Palace of the Deliberative
The Deliberative Palace is a massive edifice in the Imperial City, home to the Deliberative Senate of Exceedingly Judicious Nobles.
This is the second building of that name, the first having been burned to the ground four centuries ago. It is an enormous structure of polished white stone, surrounded by a high wall, occupying an entire district of the Imperial City midway along the northmost of the City’s boulevards. The Palace and grounds are patrolled by the Guardians of the Deliberative, and all who enter are required to leave their weapons and accouterments of sorcery once behind at the gates. This gesture is widely regarded as a symbolic one, the ceremonial surrender of one’s arms to the home of the laws of the Realm, but it serves a practical purpose as well, for brawls are far from unknown here.
The interior of the Palace of the Deliberative Senate is laid out to facilitate legislative activities. It is home to offices for each Deliberator, arranged in clusters of five with a common reception and usually devoted to members of a single caucus. It also includes private quarters where Deliberators can reside (this is favoured particularly by members of the Lesser Chamber) along with baths, gardens, sitting rooms, and kitchens to support daily life and political scheming. It also contains vast libraries containing every debate the Deliberative has ever held. All these rooms are arranged around the two largest rooms in the complex: the Hall of Contemplative and Prudent Debate, where the Lesser Chamber is seated, and the Great Hall of Most Inspired and Noble Lawmaking, where the Greater Chamber sits.
Hall of Contemplative and Prudent Debate: The Hall of Debate is furnished entirely in wood, with the benches of the Deliberators surrounding the debate floor on three sides. To the north are the seats of the officers of the Lesser Chamber. The benches themselves are plain wood and extremely uncomfortable. Officially, this discomfort is to remind the Senators that they are present to perform a difficult labor and not to aggrandize themselves. In reality, it is to ensure that the legislative process is as uncomfortable as possible for the lawmakers and that their workdays are short and their attention scattered. The walls are completely bare of decoration. The Hall of Debate has nine doors leading in and out, for a reason no one has yet been able to adequately explain.
Great Hall of Most Inspired and Noble Lawmaking: The hall of the Greater Chamber is arrayed much like the Lesser, in stone instead of wood. The benches are equally uncomfortable, though Senators here are permitted use of pillows to mitigate it somewhat. The walls are adorned with tapestries, one representing each Great House, beneath which sit the senators of that House. There are five doors into the chamber, each representing one of the Five elements: senators are expected to enter and exit through the appropriate door for their aspect.
The Long Corridor: The ten-yard long hallway connecting the Greater and Lesser chambers. An inauspicious place, ‘walking the Long Corridor’ has become a saying referring to someone who is heading to their doom.
