Bayaz leads Glokta, Jezal, and Logen through the University, recounting his battle with Kanedias, which took place in these very halls. They enter a courtyard and are met by the Chief Warden of the House. He leads them to a gate through which they pass on to a high, narrow arch leading to the massive House of the Maker. As they near the door, everyone but Bayaz feels horror and sickness, a result of the Maker’s enchantment. Bayaz touches the key to the door, and, to Glokta’s astonishment, it opens. Bayaz leads them inside. On the floor of the cavernous entrance is traced a map of Midderland, an island nation at the center of the world. A massive mechanical mechanism hangs from the ceiling. The room and the tiered galleries above suddenly begin to spin, leaving Jezal disoriented, and he nearly walks through the wrong doorway: a potentially deadly mistake. They move deeper into the House, which is a place of deathly stillness that reeks of Shanka. The Shanka are in fact Kanedias’s creation and have been set loose to multiply and terrorize humanity.

They eventually reach another dark hall, and Bayaz uses his key to open another doorway.