Marlon Styx is a very confused spy.
Appearance[edit | edit source]
Marlon Styx is a stern and pious looking bald man, suitable to be cast as a monk in an adaptation of The Name of the Rose.[1]
When he attends the masquerade on the Isle of the Broken Key, he wears a peach cloak, a black turtleneck, bright red pants, and a red oval full-face mask. Austin took heavy inspiration from 1967 British TV miniseries The Prisoner for this, in particular the very similar outfit worn by Number Nine in the first episode of the series.[2]
History and Involvement[edit | edit source]
Originally assigned by the BIS to infiltrate the Isle of the Broken Key, he finds himself swayed by the Dim Liturgy's holy texts, which consist of the remaining predictions of Crystal Palace. One of these predictions apparently foretold his own "crosswise" allegiances. He is drawn between the two sides, and either a double or triple agent at this point.[1]
He manages to get into the masquerade party in "The Canvas of Dreams" and attaches himself to Phrygian, whose presence and outfit was also foretold by the texts of the Dim Liturgy.[2]
He later re-encounters, and is arrested by, Brnine and Phrygian in the Dim Liturgy's primary monastery on the Isle of the Broken Key.[3] By this point, he is fully bought into the Dim Liturgy; when he's interrogated aboard the Blue Channel, he asks that they either let him go back to the monastery or keep him on the ship indefinitely. He wants to study the Glass Archive and emphatically does not want to go back to the Paint Shop (not that there's any chance the Paint Shop would take him back).[4]
Relationships[edit | edit source]
Phrygian[edit | edit source]
He genuinely thinks Phrygian is his friend.[4]