I need some help with names

OK, my mind isn't what it once was.

whats the name of the office or building for a fantasy towns security office. like sheriff or whatever.

it's driving me nuts.

dont think it's the quartermaster.

Comments

  • MonsenMonsen Administrator 🖼️ 46 images Cartographer
    Well, in most fantasy cities I've encountered, policing is done by the city guard, so that would be the guard office, the guard headquarters, or even the guard barracks, wherever the captain of the guard keeps his office.
  • edited June 2020
    Posted By: MonsenWell, in most fantasy cities I've encountered, policing is done by the city guard, so that would be the guard office, the guard headquarters, or even the guard barracks, wherever the captain of the guard keeps his office.
    yes, but i thought there was a particular name for the building i guess.
  • Gaol? That's the spelling for jail that goes back to Middle English.
  • jslaytonjslayton Moderator, ProFantasy Mapmaker
    How about a constable? If he's a centaur, he might even live in a stable!
  • LoopysueLoopysue ProFantasy 🖼️ 39 images Cartographer
    edited June 2020
    "Guard House", or "Watch House", as in the Terry Pratchett novels where Commander Samuel Vimes is the protagonist. The City Watch bear swords and crossbows, and wear breastplates and helmets, a bit like 17th century soldiers. But please! Without the plumes!!! Vimes always hated plumes!
  • MonsenMonsen Administrator 🖼️ 46 images Cartographer
    edited June 2020
    I've also heard people use the word Constabulary for the building, although as far as I can tell, that technically a name for the police force itself. (Which I guess is technically from the same base word as Joe already suggested)
  • Gendarmerie, custodiarium (Latin), vigilium (Latin) and commissariat?
  • You could always go with a grandiose title like "Hall of Justice" or name it like Scotland Yard using a fictional name such as Kavrish Yard.

    You could also try fancier modern titles:
    Correctional Facility or Center
    Justice Center
    Dept. of Justice
    Office of Judicial Affairs
  • thehawkthehawk Surveyor
    When I first read this post, I thought "hey, that's a good point, I have some need for this myself, I should do a little research." Some hours and an uncountable number of wandering down rabbit holes, I don't have much of a better answer than I did when I started, but I am a little more enlightened; I think. This is the condensed of what I came away with.

    Seems like Actual Reality is somewhat vague on this point during the medieval times, depending on the time-frame. Manor House, the Castle, civil parish, Magistrate's Court. I also saw some references to a provost sometimes being a place and not just a person. A Provost Marshal is typically a head of the military police, but there are times where it was applied to non-military people as well.

    Then there's the office in question, which ranges in duties and responsibilities and area covered - sheriff (from Shire Reeve), constable, peeler, local lord of varying names, knight / chevalier and even Bow Street Runners (ahem. Group!) - and there are others. Since you're talking about a fantasy settings, with a bit of a stretch and using modern interpretations, you could probably get away with bailiff and maybe even yeoman.

    There's also a period when the job was performed, more or less, by some combination of private or state funded armed forces - guard, soldier, mercenary, whatever - and the local militia. So that would give you things like barracks or cantonment. As pointed out above, the 'City Watch' of various flavors and affiliations seems to be a fairly common fantasy trope.

    Then there's also residents who were obligated to answer the alarm when it went out - all armed able-bodied men over fifteen, for example, and they usually called it home, the house, their hovel, or, as my company commander liked to refer to it, as YOUR OWN LITTLE PIECE OF AMERICA RIGHT THERE.

    More recently, there is another trope that certain 'families' use certain 'eating' and / or 'drinking' establishments or warehouses as their 'base of operations' for meting out their interpretation of law, justice, and 'tax collection'.

    So I think that if you pick something that fits with the rest of the culture you've built, then you're good. You're certainly unlikely to be less consistent or more convoluted than western culture.
  • It may also be a building that's been repurposed to use as an "HQ" for the Sheriff, &c., but retains its old name, e.g., "the Palace" for a former royal palace.
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