Steerpike: Difference between revisions

On the day of Titus' birth, Steerpike escaped from his job as kitchen boy, beginning his climb up the social hierarchy of Gormenghast. He first appears as a youth of seventeen years and an unclear past, working in [[Gormenghast]]'s Great Kitchen under the [[chef]] [[Abiatha Swelter]], whom he hates. On the day of the birth of [[Titus Groan|Titus]], 77th (and presumably last) Earl of Gormenghast, Steerpike met the chief retainer of the castle, [[Flay]], and persuaded the man to help him flee from Swelter. Flay leads Steerpike through the labyrynthine castle to a small room where the servant can [[spy]] on the ruling Groan family. Despite leading Steerpike there, Flay is angered by the boy's eavesdropping, and locks him in a small room. Steerpike soon escapes through the window and climbs over the vast roofscape of Gormenghast, spending the night on a great stone square before arriving in the attic of [[Fuchsia Groan| Fuchsia]], daughter to the Earl of Gormenghast. From there, he rises through the ranks of the castle's life by often illegal and immoral means, killing various officialofficials over a 17 year period, driven by his thirst for power.