Harrowhark Nonagesimus: The Locked Tomb

“Death first to vultures and scavengers.”

Mixed Media, 2023

3×5 inches, wooden box with clay and resin on top lid, resin, fabric and metal on inside lid

This box is mostly based on Harrowhark, but I like to think of it as a box to encapsulate Harrow and Gideon collectively as part of the Ninth house, and how their roles and relationships evolved over the course of their lives.

The top lid is decorated with a skull and the inscription “Nine for the Tomb, and all that was lost.” The lid was covered in clay and the words were stamped into the clay, then everything was painted black and textured to give it a more worn appearance; I wanted it to fit in with the dilapidated and empty coffers of the Ninth, or the catacombs and cobwebbed swords of Drearburh’s drill shaft.

The inside lid was where my entire idea for the box came from: The idea of Harrow at the end of HtN, in her Lyctor robes and clutching Gideon’s sword, laying among broken chains, in a frozen coffin in the middle of an island surrounded by water, once again lit by the bioluminescent powder in the otherwise dark and desolate tomb she first broke into as a child. I used resin and mixed it with some glitter and ash for the water in the Tomb, and pinned some iridescent fabric into shape and wrapped it around a longsword, accenting it with two pieces of broken grey chains. I wanted the first thing you see upon opening the box to be that incredible pop of color to distract from everything else and contrast the dark colors of the rest of the box, similar to the way that the pursuit of Lyctorhood was a goal that distracted everyone from what really happened in Canaan House, and how the original Lyctors themselves were lied to and manipulated.

The bottom of the inside of the box has been painted red with River water and foam; I tried to depict Harrow’s first time traveling in the river as well as the River water infiltrating Harrow’s Canaan House bubble.

The glass dome is meant to represent Harrow’s River Bubble, The Sleeper, and Awake Remembrance of These Valiant Dead. I wanted this piece to visually represent Harrow’s River bubble and the “alternate” Canaan House, her conflict with the Sleeper, and the force of will that Wake, as a revenant, managed to exert on Harrow both in reality and in the River. The dome contains a small mountain of bullets and two of Wake’s guns, accompanied by dripping blood and black lettering done on the inside of the glass with part of the line ‘when I am in heaven I will remember your mouth, and when you roast down in hell I think you will remember mine‘, one of Wake’s written messages to Gideon and Pyrrha.

Stones: 

Banded Agate- protects from danger, helps alleviate bad dreams; representing “John’s” eyes; Harrow’s relationship with god as a ruler, teacher and a person

Honey Calcite- clarity of insight, confidence in abilities, intellectual power; representing Gideon’s eyes, eyes of the Body

Obsidian tower- a protective stone that helps unearth the truth; representing Gideon’s knuckle knives, her role as a cavalier; engraved with the prayer that Harrow recites at Canaan House,

“I pray the tomb is shut forever, I pray the rock is never rolled away. I pray that which 

was buried remains buried, insensate, in perpetual rest, with closed eye and stilled 

brain.”

Hematite- tenacity, will to survive, memory; helps ground you when you are feeling lost. “Hematite” comes from the Greek word for “blood” (αἷμα) and is a type of iron ore – when unpolished, it is often red. As a result, it is often associated with blood and has been employed as a talisman against excessive blood flow.

Miscellaneous items:

A set of beads representing Harrow’s knuckle bone prayer beads (and also a reference to the Harrow Nova AU’s Chain of Samael), the beads are black obsidian with two sterling silver bone connectors and a focal charm that reads “oltre la mort,” meaning “beyond death” and depicts a skull with a sword in its mouth.

A sealed envelope, addressed to be given to Gideon Nav, which contains a pair of sunglasses, around which has been wrapped a letter reading simply “one flesh, one end.”

A small iron ring holding a collection of keys. (“It was not a perfect iron loop, as she had thought, but a twist that overlapped itself. It locked shut by means of a hole bored into one end and a ninety-degree bend at the other, so that you could prise it open simply by fiddling the bend back through the hole. The metal in her hand felt granular, heavy. When she sat back down she knew Harrow was sweating to snatch it off her, but she clutched it childishly tight.”)

Potions/Bottles:

Below are the potion bottles included in the box and their contents. The bottles go from left to right in order from 1-6.

1. On the Erebos. This bottle was also tentatively titled “three days without Gideon Nav,” about Harrow’s initial three days on the Erebos and Gideon’s Christlike associations. There is poppy for memory and the dissonance between the Harrow that remembers Gideon and the one who has erased her; heather for immortality and isolation (someone once said to me: “if you finally got what you’ve always wanted, would it be the best thing to happen to you in your life, or the worst?” and I was thinking of that while doing this bottle) Next there is agrimony for Harrow’s fears (for her life in general, of the longsword, of life without Gideon); rue for guilt, regret, and obsessing over past mistakes (“Please undo what I’ve done, lord“); yarrow for vulnerability and self doubt; marigold for stubborn determination and for Harrow’s victory, but at the huge cost of her cavalier. Finally, there is garnet for commitment and the necro/cav oath (“one flesh, one end”) as well as help dealing with guilt/shame, controlling self-directed anger or negativity, and help accepting one’s mistakes. I also chose the tiny garnet pebbles as a visual nod to Harrow’s blood sweat and her hemorrhaging and bleeding from the ears when she hears Gideon’s name. Sealed with black wax, a sword stamp and gold/silver ink.
2. Lyctorhood and the Lyctors. I didn’t want to focus too much on the other Lyctors, but I did want to touch on their involvement, especially Ianthe’s. To start, there is lavender for distrust and suspicion of Ianthe, but also the necessity of taking comfort in the only person who can understand you; a co-conspirator. Next is dark red rose for mourning your old life (for example, Harrow using her old name only with Ianthe); For the other residents of the Mithraeum and their interactions with Harrow, there is goldenrod for caution, and the feeling of being in constant danger (from Gideon the First especially, but also Mercymorn and Cytherea’s corpse); peony for shame and anger (at being “half a lyctor”), Azalea for paranoia and constant feeling of helplessness (fighting Cytherea in GtN, her ride with Mercymorn the very beginning of HtN, constantly being attacked by Gideon the First, and also the impending threat of the Resurrection Beasts as well as the terror of her own thoughts and experiences in the River). After that is snapdragon for deceit and concealment (John hiding things from Harrow, Pyhrra hiding from Gideon, Cytherea posing as Dulcinea, John concealing the truth about Lyctorhood from his original Lyctors, and inversely, Harrow covering up her memories of Gideon to keep her safe); yellow carnation for disillusionment (with God the Emperor Undying being just a man, with what divinity means, with the limitations of her Lyctorhood, with all the Lyctors, etc); lastly, mugwort for power, for lucid dreaming and hallucinations (conversations with the Body) and for liminal spaces (moving through the river, the Stele). Right under the cork of the bottle is a small piece of iridescent white fabric, representing the Lyctor robes. Sealed with black wax, a skeleton hand stamp and gold ink.
3. Canaan House – “I am undone without you.” This bottle explores the evolution of Gideon and Harrow’s relationship while at Canaan House. It contains bluebell for developing friendship and learning to be more truthful and open with others (“I can no longer accept being a stranger to you“); cloves for Harrow and Gideon revolving around each other since they were children, and for Harrow’s burgeoning alliance with Gideon but also their kinship with the Sixth; sea salt and gardenia for Harrow’s difficulty trusting others and letting people in as well as a renewal of trust in the saltwater pool; jasmine for opening up to new ideas and exchanging perspectives (in a literal sense in the winnowing trial – but also Gideon and Harrow understanding each other’s struggles in the past); fluorite for Harrow seeking knowledge in the Lyctorhood trials and subsequently revealing the truth of them, and for changing negative behaviors, and achieving clarity or a moment of transformation (another reference to the pool scene). Sealed with black wax, a key stamp and gold ink.
4. Opening the Tomb – the Ninth House. In this bottle I tried to explore the fanaticism and devotion of the Ninth House and how that shaped Harrowhark’s life and her experiences as a Lyctor. There is amaranth and rosemary for loyalty, faith and duty, as well as remembrance (Harrow herself being both a tomb for 200 children, and later a mausoleum for Gideon); lily for cruelty, the crime of Harrow’s conception/Harrow’s parents death (fear, avoiding accountability), and for tenacity (“I would do it again“); hibiscus for ephemeral beauty and passion; delphinium for ardent devotion to the Ninth, to the Locked Tomb, and to the Body. Lastly, cinquefoil for her desire to live and renewed sense of purpose after seeing the Body in the Locked Tomb (“When I saw her face I decided I wanted to live. I decided to live forever just in case she ever woke up“). Sealed with black wax, a skull stamp and silver ink.
5. Evening Star – Harrow from Gideon’s POV. This bottle is about Harrow’s character growth over the events of Gideon the Ninth and how Gideon’s opinion of her changes, mainly her becoming someone Gideon admires and respects. There is gladiolus for integrity and having a strict code of conduct (“death first to vultures and scavengers“); vervain for protectiveness extending to others (Gideon and the Sixth); pink rose for fondness, affection, and Gideon saying Harrow “only had to ask”; daffodil for gaining mutual respect, admiration, and Gideon being proud of Harrow and believing in her (“Harrowhark rose to the occasion like an evening star“); hydrangea for finally reaching an understanding and being able to work as a team. Sealed with black wax, a star stamp and glittery silver ink.
6. First flower of my House. The theme of this bottle is sacrifice and tragedy, and contains cypress for grief and mourning; chrysanthemum for loss of someone beloved; primrose for “I cannot live without you” (“I cannot conceive of a universe without you in it“); magnolia for pride, Harrow being proud of Gideon (“Gideon Nav, first flower of my house“); dogwood for Gideon’s devotion and sacrifice (dogwood in christianity represents Jesus’ sacrifice for humanity, and in many ways in the text Gideon is likened to Jesus as the child of god); purple hyacinth for sorrow, regret, tragedy (again, Harrow asking John “…undo what I’ve done, Lord. I will never ask anything of you, ever again, if you just give me back the life of Gideon Nav.“) as well as meaning “please forgive me” from Gideon to Harrow (“The cruellest thing anyone has ever done to you in your whole entire life“). Sealed with black wax, a flower stamp and gold ink.