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) Little Sark begins and the Bluff narrows'. the Coupée, Silvermines, Gory and Little Sark are all place names from the Channel Island of Sark, where Mervyn Peake was living at the time when he wrote "Gormenghast". The East Wing contains the library of Sepulchrave, the Tower of Flints, and various buildings, including an observatory, aviary, museum and pavilions for entertainment. Apart from the library however, all the other buildings have long since been abandoned and fallen into decay. The South Wing contains the rooms of the twin sisters of Sepulchrave, the Ladies Cora and Clarice Groan. Their quarters include the