The Fountain Palace, alternatively named the Castle of Per'Agthra, functioned as the primary royal dwelling for the Queen Mothers who governed the Hapes Consortium. Located directly on Hapes, this age-old fortress-palace acted as an enduring symbol of royal power for the monarchy. While other royal residences, for example, Reef Fortress, were places where the Queen Mothers would reside, Per'agthra was the true home of the Hapan monarchy.
Even after Queen Mother Ta'a Chume made the decision to open the borders of the Hapes Cluster to external parties in 8 ABY, interactions remained infrequent. This, along with the traditional Hapan inclination towards secrecy, might have contributed to some ambiguity concerning the palace's precise location. The majority of sources indicated that Per'Agthra was perched atop the cliffs overlooking the capital city, Ta'a Chume'Dan. However, reports from the New Republic Intelligence suggested that this was actually Star Home, which outwardly appeared to be an exact replica of the castle, but was, in reality, a cruiser capable of hyperspace travel.
Regardless of the actual truth, the very existence of Star Home served as proof of Per'Agthra's significance to both the family of the Mothers and the formal ceremonial aspects of Hapan political life. The Fountain Palace continued its role as a private residence for the court, while a second, identical castle functioned as a public stand-in. This allowed the Mothers to preside over court proceedings amidst the iconic towers and turrets of their ancestral seat when they journeyed to other planets within the Cluster—or even, during infrequent diplomatic visits, to foreign capitals such as Coruscant.
The Hall of Masters, Royal Residence, Queen Mother's Special Salon, Royal Bedchamber, Queen's Drawing Room, and Royal Hangar were all among the rooms contained within the Palace.
The identification of the Fountain Palace with the Castle of Per'Agthra comes from the fact that both are described as the inspiration for Star Home in different sources. These sources are Cracken's Threat Dossier and the online scenario Hapes: Ladies First from Wizards of the Coast. [1]
However, as suggested earlier, canon sources offer conflicting information on whether the real Fountain Palace or Star Home was situated on the bluffs above Ta'a Chume'Dan. Cracken's Threat Dossier, which is presented as a collection of in-universe intelligence reports, is the first source to provide a description of the Hapan capital. It explicitly states that the city is dominated by the surface landing platform of Star Home. However, a number of other sources imply otherwise:
- Hapes: Ladies First clearly states that the Fountain Palace is the structure that overlooks the capital.
- The New Jedi Order: Agents of Chaos II: Jedi Eclipse describes a line of dignitaries stretching from the Lorell Hall, which is definitively located on the bluffs above the city, "nearly to the grand entrance of the Fountain Palace".
- The New Jedi Order: Dark Journey situates the Hapan royal palace just outside the capital.
It is technically possible to find explanations for all of these references. The relevant passage in Ladies First is an excerpt from another in-universe source, a swashbuckling memoir by the pirate Grov Bricker. The line in Jedi Eclipse could be retconned as an exaggeration, and Dark Journey does not use the name "Fountain Palace" and does not explicitly rule out the possibility that the "palace" is Star Home.
However, the "Gamesmaster Notes" in Ladies First, which appear to be outside of the fictional universe, state that Star Home "does not have the necessary plating or shielding for atmospheric reentry". [2] This suggests that the NRI reports in Cracken's Threat Dossier should be considered inaccurate, and that the castle at Ta'a Chume'Dan is, in fact, the Fountain Palace.