A number of different types of correspondences are featured in the Locked Tomb Trilogy and related short stories. They are recreated here for ease of reference.
Official Letters and Invitations[]
Official Summons from The Emperor[]
Sent to each of the Nine Houses, presumably the same aside from names:
ADDRESSING THE HOUSE OF THE NINTH, ITS REVERED LADY PELLEAMENA HIGHT NOVENARIUS AND ITS REVEREND LORD PRIAM HIGHT NONIUSVIANUS:
Salutations to the House of the Ninth, and blessings upon its tombs, its peaceful dread, and its manifold mysteries.
His Celestial Kindliness, the First Reborn, begs this house to honour its love for the Creator, as set in the contract of tenderness made on the day of the Resurrection, and humbly asks for the first fruits of your household Harrowhark Nonagesimus and Ortus Nigenad.
For in need now are the Emperor's Hands, the most blessed and beloved of the King Undying, the faithful and the everlasting! The Emperor calls now for postulants to the position of Lyctor, heirs to the eight stalwarts who have served these ten thousand years: as many of them now lie waiting for the rivers to rise on the day they wake to their King, those lonely Guard remaining petition for their numbers to be renewed and their Lord above Lords to find eight new liegemen.
To this end we beg the first of your House and their cavalier to kneel in glory and attend the finest study, that of being the Emperor's bones and joints, his fists and gestures...
Eight we hope will meditate and ascend to the Emperor in glory in the temple of the First House, eight new Lyctors joined with their cavaliers; and if the Necrolord Highest blesses but does not take, they shall return home in full honour, with trump and timbrel.
There is no dutiful gift so perfect, nor so lovely in his eyes.[1]
Letter Following the Summons[]
The Emperor sends the Houses a second letter that is "somewhat less prolix than the first." The only known contents are:
No retainers. No attendants, no domestics.[2]
Magnus and Abigail's Anniversary Dinner Invitation[]
The official invitation reads:
LADY ABIGAIL PENT AND SIR MAGNUS QUINN
IN CELEBRATION OF THEIR ELEVENTH WEDDING ANNIVERSARY
PRESENT THEIR COMPLIMENTS TO THE HEIR AND CAVALIER PRIMARY OF THE NINTH HOUSE
AND REQUEST THE HONOUR OF THEIR COMPANY THIS EVENING.
DINNER TO BE SERVED AT SEVEN O'CLOCK.[3]
With a handwritten note from Magnus:
Don't be affrighted by the wording, Abigail can't resist a formal invitation, at home am practically issued one for breakfast. Not at all a serious function & would be deeply pleased if you could both see fit to come. I will make dessert, can reassure you I cook better than I duel. —M[3]
Augustine the First's Dinner Invitation[]
The official invitation reads:
AUGUSTINE THE FIRST, LYCTOR OF THE GREAT RESURRECTION, FOUNDER OF THE COURT OF KONIORTOS, FIRST SAINT TO SERVE THE KING UNDYING
REQUESTS THE HONOUR OF THE PRESENCE OF HIS YOUNGEST SISTERS
IANTHE THE FIRST, EIGHTH SAINT TO SERVE THE KING UNDYING
&
HARROWHARK THE FIRST, NINTH SAINT TO SERVE THE KING UNDYING
DINNER WILL BE SERVED AT HALF AN HOUR PAST EVENING COMMENCEMENT
ATTIRE: FORMAL OR CEREMONIAL DRESS[4]
With a note on the back:
My room, ten minutes beforehand.[4]
Notes between Harrowhark and Gideon[]
In Canaan House, Gideon and Harrow exchange a number of notes.
Harrow's Instructions[]
On the first day:
Don't talk to anybody.
I have taken the ring.[5]
Shortly followed by a note on the door:
Fix your face, idiot.[5]
And another two on her box of facepaint:
Do not try to find me. I am working. Keep your head down and stay out of trouble. I reiterate the order that you do not talk to anybody.
To clarify, anybody is a word that refers to any person alive or dead.[5]
And one more inside:
Paint your face adequately.[5]
Harrow's Interior Design[]
Upon returning to their chambers and finding the door decorated with "ghoulish wreaths", Gideon leaves a note on Harrows pillow:
WHAT'S WITH ALL THE SKULLS?[3]
Harrow answers with:
Ambiance.[3]
After the Avulsion Laboratory[]
When Gideon wakes after her experience being siphoned, she finds several "increasingly aggressive" notes from Harrow:
I have taken the keys and gone to examine the new laboratory. DO NOT come and find me.[6]
And:
DO NOT leave the quarters. I will ask Sextus to look at you.[6]
Followed by:
DO NOT go anywhere. I have left some bread for you in a drawer.[6]
And finally:
'Go anywhere' in this case is defined as leaving the quarters to go to any other location in Canaan House, which you are banned from doing.[6]
Harrowhark's Letters[]
In Harrow the Ninth, Harrowhark Nonagesimus writes twenty-four letters to herself and others to explain a plan she has made in the past and erased from her own memory. Each is labeled with the circumstances under which the letters should be read.
Letter #2[]
To be given to Harrowhark immediately upon coherence
ADDRESSING THE REVEREND HARROWHARK NONAGESIMUS, KNOWN AS THE REVEREND DAUGHTER BY HER OWN DESIRE, NOW HARROWHARK THE FIRST, WRITING AS THE SAME, NOW DEAD.
LETTER #2 OF #24. TO BE READ IMMEDIATELY ON COHERENCE.
Harrowhark—
As I write, it has been forty-eight hours since you became a Lyctor at Canaan House. By the time you read this you will not recall the writing thereof, as the Harrowhark of the writing will be dead and gone. Her resurrection constitutes a fail state and must be avoided at all costs.
This letter cannot answer questions. What I have done I will refer to as the work, and its character is actively harmful for you to know. I will instead provide guidelines on how to live the rest of your life. As your life may hopefully now extend into the myriads, it is of enormous import that you are not tempted to deviate from them. You are the living surety of promises I have made. Break troth with me, and from beyond my destruction I will brand you Tomb heretic, cut off utterly from that which lies on the frozen altar, asleep and dead; removed from the adoration thereof, and any promise of part in her resurrection.
GUIDELINE #1: STAY ALIVE.
You may not end your own life through suicide. You may not end your own life through carelessness. Accidental death must be avoided at all costs and never accepted as an outcome. The work relies on your continuance.
GUIDELINE #2: YOU CAN NEVER RETURN TO THE NINTH HOUSE.
The way home is closed to you. Do not set foot within the House again. Do not allow yourself to be taken there by force.
GUIDELINE #3: THE SWORD WILL REMAIN ON YOU AT ALL TIMES.
Wipe it down with your arterial blood nightly. Coat the blade in the ash which regrows. Do not cut flesh with the naked blade. Do not cut bone with the naked blade. Even this may not prove enough. Treat the sword as your promised death, and act according to the first guideline.
GUIDELINE #4: YOU ARE COMPROMISED.
You may already suspect this, if you're not as big a fool as I take you for. I will confirm your access to the Lyctoral well. This battery is, most likely, the extent of your capability. Make up for your inevitable failings through study. Your understanding of flesh and spirit magic is execrable, so start there. Do not aim to only build upon what you already know. It pains me to admit this, but you know piss-all. I refuse to let you build your house on such shiftless & unreal sand.
GUIDELINE #5: YOU OWE IANTHE TRIDENTARIUS THE FAVOUR OF THE CHAIN.
This will be difficult to justify. I will therefore not justify it. Tridentarius has made what has come to pass possible. I owe her a debt that you will undoubtedly be paying for the rest of your life. The agreement does end on your death. The agreement does extend into the House, but NOT into the Tomb. The agreement is singular but does take precedence over and above any debt you have sworn to anyone lesser than the Holy Corpse, over and above the Emperor of the Nine Houses. In order to avoid philosophical quandaries she will expect you to re-swear immediately on receipt of the letter, and any failure to do so undoes the whole business. Do not be tardy here.
It goes without saying that Ianthe will destroy you if she can. She has helped me ably, but it has cost her nothing and you everything. I have guarded her from her full understanding of the work so that she cannot undo it on a whim or by accident. You are in her power. I am in no doubt of her misusing it. You yourself never had power over anyone else but you misused it violently.
GUIDELINE #6: READ THE OTHER MISSIVES ONLY IF AND WHEN YOU MEET THEIR REQUIREMENTS.
I have left other instructions in case of new circumstances. Ianthe holds twenty-four of these letters and will give you twenty-two, including this one. They are numbered accordingly. Memorise the requirements and carry the letters on you at all times, ready to act the moment you are required to read them. Follow their instructions without hesitation. I repeat: do not read them otherwise.
To myself: a brief break in guidelines follows, before the last. You will think at this point that I have given you a terrible hand to play the game with. I am not unsympathetic. Nonetheless, understand that I envy you more than I have ever envied anyone, and that I look upon your birth as a blessing. Look upon me as a Harrowhark who was handed the first genuine choice of our lives; the only choice ever given where we had free will to say, No, and free will to say, Yes.
Accept that in this instance I have chosen to say, No.
GUIDELINE #7: EXAMINE IANTHE'S JAW AND TONGUE AFTER YOU READ THIS.
Owing to her Lyctoral status this will require physical touch. Under no circumstances can you let her know you are examining them. Do whatever it takes. If you suspect either jaw or tongue has been replaced, DO NOT SWEAR THE OATH. Instead kill her immediately.
In the hope of a future forgiveness, I remained,
HARROWHARK NONAGESIMUS[7]
Letter #5[]
ADDRESSING THE LADY HARROWHARK NONAGESIMUS, KNOWN AS THE REVEREND DAUGHTER BY HER OWN DESIRE, NOW HARROWHARK THE FIRST, FROM THE SAME, NOW DEAD.
Protect Coronabeth Tridentarius at all costs, even if this endangers your life. The work is forfeit if you contribute to her death by direct or indirect action. In the interests of the work, you may silence her, so long as this causes her no significant pain.
P.S. Or any pain at all. (Ianthe)
P.P.S. I cannot guarantee a total absence of pain. (Harrowhark)
P.P.P.S. There must be a total absence of pain actually. (Ianthe)
P.P.P.P.S. We have jointly agreed on "as little pain as may be achieved via the fullness of necromantic effort." (Harrowhark)
P.P.P.P.P.S. xoxoxoxo (Ianthe)[8]
Letter #12[]
To open if you meet Judith Deuteros
ADDRESSING THE LADY HARROWHARK NONAGESIMUS, KNOWN AS THE REVEREND DAUGHTER BY HER OWN DESIRE, NOW HARROWHARK THE FIRST, FROM THE SAME, NOW DEAD.
If you meet Judith Deuteros, silence her. Kill her if necessary.[8]
Letter #?[]
If met, to give to Camilla Hect
For service previously rendered by your House: invoke the rock that remains ever unrolled, and understand that I will both consider your life as inviolate, and aid you if I can.[9]
It is likely that this is only a piece of a longer letter and that Camilla only shared what was pertinent for Harrow to know.
Letter #??[]
To be given to Gideon Nav
ONE FLESH, ONE END.[10]
The package also contained Gideon's sunglasses.
Unopened Letters[]
- To open in case of your imminent death
- To open in the event of the Emperor's death
- To open in the event of Ianthe's death
- To open if the Ninth House is in mortal danger
- To open if your eyes change
- Upon the death of Harrowhark Nonagesimus
Other Letters[]
The Mysterious Study of Doctor Sex[]
In the beginning of TMSoDS, Camilla reads a letter sent from Dulcinea Septimus to Palamedes:
To my dearest pals,
Writing this from PRISON. You were right that massaging the alveolar walls using the intercostal would help, but too little too late. This one’s my fault. I did pay attention to the diagrams BUT it took me a while to work out how to get the fluid into my pleural cavity and I may have made things worse. Sorry, Doc. Can’t teach an old dog new tricks. I am practising daily so do not chide me.
To cut a long story short, I didn’t win the argument and I’m at Pro and Mia’s and ALL my worst fears are realised. If their poor kids even breathe loudly they are taken out back and summarily beheaded. They play in whispers and go around on tiptoe. This is the opposite of what I want, as I desire noise. They all love me, which says less about my lovability and more about how little company they get this far out of Cypris. It’s beautiful here on the mountain but the scenery is wasted on your old hag of a correspondent.
Their eldest is about yours and C’s age and brings me flowers. He is a blessed creature and the only one with aptitude. This means he is unfortunately a shortarse and his siblings are all bigger than him or just about except for the three-year-old. Very trag.
Understandably I have adopted him as a younger brother and outwardly delight in all offerings, mostly roses or cups of tea. I do not have the heart to tell him that I wish he were bringing me anything else, maybe extramural magazines and cigarettes (THIS IS A JOKE).[11]
Hallucinated Messages[]
Harrowhark hallucinates a number of odd messages while unknowingly inhabiting a bubble in the River, presumably left there as a result of Awake's presence in the same bubble.
The first, Harrow finds on a piece of flimsy in her shuttle on the way to Canaan House:
THE EGGS YOU GAVE ME ALL DIED AND YOU LIED TO ME[12]
The second comes on a scrap of paper given to her by Abigail Pent:
THE EGGS YOU GAVE ME ALL DIED AND YOU LIED TO ME SO I DID THE IMPLANTATION MYSELF YOU SELF-SERVING ZOMBIE AND YOU STILL SENT HIM AFTER ME AND I WOULD HAVE HAD HIM IF I HADN’T BEEN COMPROMISED AND HE TOOK PITY ON ME! HE TOOK PITY ON ME! HE SAW ME AND HE TOOK PITY ON ME
AND FOR THAT I’LL MAKE YOU BOTH SUFFER UNTIL YOU NO LONGER UNDERSTAND THE MEANING OF THAT GODDAMNED WORD[13]
Another on a piece of flimsy she removes from Palamedes Sextus' pockets:
HIM I’LL KILL QUICK BECAUSE SHE ASKED ME TO AND BECAUSE THAT MUCH HE HONESTLY DESERVES BUT YOU TWO MUMMIFIED WIZARD SHITS I WILL BURN AND BURN AND BURN AND BURN UNTIL THERE IS NO TRACE OF YOU LEFT IN THE SHADOW OF MY LONG-LOST NATAL SUN[14]
The next appears when Abigail and Magnus trick Harrow into admitting she is insane:
I WILL REMEMBER THE FIRST TIME YOU KISSED ME—YOU APOLOGISED—YOU SAID, I AM SORRY, DESTROY ME AS I AM, BUT I WANT TO KISS YOU BEFORE I AM KILLED, AND I SAID TO YOU WHY, AND YOU SAID, BECAUSE I HAVE ONLY ONCE MET SOMEONE SO UTTERLY WILLING TO BURN FOR WHAT THEY BELIEVED IN, AND I LOVED HIM ON SIGHT, AND THE FIRST TIME I DIED I ASKED OF HIM WHAT I NOW ASK OF YOU
I KISSED YOU AND LATER I WOULD KISS HIM TOO BEFORE I UNDERSTOOD WHAT YOU WERE, AND ALL THREE OF US LIVED TO REGRET IT—BUT WHEN I AM IN HEAVEN I WILL REMEMBER YOUR MOUTH, AND WHEN YOU ROAST DOWN IN HELL I THINK YOU WILL REMEMBER MINE[15]
The fifth comes from the page of a book that Ortus Nigenad had with him:
THE ONLY THING OUR CIVILIZATION CAN EVER LEARN FROM YOURS IS THAT WHEN OUR BACKS ARE TO THE WALL AND OUR TOWERS ARE FALLING ALL AROUND US AND WE ARE WATCHING OURSELVES BURN
WE RARELY BECOME HEROES.[16]
The last, she sees written on a white board near the tomb of the Sleeper:
END OF THE LINE. FALLING. OXYGEN CAN’T LAST THE DISTANCE AND WON’T REDIRECT POWER FROM THE PAYLOAD. INSTEAD I WILL MAKE YOU WATCH EVERY MOMENT AS I GET THE LAST PRIVILEGE YOU CANNOT ENJOY YOU BYGONE SON OF A BITCH.
I HOPE YOU’RE BOTH AS SORRY AS I AM.[17]
Found Notes/Fragments[]
Gideon the Ninth[]
In the Facility, Gideon spots an old, faded note on a white board:
It is finished.[18]
In room X-203, the theorem notes on transference end with:
In the hope of attaining Lyctoral understanding.
All glory and love to the Necrolord Prime.[19]
In the same room, Gideon finds a faded message on the flyleaf of a book:
ONE FLESH, ONE END.
G.&.P.[19]
And a message on a scrap of flimsy:
[b]ut we all know the sad + trying realit[y]
is that this will remain incomplete t[o]
the last. He can't fix my deficiencies her[e]
[pl]ease give Gideon my
congratulations, howev[er][19]
In the tooth that Harrow unravels in the Lyctor study with Palamedes:
FIVE HUNDRED INTO FIFTY
IT IS FINISHED![20]
Found in the same Lyctor study by Camilla:
CONFIRMED INDEPENDENTLY HIGHLIGHTED BEST OPTION
ASK E.J.G.
YRS, ANASTASIA.
P.S. GIVE ME BACK MY CALIPERS I NEED THEM[20]
In the final Lyctor study, they find a message painted on the wall:
YOU LIED TO US[21]
A Sermon On Cavaliers and Necromancers[]
NEARLY TEN THOUSAND YEARS OLD, KEPT IN SECRET IN A CHEMICAL FILE WITHIN THE LIBRARY OF THE SIXTH HOUSE TO GUARD AGAINST THE RAVAGES OF TIME
valancy says one flesh one end sounds like instructions for a sex toy. can't stop thinking about that so can someone stop cris and alfred before the sex toy phrase catches on, thanks
Harrow the Ninth[]
Found by Abigail in the Library:
After that cut into cubes, fry in the butter or oil, turn it occasionally until it is crispy. Cut up the pickle so there are no big chunks and mix it into the pan before taking off the heat.
M told us yesterday that Nigella 'eats like a child,' so I[13]
Given to Harrow by Abigail:
If you come to my room, I will make you the potato dish you liked.[13]
The Mysterious Study of Doctor Sex[]
At the end of The Mysterious Study of Doctor Sex, Camilla recreates a fragment of a message Palamedes was able to see and memorize when he opened the puzzle sphere in Doctor Sex's study:
Darling girl,
Tomorrow you will become a Lyctor and finally go where I can’t follow. I want you to keep this letter when you are far away and think of me and want me and can’t have me, and know that no matter how far you travel, nor how long the years feel, the one thing that never stays entombed is...[11]
Nona the Ninth[]
Written on the wall next to Ianthe's blood ward in the corridor outside Kiriona Gaia's room in the New Rho Cohort barracks:
Don't go through here. I mean it, idiot. You will disintegrate.[22]
References[]
- ↑ "Gideon the Ninth," Act I, Ch. 3
- ↑ "Gideon the Ninth," Act I, Ch. 5
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 "Gideon the Ninth," Act II, Ch. 15
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Harrow the Ninth," Act III, Ch. 29
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 "Gideon the Ninth," Act II, Ch. 9
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 "Gideon the Ninth," Act III, Ch. 21
- ↑ "Harrow the Ninth," Act I, Ch. 4
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 "Harrow the Ninth," Act IV, Ch. 34
- ↑ "Harrow the Ninth," Act IV, Ch. 33
- ↑ "Harrow the Ninth," Act V, Ch. 48
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 "The Mysterious Study of Doctor Sex"
- ↑ "Harrow the Ninth," Act I, Ch. 5
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 "Harrow the Ninth," Act I, Ch. 10
- ↑ "Harrow the Ninth," Act II, Ch. 21
- ↑ "Harrow the Ninth," Act III, Ch. 28
- ↑ "Harrow the Ninth," Act V, Ch. 45
- ↑ "Harrow the Ninth," Act V, Ch. 47
- ↑ "Gideon the Ninth," Act II, Ch. 12
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 "Gideon the Ninth," Act III, Ch. 19
- ↑ 20.0 20.1 "Gideon the Ninth," Act IV, Ch. 32
- ↑ "Gideon the Ninth," Act IV, Ch. 34
- ↑ Nona the Ninth Day 5, Ch. 24