Chelagu Bokok

Chelagu Bokok
Living King
In office 18-12 291 TT – 19-5 287 TT
Preceded by	Gutakut Lakar
Succeeded by	Jamai Dar
Personal details
Born	4-6 358 TT Bosken, Kingdom of Akaria
Died	19-5 287 TT Ablesken, Kingdom of Akaria
Nationality	Akarian
Parent(s)	Kutui Banokan Bukurnavok Bokok

Chelagu Bokok, also known as Chelagu the Immense, was the 50th living king of Akaria, ruling for only 4 years.

Biography

Early life

Chelagu Bokok was born on 4-6 358 TT in Bosken, Kingdom of Akaria as the first grandson of of 48th living king Horkoch Banokan. Oral and written history attest that Chelagu's birth was received coldly by his grandfather, whom when told that his grandson was born had only said; "alright then". It is commonly attested that Horkoch only begrudgingly agreed to the marriage of his daughter Kutui to Bukurnavok Bokok out of political necessity, as Bukurnavok was the son of Horkoch's childhood bully Navabukur Bokok.

As a child Chelagu was said to have had a large appetite, supposedly draining his mother and wet-nurses to a deflated state, eating dozens of whole roasted birds at meals and depleting orchards to the point where he would eat the bark and leaves as well. These legends are likely rumours spread by his grandfather, who would go on to popularize his moniker as 'the immense'. Despite this, Chelagu is now generally thought to have been of fairly normal size until around 340 TT, where accounts begin to appear of commentators claiming he was "big enough to eat his cousin" Chalata.

Horkoch is known to have been cruel to Chelagu, regularly speaking ill of his parents' paring, mocking the child's appearance and intelligence both in private and openly towards him, forcing him to sleep in a pit in the garden whenever visiting the palace, and supposedly appointing him to the novel role of 'Leader of the Living Pest Control Division'. The role entailed that whenever Chelagu was present at the Living King's palace he was made to patrol the halls at night in search of rats and mice and made to beat them to death with his bare hands. This task was enforced by armed guards to ensure he did as such exactly for the entire night, though these accounts are apocryphal.

Chelagu had a varied education, being given tutelage by a variety of scholars, diplomats and warriors especially, being variously transferred to the Dar and Deram for military training and education, where he reportedly did well. In academic topics, he was said to be of average intelligence, although Horkoch would claim he was still illiterate by his twenties and unable to accomplish basic arithmetic.

Adulthood

Kara Deram claimed Chelagu became an adult before the generally accepted age of 20 while under his tutorship. Kara claimed he 'committed his first act of manhood' at the age of 17 by showing no remorse after crushing a Mikare boy to death. Chelagu had an uneventful adulthood, where he was variously appointed to minor military and beuracratic positions variously by the Leader of the Bokok and Lving King, often separately and within short time of each other. His frequent changes in positions as well as his relatively late marriage is sometimes attributed to the personal meddling of his grandfather Horkoch. Chelagu was married to an as of yet unknown drike lady in 328 TT, having his first and only son Phoilakui Bokok in 324 TT and daughter Rakulei in 321 TT. Chelagu is said to have been a detached and apathetic father, being neither especially cruel or doting to his children and spending very little time with them, although they were also reportedly 'well fed'. He arranged the marriage of his daughter Rakulei to Lodakot Lakar in 305 TT after struggling to find her a husband due to her 'amorphousness'. According to rumour the bride price paid by the Lakar was 2 personal chefs and 5 farms and orchards to be personally owned by him.

Upon the death of Horkoch Banokan in 316 TT Chelagu was said to have been "far from mournful, but not celebratory" and was part of the contingent of drike members to support the election of Gutakut Lakar to living king, who was also the grandfather of his son in law. Chelagu was then given the position as Captain of the Living King's Guard of which he would remain in the position until Gutakut's death in 291 TT. Chelagu was reported to have been a decent guard captain, securing the guards competent trainers and appointing leadership roles adequately, although being neglectful towards the matters of their lodging and feeding, supposedly spending 80 percent of the guards' food budget on his own meals. By 300 TT Chelagu is claimed to have been 'as large as two yaks', being unable to fit through a majority of door frames, requiring custom made chairs and robes, and spending large amounts of money on expanding the rooms and doorframes of his personal properties. It was at this point that Chelagu's personal farms, orchards and bakeries were of especially high quality, however had a small commercial output as the majority of produce went to his personal kitchens.

31st Living Election, tenure as Living King

Chelagu's first cousin once removed and Living King, Gutakut Lakar died on 20-11 291 TT, triggering the 31st Living Election. At the point of Gutakut's death, very few drike members were considered trustworthy or competent enough to take up the role as Living King, hence Chelagu as a close friend and advisor to Gutakut, was considered worthy due to his experience and closeness to him, although this was opposed by the Banokan, who deemed him unfit to lead. Chelagu was elected Living King on 18-12 291 TT. Chelagu's 1st dictat was issued on 20-12 291, ordering the expansion of the Living King's Palace alongside repairs and renovations aimed at eliminating the incursion of pests. Chelagu's reign was peaceful, being characterised by only minor violent disputes between the drikes that were ended fairly shortly. Chelagu was fairly inactive as Living King, approving of many budget allocations, reallocations, cuts and increases with very little dispute and held cordial relations with all drikes besides the Banokan. He held no tours of the Living Kingdom or of the Bokok Drike and was known for speaking and socialising little.

Death

Chelagu's health had been quite puzzling to Akarian physicians for much of his life, as despite his large size and consequential issues with speech and mobility, he showed no signs of heart issues, blood pressure problems or issues with metabolism, and was supposedly capable of completing fairly hard feats of strength, and supposedly speed, without much issue. It was only in 290 that Chelagu would expand his retinue of Living Physicians from 1 to 4. It was at this time that Chelagu began sweating profusely, and would produce a notably foul odour. Alongside his personal physicians, Chelagu held a staff of 6 servants dedicated to maintaining his hygiene, regularly bathing him and attending to him in the lavatory. In 289 TT Chelagu's health began to rapidly deteriorate. His physicians perscribed him a routine of 10 baths a day with a vast quantity of medicinal balms and creams, as well as a strict diet that rendered the vast majority of the Living Pantry redundant. A Weer surgeon remarked that he "showed no signs of pain or bleeding upon being pricked" and that "he makes a multitude of sounds, however very few are spoken words". Chelagu Bokok died on 19-5 287 TT at the age of 70 while part way through one of his regular baths. One witness had claimed to the press that "I had raised a portion of him for scrubbing when he made a great bellow and stiffened like rock before collapsing into the bath". The event killed 1 of his 6 bathing attendants and injured 3, also injuring an advisor that was delivering a monthly report, incurring two months of necessary repairs to the palace. His autopsy took 3 days to complete, and his drummification took several months, creating a drum with a 5 metre diameter and 1.3 metre height. The sound of the drum is said to "shake the ground" and "make the very soul quiver" and has it's own dedicated room in the Great Bokok Palace in Bosken.

His death triggered the 32nd Living Election, wherein his second cousin Jamai Dar was elected.