Editing House of Reckoning (location)

{{Status|Canon}}
{{disambig header|the [[Banished]] facility|other uses of "House of Reckoning"|House of Reckoning (disambiguation)}}
[[File:HINF HouseOfReckoning.jpg|350px|thumb|The House of Reckoning and the checkpoint at its entrance.]]
{{Quote|The House of Reckoning. Such an appropriate name. Many of [[Human|your kind]] have entered this arena. None have left!|[[Escharum]] speaking to [[John-117]].{{Ref/Quest|Id=HoR|HI|Reckoning|House of Reckoning}}}}

The '''House of Reckoning''' was a [[Banished]] facility on [[Installation 07]]. During the [[Battle for Zeta Halo]], it served as [[War Chief]] [[Escharum]]'s headquarters{{Ref/Book|Id=enc22|Enc22|Page=445}} before being destroyed by [[John-117]] after Escharum's death.{{Ref/Reuse|EOD7}}

==Facilities==
{{Quote|Within these iron halls, through the Trials of Atriox, all shall know what it is to be Banished—our living history, how we once served the [[Covenant]]. All shall know what it is to be meat.|[[Escharum]] to a group of UNSC personnel and a Sangheili.{{Ref/Novel|Id=tor|Halo: Trial of Reckoning}}}}
The House of Reckoning is a towering structure held in suspension between two clusters of Forerunner hexagon columns, at the end of a Banished-fortified path, near the entrance to one of Installation 07's [[Repository (location)|Repository sites]]. The main entrance is situated at the base of the building, accessible by a bridge from inner courtyard at the second gatehouse.{{Ref/Quest|Id=road|HI|Reckoning|[[The Road (level)|The Road]]}} [[Escharum]] set his prefabricated command center into the open gap at the end of a valley where the land fractured. The House of Reckoning's enormous extenders pierced the pillars that formed the valley's walls, anchoring it to the topography. Framed by steep slopes and protruding hexagonal pillars, the House of Reckoning was positioned in a strategic location for the Banished command center: wide at its entrance and naturally narrowing, channeling all traffic towards the House of Reckoning.{{Ref/Reuse|EOD6}}

The House of Reckoning has at least four floors. The first three floors serve as arenas for the [[Trials of Atriox]]. These chambers were large hangar bay-like rooms that contained "training" arenas—mock battlefields made from stolen and salvaged [[UNSC]] sandbags, weapons, vehicles, and even structures—placed on beds of sand, dirt, small rocks, and large boulders (likely acquired from the surface of Zeta Halo itself) atop of large, raised platforms. The third floor contained a single structure—made from UNSC debris—the interior of which was set up to mimic an urban, close-quarters combat zone. Each of these arenas could be monitored from an observation room on their respective floors.{{Ref/Reuse|HoR}} The fourth floor possessed a [[Banished torture machine]] like the ones used at [[Chak 'Lok]]'s [[Tower]].{{Ref/Reuse|HoR}}

The House of Reckoning also had a command room, where Escharum monitored and directed his troops via a [[Holotank|holotable]]. He also communicated with the [[Harbinger]] from this room.{{Ref/Quest|Id=Pelican Down|HI|Graveyard|[[Pelican Down (Halo Infinite level)|Pelican Down]]}}

==History==
[[File:HINF TowerOfReckoning.png|300px|thumb|The House of Reckoning as of May 2560.]]
The House of Reckoning served as Escharum's headquarters during the first six months of the [[Battle for Zeta Halo]]. Escharum monitored the war from here and issued orders, proclamations, and occasional admonitions to the Banished commanders via "decrees." The commanders then forwarded Escharum's decrees to their troops.{{Ref/Game|Id=A Warning|HI|HINF:Audio log#Outpost Intel 4|Banished Audio Log|Detail=Outpost Intel #2 - A Warning}} Escharum also held in-person meetings with [[Tremonius]], [[Jega 'Rdomnai]], and other high-ranking Banished leaders at the facility.{{Ref/Quest|Id=Foundation|HI|Ringfall|[[Foundation (Halo Infinite)|Foundation]]}}

In addition to serving as Escharum's headquarters, the House of Reckoning also served as the final destination for [[UNSC]] [[Prisoner of war|prisoners]] after they had been interrogated at Chak 'Lok's Tower. Within the House of Reckoning, some prisoners were forced to undergo Trials of Atriox, in which they'd be placed on artificial battlefields and forced to fight against overwhelming numbers of Banished troops.{{Ref/Reuse|tor}} Despite being allowed to arm themselves with scavenged UNSC weaponry, no prisoner survived the arenas. Other prisoners were simply tortured to death by Jega 'Rdomnai for his amusement.{{Ref/Reuse|HoR}}

In late [[2560#January|January 2560]], [[SPARTAN-IV program|Spartan]]s [[Hudson Griffin]], [[Panago]], [[Henri Malik]], and [[Sarkar]] attempted to infiltrate the House of Reckoning and assassinate Escharum. However, Escharum had anticipated their actions; Banished forces ambushed the Spartan team. The mission failed, with only Spartan Griffin surviving.{{Ref/Game|Id=Confrontation|HI|HINF:Audio log#Retaliation 2|Spartan Audio Log|Detail=Retaliation #3 - Confrontation}} 

Cica May 28, 2560, Jega 'Rdomnai kidnapped [[Fernando Esparza]], the pilot of ''[[Echo 216]]'', and brought him to the House of Reckoning. Knowing that [[John-117]] would try to rescue the pilot, Escharum kept Esparaza alive inside a torture machine on the House's fourth floor. Escharum then relayed the coordinates of the House of Reckoning to the Master Chief.{{Ref/Quest|Id=Repository|HI|Reckoning|[[Repository (Halo Infinite level)|Repository]]}} After fighting his way through the heavy defenses surrounding the House,{{Ref/Quest|Id=The Road|HI|Reckoning|[[The Road (level)|The Road]]}} the Master Chief stormed the stronghold and fought his way through the first two Trials of Atriox arenas. He fought and defeated Jega 'Rdomnai inside the third arena, before finally arriving at the fourth floor where Escharum was waiting for him. The two clashed, with the Master Chief victorious; he then freed Esparza. In his final moments, Escharum assured the Master Chief that his death would only inspire others to take up his cause.{{Ref/Reuse|HoR}}

Countless Banished forces gathered in the area around the House of Reckoning for Escharum's [[Funeral of Escharum|funeral]] on June 4,{{Ref/Novel|Id=EOD5|EOD|Chapter=5}} including the four Banished commanders who were next in line to replace Escharum.{{Ref/Novel|Id=EOD6|EOD|Chapter=6}} It was destroyed by the Master Chief and the Weapon, now known as Joyeuse, using an [[Eris tactical nuclear weapon]] in an effort to kill a significant number of the Banished leadership and countless others gathered for Escharum's funeral. Although some of the Banished may have escaped the blast, chasing after the fleeing 'Rdomani, most were killed in the House of Reckoning's destruction.{{Ref/Novel|Id=EOD7|EOD|Chapter=7}}

==Gallery==
{{Linkbox|gallery=yes|gallerypage=Images of the House of Reckoning}}
===Concept art===
<gallery>
File:HINF Concept ReckoningEntrance.jpg|Concept art of the entrance to the House of Reckoning.
File:HINF_ScorpionApproach.jpg|Concept art of an [[M808 Scorpion]] approaching the House of Reckoning.
File:HINF Concept HouseOfReckoning.jpg|Concept art depicting UNSC hardware collected in the House of Reckoning.
File:HINF Concept ThroneRoom1.jpg|Concept art of a throne room for Escharum at the top of the House of Reckoning, with a generic Chieftain as a stand-in for Escharum.
File:HINF Concept ThroneRoom2.jpg|More concept art of the throne room.
File:HINF Concept ThroneRoom7.jpg|More concept art of the throne room.
File:HINF Concept ThroneRoom8.jpg|More concept art of the throne room.
File:HINF Concept ThroneRoom5.jpg|Concept art of the throne itself.
File:HINF Concept ThroneRoom6.jpg|More concept art of the throne itself
File:HINF Concept ThroneRoom3.jpg|Concept art of John-117 looking up at the throne room.
File:HINF Concept ThroneRoom4.jpg|More concept art of John-117 below the throne room.
</gallery>

===Screenshots===
<gallery>
File:HINF Road 8 House Front.png|Fortifications in the courtyard at the base of the structure.
File:HINF Road 9 HoR Bridge.png|The bridge connecting to the structure itself.
File:HINF Escharum Harbinger Spire.png|Escharum speaks with the Harbinger from the House of Reckoning.
File:HINF HOR Arena 1.png|The first room for the Trials of Atriox.
File:HINF HoR Arena 1-B.png|Another view of the first room for the Trials of Atriox.
File:HINF HoR Arena 1-C.png|UNSC fortifications in the first room for the Trials of Atriox.
File:HINF HoR Arena 1-D.png|UNSC equipment and prefabricated buildings in the first room for the Trials of Atriox.
File:HINF House Level 2.png|The second room for the Trials of Atriox.
File:HINF House Level 2 Pelican.png|A half-dismantled [[D77 Pelican]] in the second room for the Trials of Atriox.
File:HINF HoR Arena 2 - Giant Dish.png|A radar dish in the second room for the Trials of Atriox.
File:HINF HoR Level 3 - Overview.png|The third room for the Trials of Atriox
File:HINF House Level 3 Interior.png|Interior of the third room for the Trials of Atriox.
File:HINF HoR Level 4 - Main Chamber.png|The central chamber on the House's fourth level.
File:HINF HoR 1st floor fighting.png|John-117 undergoes the Trials of Atriox.
</gallery>

==List of appearances==
*''[[Halo Infinite]]'' {{1st}}
*''[[Halo: The Rubicon Protocol]]''
*''[[Halo: Trial of Reckoning]]''
*''[[Halo: Whispers from the Pyre]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Halo: Edge of Dawn]]''

==Sources==
{{Ref/Sources}}

[[Category:Banished military bases]]
[[Category:Installation 07 locations]]