Imperial Palace

The foundations of the Imperial Palace date back to Melsar's day, but most of it has been rebuilt and renovated through the centuries. It is situated between the Bazlopa River to the west and downtown Shalanera to the east.
Around the palace itself are extensive grounds, with the headquarters of the Imperial Guard, stables for the royal skiraks, and a building with a large garage on the ground floor and two stories of small apartments for some essential employees above that. The gardens are maintained with care to be a beautiful oasis within the capital, with many trees, flowers, benches, fountains, a gazebo, and bridges over the stream. Underground pedestrian tunnels connect the palace to the other buildings both for security reasons and for ease of travel in all kinds of weather.

Facilities

The palace kitchens are staffed around the clock, ready to provide whatever sustenance the royal family requests. Meals are served in a number of locations, from grand meeting halls to a family dining room or a glassed-in breakfast nook overlooking the gardens.
The medical facilities at the palace are staffed by a rotating schedule of three doctors (including Waljana) and a number of nurses. The royal family may seek treatment for routine ailments there, or summon help to their current location. Palace staff may also drop in with minor scrapes, headaches, etc. while on duty. In an emergency, the monarch is transported to the downtown hospital, but if extreme circumstances require it there is a fully-equipped surgical suite on site. There is also a small lab capable of doing blood tests and other basic diagnostics, and dental facilities.

Royal Quarters

Each member of the royal family has a private suite of rooms where they can be free of prying eyes and camera lenses. Unless specially requested, housekeeping staff come in to make the beds, clean, water plants, and any other necessary tasks only when the residents are away. Otherwise, sentries at the doors keep anyone from intruding on the privacy of the monarch and their family members.
The largest suite, normally the residence of the reigning monarch, currently sits as Queen Vizada left it when she was moved to Pinehold Estate following her grief-induced mental breakdown. Empress Vazali continues to inhabit her original quarters, both because she is more comfortable there, and because she hopes someday her mother might wish to return to the palace.

Denizens

In addition to the omnipresent Imperial Guard, a myriad of other employees can be found in the palace: decorators, grounds crews, florists, bakers, chefs, cleaning and maintenance crews, secretaries, aides, advisors, drivers, keepers of the monarch's wardrobe, stylists, plumbers, skirak trainers, art restorers, historians, military liasons, and many more.
The palace is like its own self-contained city within the capital. A residence hall on the palace grounds provides housing for some of the guards and other employees who might be called on to respond to situations as they arise, no matter the time of day or night.

Defenses

A very tall and sturdy metal fence surrounds the perimeter of the palace grounds. Security cameras are placed at intervals along this fence in addition to the regular sentry patrols conducted by the Imperial Guard. All visitors are screened at the main gates.

Tourism

While the palace grounds are off-limits to all but the most prestigious visitors, tourists gather across the street in a special plaza set up to accommodate them. There are clear spaces for people to take photographs with the palace in the background, as well as plaques explaining the history and architecture of the site. Souvenir kiosks line the area in the warmer months. All activity in the plaza is closely monitored by the Imperial Guard.

Palace Layout At a Glance

• Subterranean levels: Treasure vault, bomb shelter, Sacred Grotto
• Ground floor: Grand ballroom, throne room, medical center, kitchens, formal and informal dining rooms, breakfast nook, swimming pool
• Second floor: Conference rooms, war room, auditorium
• Third floor: Library, archives, sitting rooms, guest suites, games room
• Fourth floor: Monarch's suite, quarters for the royal family, map gallery, nursery, family dining room
• Fifth floor: Empress Vazali's office, other conference rooms
• Sixth floor: Statue and portrait galleries, movie theater, storage, palace staff offices

Maps

• 

  Empress Vazali's Private Quarters

  Although the Imperial Palace is enormous, these rooms are the ones Empress Vazali considers "home." Here she can have complete privacy, away from the servants and guards who are otherwise omnipresent in her life.
• 

  Empress Vazali's Office

  This office has been used by generations of Vazali's family to rule over the Lanarian Empire.

Founding Date

28

Type

Palace

Parent Location

Shalanera

Owner

Vazali

Owning Organization

Lanarian Empire