The Nine Houses System

**The Nine Houses System** is the resurrected, thanergetic home system of planets in the Locked Tomb Trilogy, believed to be a future existence of the Solar System.

## **First House**

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> *"One for the Emperor, first of us all;*
> *One for his Lyctors, who answered the call;*
> *One for his Saints, who were chosen of old;*
> *One for his Hands, and the swords that they hold."*
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**The First House** is the planetary seat of The Emperor of the Nine Houses, The Necrolord Prime. Where the other Eight House are full of bustling cities, community centers, and populations of citizens, the First House has not been occupied for over nine thousand years.

## **Second House**

*"Two is for discipline, heedless of trial"*

**The Second House, The Emperor's Strength, The House of the Crimson Shield, The Centurion's House** is the second planet to be reborn in the Nine Houses System. Deeply interwoven with the Cohort, Second House frequently ascend the ranks of military leadership. Their devotion to rank and order and penchant for taking charge does not make them favorites with the other houses.

## **Third House**

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> *"Three for the gleam of a jewel or a smile"*
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**The Third House, The Mouth of the Emperor, The House of the Shining Dead, The Procession** is the third planet to be reborn in the Nine Houses System. Third House is home to the best fashions and gossip in the system, but its leadership is easily torn apart by internecine squabbles. Beneath their glittery exterior, they are a font of personal and political intelligence.

## **Fourth House**

> *"Four for fidelity, facing ahead"*
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**The Fourth House, The Hope of the Emperor, The Emperor's Sword** is the fourth planet to be reborn in the Nine Houses System. The Vanguard of the Empire, Fourth House is first into battle and often the youngest in the field. Their skill with thanergetic fission makes them powerful warriors, but their age and demeanor is frequently ill-suited to military leadership.

## **Fifth House**

> *"Five for tradition and debts to the dead"*
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**The Fifth House, The Heart of the Emperor, The Watchers over the River** is the fifth planet to be reborn and central planet of the Nine Houses System. Home to the Koniortos Court, the Fifth House is a cultural superpower among the houses.

## **Sixth House**

> *"Six for the truth over solace in lies"*
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**The Sixth House, The Emperor's Reason, The Master Wardens** is the sixth planet in the Nine Houses System. Wardens of the Library, Sixth House is the center of academic study in the system. Their bookish nature leads many to underestimate their skill.

## **Seventh House**

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> *"Seven for beauty that blossoms and dies"*
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**The Seventh House, The Joy of the Emperor, The Rose Unblown** is the seventh planet to be reborn in the Nine Houses System. Victim to a hereditary blood-born cancer, The Seventh has developed an obsession with the beauty of death. The house hopes to "perfect" their illness and harness the thanergy present within their own bodies to become more powerful.

## **Eighth House**

> *"Eight for salvation no matter the cost"*
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**Eighth House, The Keepers of the Tome, The Forgiving House** is the eighth planet to be reborn in the Nine Houses System. The most religious of all the houses, Eighth House has a reputation for secrecy and zealotry. Citizens of the Eighth tend to regard it as their duty to pronounce judgement without mercy.

## **Ninth House**

> *"Nine for the Tomb, and for all that was lost"*
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**Ninth House, the House of the Sewn Tongue, the Anchorite's House, the House of Heretical Secrets** is the ninth planet in the Nine Houses System. The last of the planets to be resurrected, Ninth House is regarded by many as a mistake or an unintentional creation. Some even go so far as to suggest it was never meant to last. It is most famous for its Locked Tomb and the dour nuns that protect it.

## Locations

It is mostly unclear which Houses are settled on which celestial bodies in our Solar System. The First House is referred to as both covered in water and as the original home of humanity, marking it as Earth. Gideon notes that the Sixth and Seventh Houses are both closer to Dominicus than the First House, marking them as Mercury and Venus in some order.

Additionally, John's concern for the fate of the Sixth House after the Sun's expansion due to Mercymorn's assassination attempt implies that it is the most at risk from solar activity, making the Sixth House Mercury and; by elimination; making the Seventh House Venus. Magnus Quinn's example of Fifth House poetry includes references to sulphur gas and a crimson spot, both features of Jupiter. And the Ninth House's existence as a distant, rocky world strongly implies it to be built on the dwarf planet Pluto.