This article refers to Harrowhark Nonagesimus's hallucination, for the woman in the Locked Tomb please refer to Alecto.
The Body is a re-occurring and somewhat-sentient hallucination of Harrowhark Nonagesimus. Appearing to Harrow since she opened the Locked Tomb and potentially containing elements of Alecto, Gideon Nav, and/or Commander Wake, it is unknown precisely who or what the Body is and what she wants.
Biography[]
Early Life[]
Harrow the Ninth[]
Fourteen Months Before the Emperor's Murder[]
[1]The Body appears in Drearburh in the place of serving sister, entering a room where Harrowhark Nonagesimus and Ortus Nigenad discuss the summons from the Emperor. As she approaches, telling Harrow "this isn't how it happens,"[2] Harrow admits her insanity to Ortus.
Nine Months Before the Emperor's Murder[]
As Harrow struggles to adjust to her new Lyctorhood, the Body appears to tend to her. When Harrow is at her most vulnerable—exhausted from attempting to use her sword and vomiting, losing time and occasionally her sense of self, and paralyzed with grief—the Body comes to her, leads her to bed, and closes her eyes. The Body seems to make time run smoothly again for Harrow and allows her to rest peacefully.
The Emperor, John, comes to visit Harrow and the Body again appears by her side. He invites Harrow to come on a walk with him and the Body follows unseen alongside them. They travel through the corridors of the Erebos to a cargo hold containing nearly five hundred resurrected people—still sleeping in a sort of stasis—and the coffins containing those postulants to Canaan House that did not survive the Lyctor Trials. As Harrow inspects the sleeping resurrections and the coffins, the Body follows half a step behind with her hand on the small of Harrow's back.
John explains that the resurrected people are meant to restore her House and that the dead will be returned to their homes, but Harrow begins losing focus, fixating on Cytherea the First's coffin. The Body turns her head away, refocusing her on the resurrections. As John and Harrow discuss the Resurrection Beasts, the Body watches Harrow—who directs her answers more to the Body than to John. She holds Harrow's wrist and raises her eyebrows at the knowledge that three Beasts remain.
When John promises to teach her to run from the Beasts, the Body speaks to clarify that Harrow must learn to use her sword. Harrow refuses and the Body tells her that she is "walking down a long passage" and "need[s] to turn around."[3] Harrow refuses again saying that she is lost, half a Lyctor, and pointless. John interrupts the half-heard conversation and attempts to comfort Harrow about the death of her cavalier. The Body passes her hand over Harrow's face and Harrow faints.
Appearance and Personality[]
When Harrowhark was 10 and she first met The Body in the locked tomb, its eyes were closed. Harrow imagined The Body with black eyes back then since most members of the Ninth House, including Harrow, had black eyes. The hallucination later returned with gold eyes while Harrow was navigating her newly-acquired Lyctorhood. This is likely due to Harrow's trauma of losing Gideon to become a Lyctor, but may also suggest The Body was Alecto haunting her at the time.
Powers and Abilities[]
Possessions[]
- A Sword: The Body sometimes appears with a sword strapped to her back. The exact appearance of the sword is unknown, though possibly a hallucinatory representation of Gideon Nav's sword.
Relationships[]
References[]
- ↑ Italics denotes events taking place in the River "bubble" Canaan House, for clarity.
- ↑ "Harrow the Ninth," Parados
- ↑ "Harrow the Ninth," Act I, Ch. 2