The House of Answers is a Tanu warehouse operated by the Wardens.
Background[]
The House of Answers is located in an alley off Wexler Street, somewhere in northwest Chicago.
While it most closely resembles a curiosity shop, it does not seem to function like one. One of its bins is marked "Unaffordable", but none of the characters ever need to pay for anything there. Mrs. Hapsteade remarks that closing time is "neither here nor there". Mr. Meister describes the House of Answers as a market and a "museum, refuge, subterfuge". He emphasizes that the House of Answers is itself a trial designed to attract, determine, and apply the aptitudes of visitors.
Chloe visited the House of Answers at age five, discovering the Alvalaithen there.
Description[]
The House of Answers is advertised using a tall, narrow sign which hangs off a building on Wexler Street. The sign appears weathered and very old, with yellow text on a blue background which reads:
Oddments
Heirlooms
Fortunes
Misfortunes
Artifacts
Arcana
Curiosities
Miseries
Mysteries
and more at the
HOUSE OF ANSWERS
The entrance is located near the end of a long alley, between two tall apartment buildings, one of which includes a defunct Laundromat and the other an electronics store. The arch-shaped blue door is at the bottom of a weathered brick staircase, and bears a Tanu sign made by Brian Souter. The door is squeaky, with a rusty handle.
The door leads to a short, cramped hallway about twenty feet long, which opens into a larger passage. The walls here are made of varied birdcages containing an enormous number of songbirds; their music can be heard throughout the House of Answers. This leads into a much larger room with high ceilings, wooden rafters, and stone columns rising out of a stoned floor. The front portions are dimly lit by stone Tanu lamps which emit twisting shimmers of light. Shelves line the walls and tables are placed down the center of the room, both piled high with neatly labeled containers of varied size, shape, and color. Near the entrance is a short wooden podium upon which rests a new, elegant guest book, as well as the Vora. The entire warehouse smells old, with a variety of thick, natural scents.
Both Keepers and people with aptitudes to be Keepers are drawn to the House of Answers through some unknown method. This method does not seem to discriminate between human and Riven Keepers. It seems to manifest as false association: for instance, Horace mistakes the text on the warehouse's sign for his own name.
After the golem attack, the Tanu lights no longer function. Shelves have been torn from the walls, tables crushed, and one of the stone columns is reduced to rubble. The floor is torn and scratched by the force of the golem, leaving debris scattered everywhere.
Defenses[]
It seems to be protected by a leestone, as Horace walks past the sign multiple times without noticing it. This leestone is likely responsible for a spatial distortion effect which makes the alley appear shorter than it actually is.
On the door is a small Tan'kindi sign. This reads "STATE YOUR NAME", or, ambiguously, "NAME YOUR STATE", as the words are written in a circle. Once the user has given their name and state of mind truthfully, the door unlocks. Mrs. Hapsteade insinuates that the front door has other safeguards as well, although they don't offer proof against the golem.
The birds in the entrance hallway also protect the House of Answers by giving warning when the Riven are near.
At the back of the House of Answers is a fortress door, ten feet tall, made of wood and metal with a thick wooden crossbar. This heavy door opens inward, and can be barred from the other side as well. Beyond the door is a wide, spacious tunnel and a relatively weak Nevren. Further on, it opens into a much larger, arched tunnel, big enough to drive a bus through. Weak sunlight shines through openings in the ceiling, corresponding to grates and storm drains in the street above. This is part of the sewers: the floor is gritty, an unexplained hissing sound fills the air, and there may be rats lurking in the darkness.
Beyond, the tunnel narrows into a dark, damp, grimy sewer, eight feet wide, with an uneven floor and puddles of dirty water. After two low walls near a floodgate access, a hidden staircase in the ceiling leads into the raven cloister.
Inventory[]
The House of Answers contains many bins and containers, including the following:
- Assorted Tan'kindi
- Desperately Unneeded
- Displaced
- Edibles
- Even-Shaped
- Flat
- For the Fearful
- For the Initiate (Note: A wide, shallow bin)
- For the Weary
- For the Wee
- Foul-Smelling
- Implausible
- Inedibles
- Invisible (Defective)
- Lost Bits
- Miscellaneous
- Misplaced
- Mostly Incomplete
- Never Found
- Oblong
- Odd-Shaped
- Of Scientific Interest
- Often Lost
- Ongrellondae
- Palpable
- Passkeys
- Ravens' Eyes (Note: A wooden bin)
- Shape-Shaped
- Ship-Shaped
- Subtle
- Tangible (Note: Horace calls this one insensible)
- Tourmindae (Note: Horace calls this one "extra mysterious")
- Truculent (Note: Horace does not know what this means)
- Unaffordable
- Unbinnable (Note: Horace observes that this bin must be empty)
- Unremarkable
- Unsavory
- Unsellable
- Useless
- Utensils
- Whatsits
- Worthy of Consideration
It also contains many Tanu and unusual objects. Its collection is large, but less powerful than the store in Mr. Meister's office alone. Its inventory includes the following (in corresponding bins):
- A dead rabbit with a unicorn horn
- A device resembling an ice cream scoop, with a scooper as big as a head (Utensils)
- A double-headed hammer (Utensils)
- A foot-long, extremely thin sliver of metal (Subtle) (Note: This may be a reference to the Subtle Knife in His Dark Materials)
- A golden clockwork ball the size of a plum (Of Scientific Interest) (Note: This ball was made by Sil'falo Teneves.)
- A golf club (Inedibles)
- A large quantity of canned corn (Edibles)
- A pair of scissors with blades sharp on the outside, rather than the inside (Utensils)
- A pile of blankets (For the Fearful)
- A powerful leestone (For the Initiate)
- A small red pyramid
- A spiked chain (Inedibles)
- A delicate, thin, ivory mask in the shape of a human woman's face (Of Scientific Interest)
- A transparent rod containing Uroboros (Of Scientific Interest)
- A two-foot-long, finger-thin corkscrew (Utensils)
- A very large three-barbed fishing hook
- An accordion arm with a spiky wheel on the end
- Many sheets of blank paper (Flat)
- Several ravens' eyes (Ravens' Eyes)
- Several rusty gears (Inedibles)
- The Fel'Daera (Of Scientific Interest)
- The Laithe of Teneves (Of Scientific Interest)
- Two ceramic vials twisted together, one black, one gold (For the Fearful)
History[]
While riding the bus home from school, Horace noticed the sign, mistaking it for his own name. He was distracted by Ja'raka Sevlo, but returned and entered. After signing in, he had a brief conversation with Mrs. Hapsteade, who gave him a raven's eye. The next day, Horace visited again and met Mr. Meister, who encouraged him to explore the inventory; after a few minutes of searching, he discovered and immediately bonded the Fel'Daera. Mr. Meister gave him a powerful leestone and some parting advice.
Several weeks later, Horace and Chloe returned to the House of Answers to discover that the inventory had been moved out. Mrs. Hapsteade served them soup and explained the nature of Tanu and the conflict surrounding them. Suddenly, the House of Answers was breached by a golem, though the Keepers and their instruments managed to escape. The golem essentially demolished the building, leaving it compromised and unusable.
Trivia[]
- Horace F. Andrews originally misreads the sign as his own name.
- In several promotional materials for the series, it is stated that the House of Answers only raises further questions.
- The name "House of Answers" potentially refers to the warehouse's purpose: to create new Keepers and begin the process of the Find. Horace describes bonding the Fel'Daera as feeling like finding the answer to a question that hadn't been asked yet.
- Between Horace's first and second visits, the entire House of Answers inventory has been rearranged, apparently by Mrs. Hapsteade. She may have done this so Horace could more easily find an instrument suited to his aptitudes. On this note, several items in the bin marked Of Scientific Interest seem as if they are not usually on display.
- Despite the House of Answers being heavily featured in images and promotional materials, it actually appears very little in the series, being destroyed less than halfway through the first book.
