Maben
| Maben | |
|---|---|
| Profession | Maid |
| Groups | Diagram |
| Residence | Urithiru |
| Nationality | Kharbranthian |
| Homeworld | Roshar |
| Universe | Cosmere |
“Too often, those who write history focus on the generals and the scholars, to the detriment of the quiet workers who see everything done.”
—Taravangian, on Maben's role in the Diagram[1]
Maben is a chambermaid on King Taravangian's staff.[2]
Appearance and Personality[edit]
Maben is short and particularly trustworthy.[1] She is aware of Taravangian's boon and curse from the Nightwatcher[2] and is sympathetic to his condition and his age. She tries to help him stay healthy in any way possible, bringing him nutritious meals and checking for signs of illness.[2][3] On days when Taravangian is intelligent but lacks compassion, Maben does not take his insults and dismissals personally.[4]
Duties[edit]
Taravangian employs a number of maids, but Maben directly attends to him and his living quarters[2] and is also referred to as his "room servant".[5] Maben cleans Taravangian's bedroom[6] and brings him food and drinks.[2][3] She also performs any other miscellaneous tasks that he spontaneously assigns to her.[6] Due to the nature of her duties, she is commonly present during meetings of high-ranking members of the Diagram, and they do not hold their tongues around her.[3] She is presumably Taravangian's most trusted house servant, and commands at least a modicum of respect, as she is bold enough to contradict Mrall.[2]
History[edit]
Maben accompanied Taravangian on a trip to the ruined city of Vedenar at the end of the Veden civil war. She attempted to serve Taravangian breakfast on his ship, but was stopped by Mrall, who wanted to immediately administer the king's daily intelligence test. She protested, but was overruled by the king, and set out the meal after the testing was complete.[2]
She was present in Urithiru with Taravangian and was charged with cleaning his quarters there. During one of Taravangian's highly intelligent days, he somewhat manically forced Maben to stop cleaning and go measure a potential gardening space outside of his balcony.[6] Maben later tried to serve Taravangian food, but he was poring over the Diagram and became annoyed by her interruption, calling her an idiot.[6] Maben disregarded his anger, leading Taravangian to ask Mrall if executing her was an option, which Mrall denied.[6]
She continued to attend to Taravangian in Urithiru. Other members of the Diagram such as Adrotagia, Malata, and Dukar usually ignored her presence at their meetings.[3][5]
At the last meeting before the Diagram was disbanded, Maben gave Taravangian a gift containing some of his favorite jams from Shinovar. He acknowledged the work that she had done for him, saying that the Diagram could not have succeeded without people like Maben.[1]