The ruling family head was a robust man called Von Schnitzel, with an insatiable appetite that could graze entire crops by brunch. He was married to a conservative lady of old royal blood called Irmgard, who had the inert disposition of a haunted painting, was never seen without her sewing kit, and always managed to make the best blood sausages Von Schnitzel had ever tasted. They had two beautiful twin lads, Edelweiß and Edelgard, who had old animosities of their own that dated back to the first time Edelgard took Edelweiß’s slingshot and brought a fat duck home to dinner at the age of 12. They also gave birth to a sickly girl two years later, dubbed Elfriede, who was constantly nostalgic for the home she had never even seen.

The ruling McNuadas family was no less troublesome. At the head sat McNuada, a meticulous old man with a sharp wit and penchant for galaxies and constellations. He was betrothed to Cloda, a feisty Irish lady who never seemed to age and thought of hunting as a calling rather than a daily activity. McNuada sired two beautiful twin daughters of their own, Eavan and Ealga, who took after their mother and refused to settle down, form families or give birth to a gazillion fat lads and lasses to take over the family name. They were assigned three personal guards by their father, Feilim, Murtagh and Donncha, who always followed them around and made sure they were safe from their own wanderlust.