Barquentine (Gormenghast) hereditary office of Master of Ritual following the death of his father, and accepts Steerpike as his assistant. In the second book, Gormenghast, he is murdered by Steerpike, who takes over the post of Master of Ritual. Barquentine (Gormenghast) Barquentine is a fictional character in Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast series. He is the son of Sourdust, the Master of Ritual of Gormenghast castle. He is a one-legged, hunchbacked dwarf with a bitter, vicious personality; he never washes, he dresses in filthy rags, and his hair and beard are long, tangled, and dirty. He is frequently taunted by the castle's children, who
Gormenghast (castle) to be inferred as it is not made clear). It is impossible to give an exact layout of the castle, but from various mentions in the text it can be stated in general terms some of what each wing of the castle contains. The top floor of the North Wing contains the Hall of the Bright Carvings, where the curator Rottcodd spends his days sleeping. It has a single window facing north, out of which Rottcodd observes the entire population of the castle returning from Gormenghast Lake after the 'Earling' of Titus as the 77th Earl of Groan. Keda, Titus'