LIFE IN THE FAIRY KINGDOM
The squad have been given a big area of the Palace grounds in which to practice their manoeuvres, away from the main parklands where Palace employees and the royals enjoy the perks of working there. The squad are allowed to practice a wide range of spells, including different detonations so everybody else has no trouble in keeping away from them. The squad are not allowed to work near the orchards, the Queen’s personal garden, the roses and the giant flower gardens, the Fountain of Youth and the lake that feeds it as these are considered the Palace’s major features. Nobody is allowed to interfere with these. In fairness, the squad has no wish to do so and are glad to keep away. It is easier to get on with the task in hand without knowing the public are gazing at you.
The Chief Wizard has a set of work rooms in the Palace which has to be available for inspection at any time by the Queen and her Council. This requirement is recent and was brought in after Brankaresh’s treachery. The work rooms are in the lower two tiers of the Palace, well away from the middle tier which is where the business of government is carried out. The Queen takes the view if a spell is going to go wrong, it can do so well away from her! There are protection spells on her rooms, the State Dining Room and the Council members’ offices so even if a Chief Wizard does do something disastrous these rooms are likely to be able to salvaged even if the rest of the Palace falls down.
The Queen holds parties for her staff regularly - Christmas, Easter, a summer do and an autumn feast (roughly equal to our harvest). Good food, music and dancing is expected from everybody. FNN would love to film these but extra strong protection spells are put on the Palace to stop them getting sneak filming in (and they would if they could). Eileen used to like attending these parties to the Queen’s chagrin as Eileen got out as many of the “official” parties the monarch holds for the nobility and any visiting dignitaries from planets the Kingdom is friendly with as the godmother felt she could decently get away with. The Household appreciates their parties and privately the Queen prefers them too as they are more informal and fun but she cannot say so.
The Household have staggered meal times to lessen the pressure on the kitchen staff and to ensure there are enough seats in the State Dining Room. In the finer seasons, picnics are available for people to collect and take out into the parklands and royal orchards. Staff are allowed to help themselves to the fruit here but they can only take what they’re prepared to eat there and then. Only the kitchen and/or gardening staff are allowed to gather the fruit in bigger quantities to make jams and other products with them. This is generally honoured though Wes and Stan on first going to the Palace did try it only to find the trees repel them forcibly. They didn’t try it again. There’s some limit to sprite stupidity.
The Chief Wizard has a set of work rooms in the Palace which has to be available for inspection at any time by the Queen and her Council. This requirement is recent and was brought in after Brankaresh’s treachery. The work rooms are in the lower two tiers of the Palace, well away from the middle tier which is where the business of government is carried out. The Queen takes the view if a spell is going to go wrong, it can do so well away from her! There are protection spells on her rooms, the State Dining Room and the Council members’ offices so even if a Chief Wizard does do something disastrous these rooms are likely to be able to salvaged even if the rest of the Palace falls down.
The Queen holds parties for her staff regularly - Christmas, Easter, a summer do and an autumn feast (roughly equal to our harvest). Good food, music and dancing is expected from everybody. FNN would love to film these but extra strong protection spells are put on the Palace to stop them getting sneak filming in (and they would if they could). Eileen used to like attending these parties to the Queen’s chagrin as Eileen got out as many of the “official” parties the monarch holds for the nobility and any visiting dignitaries from planets the Kingdom is friendly with as the godmother felt she could decently get away with. The Household appreciates their parties and privately the Queen prefers them too as they are more informal and fun but she cannot say so.
The Household have staggered meal times to lessen the pressure on the kitchen staff and to ensure there are enough seats in the State Dining Room. In the finer seasons, picnics are available for people to collect and take out into the parklands and royal orchards. Staff are allowed to help themselves to the fruit here but they can only take what they’re prepared to eat there and then. Only the kitchen and/or gardening staff are allowed to gather the fruit in bigger quantities to make jams and other products with them. This is generally honoured though Wes and Stan on first going to the Palace did try it only to find the trees repel them forcibly. They didn’t try it again. There’s some limit to sprite stupidity.
