Castle of Chanse

Upon entering the Castle of Chanse, you are greeted by a young jester boy wearing a costume of green and black. His unruly charcoal hair falls into his unusually intense blue eyes as he sweeps you a low bow.
"Greetings visitor," he says with a grin. "The name's Jaimano Jest, Jai to my friends, and I'm the resident jester and fool extroardinaire in the court of the lovely Princess Chanse Charen. Please allow me to entertain you, if only for a brief moment." He proceeds to perform an intricate pattern of acrobatics and juggling, finishing off with a precarious balancing act. You applaud at the display and his infectious grin grows even broader. "Well, I can see that you enjoy a good show," he drawls. "How about a quick tour of the palace, with me as your guide?" You nod enthusiastically at the offer and he takes your arm, leading you through a hallway and up to a large wooden door. He lightly rapps on it with his knuckles and a voice calls out for you to enter, and be quick about it.

Inside it looks like a combination library and chemistry lab. A tall, white-haired man in long red robes is measuring some type of green liquid into a glass vial, consentrating fully on his task. When he sees you, he sets it down carefully on a rack with several others and scowls at Jai. "What have I told you about interrupting me while I'm at work, you young fool?" he snaps irritably. Your guide seems unaffected by this harsh greeting and introduces you as one of Jennalyn's guests. The man blinks in surprise at hearing this, but nods politely before turning back to what he was doing. You both quietly leave the room.
"That was The Red Mage, Chanse's father," he explains as you walk back down the hall. "He's really the one who should be running the kingdom, but he prefers magic to majesty and left it to the Prince and Princess. He may have a bit of a temper and be very grouchy, but he's really not a bad guy. At least, he likes my juggling. Ah, here we are," he says as you enter a large indoor garden. "These are the palace gardens. They're a far cry away from the Floating Gardens of the Cloud Kingdom, but we're still fairly proud of them. The princess enjoys strolling through here and, in fact, I think I see her now."

You turn and follow his gaze to see a young woman being given a pale blue rose by the handsome young man standing at her side. You can just make out a tiara atop the girl's head. "Those two are the rulers of the kingdom," whispers Jai, "Prince Luc and Princess Chanse Charen. They were only recently married and still have the air of newlyweds hanging about them. I think they're best left undisturbed at the moment. Let's go see who else we can find."
Wandering through the garden, you finally spy another couple. They're walking hand in hand and speaking quietly to one another. They're quite obviously fairies, from the slightly pointed ears to the shimmering wings and they look to be normal residents of the castle.

    Jai leads you over to them and they smile pleasantly when they see you. "These two are Thorne and Irisa," he introduces them, "our resident castle fae and just about the nicest people you could ever hope to meet. My friends, this is a visitor to the castle that I'm showing around." They nod politely and strike up a conversation.
     You stay and chat with them for a while until Jai at last bids them farewell. "Alright, where would you like to go next?" inquires the young jester. There's still plenty more to see if you're interested."
     "Let's see, there's," he shudders a little, "the stables." At your curious expression he explains. "There's a young princess that hangs around there and she's been trying to get me alone for quite some time now, nevermind that we're both still kids. But don't worry, I can handle her if you really want to go there...I think. Anyway, some of the best ponies in the whole kingdom reside there, as well as some other unusual equines."
     "Of course, there's always the royalty to visit. I can handle most of them fairly well and they seem to like me. Go figure."
     "And then, if you're into traveling, you could explore some of the lands neighboring our kingdom. Very strange and exotic, some of them. Still, it's up to you. Where shall we go?"