with a pale complexion and large expressive eyes. He dresses in the robes and vestments prescribed by the rituals of Gormenghast; they may be rags or silk. He sometimes wears the iron crown of Groan, with its four arrowhead points from which depend slim linked chains. After his library burns down, Sepulchrave goes mad, believing himself to be the 'Death Owl'; this affects his appearance: his nose becomes "more forceful", his eyes become round and devoid of all emotion, his mouth "might as well not be there". Story Birth of Titus On the day of Titus's birth, Sepulchrave is engaged in another round of empty ritual. However, after the birth, he meets with Doctor Prunesquallor in an upper corridor outside the room of his wife, Gertrude. During the course of the conversation, he displays some interest in the condition of his child and inquires whether the doctor "... notices anything strange, unusual about his (Titus's) face." The Doctor replies that "Professionally speaking. I should say the face was irregular." Sepulchrave is distressed: "Tell me the truth; have you ever delivered a more hideous child?!" The Fire The destruction of Sepulchrave's library is entirely masterminded by Steerpike, the ruthlessly Machiavellian scullion, to further his personal interests, although he pretends that he is doing it in order to advance Sepulchrave's idiot sisters, Cora and Clarice, who are monomaniacs obsessed with power. Steerpike engineers a daring rescue from the flames of several characters including Sepulchrave, Titus, Gertrude, Fuchsia, Flay, Doctor Alfred Prunesquallor and Irma Prunesquallor. The Master of Ritual Sourdust, however, perishes of asphyxiation and is consumed. The Holocaust drives Sepulchrave insane; he at first seeks solace by playing with pine-cones with Fuchsia, pretending that they are his lost books, before undergoing a psychological transformation into the character of the Death Owl: He howls and hoots, perches on the mantelpiece, eats mice and has to be frequently sedated by Doctor Prunesquallor. At the dinner table, in the chapter entitled 'The Reveries', Sepulchrave's mind is filled with the thoughts of the owls "whose child I am". Death of Sepulchrave After Mr. Flay duels with and eventually overcomes his nemesis Abiatha Swelter, Sepulchrave appears, ghost-like and claims the gigantic corpse in the name of the owls to whom he intends to offer it. He drags the body to the Tower of Flints, where it and he are torn apart and devoured. He thus characterizes his