The Lodge of Lies is part of the Lacuna, accessible through a Waygate on one of Gethen’s Smugglers’ Moons. One enters through the Hall of False Faces, a large cathedral-ceilinged room with countless masked mannequins each hanging from a single wire. These masks are crafted by students at the Lodge of Lies known as Echoes, who can make a mask of a person only after taking a secret Nephelium drug made by the Lodge, then making skin-to-skin contact with that person or their body.

The Lodge of Lies has two other wings, the House of Unbecoming and the House of Becoming. Before Echoes can assume another person’s identity, they must lose their own. While Echoes reside within the House of Unbecoming, their identity gradually bleeds away. They begin to forget the memories of their own life (only biographical information, not skills), and their physical appearance loses distinctive features and regresses toward the plain, average, and unremarkable. Echoes who complete their missions also return to the House of Unbecoming to cast off an assumed identity.

In the House of Becoming, Echoes put on masks that they crafted themselves or retrieved from the Hall of False Faces. While an Echo wears a mask in the House of Becoming, they begin to take on the physical appearance—not just the face but also the body—of the person whose mask they wear. They also “remember” the person’s biographical memories, but not their skills. Echoes are trained so that these memories are accessible but feel like someone else’s: Without proper training, Echoes who spend too much time in the House of Becoming come to believe that they really are the person they’re impersonating. When an Echo spends time in the House of Becoming without a mask, their original persona and memories begin to return, but, as a result of their training, even their own memories feel like they happened to someone else. An Echo can never truly return to the person she once was.