Sanctum of the Hierarchs
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The Sanctum of the Hierarchs is the name given to the private quarters of the High Prophets on High Charity. They were restricted to virtually all other creatures, except the Honor Guard, San'Shyuum and Sangheili Councilors and high-ranking Covenant officers, such as Special Operations Commanders and Arbiters.
Description
The Sanctum consisted of many rooms, the most important being the inner chamber. The Sanctum featured unique architecture, highly ornamented doors and various other luxuries.
Inner Sanctum
The inner chamber of the Sanctum had several entrances; one was via a lift in the High Council Chamber, and another was a large hallway where dozens of Honor Guards used to stand watch. The higher levels of the Sanctum, or the Far Tower, also included three tenders for Phantom dropships. The center of the inner room also featured a holotank which also had another mechanisms, such as serving as a stasis field emitter.
Shard chamber
One of the rooms in the sanctum was a massive chamber with its walls, floor, and ceiling ornamented with smooth glass from all the worlds glassed by the Covenant.[1] This chamber was a large, round room with an illuminated pedestal in the center. On the perimeter of the room, there was space for three hundred Honor Guard Sangheili, should a Prophet be present.[1] The walkways lining the room housed folding platforms with gravity bridges allowing passage over the void in the center of the room.[2][note 1]
History
After Operation: FIRST STRIKE, during the Step of Silence, the High Prophet of Truth and Tartarus, Chieftain of the Jiralhanae discussed the events that took place on Installation 04, as well as the fate of the future Arbiter, the destruction of the Unyielding Hierophant and the Covenant personnel who survived it, in the Sanctum's chamber housing the glass shards.[1]
Many events took place here, including the Changing of the Guard when the Jiralhanae supplanted the Sangheili as the Honor Guards and minders of the Prophets, after the assassination of the Prophet of Regret. It was here that the Prophet of Truth and the Prophet of Mercy explained to the Arbiter his task of landing on the surface of Installation 05 and retrieving the Index from the Flood infested Library, which took place in two levels through the Sentinel Wall and the Quarantine Zone.[3]
In the end, the Flood used Pelican dropships to land in the Sanctum. It was one of the first areas to be infested; it was filled with Flood spores and biomass when the Master Chief traversed the area in search of the High Prophet of Truth.
When John-117 returned to High Charity in order to rescue Cortana, she was being held inside a stasis field in the holotank in the center of the Sanctum. The room had been dramatically altered by the Flood infestation: there were widespread structural failures that occurred as a result of the Flood infestation as well as High Charity colliding with the surface of Installation 00.[4]
Gallery
The Sanctum's main hall as it is seen in Halo 2.
The inner sanctum chamber as seen in Halo 2.
- Luminous16001200.jpg
The room, infested with Flood biomass.
The inner sanctum as it appears in Halo 3.
A general view of the section of the Sanctum housing the shards of glass.
The glass shard fixture in the chamber's ceiling.
An anti-gravity platform in the shard-bearing room.
A gravity bridge in the shard chamber.
List of appearances
- Halo: First Strike (First appearance)
- Halo 2
- Halo 3
- Halo 2 Anniversary
Notes
- ^ It is never definitely stated that the chamber featured on the level Gravemind is the one described in First Strike. The novel makes no indication that the Sanctum of the Hierarchs encompasses multiple rooms, which would suggest that the Sanctum chamber featured in the book is not meant to be separate from the inner Sanctum room seen in Halo 2. However, the novel describes the Sanctum as capable of accommodating 300 Honor Guards and its ceiling being ornamented with shards of glass; neither fit the description of the room identified as the Sanctum of the Hierarchs in Halo 2, which would not have enough space for 300 Sangheili and has a ceiling of plain purple Covenant material. These differences are likely a result of artistic decisions or miscommunication between First Strike writer Eric Nylund and Halo 2 level designers, although it is apparent that the novel's description of the Sanctum inspired the separate shard chamber featured in Halo 2. Although quite distant from the Prophets' inner Sanctum, the chamber has a prominent ceiling fixture of what appear to be shards of glass, although most of the room is dominated by a bottomless pit with only several platforms allowing passage. This makes it somewhat suspect that 300 warriors would fit in the space simultaneously, unless the chamber is capable of reconfiguring itself for such occasions.
Sources
