kitchen_maid | HoA FAQs

What is the House of Arch?
The House of Arch (or HoA) is from Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere and is the family home of Door and Ingress (and, by extension, Door's husband Tom Riddle and their adopted son or brother Gavroche). Because they have lots of room and are generous sorts, they have invited many of their friends to live there as well. It's an associative house -- there are no doors. Door and Ingress's grandfather collected various disused rooms in London and cobbled them together into the House of Arch.

No doors? So how does this work?
You move from room to room by passing through paintings. There are no corridors or hallways as a result. When you step through the HoA painting in Milliways, they will enter a white room with walls that are hard to discern (the front gallery). There are paintings hanging sort of askew from the ceiling. Each one has a painting of rooms to which residents have access - courtyard, sewing room, common room/library, and so on. There is also a room that goes to the smaller gallery where the resident's room painting is, as well as kitchen painting and shared living room. When they go into any of the rooms, they will see smaller copies of the paintings on a wall, to use when one leaves.

There are two wings at present -- the Family Wing and the Guest Wing. Each wing has its own common areas and the personal rooms/suites of its residents. Each painting is neatly labeled with the name of its resident or its function, e.g., "Draco Malfoy's Room" or "Kitchen." You are "keyed" to certain rooms -- your own room and the common rooms for your wing are givens. You can also be keyed to other residents' rooms, with their permission, of course. For example, Caspian was keyed to his sister Amy's room, and could get in and out of it, even when she wasn't around.

What are the rooms like?
All sorts of things. Door's grandfather collected them from all over, so they come from a mishmash of time periods. At the very least, you have a bedroom with a (relatively) modern bathroom attached. There are also residents who have suite-like "rooms" with a living area, and apartment-like "rooms" with their own kitchen, living room, nursery. It just depends on what makes sense for each resident, and is determined at the time they move in.

So what are the common rooms/areas, anyway?
Each wing has its own kitchen and living room. Other common rooms open to all residents are a central common room, a rose garden, a pool, a sewing room, and the library. Students and teachers can access the school rooms.

Is the HoA in Milliways? So where is it? And when?
No, the HoA is not in Milliways; it is in London Below. But it is linked to Milliways, and you can easily access it from Milliways by passing through the painting of dogs playing poker (just watch out for the St. Bernard -- he cheats). And it's 2001.

London Below? What's that?
If you don't know what London Below is, the best advice we can give you is to go read Neverwhere. It's an excellent book. Or you can check out this explanation. But you should read the novel, too.

What do the windows in the HoA show?
If you look out the window, you'll see whatever you would see from that window before it was pulled into the HoA. If you open the window, you might even get breezes and smells. But you're in London Below, technically, so you can't get to whatever's beyond the window, and no one there could see or interact with you. And there's no guarantee that the windows will show the "right" season, or even the same season, from room to room in a suite. So it may be spring of 1899 in your bedroom, autumn of 1910 in your kitchen, and the middle of summer by the calendar you're using.

I'm Bound. Can I still get to the HoA?
That is, of course, up to you, but there's a long history of Bound characters living in/visiting the HoA.

I'm dead. Will being in the HoA cause me to go all ghost-like?
No. The Narnians especially were fond of spending long times holing up in the HoA. A link to the Bar keeps this from happening.

So what does this cost?
Nothing. Tom and Door have guests, not tenants.

Sounds great! When can I move in?
The HoA is a private residence, so you can't just move in. You'll need to be invited. In character, you must look for (and get to know) Tom, Door, or Amy. Tom and Door own the House, and can invite new residents. Amy can put in a good (and possibly handwaved) word for you with the Arch family. More importantly, they are played by the maintainers. Out of character, you need to contact Viv (Tom), Lynne (Door), or Georgia (Amy). Contact info is at the bottom of this page.
Please note: You must contact one of us OOC before you contact one of us IC. Also, if Tom, Door, and Amy don't think your character would be a good resident (so, like, if you'd be attacking other residents), he or she may not be welcome. This has nothing to do with how we OOC feel about you OOC.

But one of my good friends lives in the HoA and invited me to move in. Can I?
Unless that friend was Tom, Door, or Amy, not necessarily. The good opinion of a current resident is certainly something Tom and Door would take into consideration, but it does not automatically get you into the House. Amy is the only exception, and that is for one very simple and OOC reason -- her mun is a maintainer, and has the same authority as the other maintainers. You will still need to contact a maintainer.

I live in the HoA, and I want to drop in on another resident. Can I?
Unless you are Door, Tom, or Ingress, or are keyed to the other resident's room, no. You'll need to ring the chimes on the painting (it's like ringing a doorbell) and wait to be asked in. Tom, Door, and Ingress can get into any room at any time, but they are polite, and generally won't just barge in. (Ingress does, sometimes, if she's excited, and Tom or Door would, in the event of an emergency.)

I live in the HoA, and I want to have a non-resident friend over for tea/a game of chess/a Star Wars movie marathon. Can I?
Yes, but you will have to physically escort the guest into the HoA, and into each room they he or she enters during the visit. Guests cannot wander the HoA alone, as they are not keyed to any rooms. Guests also cannot be left alone in the common rooms.

I live in the HoA, and I want to have a friend over for a slumber party/week-long visit/extended holiday. Can I?
For a slumber party, yes. For anything longer than 48 hours, you need to clear it with a maintainer.

I live in the HoA, and I've met this girl/this boy/this anthropomorphic personification, and we're in love. Can he/she/it move in with me?
Yes, but he/she/it will have to meet Tom, Door, or Amy, just like you did. This is also true if you want a spouse, sibling, child, cousin, college roommate, etc., to move in. Tom and Door understandably do not want strangers living in their house. Would you? Again, you need to contact one of the maintainers OOC.

I live in the House of Arch and I am eeeeevil. I can attack my neighbors, right?
First of all, you'd have to be evil and good at hiding it to get invited to live there in the first place, and it's pretty hard to get evil past Tom Riddle. In short, he knows it when he sees it. Second of all, no. Even if you sneak past Tom, even if you're normally a very nice person who is just having a bad day. As of this mod post there is NO VIOLENCE of any kind in the HoA. IC, that includes, but it not necessarily limited to, physical attacks, invasions by villains/monsters, domestic violence, any sort of sexual violence (even if it's consensual), and any self-inflicted violence. OOC, that includes any action that occurs in a thread written in, set in, or linked to the

house_of_arch community.
Please note: If you have any question about whether or not what you have planned would violate this rule, please contact a maintainer before proceeding. We cannot stress this enough. We will delete threads that violate this rule immediately, and we reserve the right ask you to move out (IC) and remove your pup from the community (OOC). Flagrant violations of this rule (including, but not limited to, murder, rape, torture, or mutilation) will result in immediate expulsion. Should it be necessary to make that decision, and we really hope it never is, it will be made jointly by all three of us, and you will have a chance to speak in your own defense.

Wait. So I have to like everyone I live with and get along with them all the time? What's up with that?
No. You are free to dislike and even argue with your neighbors, but those arguments have to be left at the oral argument stage. So, name-calling and yelling are all right. There are other places to have duels/fisticuffs/rough sex, and there are other places to live. Again, if you have questions about this, please contact one of us.

I've heard some people talking about working in the HoA. How does that work?
A while ago, Tom and Door hired childminders and teachers for the House of Arch Academy. There's been some turnover since then, but at this time, Viv and Lynne do not plan to do interview/hiring posts. If that changes, there will be an announcement in the back room. In the mean time, if your character needs employment, contact one of them OOC and maybe something can be worked out.

I am/I have a child who needs a place to go to school. Can I attend the Academy?
Yes, and we'd love to have you. This should be handled just like a request to live in the HoA -- contact one of us OOC, then meet one of us IC.

Didn't Blodwen Rowlands sneak in a while ago? How safe is this place?
It's as safe as Tom can make it, and that's pretty safe. Security has been cranked up a bit since the Blodwen thing. The dogs playing poker in the painting are sentient, they keep an eye on the bar, who goes in and out of the HoA, and they may question visitors if they think it's necessary. The wards are pretty strong. And there's no shortage of people living in the HoA who know how to wield a sword. And before you ask, Blodwen invaded before the no violence rule went into effect.

My friend lives in the HoA, and I've got to get a message to him/her. How do I do that?
There are owls in the bar who are happy to deliver a message to the HoA residents. Most residents also check with Bar for messages, if it's not pressing.

Can I go visit London Below?
Not alone, no. It's an unpredictable place, and Tom and Door would hate for anything to happen to you.

OK. So now, how do I play in the HoA?
Just like you would anywhere else. Most of the time, the HoA is used for pre-arranged threads, and you're unlikely to get replies to a general open post, but they're certainly permitted. Threads can happen in any private or public room. We just ask that you put tags on the threads. If you need a tag that is not on the list, a maintainer will be happy to create it for you.

My question isn't answered here. What should I do?
Contact one of the maintainers. We're all friendly sorts and will be happy to talk to you. We may have to consult each other, if it's a question we don't know the answer to, either, but we'll always get an answer to you just as quickly as we can.

Viv can be reached at vivien529(at)gmail(dot)com or on AIM at vivien529
Lynne can be reached at varadia(at)gmail(dot)com or on AIM at setsthingsright
Georgia can be reached at elsinorequeen(at)gmail(dot)com or on AIM at elsinorequeen

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