It was once written that “every man is a king so long as he has someone to look down on”.
The rule of Lord Farquaad might therefore be characterized by a fervent desire to live up
to these words, only to come up short. For a time, the great castle at the center of his rule
towered over all, but the Lordship of Dulac never knew a true king.
At its height, Dulac was a realm that made great efforts to achieve perfection.
Driven by a severe inferiority complex, Lord Farquaad's rule over the realm was
characterized by overly aggressive and domineering behavior. At his command, Dulac became obsessed
with maintaining an immaculate appearance. Its houses and shops were flawlessly uniform
and symmetrical, while the trees surrounding them were clipped into more pleasing shapes.
At its center was Duloc Castle, which, disproportionately giant in height,
rose over the surrounding village. This was the residence of Lord Farquaad.
Callous, tyrannical, and obsessive in his desires, Farquaad ruled Dulac as its absolute monarch.
He carefully crafted a cult of personality, with his visage omnipresent across the whole of Dulac.
Farquaad was without exception, portrayed as almost god-like, and this perception
in the public consciousness was incessantly reinforced through propaganda and media exposure.
Murals, statues, mascots, and toys available at the local gift shop,
all made it impossible for the citizens of Dulac to go anywhere without feeling as
though Farquaad himself was watching them. Where his mere image failed,
a corps of ardent guards were on hand to enforce the will of their Lord.
Farquaad’s unsustainable quest for perfection led him to project his own insecurities onto his
subjects. Fairy tale creatures became convenient scapegoats, and Dulac began implementing a program
of forced displacement. With the promise of financial rewards, subjects considered “normal”
by the state were encouraged to turn in those who were not. Massive arrest sweeps were conducted
across the Lordship, with every magical being forced into designated resettlement facilities.
One such facility, located in a nearby swamp, would prove to be the impetus for Dulac’s
eventual downfall. The home of a terrifying and murderous Ogre, this monster, when roused from its
horrifying slumber, would hunt down Lord Farquaad. Princess Fiona, engaged to become Queen of Dulac
and seen by Lord Farquaad as the last obstacle on his path to perfection, would somehow be turned
into a similarly ferocious creature. Farquaad did not survive to see this transformation however,
as he was eaten alive by a dragon on what was supposed to be his wedding day.
The death of Farquaad ended the royal line and Dulac eventually fell into ruin.
Its citizens fled for the safety of neighboring kingdoms, while the city itself,
once the embodiment of order, was left as a rotting monument. It towers today
over fields of dead crops and sunflowers, a fitting gravestone for its last ruler.
For while Farquaad was devoted to becoming a king by looking down on everyone else, he
failed to consider another lesson of history: the years start coming, and they don’t stop coming.