribes.
- The Speaker of the Town, a citizen elected every seven years to represent the common folk in the city; currently the post is held by Vatrice Stormwright, an easily flustered woman who owns a modestly successful chimney-sweeping business in the city.
The central, circular building features two fairly squat stories. The main floor is dominated by a wide, circular public hall with sides that slope to a raised dais where the council sits to address the citizens. The council also uses it as a general meeting place for their own business. Dark, wooden double doors separate the hall from the entrance and the halls to the wings on either side. A curving stair leads to the second floor, smaller in diameter than the main. Here, private offices for each councilor surround a central meeting room the councilors can use for private sessions. To either side of the hall, two long, rambling wings of the building house the various officials and civil servants who comprise Everlund’s government, including the Hall of Records and the Hall of Redress.
The Hall of Records sits to the left of the main doors. A short section of the building houses administrative rooms where citizens can deal with taxes, manage their property, and carry out various other bureaucratic activities. Following this is the long, narrow records hall proper, with room after room dedicated to the different sorts of records kept by the government.
To the right of the main doors is the Hall of Redress. It has an additional entrance at the rear of its main building. This hall is home to the city’s courts and magistrates, featuring private offices for the magistrates and larger halls for hearing cases.
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