Palamedes Sextus

Palamedes Sextus illustrated by sanga-manga

>  *"The Sixth House, Griddle! Do you know how difficult it is to stay ahead of Palamedes Sextus?"*
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**Palamedes Sextus** *(Pal-AM-a-dees SEX-tus)* is the Heir to the Sixth House and Master Warden of the Library. His name contains references to the Greek Palamedes, who appears in post-Homeric Greek legends about the siege of Troy, the saracen knight of the round table Sir Palamedes, and the Roman arithronym for the sixth son of a family, Sextus.

## **Biography**

### **Early Life**

According to the Cohort Intelligence Files of Judith Deuteros, Palamedes is the youngest to achieve the title of Master Warden at thirteen years old, beating out at least fifteen other candidates. He is regarded as a genius by his peers, including Harrowhark. In tradition with his house, much of his work has been kept in secrecy. Palamedes has never sought a Cohort Placement.

When both were thirteen, Palamedes with his cavalier Camilla Hect attended Archivist Zeta in the opening of the Study of Doctor Sex (as chronicled in The Mysterious Study of Doctor Sex). Regarded by Palamedes as "the first time we surprised them [Sixth House]," the pair investigated the strange scene in tandem and created a reasonable and verifiable explanation of the bizarrely dated skeleton pieces found within.

Both Palamedes and Camilla maintained a close correspondence with Dulcinea Septimus, Heir to the House of the Seventh throughout their youth.

### **The Mysterious Study of Doctor Sex**

Palamedes and Camilla, age 13, sit in Camilla's dorm bed reading a letter from their mutual friend Dulcinea and attempting to organize Palamedes school requirements when Archivist Zeta intrudes to invite them to the unsealing of an old room in The Library: The Study of renowned researcher Doctor Donald Sex. As they make their way to the study, Zeta explains the chain of deaths, sabbaticals, and bureaucratic red tape that has allowed her to claim this room. Down in the bowels of the basement, Zeta's four-scholar team awaits them, ready to work. She cuts down the "Achaeology Department" tape, and proceeds to organizing her crew.

The crew barely has a chance to begin a cursory documentation of the state of the room, when Palamedes spots a pair of skeletal hands sitting on the desk of Doctor Sex. Zeta directs her team to make note of the remains and search the room for anything more. Finding nothing, she instructs Julia to use psychometry on the hands to date them. Perplexingly, the result is over 200 years after the study was sealed. A flurry of debates over the proper forms and procedures ensues, and most of the team leaves to track down the signatures required to proceed with the investigation.

After a bit of solo investigation around the room, Palamedes and Camilla call Zeta over to show her a service tunnel above the desk. Explaining that he believes the rest of the skeleton will be inside, Zeta allows Palamedes to follow his hypothesis (putting both of their reputations at stake). They send Camilla through the tunnel and she reports back that the rest of a maintenance servitor is hunched over the grate-- in a position that would make it possible to lever off his hands. Palamedes and Camilla continue to poke around the study while the wait for the Collections team to return.

With everyone back, Zeta explains theirs findings and more forms and documentation is pulled out. At a snarky comment from an Archaeologist, Palamedes claims to know what has happened, and outlines his theory to the group. He theorizes that Doctor Sex, made a revenant by an incomplete summoning, possessed a servitor skeleton in order to finish his last research project-- a small wooden puzzle containing an ancient note. As he makes his case, Zeta probes him with questions and clarifications, all of which he answers aptly. He ends his presentation with unlocking the puzzle, revealing the note.

Zeta and her team pursue the leads offered by Palamedes, confirming the servitor skeletons AWOL date and location, as well as exhuming the body of Doctor Sex and seeing signs of his becoming a revenant. Later, Zeta finds Palamedes and Camilla in the dining hall to convey this information.

### **Gideon the Ninth**

#### Act I

Sixth House arrives with the others to Canaan House, and disembarks without issue. Camilla receives the iron key ring for their House. Palamedes listens to Teacher explain the task, but does not participate in the conversation.

#### Act II

Palamedes and Camilla begin to puzzle out the challenge of Canaan House just two hours after Harrow. Receiving the key to the Facility from Teacher, they begin solving the laboratory rooms. Though they will eventually complete each room (with the exception of the Avulsion Room), they only earn three keys-- the rest having been claimed by another team. They identify Harrowhark and Third House as their primary competitors.

On the day that Harrow goes missing, they are having an argument of the illogical psychometric timestamps of Canaan House when Palamedes spots Gideon on the stairs behind them. Camilla immediately attacks, proving herself a formidable and agile opponent. Palamedes ends to the fight, separating the cavaliers with a necromantic shield, inferring that Gideon is looking for Harrow. He informs her that he last saw Harrow here, at The Facility and doesn't believe her to have left. Panicking, Gideon tries to get through the locked hatch door and breaks her vow of silence to demand that Palamedes help her. When Palamedes decides to help, Camilla tosses him the keys and follows them into the Facility. He leads her to a room called the sanitiser, where Harrow has created a restorative bone cocoon. Palamedes and Camilla do a brief medical assessment and diagnose Harrow with dehydration and exhaustion before releasing her into Gideon. As they are leaving, Palamedes warns Gideon and Harrow it is too dangerous to continue splitting their forces.

At the anniversary dinner party for Magnus Quinn and Abigail Pent, Palamedes is overheard having a discussion about the specifics of his title "Warden," and chimes in on Abigail's conversations about research in the Sixth House libraries. This conversation puts him in close proximity with Cytherea, who is posing as Dulcinea Septimus. Given that Palamedes has exchanging correspondence with (and been sweet on) Dulcinea since he was eight, he brings her tea and attempts to make conversation. She accepts the tea, but is distracted by her conversation with Gideon.

#### Act III

Palamedes, along with the other necromancers, attempt to raise Abigail and Magnus in order to learn the manner of their deaths. His is the most methodical and longest attempt at raising the dead, however despite hours of working (often in concert with Harrowhark) and dozens of diagrams, he is forced to admit defeat. When Teacher arrives, he argues that best practice would be to leave the bodies in place, but Teacher insists they be moved upstairs. Palamedes reluctantly allows the bodies to be stored in the freezer as a temporary mortuary and all fourteen remaining postulants gather around for a conference with Teacher.

Palamedes sips his tea while Second House, Coronabeth, and Teacher argue about involving the Cohort. When asked who has a key to the Facility, he and Camilla instantly respond in the affirmative, but do not interfere with the following argument between Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth. It is only when Isaac Tettares suggests hunting the supposed monster, that Palamedes steps in. He, with the support of Camilla and Corona, announces that they will proceed scientifically and cooperate enough to warn each other if they notice anything unusual in the Facility. After the meeting, Palamedes meets briefly with Harrowhark, before conducting and investigation of the bodies (accompanied by Second and Seventh House).

At some point after the conference, Dulcinea approaches Sixth House about completing the avulsion chamber and they decline on account of the high likelihood of Camilla sustaining permanent brain damage.

After their turn with the avulsion laboratory, Harrow requests that Sixth check up on Gideon and Palamedes sends Camilla to their rooms. Gideon and Camilla meet up with him in the Dining Hall, where Coronabeth is attempting to convince Teacher to give her a Facility hatch key. Palamedes offers to escort Coronabeth to the Facility himself, and Coronabeth blatantly bribes to help her win the same keys as her sister. Palamedes reveals that there is only one key per laboratory chamber, causing panic among Gideon and those necromancers who had not yet realized keys were a limited resource. Coronabeth insists that this means the teams are destined to work together. However, Teacher re-iterates his sermon from the first night in Canaan House-- *"What I mean is, there is no law. [...] I have given you your rule, and there are no others. Some things may take you swiftly down the road to Lyctorhood. Some things may make the row harder to plough."*  The necromancers scatter, Coronabeth to find her sister, Judith to inspect the bodies of Magnus and Abigail for keys, and Palamedes to his dinner.

When they finish eating, Palamedes leads the cavaliers to the freezer where the body of Magnus and Abigail are being stored. Second House is just leaving, angry, because they have not found anything. Judith asks Palamedes to join her and help put an end to the competition. He rejects her outright. She asks how many keys he has, and the only answer he will give is *"fewer than you think."* The conversation nearly ends in a duel, but Judith calls off Marta and allows them to pass.

> *"My conscience doesn't permit me to help anyone do what we have all embarked upon. [...] Captain, God help you when you understand. My only consolation is that you won't be able to put any responsibility on my head."*
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Inside the makeshift mortuary, Palamedes takes Magnus' ring and a section of his pocket in order to locate his key ring through psychometry. At Gideon's questioning, he explains that he had been under the assumption the postulants knew about the limited keys and were choosing to be civil, and now he fears that things in Canaan House are going to quickly get ugly. He is partway through an explanation of the Fifth's mortal injuries when they are interrupted by a noise behind them, and the sound of Fourth House running away.

The next day, Palamedes joins the other necromancers in attempting to learn all they can from the remains found in the incinerator. He is perplexed by the dating of the ashes--placing them weeks before anyone arrived at Canaan House. Ianthe points out that the remains have two separate signatures, two separate people, despite Palamedes' read of the time of death being consistent across the remains. When Silas returns with Dulcinea's keys, Palamedes is horrified. Judith attempts to take control of the situation, but when Silas refuses to hand over Dulcinea's keys; she decides to rule by force and demand that Palamedes hand over his own keys. He refuses, and Marta throws down a glove in official challenge. Chaos breaks out and Coronabeth attempts to end the duel, but is stopped by her sister. Palamedes, tired of Judith's stupidity and posturing, snaps and accepts the challenge for Camilla.

Camilla readies herself and steps onto the table to fight. Judith sets the rules as "hyoid down," an unsportsman-like ruling that allows Marta to *"do more of less anything to my cavalier [Camilla], all in the name of making me [Palamedes] cry uncle."* Camilla asks how he wants her to play it, and he instructs her to "go loud," showcasing the full force of her power and skill. She beats her quickly, dislocating Marta's arm and kicking her feet out from under her, but is stabbed in the forearm in the struggle. Judith calls mercy, and Palamedes immediately re-locates Marta's arm. Furious, he demands Judith's keys in return. With no laboratory keys, he takes her facility key and lectures her harshly on how stupid and careless her actions are, how she's unnecessarily hurt two cavaliers, and how it is now her fault that the competition has descended to dirty tricks.

Palamedes turns to care for Camilla's wound, when Naberius Tern issues her another challenge. Camilla readies herself, but Ninth House steps in to represent her in the duel. Jeannemary quickly follows, issuing another challenge to Naberius.

The challenges are withdrawn and the conference collapses, Second, Third, and Eighth house leaving in disgust. When they've gone, Palamedes remarks that there is only one key left unaccounted for. He has completed all the challenges (save the Avulsion Room) and tracked each key to its respective owner, and only one key still eludes him. They discuss how the challenges seem to be informative and hypothesize that they combine into one "megatheorem." Palamedes organizes the remaining postulants into teams, and sends Gideon, Jeannemary, and Isaac into the Facility to look for Protesilaus, and takes Harrow and Camilla with him to watch to Dulcinea.

#### Act IV

Palamedes assists in removing the bodies of Jeannemary Chatur and Isaac Tettares and bringing them to the morgue. He takes out the pieces of the bones that impaled them, and tends to Gideon's wounds. Later, he returns to extract more bone shards from Gideon, who storms out. Gideon and Harrowhark continue to team up with Sixth House, meeting in Palamedes and Camilla's rooms to negotiate a trade of information: Harrow will give Palamedes her map of Canaan House and helps him pick a lock, and he will give her all his notes from the Lyctoral studies. The lock is jammed with regenerating ash, and Harrow must siphon Gideon to undo it. Palamedes chastises her for using Gideon, but agrees to answer one question as reward for removing the block. She asks what keys are in play and he gives her the run down. As they leave, Palamedes asks Gideon to keep an eye on Dulcinea.

Gideon turns up at Sixth's room with Protesilaus' head, that she found in Harrow's closet. Palamedes brings her tea and talks her through her crisis of faith, and she explains to him the story of Harrow in the Locked Tomb. Despite the grisly story, Palamedes attempts to convince Gideon that it is not her fault. She gives the scrap of a note she found in room X-203, and they are interrupted by a knock at the door. She returns, handcuffed to Harrow, and the necromancers decide to gather everyone in Dulcinea's room. Palamedes proposes that Protesilaus has been dead the whole time and has been reanimated by flesh magic called the beguiling corpse-- which Dulcinea confirms easily. She claims her house intended to send her with a living Protesilaus, but that he had had an accident and died. Colum interrupts to ask about the bodies in the incinerator. Dulcinea's illness flares, and Palamedes and Camilla help tend to her and get her comfortable again.

The next day, the group goes to a Lyctor study that neither of them have the key for, and Harrow uses Palamedes psychometric perception of the key to build a copy out of bone. Inside, Harrow goes for the theorem notes, but Palamedes and Camilla take their time examining the other objects in the study. Camilla discovers a binder full of photos, including one of Teacher. Their investigation is cut short by the fire alarm. All leave immediately, finding broken skeleton servants slumped in the hall. They check on Dulcinea and find one of the priests who were serving her broken as well. She tells them Teacher went to close a door and hasn't yet returned. They find a pile-up of bones leading into a room that contains Judith Deuteros and the bodies of Teacher and Marta Dyas. She describes a fight with Teacher over access to the communication devices gone wrong, but confirms that she got off an SOS. Palamedes informs her that he cannot save her, and she asks to be left where she is with a sword.

The group returns to find Eighth House waiting outside Dulcinea's rooms. He reports that Third House has defiled the corpse of Abigail. They investigate the body and Palamedes discovers that a key was hidden inside of Abigail, which Third House now has in their possession. Together, Ninth, Sixth, and Eighth House set out to the room that would now be open. They reach the Lyctor study to discover Coronabeth sobbing, Naberius dead, and Ianthe a newly-born Lyctor. She does not deny her actions and triumphantly explains that she has reverse engineered the entire Lyctoral process from the tests in the Facility. Harrow is horrified to realize that Palamedes theory of a megatheorem is true. Silas takes great moral offense to her actions and sentences Ianthe to death.Sometime during the ensuing fight, Palamedes leaves without being seen.

He makes it all the way to the door of Dulcinea's room before Gideon catches up with him. Before she can say anything, he pins her in place with his necromancy-- holding her whole body still and locking her mouth closed. Inside, he confronts "Dulcinea" wanting the answers to two questions: *"Why the Fifth?"*, and *"Where is she?"* He discusses the answers with her calmly, biding his time so that he can uncover every failing part of her body. Finally, when it is revealed that Dulcinea is weeks dead and burned in the incinerator, he releases his entire reserve of energy. He kills himself in a brilliant necromantic explosion to push Cytherea's illness past the point of equilibrium.

### **Harrow the Ninth**

#### Ten Months Before the Emperor's Murder

As he dies, and in accordance with his plan with cavalier Camilla Hect, Palamedes Sextus crafts a single theorem tying his soul to his body on a cellular level. He constructs a small bubble of space "on the bank" of the River that allows him to retain his sense of self as a revenant. Trapped within the confines of what he could see as he died and without the use of his necromancy, Palamedes has only a copy of "The Necromancer's Marriage Season" to keep him company. The pieces of his body are split between Camilla, who manually assembles a small portion of his skull, and the Cohort, that disappears with the majority of his bones.

#### Two Months Before the Emperor's Murder

Eight months after his death, Harrowhark Nonagesimus appears in Palamedes's River "bubble." Seeing her looking at his only novel, he briefly explains the plot of the novel before greeting her with a hug. Uncomfortable, she extricates herself and begins questioning him on exactly what he has done and how he has done it to be present in the River. They argue over the theory until Palamedes interrupts to ask after Camilla and how long he's been dead. He's surprised learn it's been so long and confused to learn that Camilla and Harrow have been separated. Harrow asks him why he is *"acting as though [she] should know him"* and introduces herself as a Lyctor. Palamedes is briefly hopeful that Harrow has found a way to become a Lyctor without killing her cavalier, but she quickly corrects him.

They are interrupted by a lightning strike and the appearance of the Sleeper. Palamedes quickly deduces that Harrow has unintentionally brought something malicious into the "bubble" with her, and tells her she must leave. Before she goes, Palamedes clarifies which bones of his Camilla has and asks Harrow to turn them into *"something more useful"* which he claims is *"anything that articulates."* As the Sleeper attempts to break into the room, Palamedes and Harrow bump heads, and Palamedes becomes aware of the existence of Gideon Nav, compartmentalized within Harrow. He smiles and kisses her forehead, then sends Harrow, and the Sleeper, back into the River. Back in the conscious world, Harrow follows through with her promise and transforms the piece of Palamedes's skull into a hand.

## **Appearance and Personality**

Gideon first describes Palamedes thus:

> *"Crouching in front of the hatch was a rangy, underfed young man: he was wrapped in a grey cloak and the light glinted on the spectacles slipping down his nose."*
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Palamedes is an exceedingly intelligent and ambitious man with a good sense of humor and a soft spot for romance. Growing up in the fiercely academic and competitive Sixth House has sharpened his mind and necromantic skills, but his relationship with Dulcinea Septimus has given him a stubborn refusal to accept the limits of his power. He genuinely enjoys the thrill of an impossible challenge, and he takes pleasure in being the first and the best to solve a mystery. He is a kind person and team player, but his youth and competitive edge mean that that is not always apparent to those around him.

## **Relationships**

### Dulcinea Septimus

Palamedes' crush since childhood. Her illness inspired him to enter the medical field.

### Camilla Hect

> *"I wouldn't have left you alone for twenty-seven hours."
> "Of course not. I'd be dead."*
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Palamedes relationship with Camilla takes "one flesh, one end" to heart-- he regards her as a part of himself. They move and act as one, rarely needing stopping to speak full sentences to each other. He trusts her judgement without question or explanation, and regards her eyewitness accounts and gathered data as absolute fact. She is a sounding board, a protector, a co-conspirator, and his closest friend.

### Harrowhark Nonagesimus

Palamedes and Harrowhark have an academic and necromantic rivalry well beyond the capabilities anyone else at Canaan House, save perhaps Ianthe. The competitive nature of those at Canaan House, as well as Harrow's many secrets, encourage an atmosphere of suspicion that often borders on genuine dislike.

> *"He said coolly: 'Because I'm the greatest necromancer of my generation.'
> The unconscious figure sacked across Gideon's shoulder muttered, 'Like hell you are.'
> 'Thought that would wake her up.'"*
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Without any one particular impetus, this relationship softens overtime to something representing a school-yard rivalry or necromantic pissing contest. The fragile trust created by dire circumstances and forced teamwork turns their threats into teasing, and when they are reunited in Harrow the Ninth, Palamedes is nearly fond (if somewhat exasperated).

### Gideon Nav

> *"If I wanted to talk to Nonagesimus, I'd talk to Nonagesimus," he said "or I'd talk to a brick wall, because honestly, your necromancer is a walking Ninth House cliche. You're at least only half as bad."*
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Palamedes relationship with Gideon undoubtedly begins due to her proximity to both Dulcinea Septimus and Harrowhark, as well as her genuine inclination to trust other people. She is worth keeping an eye on, and the more he watches her, the more he finds her trustworthy.

## **Trivia**

* At one point, Palamedes was called Diomedes, "Athena's favourite goodboy in the Iliad."
* Palamedes Sextus is as intelligent as the homeric Palamedes, who is credited with the invention of the alphabet, numbers, weights and measures, coinage, board games, and the practice of eating at regular intervals.
* In a tumblr post, Tamsyn Muir describes Palamedes and Camilla as 'being [of] Middle Eastern extraction' matching the arthurian Palamedes' arabic background.
* Palamedes and Dulcinea's names both have courtly roots: Palamedes' unrequited love for Iseult features in courtly Arthurian legend, whetheras Dulcinea is named for the persona and delusions assigned to the prostitute Aldonza in Don Quixote, a parody of courtly Arthurian poetry. Muir describes her as *"a case of a woman you want to exist, but who really doesn't."*

## **References**

1. ↑  tazmuir, Tumblr.com. (Archived)
2. ↑ *Gideon the Ninth,* Act II, Ch. 13
3. ↑ *Gideon the Ninth,* Act III, Ch. 21
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 *Gideon the Ninth,* Act III, Ch. 23
5. ↑ *Gideon the Ninth,* Act IV, Ch. 35
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 *Harrow the Ninth,* Act IV, Ch. 33
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 *Gideon the Ninth,* Act II, Ch. 12
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 *Gideon the Ninth,* A Little Explanation of Naming Systems
9. ↑ https://tazmuir.tumblr.com/post/187901634998/hello-i-loved-gideon-the-ninth-so-much-and