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Delicious in Dungeon | An Excerpt From the Biography of the Devourer of All Things Horrible
Rating: G
Fandom: Delicious in Dungeon
Characters: Kabru, Laios Touden, Marcille Donato
Relationship: Kabru/Laios Touden
Words: 1,762
Content Warnings: Time period-appropriate sexism and homophobia, implied racism
Tropes: Unconventional Format
Summary: Some words from King Laios Touden's biography, regarding the debated existence of Kabru of Utaya.
This biography would be written in the far future. Loosely modern-ish day!
It is always difficult to ascertain information about years long past. Many times, it becomes quite impossible to form a clear picture of how certain things came about. It is doubtless that there are many individuals who once held great influence, and whose names are now lost to time. Discerning obscure fact from fiction is a particularly challenging task — which is why the topic of Kabru of Utaya must now be broached.
Utaya was a village located in the Western Continent which was destroyed by monsters some years ago, as-of the time of King Laios' inauguration. The death count was high, and the nature of the incident made it unlikely that there were any survivors. Indeed, nothing recorded in writing mentions survivors, instead merely listing a death count. However, there are a few records not directly on the incident itself which state that a person involved was the tragedy's sole survivor — Kabru, who is consistently stated, by sources which mention him, to have been a little boy at the time. Additionally, the man is always described as having very striking eyes, detailed by those who saw them as frightening or sharp.
The records recounting Kabru's presence, however, are limited. Limited even further are sources which describe him in relation to the Demon King Laios, and those which do exist, while consistent, have reasons for doubt to be cast upon them.
The records which currently exist paint a picture of a young man, well-liked by his peers in spite of his odd appearance, sometimes described as King Laios' right-hand man. One painting depicting negotiations between King Laios and the court of a neighboring continent, with a man standing next to him. This man is not named in descriptions of the painting, only ever briefly described as "[King Laios'] favorite", on the back of a photograph of the painting. The man depicted in the painting matches the description of the supposed lone survivor of Utaya — pictured with dark skin, thick lashes, and deep blue eyes. Transcripts of certain public meetings rather infamously mention an advisor to the king who remained nameless. Who this advisor was exactly was known to everyone involved at the time, so the transcriber likely deemed it unnecessary to specify, leaving things much more difficult for us in the modern day. However, some believe that this Kabru of Utaya may be said unnamed advisor.
So, the question is posed: why is his name not taught to and known by the general public? As previously stated, there are many reasons that some scholars consider this character to be that of fiction, or misinformation. For example, there exist other paintings of meetings conducted by the Demon King, however, none except the one depict the man aforementioned. Most surviving written mentions of one by the name Kabru are from shortly before King Laios' reign, with no relation stated. Most damningly, the majority of texts that do mention Kabru in relation to the king were written by long-lived races, such as elves and dwarves, many years after the fact. Though these are, in some words, firsthand accounts, it is impossible to not be suspicious when there are no known surviving texts from the time he would supposedly be alive.
A popular theory is that Kabru is an entirely fictional scapegoat, invented by those with incentive to redirect any criticism regarding King Laios' policies. Indeed, many individuals who were most vocal about their supposed first-hand experience with Kabru were also those who were personally close to the king. Others argue that this is all the more reason to believe that they would be telling the truth — if they were close to the king, they would of course have experience interacting with his advisor.
There have been many efforts to prove the existence of Kabru of Utaya — mainly by those long-lived individuals and their descendants. Many pointed to the fact that paintings from this era, especially of the royal court, were often subject to vandalism, with certain details or figures rubbed out. There are even more paintings with evidence of being painted over. Additionally, many of King Laios' surviving letters to others seem to have text redacted, with all of the original letters burned by the courts after his death. This action left those with a more conspiratorial streak to question the reason for this. There were claims to protect his privacy postmortem, but many — even many at the time, according to paleographers specializing in this period — did not see the point in this, due to the fact that the Demon King Laios notoriously did not ever have a woman on his arm, nor did he often write to others to discuss sensitive political matters. It seemed to many as if this was an attempt to uphold the king's reputation, though not a one could tell the reason.
The most notable of those whom claimed to know Kabru firsthand was the Royal Magic Advisor during King Laios' reign. We already have discussed her at length — her name being Marcille Donato. She was rather infamous in her later years for sending letters to those who wrote of the Melini court during King Laios' era. She was passionate about the way in which her friends were discussed, which, in many's eyes, was a noble cause; regardless of how troublesome she may have been to the authors of her time.
Some believe the elf to have suffered from hysteria after her time in the court, but more modern scholars tend to believe that her high-strung and attention-oriented attitude were a part of her lifelong personality, as more information regarding her childhood is uncovered. Hysteria would, indeed, explain why she would be so fervent on insisting such a man was real, if he was not. She was very close to the king during his lifetime, which even sparked rumors of a secret love affair which she, herself, adamantly denied during her lifetime. This gave her the incentive to push a fictional scapegoat, like many suspect this story to be.
According to Marcille Donato's description, Kabru of Utaya was a people person by nature, charming and intelligent, though helpless when it came to monsters. He was supposedly King Laios' confidante, and was often a guiding force with regards to political matters, as well as explaining matters of expectations and communication when needed. They were also very close to each other outside of their work, and Marcille even goes as far as to name a specific room, near where King Laios slept, in the castle as the one which Kabru stayed in.
To some, this description only strengthened their doubts in this character's authenticity. Not only did framing Kabru as being a power behind the throne line up with the popular theory that he was set up as a scapegoat, but many found his description too on-the-nose. King Laios, the Devourer of All Things Horrible, was extremely well-known for being far more interested in the subject of monsters, while being rather disliked by people around him. This 'Kabru' read to some as an attempted fictional inversion of these traits.
Shortly before her death, Marcille Donato wrote and published a paper regarding her final stance on the matter of common misconceptions regarding the court, King Laios, and other, similar topics. This lengthy letter is a firsthand source which many historians still look back on and reference to this day, due to its thorough documentation about things that may have been lost to time otherwise — most modern information about King Laios' sister, Falin Touden, can be traced back to this letter in particular.
The section regarding Kabru of Utaya reads as follows:
"I think the most surprising part of all of this is the fact that many people who were once my friends have now been rendered to non-entities, to the point many people have the gall to call me crazy! This was once a problem with regards to Chilchuck Tims, but that has thankfully been settled. But, for some reason, it seems you lot are really persistent that Kabru in particular is fictional!
To see him delegated to myth is a shame. He was one of the instrumental people in the court of Melini, and was perhaps one of the people with the most direct impact on history. But I saw this coming long ago. Kabru confided in me that he only acted like he was alright with it when requests to leave him out of paintings were made. Much like everything else he did, it was to be agreeable. However, he said — and I believe he was right in saying this — that he was being labeled as an outsider due to his appearance, and so was being excluded from narratives about Melini.
On top of that, and I struggle with how to say this — I feel as if Kabru's friendship with King Laios ruffled the feathers of many in the court at the time. They were very close, and the folk there didn't know what to do with that. They found it easier to attempt to hide it, in part due to their own discomfort, and in part to attempt to preserve the way Laios is seen by the public. I know exactly which letters they burned for this reason, and exactly what information was redacted in public releases of those letters.
I do not feel like it is my place to talk about such challenging topics postmortem. There were certain steps that were taken which were requests from the mouths of Laios and Kabru themselves. I did my best to convince them otherwise, at the time, because I did not wish for their relationship to disappear from the history books altogether, but they had their reasons, and I trust that they considered my warnings. The court was, despite people speculating otherwise, actually acting on Laios' direct orders by burning certain items and records, and they also disposed of many items of Kabru's at his request. The information should not have been a scandal, but, had it became public, it very much would have been, with no doubt. It is for this reason that I will not be sharing why I believe that Kabru was purposefully not recorded with any particular closeness. No matter how displeased I am with my friends' decision, I will respect it.
Instead, I will say this: it is no accident that so few texts proving Kabru of Utaya's existence were preserved. History does not remember that which it does not value."
From this point on in the letter, she returned to talking about her best friend, Falin Touden.
Fandom: Delicious in Dungeon
Characters: Kabru, Laios Touden, Marcille Donato
Relationship: Kabru/Laios Touden
Words: 1,762
Content Warnings: Time period-appropriate sexism and homophobia, implied racism
Tropes: Unconventional Format
Summary: Some words from King Laios Touden's biography, regarding the debated existence of Kabru of Utaya.
This biography would be written in the far future. Loosely modern-ish day!
It is always difficult to ascertain information about years long past. Many times, it becomes quite impossible to form a clear picture of how certain things came about. It is doubtless that there are many individuals who once held great influence, and whose names are now lost to time. Discerning obscure fact from fiction is a particularly challenging task — which is why the topic of Kabru of Utaya must now be broached.
Utaya was a village located in the Western Continent which was destroyed by monsters some years ago, as-of the time of King Laios' inauguration. The death count was high, and the nature of the incident made it unlikely that there were any survivors. Indeed, nothing recorded in writing mentions survivors, instead merely listing a death count. However, there are a few records not directly on the incident itself which state that a person involved was the tragedy's sole survivor — Kabru, who is consistently stated, by sources which mention him, to have been a little boy at the time. Additionally, the man is always described as having very striking eyes, detailed by those who saw them as frightening or sharp.
The records recounting Kabru's presence, however, are limited. Limited even further are sources which describe him in relation to the Demon King Laios, and those which do exist, while consistent, have reasons for doubt to be cast upon them.
The records which currently exist paint a picture of a young man, well-liked by his peers in spite of his odd appearance, sometimes described as King Laios' right-hand man. One painting depicting negotiations between King Laios and the court of a neighboring continent, with a man standing next to him. This man is not named in descriptions of the painting, only ever briefly described as "[King Laios'] favorite", on the back of a photograph of the painting. The man depicted in the painting matches the description of the supposed lone survivor of Utaya — pictured with dark skin, thick lashes, and deep blue eyes. Transcripts of certain public meetings rather infamously mention an advisor to the king who remained nameless. Who this advisor was exactly was known to everyone involved at the time, so the transcriber likely deemed it unnecessary to specify, leaving things much more difficult for us in the modern day. However, some believe that this Kabru of Utaya may be said unnamed advisor.
So, the question is posed: why is his name not taught to and known by the general public? As previously stated, there are many reasons that some scholars consider this character to be that of fiction, or misinformation. For example, there exist other paintings of meetings conducted by the Demon King, however, none except the one depict the man aforementioned. Most surviving written mentions of one by the name Kabru are from shortly before King Laios' reign, with no relation stated. Most damningly, the majority of texts that do mention Kabru in relation to the king were written by long-lived races, such as elves and dwarves, many years after the fact. Though these are, in some words, firsthand accounts, it is impossible to not be suspicious when there are no known surviving texts from the time he would supposedly be alive.
A popular theory is that Kabru is an entirely fictional scapegoat, invented by those with incentive to redirect any criticism regarding King Laios' policies. Indeed, many individuals who were most vocal about their supposed first-hand experience with Kabru were also those who were personally close to the king. Others argue that this is all the more reason to believe that they would be telling the truth — if they were close to the king, they would of course have experience interacting with his advisor.
There have been many efforts to prove the existence of Kabru of Utaya — mainly by those long-lived individuals and their descendants. Many pointed to the fact that paintings from this era, especially of the royal court, were often subject to vandalism, with certain details or figures rubbed out. There are even more paintings with evidence of being painted over. Additionally, many of King Laios' surviving letters to others seem to have text redacted, with all of the original letters burned by the courts after his death. This action left those with a more conspiratorial streak to question the reason for this. There were claims to protect his privacy postmortem, but many — even many at the time, according to paleographers specializing in this period — did not see the point in this, due to the fact that the Demon King Laios notoriously did not ever have a woman on his arm, nor did he often write to others to discuss sensitive political matters. It seemed to many as if this was an attempt to uphold the king's reputation, though not a one could tell the reason.
The most notable of those whom claimed to know Kabru firsthand was the Royal Magic Advisor during King Laios' reign. We already have discussed her at length — her name being Marcille Donato. She was rather infamous in her later years for sending letters to those who wrote of the Melini court during King Laios' era. She was passionate about the way in which her friends were discussed, which, in many's eyes, was a noble cause; regardless of how troublesome she may have been to the authors of her time.
Some believe the elf to have suffered from hysteria after her time in the court, but more modern scholars tend to believe that her high-strung and attention-oriented attitude were a part of her lifelong personality, as more information regarding her childhood is uncovered. Hysteria would, indeed, explain why she would be so fervent on insisting such a man was real, if he was not. She was very close to the king during his lifetime, which even sparked rumors of a secret love affair which she, herself, adamantly denied during her lifetime. This gave her the incentive to push a fictional scapegoat, like many suspect this story to be.
According to Marcille Donato's description, Kabru of Utaya was a people person by nature, charming and intelligent, though helpless when it came to monsters. He was supposedly King Laios' confidante, and was often a guiding force with regards to political matters, as well as explaining matters of expectations and communication when needed. They were also very close to each other outside of their work, and Marcille even goes as far as to name a specific room, near where King Laios slept, in the castle as the one which Kabru stayed in.
To some, this description only strengthened their doubts in this character's authenticity. Not only did framing Kabru as being a power behind the throne line up with the popular theory that he was set up as a scapegoat, but many found his description too on-the-nose. King Laios, the Devourer of All Things Horrible, was extremely well-known for being far more interested in the subject of monsters, while being rather disliked by people around him. This 'Kabru' read to some as an attempted fictional inversion of these traits.
Shortly before her death, Marcille Donato wrote and published a paper regarding her final stance on the matter of common misconceptions regarding the court, King Laios, and other, similar topics. This lengthy letter is a firsthand source which many historians still look back on and reference to this day, due to its thorough documentation about things that may have been lost to time otherwise — most modern information about King Laios' sister, Falin Touden, can be traced back to this letter in particular.
The section regarding Kabru of Utaya reads as follows:
"I think the most surprising part of all of this is the fact that many people who were once my friends have now been rendered to non-entities, to the point many people have the gall to call me crazy! This was once a problem with regards to Chilchuck Tims, but that has thankfully been settled. But, for some reason, it seems you lot are really persistent that Kabru in particular is fictional!
To see him delegated to myth is a shame. He was one of the instrumental people in the court of Melini, and was perhaps one of the people with the most direct impact on history. But I saw this coming long ago. Kabru confided in me that he only acted like he was alright with it when requests to leave him out of paintings were made. Much like everything else he did, it was to be agreeable. However, he said — and I believe he was right in saying this — that he was being labeled as an outsider due to his appearance, and so was being excluded from narratives about Melini.
On top of that, and I struggle with how to say this — I feel as if Kabru's friendship with King Laios ruffled the feathers of many in the court at the time. They were very close, and the folk there didn't know what to do with that. They found it easier to attempt to hide it, in part due to their own discomfort, and in part to attempt to preserve the way Laios is seen by the public. I know exactly which letters they burned for this reason, and exactly what information was redacted in public releases of those letters.
I do not feel like it is my place to talk about such challenging topics postmortem. There were certain steps that were taken which were requests from the mouths of Laios and Kabru themselves. I did my best to convince them otherwise, at the time, because I did not wish for their relationship to disappear from the history books altogether, but they had their reasons, and I trust that they considered my warnings. The court was, despite people speculating otherwise, actually acting on Laios' direct orders by burning certain items and records, and they also disposed of many items of Kabru's at his request. The information should not have been a scandal, but, had it became public, it very much would have been, with no doubt. It is for this reason that I will not be sharing why I believe that Kabru was purposefully not recorded with any particular closeness. No matter how displeased I am with my friends' decision, I will respect it.
Instead, I will say this: it is no accident that so few texts proving Kabru of Utaya's existence were preserved. History does not remember that which it does not value."
From this point on in the letter, she returned to talking about her best friend, Falin Touden.