King Dramm is myopic, obese, and afflicted with dipsomania, gout, dropsy, and type 2 diabetes, the kind they were never able to cure. No one ever expected this third son of the warlike King Barderburr to wear the crown, but after his brothers died in the Tartaran wars and the old king dropped dead in shock, the laws of inheritance did their grim work. Heir to the bankrupt Ibian throne, Dramm has done his best -- given his utter lack of qualifications -- to maintain a semblance of order. His best, however, is totally inadequate to the task, and so he drowns his sorrows in food and drink.