The File of Nine is a council of anonymous, masked warlords who claim to keep the peace in the fractured former empire Hsien, located in the southern region of the Land of Unknown Shadows, in Soldiers Live. The File was created during the political chaos that occurred after the Children of the Dead – the collective name chosen by the peoples of Hsien – overthrew their hated former tyrants, the Shadowmasters. This occurred either in the early lifetime of Croaker the Black Company Annalist or not long before his birth.
The File contains some of the most influential of the Children of the Dead. Publicly, the File claims to be made up of one warlord from each of the nine regions of Hsien, but the Black Company discovered that to be a falsehood. The southern area is ruled by a large number of warlords who offer some acknowledgement of power to the File, the monks of Khang Phi, and also the Court of All Seasons located in distant Quang Ninh City. The File holds its meetings at Khang Phi because of the authority that it grants their edicts, and because the monks encourage it in the hopes that the warlords will find wisdom there. The File issues edicts aimed towards unifying the people of Hsien and bringing on a golden age of peace and prosperity, but their edicts are ignored as often as they are followed. Their meeting chamber is composed of five stone seats and an altar. In person, File members wear masks to disguise their identity, which Croaker believes is a practice they adopted from the Shadowmasters.
Soldiers Live[]
When Sleepy's Black Company built and settled in the Abode of Ravens in Hsien, the File of Nine denied them access to the books stored at Khang Phi which contained knowledge of Shadowgate sorcery and repair. They did not want travel across the glittering plain to be reopened, because they worried that a conquering army from another world would bring war to their fragmented civilization just as the Shadowmasters had done.
On their final meeting with the Black Company, seven of the File were present, with the two junior members being given temporary seats. Croaker speculated that five of the nine were permanent positions, while the other four were junior positions within the group. At this meeting, Sleepy distracted them by speaking at least 5 of their names aloud; meanwhile, Tobo stole the books with the secrets of Shadowgate repair that had been marked by their ally, Surendranath Santaraksita. The File's secret identities, discovered by Tobo's Unknown Shadows, included the following:
- Tran Thi Kim-Thoa – "the Last Entered of the File", the most junior member, he wears a mask surmounted by a crane's head
- Tran Huu Dung
- Tran Huu Nhan
- Tran Huu Nhang
- Tran Lan-Anh
- Pham Thi Ly of Ghu Phi – their spokesman, the First Entered of the File
After the Black Company stole the tomes, the File hurriedly assembled an army and threatened the Company with it. This was done despite clear opposition from both both the monks of Khang Phi and the Court of All Seasons. But they backed down after several restless nights of psychological torment by the Unknown Shadows. Tran Huu Nhang arrived under a flag of truce, and conducted a mostly ceremonial face-saving meeting.
One of the File's primary goals once the Black Company arrived is to gain control of the Shadowmaster Longshadow, to put him on trial for his past crimes in Hsien. Longshadow is turned over to them by Shivetya after the Company leaves Hsien.