Template:Facility-Current The Fountain Palace is the primary Royal Hapan Palace, located in the center of Chume'Dan on Hapes Prime. It was the Royal Residence from 2020 to 3946 and again from 4034 to present day. It was used as the Royal Palace of the Sword Confederacy from 3936 to 3996 during the Hapan Civil War. Following the end of the war, the palace compound was so badly damaged from multiple bombardments and assaults it had sustained that it took decades to finally restore it to its former glory. The newly renovated palace was unveiled and presented to King James on his birthday in 4034.
History
Construction
The Fountain Palace was constructed at the dawn of the Second Antiquity Era when the Hapes Consortium and especially Hapes Prime enjoyed an influx in wealth and authority following its successful expansion and settlement of more systems of the Hapes Cluster in the Second Expansion Era which ended some years earlier. Queen-Mother Dal'kuran I, the first in a dynasty that would rule for 800 years, celebrated this newfound wealth be ordering the construction of a new Royal residence in the center of Ta'a Chume'Dan as a symbol of the power and unlimited resources of the Hapan crown. This era was also marked as further expansion and solidifying of Hapan culture and the new Royal Hapan Palace became the crowning achievement of her rule.
Dahalia Qeen was the chief architect of the project and was given free reins to make the palace and its surrounding compound as majestic as possible. The Olanji Mining Guild provided the bulk of the raw materials required for the construction and architects, landscape architects and construction workers kept at the project for close to ten years before its final unveiling in 2020.
Wonder of the Consortium
The Fountain Palace would serve as the primary Royal residence for the rest of the Age of Queen-Mothers, some 1900 years. It was considered one of the Wonders of the Hapes Consortium, the very symbol of Hapan culture and the power of the Hapan throne. Aside from serving as a home to the Royal Family, its handmaidens, staff and Royal Guard, parts of the compound were also devoted to government business. The Queen-Mother would continue to meet with the Hapan nobility and government officials until Lorell Hall was completed in 2449.
Hapan Civil War
When the Hapan Civil War broke out, Princess Ta'lan and her supporters managed to maintain control of the Hapan system. As a reaction in to the aggression of the Draconian Union, the Sword Confederacy was founded on Hapes Prime and based in the Fountain Palace. However, control of Hapes Prime was always the goal of the Draconian Union which attacked the system on multiple occasions over the fifty year long conflict. While no Draconian assault ever succeeded in swaying Sword control of the planet, they did manage to dig in and fortify some positions for short periods of time. As a reaction to the Sword bombardment of the Draconian world Belgor, the Draconians launched a massive attack on the Hapan system in 3978. Terephon was bombarded from orbit until all cities had been obliterated and Hapes Prime was subjected to multiple bombing runs. Druui Assault Bombers inflected serious damage to Ta'a Chume'Dan and the Fountain Palace in particular. The north tower collapsed in to the gardens, the central dome was severely shattered and numerous of its defensive facilities were obliterated. Half of the Palace staff were killed in the attack, along with a few lower members of the Hapan nobility.
Following this attack, the Sword Confederacy leadership restricted their use of the Fountain Palace to the sub-terrain levels until the end of the war. Andrew Starfyre, the leader of the Phoenix Movement made numerous speeches in front of the ruins of the Fountain Palace from 3996 until his coronation in 4000. Even so, with the reunified Hapes Consortium in financial ruin, restoration of the compound was seen as too costly and it was abandoned with the King moving in to the old Royal Palace, the Castle of Per'Agthra instead.
Restoration Project
Some years in to the reign of King James, the Ministry of Culture received approval to use a substantial sum on the restoration of the old Royal Palace compound. Over the years that followed, countless credits were spent on everything from the basic raw materials needed to reconstruct portions of the palace, extravagant flora and exotic fauna to complete the gardens, as well as on millions of tons of valuable gems like berubian, vertex and lowickan for external friezes and internal decoration. The reconstruction of the central dome in Ice Moon material was said to have cost the annual tax income from Terephon alone. The renovated Fountain Palace was unveiled and opened for the Royal Family on the birthday of King James in 4034.
Present Day
Since its restoration, the Fountain Palace has housed the King and Queen, and also their newborn son Orion. Numerous balls, dinners and ceremonies have been held in the Palace since its reopening and it has also housed foreign dignitaries as the Consortium has assumed a more active role in galactic affairs.
Design
Central Palace Complex
The Central Dome - The heart of the Fountain Palace. Contains:
- The Throne Room - The most majestic room within the Fountain Palace, has the thrones of the King, Queen and Lord Regent.
- Chume Dining Hall - Large hall capable of seating representatives from all Hapan worlds for dinner with the Royal Family.
- The Elite Phoenix Barracks - Housing the King's personal guard.
- Hall of Masters - An elongated chamber with qashmel carpets, fine artwork, arches, and white alabas stairways at either end.
The North Dome & North Tower - The Royal Family's private section of the Fountain Palace. Contains:
- Hall of the Wind Crystals - Entrance to that portion of the palace, with extravagant Wind Crystals that channel the wind in to soft tunes of music while bathing the room in bright light pleasing to the Hapan eye.
- Royal Family's Salon - Chambers where the Royal Family receives close friends and guests, such as high ranked Hapan nobility.
- Queen-Mother's Special Salon - An old room, restored to its former glory, but mostly unused. Historically used as a lounge for the Queen-Mothers.
- Consorts' Sitting Room - An old unused room, connected to the Queen-Mother's Special Salon where the potential suitors to the Queen-Mother would wait for her to call on them.
- Royal Hangar - Private hangar complex and docking bay for the Royal Family's private shuttles and transports.
The West Tower - Bedchambers and lounges for esteemed guests of the Royal Family.
The East Tower - Bedchambers, lounges and kitchen for servant staff and handmaidens.
The Platform - Primary landing pad for all visitors coming to the Fountain Palace.
Auxilliary Facilities
The Fountain Palace is surrounded by seven smaller facilities along the edges of the gardens. They are used as extra guest quarters, but some house heavy lasers and other defensive batteries.
- North Row
- West - Tower of Nele'serin
- North - Unused, rumoured to have been the Queen-Mother's prison facility called The Well.
- East - Tower of Starfyre
- Center Row
- West - Phoenix Barracks & Defensive Battery
- East - Handmaiden Chambers & Defensive Battery
- South Row
- West - Tower of Tini'duran & Defensive Battery
- East - Tower of Pal'durath & Defensive Battery
Gardens
The architects of the Fountain Palace took great care in designing the surrounding gardens which were meant to symbolize the Hapes Consortium's fondness for nature. Virtually all exotic flowers from all Hapan worlds can be found in the garden, along with an abundance of Bliz birds. Fountains are abundant and a special grove has numerous Selabian Trees of Wisdom clusters. Statues and sculptures of all historical Hapan monarchs and famous nobles have been erected along the paths of the enormous gardens.
