"The Mithraeum, the Seat of the First Reborn! The Sanctuary of the Emperor of the Nine Houses, the bolthole of God - the removing place of hallowed bones, and the ossuary of the steadfast! A space station hidden forty billion light-years from the ever-burning light of Dominicus, lit by thanergetic starlight, set in the midst of the circumstellar disc, an ancient jewel within so much dead gravel." [1]
The Mithraeum is the seat of the Emperor and his Lyctors, a home base far from the system he protects.
History[]
The Mithraeum is a space station, and the home base of the Lyctors, established as a safe haven for the Emperor and his surviving Lyctors after the Resurrection.
Appearance[]
Locations[]
The Center Ring[]
God's Rooms[]
The Chapel[]
"They lit an interior of shining charcoal-coloured stone, layered with whorls of bone—bone everywhere, bone enough for a hundred Ninth House tomb chapels..."[2]
The chapel at the center of the space station is an elaborate Gothic structure of bonework, black and white tiles, and true wood pews. The bones of the church are arranged in a tinted metal framework by House colors, belonging the to the exalted heroes of each House. The chapel contains a plex glass cruciform window that looks out into space.
The Second Ring[]
The Outermost Ring[]
Augustine's Rooms[]
"It was a much more crowded, lived-in room, and on every surface was a book, or a stylus, or a folded pair of socks."[3]
Augustine's rooms feature dark wood and baroque furnishings, floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, primrose curtains, and plush carpeting. He has worn leather arm chairs, a wide tapestry sofa, and a table set before a plex window. His room features tasteful artwork in wooden frames and ceramic vases with real flowers. Harrow remarks that the room smells of wood polish and book glue, and is "a friendlier room"[3] than expected.
Ianthe's Rooms[]
"Those candied, white-and-gold-striped rooms, those crystal chandeliered rooms with a bed as big as some of the penitential cells back home."[4]
Ianthe's rooms, formerly belonging to Cyrus the First and his cavalier, Valancy Trinit, are extremely luxurious and ornate rooms. Covered in filigree, detail, fabric hangings, and embroidery, Ianthe's rooms singular feature is their life-sized nude paintings of their previous occupants. Aside from the large bed, the room contains high-backed frilly arm chairs and a dresser. Ianthe has added fairly comprehensive wards to the entire room.
Features[]
The Mithraeum is perched in the middle of an asteroid field. It is made up of three concentric rings:
- The outermost ring consists of habitation quarters.
- The second ring contains preparation rooms, a couple of laboratories, a reading room, a storage compartment for food, a water-replenishment plant, as well as a few other unnamed rooms.
- The centre ring houses the chapel, and God's rooms.
References[]
- ↑ "Harrow the Ninth," Act II, Ch. 14
- ↑ "Harrow the Ninth," Act I, Ch. 9
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Harrow the Ninth," Act III, Ch. 29
- ↑ "Harrow the Ninth," Act II, Ch. 13