Contents
Chapter 6: The Road to Vorgossos
Overview
Paralyzed and captive in the Painted Man’s mobile office, Marlowe negotiates for his life and demands a path to Vorgossos. The homunculus reveals its skin-changing nature and hints at pilgrims seeking the Undying. Regaining control, Marlowe kills the Painted Man, seizes its gear, and escapes the tram-car into Rustam’s city.
Summary
Marlowe awakens paralyzed in a rocking “office” that he realizes is a private cable-car. The Painted Man lounges nearby, manipulating a wired terminal and toying with Marlowe’s sacred Maeskoloi sword. It proposes ransom, blames Marlowe for the rooftop carnage, and cruelly mimics Ghen’s face to unnerve him.
Pressed, the Painted Man admits it is a skin-changing homunculus and derides Imperial “pilgrims” who sought forbidden transformations from the Undying on Vorgossos. It denies knowing the location but betrays ties to that world. Marlowe keeps it talking as his palatine physiology overcomes the stun, and he confirms they are in transit.
As the tram rattles overhead, Marlowe distracts the homunculus with literary barbs, then hurls a dense meteor into its face, tangling it in its own wired terminal. He stomps its gun hand and, enraged at the theft of Ghen’s visage, smashes its head with a munitions chest, killing it.
Alone, Marlowe retrieves his sword, takes the Painted Man’s stunner and terminal, and attempts the sealed door. He cuts it open, revealing a bustling streetscape below midlevel billboards. Choosing flight over capture, he leaps from the moving pod into Rustam’s open air.
Who Appears
- Hadrian MarloweCaptured and paralyzed in a moving office pod; probes the Painted Man about Vorgossos; recovers, kills the homunculus, and escapes.
- The Painted ManSkin-changing homunculus captor; taunts with Ghen’s face, hints at Vorgossos and the Undying; slain by Marlowe.
- GhenDead comrade whose likeness the Painted Man assumes to torment Marlowe, intensifying his resolve.