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The House (The Keys to the Kingdom)

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The House is a domain that serves as the center of the universe in the Keys to the Kingdom series by Australian author Garth Nix. Time in the universe is set by the House. Its time is constant, whilst all other Secondary Realms, such as the Earth have varied times, but are set by the time in the House. Thus, one Secondary Realm may always have a day pass, whilst a year passes in the House, where as another will see a week pass. The House is divided into seven domains, each of which is ruled by a master named for a day of the week. The domains are as follows: The Lower House, the Middle House, the Upper House, the Far Reaches, the Great Maze, the Border Sea, and the Incomparable Gardens.

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The Purpose of the House

The House was created by the The Architect, the creator of all, to record and follow the evolution of the Secondary Realms. The Original Law of the Architect states that no interference is permitted by Denizens of the House within the Secondary Realms, including interference to end interference. The law is not binding though and can be broken. Each Morrow Day has full control of their powers in the Secondary Realms only on their 'day' - i.e. Mister Monday can only influence the Secondary Realms to his fullest abilities on a Monday.

Locations within the House

The Lower House

The Lower House was the domain of Mister Monday, and was incredibly inefficient due to Monday's centuries of Sloth. Since the appointment of Arthur, the Lower House has been much more efficient, although swamped with paperwork by the remaining Trustees. It is guarded by metal Commissionaires, Denizen Commissionaire Sergeants and Midnight Visitors who are under control by Monday's Dusk. This is where Doorstop Hill, the Front Door of the House, is located, along with the Seven Dials and Monday's Dayroom. There are two known currencies of the Lower House, the Gold Roundel and the Silver Pence. The command centre of the Lower House is Monday's Dayroom. For the events in The Lower House during the novel Mister Monday, see Mister Monday.

    • The Front Door: The Front Door is a pair of great wrought-iron doors, with constantly shifting, hypnotic patterns. It is currently guarded by the Lieutenant Keeper of the Door, who has stood at his post for centuries because the Captain Keeper has gone missing. Within is a black void, which opens on all The House.
    • The Coal Cellar: A deep pit where Denizens that have been punished are sent, to mine and shape coal for delivery to other places within the House. The Old One, a literary re-working of Prometheus, is also imprisoned here, and escape is nearly impossible.
    • The Seven Dials: A special room which can be reached by pulling a bellcord in Monday's Dayroom. On the inside are seven grandfather clooks which beat with the Heartbeat of Time. You can set the hands of the clocks to show a particular place and instance in time, and can teleport to any place at any point in the present or future of that place.

The Far Reaches

The Far Reaches were the domain of Grim Tuesday; in the form of a massive Pit, it possessed a train station at the top and miners at the bottom, who searched for useful amounts of Nothing to pay off ever-increasing debts. Much of the Far Reaches were eaten away by the digging of the Pit. Wings are forbidden here because they attract gobbets of Nothing together, potentially forming monstrous Nithlings, or creating massive storms of Nothing. The Pit was later filled in by the former Tuesday and the guards of the Far Reaches, the Overseers. Before the breaking of the Will, the Far Reaches had a spring in the Grand Cavern, a huge room where a spring of Nothing was situated, but Grim Tuesday wanted to make more and eventually sank the spring and mined the Void of Nothing due to his affliction of Greed. There used to be three types of currency in the Far Reaches, the Gold Noble, Silver Real, and Copper Bile. However, all actual currency was gathered by Grim Tuesday. Since Arthur was appointed and Denizens have begun to live in the Far Reaches again, the money is being used in the normal way again. The miners were sent to Grim Tuesday as payment for goods that he made. Despite Grim Tuesday's death, the Pit is still being filled in, and is slowly but surely repairing itself. The Far Reaches were (and still are, although less so) the most damaged area of the House, and repair will take a while. The top level of the Far Reaches has been completely restored to its former beauty/glory, and the command centre of the Far Reaches is Tuesday's Pyramid. For the events in the Far Reaches during the novel Grim Tuesday, see Grim Tuesday.

The Border Sea

An ocean at the edge of the House, the Border Sea can extend to any body of water in the Secondary Realms. The previous domain of Drowned Wednesday, the Sea was generally upset during the transformation of Lady Wednesday into a Leviathan, and many of its native Denizens were forced to become sailors in what has become known as the Border Sea. Anything lost will eventually end up in the Border Sea, and the borders of the Sea extended into the Void of Nothing and mortal realms, but when Arthur took command, he entrusted the task of bringing the Sea in, ensuring it stays a part of the House, to Dame Primus. We can assume that this has occurred. It is not known what type of monetary units are used in the Sea. The Raised Rats also live here and pilot steamships. They used to have a submersible as well, before its deterioration by Nothing within Wednesday's stomach. Small numbers of mortal pirates who use Nothing more recklessly then the Denizens used to live here as well, before the death of their leader Feverfew. For the events in the Border Sea during the novel Drowned Wednesday, see Drowned Wednesday.

    • Port Wednesday: Formerly the ridge of Wednesday's Lookout, this is where elevators to other parts of the House are, and is the command centre of the Border Sea. The original Port Wednesday was flooded by the deluge, which is when Drowned Wednesday turned into a leviaththan and flooded nine tenths of the land in the Border Sea
    • The Triangle: Resembling a pyramid with the top cut off, the Triangle is where ships can raft together and meet and trade. It rises about one hundred feet into the air. It is the main economic and business area in the Border Sea. It is built over the lighthouse of the former Port Wednesday
    • The Line of Storms: A vicious constant lightning storm that separates the Border Sea from the Secondary Realms and prevents most mortals from entering. The Nissers were Denizens who used to guard the Line of Storms until they were eaten by Wednesday during the Deluge. We can assume that it has been returned to its well-guarded state.

The Great Maze

The previous domain of Sir Thursday, it is a great maze consisting of a great mountain range of stone and ice, shielding the House from the effects of Nothing. The Maze itself is comprised of a great set of tiles, one thousand squares, each one mile long by one mile wide. At each sunset the tiles move to another location, allowing any attackers to be split and easily attacked by The Glorious Army of The Architect - Sir Thursday's armed forces. The only way for Nothing to get in is via a tunnel, which in turn is guarded by 4 gates. The first one is guilded in pure gold, the second one is gilded in silver, and the third gate is gilded with bronze. The fourth and final gate is made of Immaterial Glass, which is impenatrable by Nothing, although the lustre is blinding even to immortal eyes. Each gate is operated by a single lever, operated by complex machinery below the mountains, which leads to a room, just above the tunnel. The gates are opened in various ways depending on the amount of Nithlings Sir Thursday wishes to be brought in. The Nithlings are used for training, and the Maze as a training ground for Denizens. The Great Maze was in no need of particular renovation, and so Arthur will not have to repair anything major here. However, something must be done about the large number of New Nithlings the Piper lead into the Great Maze. The command centre of the Great Maze is Thursday's Fortress. For the events in the Great Maze during the novel Sir Thursday, see Sir Thursday.

  • Fort Transformation: A fortress and fixed location in the Great Maze, this is where recruits are trained for a year, before moving on to other parts of the Army
  • The Citadel: This is the most important fixed location in the Great Maze. This is the main fortress of The Glorious Army of The Architect, and where Sir Thurday formerly made his residence. It is made of three rings of walls, which surround the central "Star Fortress" shaped like a six-sided star. Out of the Star Fortress rises a great keep, where the leader of the army resides.
  • Square 500/500: the "master square" of the Maze, this is at the very center. This was where the Nothing Spike was placed, and as this is the central square, neither it, nor any other square, could move at sunset until the Nothing Spike was destroyed

The Middle House

Merely mentioned by Dame Primus in her letters to Arthur. Ruled by Lady Friday. The Middle House contains Friday's Mirror which, through the aid of the Fifth Key, can allow Friday to watch or send herself or messangers through to any place Friday has already been to by more usual means assuming the place she has in mind has a mirror or a reflective surface present. Friday's Mirror functions in a sense similar to the Seven Dials in the Lower House. The middle house is basically a large mountain side divided into three sections, or plateu's, the lowest is The Flat, it is also were htte principle places of work are, and is under the jurisdiction of the Guild of Gilding. The next/middle plateu, is called the Middle of the Middle and is answers to the Guild of Illustration and Augmentation. The next platue or top, is called the Top Shelf where the High Guild of Binding and Restoration is in charge. The even beyond that on the mountains peak is Lady Friday's Scriptorium. These are all connected by the Extremely Grand Canal which is full of textually charged water that tranfers anthing with text on it up or down the canal, the dock workers or paper pushers were clothing made out paper and what-not in case they fall in, their boats are also made out of text based materials.

The Upper House

Merely mentioned by Dame Primus in her letters to Arthur. House Sorcerers are trained here. Ruled by Superior Saturday.

The Incomparable Gardens

Merely mentioned by Dame Primus in her letters to Arthur. It is supposedly like nothing within the Secondary Realms, unmatched by its beauty. Dame Primus mentions that Denizens of this area of the House would be noticeable in the Great Maze. Ruled by Lord Sunday.

History

The House was created by The Architect from Nothing. The many realms were built and each one was given to one of her loyal Trustees, The Morrow Days.

However, the Trustees broke The Will of the Architect. For this, many of the Realms began to fall into decay.

Known Powers of the Keys

The Keys hold powers that can be activated upon command, and used to the holder's will.

The First Key: The first key has some basic power,and takes the form of a minute hand when it is split and a great sword whened joined together again, even in its lesser form. They contain the power to heal the master of the key, the ability to freeze an object or person/denizen, the ability to alter the weight of the master, give the master wings, and even transfer a fraction of its power to the master. It may hold other powers, and indeed is a wonderful artifact, as it was used in the defeat of Morrow Day #1, Mister Monday (character).

The Second Key: The second key takes the form of a set of gauntlets worn at all times by Grim Tuesday (character). It holds more power, the most noticeable power it wields, however, is its ability to create objects and materials, such as immaterial. Arthur Penhaligon (character) uses this ability to create an immaterial wall in Grim Tuesday's domain to block the onslaught of nothing.

The Third Key: A trident that may expand or contract to any size. Allows the user to control aspects of the Border Sea, even from a long range if the user directs the key from Port Wednesday.

The Fourth Key: A marshal's ivory baton and balc, which can also take on the form of any sword. The Fourth Key can also change the ranking of any denizen in the "Glorious Army". Arthur avoids using the Fourth Key in order to prevent his transition into a Denizen, so the Fourth Key's powers are largely unknown.

The Fifth Key: A mirror, which is impossibly bright. The Fifth key can suck out the experiences of mortals; leaving the mortals as empty shells. Also, allows the user to put mortals/denizens to sleep. Not much is known about the Fifth Key.

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