LIFE IN THE FAIRY KINGDOM
FNN do a books review programme once a week but it is put on in the graveyard slot. Roherum doesn’t host it but one of the minor elf nobles does. Nobody but nobody wants Roherum giving judgement on books. It is felt nobody watching would ever be able to keep a straight face on seeing the avuncular goblin punch above his weight. It is widely rumoured he only reads things with pictures in it. Roherum was affronted by this until the Queen intervened and said she felt he shouldn’t “do” books either as she felt “do” would be the most appropriate word and that the goblin should stick to what he does best - being charming and reading the news. Roherum is still trying to work out whether she was being insulting or complimentary.
Bookbinding and printing is carried out by the elvish families, who see this as their responsibility. They after all also contribute to literature with their sagas. (So do the dwarves but the elves won’t acknowledge that. Mind to be fair that is also true the other way round). All books are produced in leather and all titles are embossed with gold, silver or bronze lettering. Anything else is considered to look cheap. The Queen is given a first edition of every book produced (whether she wants it or not but then she’s the equivalent of the British Library for the Fairy Kingdom). Naturally the less pleasant aspects of leather production (tanning, mainly) are done by magic rather than the nasty way humans do it (though a lot of the elves do acknowledge the manual way of production does have its own merits and is superior to the magically produced kind). Elves generally acknowledge manual methods of craftsmanship as superior, which is more than the rest of the Kingdom does.
L’Evallier has the finest collection of fairy tales and spell books outside of the royal collection. The late, unlamented Brankaresh did try to get access to it but no elf will show any family treasure to any creature not an elf. Even the Queen has to apply in writing to ask permission which is given. And before you ask, there would be riots if she didn’t. Polite, hardworking elves rioting hardly sounds a threat but they have more powers than a lot of the wizards and are the one group neither the Queen nor Witch will upset if they can avoid it. Brankaresh knew better than to ask again and tried to make up any offence caused to L’Evallier. The Chief Elf seemingly accepted this but privately his suspicion of the Chief Wizard began from this. Sadly he was proven right.
Rodish, the late and much missed Chief Dwarf, was famed for his honour and courage. He was also a good constituency Council representative (roughly equivalent to an MP). He had an ancient manor house, mainly to make his guests welcome as most of them (elves, fairies and the like) would not be comfortable in a mine, though at the back of the ancestral home, Rodish did have a huge cave of his own. Whenever he felt the call of his species telling him to go and mine, that’s exactly what he did. He was a mean thrower of the pickaxe too and though he didn’t survive the battle with the Witch, he took out a number of her cronies on his own, much to her annoyance (and to a certain extent admiration as she does have a soft spot for bravery as, indeed, does Eileen).
Bookbinding and printing is carried out by the elvish families, who see this as their responsibility. They after all also contribute to literature with their sagas. (So do the dwarves but the elves won’t acknowledge that. Mind to be fair that is also true the other way round). All books are produced in leather and all titles are embossed with gold, silver or bronze lettering. Anything else is considered to look cheap. The Queen is given a first edition of every book produced (whether she wants it or not but then she’s the equivalent of the British Library for the Fairy Kingdom). Naturally the less pleasant aspects of leather production (tanning, mainly) are done by magic rather than the nasty way humans do it (though a lot of the elves do acknowledge the manual way of production does have its own merits and is superior to the magically produced kind). Elves generally acknowledge manual methods of craftsmanship as superior, which is more than the rest of the Kingdom does.
L’Evallier has the finest collection of fairy tales and spell books outside of the royal collection. The late, unlamented Brankaresh did try to get access to it but no elf will show any family treasure to any creature not an elf. Even the Queen has to apply in writing to ask permission which is given. And before you ask, there would be riots if she didn’t. Polite, hardworking elves rioting hardly sounds a threat but they have more powers than a lot of the wizards and are the one group neither the Queen nor Witch will upset if they can avoid it. Brankaresh knew better than to ask again and tried to make up any offence caused to L’Evallier. The Chief Elf seemingly accepted this but privately his suspicion of the Chief Wizard began from this. Sadly he was proven right.
Rodish, the late and much missed Chief Dwarf, was famed for his honour and courage. He was also a good constituency Council representative (roughly equivalent to an MP). He had an ancient manor house, mainly to make his guests welcome as most of them (elves, fairies and the like) would not be comfortable in a mine, though at the back of the ancestral home, Rodish did have a huge cave of his own. Whenever he felt the call of his species telling him to go and mine, that’s exactly what he did. He was a mean thrower of the pickaxe too and though he didn’t survive the battle with the Witch, he took out a number of her cronies on his own, much to her annoyance (and to a certain extent admiration as she does have a soft spot for bravery as, indeed, does Eileen).
