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The Strange and Wonderful House: Difference between revisions
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| also_seen_in= [[PROSE]]: ''[[Jenny Everywhere and the Nowhere Spiral (novel)|Jenny Everywhere and the Nowhere Spiral]]'' | | also_seen_in= [[PROSE]]: ''[[Jenny Everywhere and the Nowhere Spiral (novel)|Jenny Everywhere and the Nowhere Spiral]]'' | ||
| copyright= CC-BY-SA | | copyright= CC-BY-SA | ||
}}'''The Strange and Wonderful House''', often referred to as simply '''the House''', and also called '''the Infinite House''' or '''the | }}'''The Strange and Wonderful House''', often referred to as simply '''the House''', and also called '''the Infinite House''', '''the Mansion''' or '''the Manor''', was a living house of mysterious origins whose interior encompassed an infinite number of rooms, many of them strange or supernatural. [[Jenny Everywhere]] was friends with [[the Architect]] of the House, and had an unusually good understanding of the nature of the House, which she visited in many incarnations, up to and including the day of the House's eventual destruction. | ||
== Description == | == Description == | ||
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Directly under the authority of the “Masters of the abode” were the battle-ready, all-female [[Housekeeping]] corps, who were sworn to clean out every room in the House at least once per year. They were led by a [[Head of Housekeeping|forceful woman]]. They had an enmity with the [[Artifector]]s, eccentric inventors who worked in [[#The Laboratory|the Laboratory]] on devices nominally intended to make the lives of the residents of the House more convenient, although they often did the opposite or else wholly failed to pan out. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Our Strange and Wonderful House (novel)|Our Strange and Wonderful House]]'': ''[[Our Strange and Wonderful House (novel)#Chapter 27: The Lab|The Lab]]'', ''[[Our Strange and Wonderful House (novel)#Appendix 27-I: The Lab: The Alarum Goes Off|The Lab: The Alarum Goes off]]'', ''[[Our Strange and Wonderful House (novel)#Appendix 27-II: The Lab: Setting The Alarum|The Lab: Setting The Alarum]]'') The [[Maid]]s were a very serious guild, who saw themselves as second-only to the Master, and communicated directly with the House. Not all applicants survived [[the Test]] which they had to undergo before they would officially become [[Maid]]s. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Our Strange and Wonderful House (novel)|Our Strange and Wonderful House]]'': ''[[Our Strange and Wonderful House (novel)#Chapter 46: The Maids|The Maids]]'') | Directly under the authority of the “Masters of the abode” were the battle-ready, all-female [[Housekeeping]] corps, who were sworn to clean out every room in the House at least once per year. They were led by a [[Head of Housekeeping|forceful woman]]. They had an enmity with the [[Artifector]]s, eccentric inventors who worked in [[#The Laboratory|the Laboratory]] on devices nominally intended to make the lives of the residents of the House more convenient, although they often did the opposite or else wholly failed to pan out. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Our Strange and Wonderful House (novel)|Our Strange and Wonderful House]]'': ''[[Our Strange and Wonderful House (novel)#Chapter 27: The Lab|The Lab]]'', ''[[Our Strange and Wonderful House (novel)#Appendix 27-I: The Lab: The Alarum Goes Off|The Lab: The Alarum Goes off]]'', ''[[Our Strange and Wonderful House (novel)#Appendix 27-II: The Lab: Setting The Alarum|The Lab: Setting The Alarum]]'') The [[Maid]]s were a very serious guild, who saw themselves as second-only to the Master, and communicated directly with the House. Not all applicants survived [[the Test]] which they had to undergo before they would officially become [[Maid]]s. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Our Strange and Wonderful House (novel)|Our Strange and Wonderful House]]'': ''[[Our Strange and Wonderful House (novel)#Chapter 46: The Maids|The Maids]]'') | ||
Other staff included the guards keeping watch over the door to [[the Conservatory]] from [[the Guardroom]], ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Our Strange and Wonderful House (novel)|Our Strange and Wonderful House]]'': ''[[Our Strange and Wonderful House (novel)#Chapter 12: The Guardroom|The Guardroom]]'') the zookeepers patrolling [[the Zoo]], ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Our Strange and Wonderful House (novel)|Our Strange and Wonderful House]]'': ''[[Our Strange and Wonderful House (novel)#Chapter 29: The Zoo|The Zoo]]'') [[Malthus]] who watched over [[#the morgue|the morgue]], ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Our Strange and Wonderful House (novel)|Our Strange and Wonderful House]]'': ''[[Our Strange and Wonderful House (novel)#Chapter 23: The Rose Cottage|The Rose Cottage]]'') [[Montresor]] the [[Keeper of the Cellar]], ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Our Strange and Wonderful House (novel)|Our Strange and Wonderful House]]'': ''[[Our Strange and Wonderful House (novel)#Appendix 24-I: Montresor|Montresor]]'') the [[man with the crimson cloak]] who distributed invitations for [[#The Ballroom|the Ball]], ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Our Strange and Wonderful House (novel)|Our Strange and Wonderful House]]'': ''[[Our Strange and Wonderful House (novel)#Chapter 34: The Ballroom|The Ballroom]]'') the mysterious [[Sid]] who once led the [[Master of the House]] on a journey through [[the Gardens]], ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Our Strange and Wonderful House (novel)|Our Strange and Wonderful House]]'': ''[[Our Strange and Wonderful House (novel)#Chapter 35: Into the Gardens (Part 1)|Into the Gardens]]'', etc.) [[Frank the Janitor]]. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Our Strange and Wonderful House (novel)|Our Strange and Wonderful House]]'': ''[[Our Strange and Wonderful House (novel)#Chapter 43: The Vault|The Vault]]'', ''[[Our Strange and Wonderful House (novel)#Appendix 43-I: The Note|The Note]]'') A [[Robot (Our Strange and Wonderful House)|giant robot]] guarded [[#The Basement|the Basement]]. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Our Strange and Wonderful House (novel)|Our Strange and Wonderful House]]'': ''[[Our Strange and Wonderful House (novel)#Appendix 44-I: Safety Catch|Safety Catch]]'') [[the Triplets]] who ran [[#The Fabulous Salon|the Fabulous Salon]], ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Our Strange and Wonderful House (novel)|Our Strange and Wonderful House]]'': ''[[Our Strange and Wonderful House (novel)#Chapter 47: The Fabulous Salon|The Fabulous Salon]]'') [[the Guardian of the Ink Wells|the Guardian]] of [[#The Ink Wells|the Ink Wells]], ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Our Strange and Wonderful House (novel)|Our Strange and Wonderful House]]'': ''[[Our Strange and Wonderful House (novel)#Chapter 52: The Guardian of the Ink Wells|The Guardian of the Ink Wells]]'') [[the Librarian]], ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Our Strange and Wonderful House (novel)|Our Strange and Wonderful House]]'': ''[[Our Strange and Wonderful House (novel)#Appendix 55-I: There is No Dripping in the Library|There is No Dripping in the Library]]'') the unkempt inspector who spent their career travelling through the House examining each of the hundreds of Airing Cupboards, ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Our Strange and Wonderful House (novel)|Our Strange and Wonderful House]]'': ''[[Our Strange and Wonderful House (novel)#Chapter 56: The Seven Hundred Nineteenth Airing Cupboard|The Seven Hundred Nineteenth Airing Cupboard]]'') | Other staff included the guards keeping watch over the door to [[the Conservatory]] from [[the Guardroom]], ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Our Strange and Wonderful House (novel)|Our Strange and Wonderful House]]'': ''[[Our Strange and Wonderful House (novel)#Chapter 12: The Guardroom|The Guardroom]]'') the zookeepers patrolling [[the Zoo]], ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Our Strange and Wonderful House (novel)|Our Strange and Wonderful House]]'': ''[[Our Strange and Wonderful House (novel)#Chapter 29: The Zoo|The Zoo]]'') [[Malthus]] who watched over [[#the morgue|the morgue]], ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Our Strange and Wonderful House (novel)|Our Strange and Wonderful House]]'': ''[[Our Strange and Wonderful House (novel)#Chapter 23: The Rose Cottage|The Rose Cottage]]'') [[Montresor]] the [[Keeper of the Cellar]], ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Our Strange and Wonderful House (novel)|Our Strange and Wonderful House]]'': ''[[Our Strange and Wonderful House (novel)#Appendix 24-I: Montresor|Montresor]]'') the [[man with the crimson cloak]] who distributed invitations for [[#The Ballroom|the Ball]], ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Our Strange and Wonderful House (novel)|Our Strange and Wonderful House]]'': ''[[Our Strange and Wonderful House (novel)#Chapter 34: The Ballroom|The Ballroom]]'') the mysterious [[Sid]] who once led the [[Master of the House]] on a journey through [[the Gardens]], ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Our Strange and Wonderful House (novel)|Our Strange and Wonderful House]]'': ''[[Our Strange and Wonderful House (novel)#Chapter 35: Into the Gardens (Part 1)|Into the Gardens]]'', etc.) [[Frank the Janitor]]. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Our Strange and Wonderful House (novel)|Our Strange and Wonderful House]]'': ''[[Our Strange and Wonderful House (novel)#Chapter 43: The Vault|The Vault]]'', ''[[Our Strange and Wonderful House (novel)#Appendix 43-I: The Note|The Note]]'') A [[Robot (Our Strange and Wonderful House)|giant robot]] guarded [[#The Basement|the Basement]]. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Our Strange and Wonderful House (novel)|Our Strange and Wonderful House]]'': ''[[Our Strange and Wonderful House (novel)#Appendix 44-I: Safety Catch|Safety Catch]]'') [[the Triplets]] who ran [[#The Fabulous Salon|the Fabulous Salon]], ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Our Strange and Wonderful House (novel)|Our Strange and Wonderful House]]'': ''[[Our Strange and Wonderful House (novel)#Chapter 47: The Fabulous Salon|The Fabulous Salon]]'') [[the Guardian of the Ink Wells|the Guardian]] of [[#The Ink Wells|the Ink Wells]], ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Our Strange and Wonderful House (novel)|Our Strange and Wonderful House]]'': ''[[Our Strange and Wonderful House (novel)#Chapter 52: The Guardian of the Ink Wells|The Guardian of the Ink Wells]]'') [[the Librarian]], ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Our Strange and Wonderful House (novel)|Our Strange and Wonderful House]]'': ''[[Our Strange and Wonderful House (novel)#Appendix 55-I: There is No Dripping in the Library|There is No Dripping in the Library]]'') the unkempt inspector who spent their career travelling through the House examining each of the hundreds of Airing Cupboards, ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Our Strange and Wonderful House (novel)|Our Strange and Wonderful House]]'': ''[[Our Strange and Wonderful House (novel)#Chapter 56: The Seven Hundred Nineteenth Airing Cupboard|The Seven Hundred Nineteenth Airing Cupboard]]'') [[the Room Keeper]] of [[#The Spinning Room|the Spinning Room]], ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Our Strange and Wonderful House (novel)|Our Strange and Wonderful House]]'': ''[[Our Strange and Wonderful House (novel)#Chapter 57: The Spinning Room|The Spinning Room]]'') and [[the Armourer]]. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Our Strange and Wonderful House (novel)|Our Strange and Wonderful House]]'': ''[[Our Strange and Wonderful House (novel)#Chapter 58: The Armory|The Armory]]'') A [[Robot (Our Strange and Wonderful House)|giant robot]] guarded [[#The Basement|the Basement]]. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Our Strange and Wonderful House (novel)|Our Strange and Wonderful House]]'': ''[[Our Strange and Wonderful House (novel)#Appendix 44-I: Safety Catch|Safety Catch]]'') | ||
=== Contents === | === Contents === | ||
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==== The Spinning Room ==== | ==== The Spinning Room ==== | ||
The Spinning Room was hard to get to, as its door was never in the same place twice, moving every second. As the name implied, it spun endlessly on its axis, with the only furniture being a chandelier which appears as just a blurred shimmer, and a device to keep the spinning movement from causing the room to spin ''out'' of its axis. The only figure in the Room who, impossibly, did not spin, was [[the Room Keeper]]. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Our Strange and Wonderful House (novel)|Our Strange and Wonderful House]]'': ''[[Our Strange and Wonderful House (novel)#Chapter 57: The Spinning Room|The Spinning Room]]'') | The Spinning Room was hard to get to, as its door was never in the same place twice, moving every second. As the name implied, it spun endlessly on its axis, with the only furniture being a chandelier which appears as just a blurred shimmer, and a device to keep the spinning movement from causing the room to spin ''out'' of its axis. The only figure in the Room who, impossibly, did not spin, was [[the Room Keeper]]. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Our Strange and Wonderful House (novel)|Our Strange and Wonderful House]]'': ''[[Our Strange and Wonderful House (novel)#Chapter 57: The Spinning Room|The Spinning Room]]'') | ||
==== The Armory ==== | |||
The Armory was located close to [[#The Guardroom|the Guardroom]], and its large double-doors were guarded by two guards armed with giant fountain pens for halberds. It contained billions of pens of various types and sizes, which, being creations of [[the Armourer]], could also transform into more conventional weapons, so as to have one's cake and eat it too based on the proverb of the pen being mightier than the sword. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Our Strange and Wonderful House (novel)|Our Strange and Wonderful House]]'': ''[[Our Strange and Wonderful House (novel)#Chapter 57: The Armory|The Armory]]'') | |||
== History == | == History == | ||
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Later, the Guardian and her friend [[Treefrog]] decided to take a trip to [[#The Beach|the Beach]] through a portal in [[#The backyard|the backyard]] about which the Guardian had once written a report. Already wearing neon-coloured bathing suits, the two made their way through [[#The Gardens|the Gardens]] and past [[the Bodhi Tree|the giant tree]] until they found the backyard and were teleported to the beach. There, immediately jumping into the almost-glowing blue, breathable water, they spent an hour having fun before resurfacing them. Accidentally discovering another, hitherto-undocumented portal, they suddenly found themselves transported, cold and dripping, to the middle of [[#The Library|the Library]], ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Our Strange and Wonderful House (novel)|Our Strange and Wonderful House]]'': ''[[Our Strange and Wonderful House (novel)#Chapter 55: Teleporting Beach|Teleporting Beach]]'') where they were quickly reprimanded by [[the Librarian]]. Recognising the Guardian, the Librarian addressed her as “Inkstain”, forcing an annoyed Guardian to insist to Treefrog that it ''wasn't'' her real name in the face of Treefrog being all too glad to have a less grandiloquent name than “Guardian” by which to address her friend. This naturally angered the noise-hating Librarian further and she “roared in a whisper” for the girls to be silent. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Our Strange and Wonderful House (novel)|Our Strange and Wonderful House]]'': ''[[Our Strange and Wonderful House (novel)#Appendix 55-I: There is No Dripping in the Library|There is No Dripping in the Library]]'') | Later, the Guardian and her friend [[Treefrog]] decided to take a trip to [[#The Beach|the Beach]] through a portal in [[#The backyard|the backyard]] about which the Guardian had once written a report. Already wearing neon-coloured bathing suits, the two made their way through [[#The Gardens|the Gardens]] and past [[the Bodhi Tree|the giant tree]] until they found the backyard and were teleported to the beach. There, immediately jumping into the almost-glowing blue, breathable water, they spent an hour having fun before resurfacing them. Accidentally discovering another, hitherto-undocumented portal, they suddenly found themselves transported, cold and dripping, to the middle of [[#The Library|the Library]], ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Our Strange and Wonderful House (novel)|Our Strange and Wonderful House]]'': ''[[Our Strange and Wonderful House (novel)#Chapter 55: Teleporting Beach|Teleporting Beach]]'') where they were quickly reprimanded by [[the Librarian]]. Recognising the Guardian, the Librarian addressed her as “Inkstain”, forcing an annoyed Guardian to insist to Treefrog that it ''wasn't'' her real name in the face of Treefrog being all too glad to have a less grandiloquent name than “Guardian” by which to address her friend. This naturally angered the noise-hating Librarian further and she “roared in a whisper” for the girls to be silent. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Our Strange and Wonderful House (novel)|Our Strange and Wonderful House]]'': ''[[Our Strange and Wonderful House (novel)#Appendix 55-I: There is No Dripping in the Library|There is No Dripping in the Library]]'') | ||
A man once came to [[#The Armory|the Armory]] seeking a weapon and was initially taken aback by the shelves full of pens until [[the Armourer]] made his presence known and demonstrated the peculiarities of his creations. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Our Strange and Wonderful House (novel)|Our Strange and Wonderful House]]'': ''[[Our Strange and Wonderful House (novel)#Chapter 58: The Armory|The Armory]]'') | |||
At some point, a man came to lie between the roots of [[the Bodhi Tree]] in [[the Gardens]]. He never moved or aged, although his blue eyes were wide open. He became known as “[[the Bodhi Son]]”, and a [[Loom weaver (Our Strange and Wonderful House)|superstitious old woman]] started a tradition of placing candle-prayers at his feet. Over time, this developed into a full religion, with a cathedral of wood and stone being carefully built in the shade of the Tree, with the Bodhi Son lying in the narthex. Eventually, a fire broke out, burning down the cathedral and the Tree itself, but the Bodhi Son was unharmed, crying in his sleep as his face covered with suit. In the instant when the Bodhi Tree finally died, he blinked as he awoke. When he opened his eyes again, they were no longer blue, but green like the Tree's leaves had been. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Our Strange and Wonderful House (novel)|Our Strange and Wonderful House]]'': ''[[Our Strange and Wonderful House (novel)#Appendix 39-III: The Bodhi Son|The Bodhi Son]]'') | At some point, a man came to lie between the roots of [[the Bodhi Tree]] in [[the Gardens]]. He never moved or aged, although his blue eyes were wide open. He became known as “[[the Bodhi Son]]”, and a [[Loom weaver (Our Strange and Wonderful House)|superstitious old woman]] started a tradition of placing candle-prayers at his feet. Over time, this developed into a full religion, with a cathedral of wood and stone being carefully built in the shade of the Tree, with the Bodhi Son lying in the narthex. Eventually, a fire broke out, burning down the cathedral and the Tree itself, but the Bodhi Son was unharmed, crying in his sleep as his face covered with suit. In the instant when the Bodhi Tree finally died, he blinked as he awoke. When he opened his eyes again, they were no longer blue, but green like the Tree's leaves had been. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Our Strange and Wonderful House (novel)|Our Strange and Wonderful House]]'': ''[[Our Strange and Wonderful House (novel)#Appendix 39-III: The Bodhi Son|The Bodhi Son]]'') | ||
