1. Selling things in the market without a Market Licence
2. Riding a horse inside the city walls
3. Wearing metal armour in public
4. Casting of spells, magic and charms in public, where not warranted by the public good
5. The practice of haruspicy (that is, the telling of fortunes by means of introducing beetles to the matter of corpses or, Gods forbid, some living unfortunate)

Implicit rider on each of the above is of course “… unless you are on-duty in the Watch, a noble, a retainer of a noble house, otherwise very rich or acting for someone very rich, or visibly of terrifying potence”.

Here are some ideas for noble houses, mostly ones that were too weird, or not weird enough, for my city of Immergleich:

1. Literally think they’re animals
2. All look the same. Different ages, different sizes, different sexes, but same faces and same basic shape.
3. Represented by porcelain golems with exaggerated features. Nobody knows what the real nobles look like.
4. Have given up on their line, as they cannot breed (or never have live births). They have made tombs for themselves, and live in them.
5. Are not human and cannot be seen.
6. All blind – use another sense as a replacement.
7. Tend bizarre sea creatures – tanks are in every room. The sea creatures are mostly running the show, controlling the human through hormones and drugs they secrete into the water.
8. Degenerate and ageing out – still powerful, but they have to share hearts, eyes, teeth etc as there are not enough to go around.

 

 

The Court Physical

Steel.

• Concerns – matters of the body, and harm thereof.
• Court dress – dull grey, no headgear
• Trials by – physical contest (you can appoint a champion)

The Court Spiritual

Twelve Temples.

• Concerns – Relating to the gods, their worship and appeasement.
• Court dress – Judges wear pure white, with red detailing. Others same, but no detailing. Prosecution, defence, and their advocates etc wear sackcloth.
• Trials by – Appeal to relevant gods.

The Court Pecuniary

Main Market.

• Concerns – relating to money and contracts over matter
• Court dress – fine furs, with gold jewellery (more at higher rank)
• Trials by – argument, and weight of evidence

The Court Sartorial

Mount Pleasant

• Concerns – clothing and dress
• Court dress – a variety of subtly-varied versions of the general “judicial wear” theme, each tastefully exploring the possibilities of the form.
• Trials by – jury, charged with assessing the aesthetics of the defendant and plaintiff’s attire. If no obvious plaintiff (e.g. it’s “the People versus…”) then the court will appoint a Sartorial Champion.

The Oblique Court

Brokenwall

• Concerns – anything that the other courts cannot or will not handle.
• Court dress – everyone is naked – witnesses, gallery, all.
• Trials by – divination (tealeaves, entrails, animal behaviour, haruspicy…), assisted by psychoactive fumes and much ceremony.