“While bloodlines were definitely a remnant from the ages past, from the days where human kings still often used the rhetoric that they ruled by the will of the deities, with some particularly grandiose ones calling themselves descendants of said deities in the flesh, the practice had mostly petered out by the current day and age.

Possibly the event that signaled the death toll to these otherworld boasts was the very public - and gruesome - smiting of Ver’Dun Slovac, the Mad Monarch of Vitalica, by Vitalis herself. The event transpired many centuries ago, yet it was recent enough that some old elves were alive when it happened, and thus it remained fresh in the people’s memory.

After such an event, it was understandable that most monarchs cut down on their claims relating themselves to the deities, out of fear that they might be smote as well for their audacity. No further smiting happened, but the habit remained on the downslope ever since.

In the current age, many human nations had begun to phase out the hereditary monarchies in favor of other systems of governance. A few of the city-states, the Jarldoms of east Ut-Teros, some members of the Union, and the Al-Shan Empire were the nations where the hereditary rule still remains strong to this day.” - From a Sociology paper by Leigh Wainwrought, advanced student and assistant professor in the Levain Institute of Higher Learning, circa 694 FP.

Cal spent the rest of the week enjoying herself in Al-Shan. At times she simply regaled Xain and Layla with tales of her travels, or she met with other old friends from the civil war days, where they swapped tales of what they had done in the past few years.

She also gave Ying Xiao the praise the girl deserved, for she had done her proud with her recent feats. The young girl perked up and seemed to stand taller when Cal said that she was proud of her, and seemed to go about her way merrily for that whole day.

Another of her favorite pastimes while she relaxed was to play with little Farah. The toddler girl was an active child, easy to coax into laughter yet one who did not cry easily. She reminded Cal a lot of Xain when he was around the same age, though Xain was quieter as a child, and nowhere near as active. Or as naughty.

That said, she still enjoyed her time immensely, the child’s innocence a soothing balm for her. Best of all, she could make full use of her position as a family friend and simply hand over the child to her parents when she gets fussy or willful and not have to deal with it. Truly the best way to enjoy a child’s presence, she thought.

Cal also learned that over the past few years, old man Mo Jìan, the retired soldier whose small tavern played host to her party a few years ago just before Xain’s wedding with Layla, had used the gold she left behind to renovate his little tavern into a large restaurant.

Word of mouth had spread of her visit that day, and the stream of customers had been a fortune for the old man’s family. In just a short few years, the restaurant he built changed from a small establishment, to a large, four storied building able to host over a thousand customers at once inside.

She even learned that the place had also become a hangout for old veterans of the civil war, who in turn often brought their families along. Said family then often brought their friends as well, which contributed further to the establishment’s popularity.

The old man Mo Jìan himself had met and served her in person when she came to visit - with Xain and Layla, who went in disguise, and Ying Xiao who came along as their guard, as superfluous as that was with Cal around - and had bowed in gratitude for the gift she left them all those years ago. The old man’s eyes widened further when he recognized the Imperial couple despite their disguise, and he quickly led them to their best room on the top floor.

After sampling a good portion of the restaurant’s menu - leftover food was not an issue with two blood mages around - they left the restaurant quite openly, which naturally attracted the attention of everyone who happened to be dining there, what with their Emperor and Empress being present in the same building as they were.

Xain publicly praised old man Mo’s cooking before he left, a small token of gratitude from him, but one that led to a massive influx of customers to the restaurant in the coming months as word spread that the establishment served food good enough for the Emperor’s tastes..

It was on such a high note that Cal left Al-Shan that year, as she headed back to Paradise to make arrangements for her travels the next year. Probably the last year of her travels, as with it, she would have visited every region of the world there is to see.

Arrangements for transportation that would get her to Al-Shan by late autumn the next year proved easy enough, it turned out. Aideen mentioned that Archie - the unliving captain Arquivaldo of the Faucon Noir - would normally be around the western isles by early to mid autumn given his usual schedule, and a few exchanges of letters later, had agreed to take her to Al-Shan later that year, with the northernmost isle of the Western Isles as their meeting point.

As for herself, and those of her nieces and students who wished to come along, she told them to prepare supplies that they would need for living in the wilds, as most of the Western Isles, their destination this year, was an untamed land of forest and beasts, both of the mundane and the magical variety. It was only smart to come prepared for whatever they might face there, even if they have a local guide in Kyara and Ashani to show them the way.