"It might be surprising how what's common in one nation might be seen as an oddity in another. All my life, I've lived and visited places where mixed populace from all races were the norm, all living together as neighbors and friends.

It was not the same in Alcidea when I first arrived there. While even by then most nations had accepted other races more, many still remained isolated and segregated. Posuin remained a strictly human only nation until its fall, while the orc and goblin tribes to the north were quite unfriendly to strangers not their own race.

Even in the larger dwarven kingdom to the east, and the elven domain to the northeast, foreigners from different races were mostly limited to the outer areas of their nations, as nobody but their own were allowed to the deeper regions.

It was an unexpected sight for me, to say the least." - From the diaries of Aideen deVreys, the Silver Maiden.

Better disguised to fit into the local populace - her skin was still noticeably lighter, but not so much it would have aroused suspicion - and with a rudimentary knowledge of the local language, Aideen set out for some fact findings.

She needed information about the continent. Grandpa Aarin's informants had briefed her some, but many things remain to be discovered by herself. She took a page out of her espionage training, as she booked a room at a more expensive region of the port city, posing as a well to do tourist.

From there, she acted the part, as she walked around, bought local souvenirs, and looked at the sights with wonder, a feeling she didn't need to pretend about most of the time.

It had not taken her long before she found a willing source of information. A local blacksmith's son - who looked to be of mixed breed between dwarf and human - caught sight of her when she was walking around and offered to show her the city.

The young man, named Otto, was probably in his late teens to early twenties, though he could pass for older with the scruffy light brown beard that covered his chin. He was shorter than Aideen by half a head or so, with the dark ebony skin common to the area.

For a Blacksmith's son, he also proved to be quite well versed with Alcidean history. Turned out he was the third son, and had always had a passion for history since he was young. Aideen learned quite a bit about the local history from him during their walks.

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It was quite fascinating how different the two continents had developed. Where mixed populace was the norm in Ur-Teros ever since the days of the First Elmaiya Empire, in Alcidea even the limited integration some nations allowed was a rather recent thing, no more than a century old.

Segregation along the racial lines was the norm for most of the continent in the past, with only the Clangeddin Empire and the kingdom of Knallzog being the exception amongst them. Most other nations rarely allowed other races to step onto their territory.

Many wars were fought for silly reasons over racial differences, which gave rise to hatred that was passed down generation after generation, which further deepened the divide. It was the elven revolution a century ago that changed the status quo.

These days only Posuin to the west and several smaller kingdoms to the north still drew things along the racial lines. Oddly enough, all of them were human-centric nations. Other nations had loosened their laws, with visitors and merchants of other races allowed to the outer regions of their territories.

As for the Unliving in Alcidea, their situation varied greatly. Amongst the long-lived elves and dwarves, they were accepted without scruples, their perceived immortality less impactful amongst a people that already lived long by default.

The goblins and the orcs to the north venerated them, their immortality seen as a gift from the deities by the superstitious, tribal people. It was not uncommon for an unliving individual to become a high shaman or chieftain amongst the tribes.

In Clangeddin and the other nations however, ugly jealousy often drove these individuals away. Knallzog was one of the nations that accepted them, and had quite a few unliving refugees living there.

Since Knallzog was no stranger to the unliving, Aideen honestly told Otto about what she was, and how old she truly was. The young man's reaction almost made her laugh, as he immediately asked her - almost begged her, really - to tell him the history she had seen with her own eyes.

Neither her status as an unliving nor her two hundred years of age seemed to bother him in the least, as he instead saw her as someone who had lived through and witnessed two centuries of history. It was what mattered to him, apparently.

She humored his enthusiasm and told him tales of her past - bits she could relate openly, at least - and they ended up growing quite close over time, as they traded stories from the past or just chatted with one another over some good food, something the locally born and bred Otto knew plenty about.

Over the next couple of weeks, their relationship grew closer, even though Aideen made it clear to Otto that her stay in town would be a temporary one at best, and they would go their own ways in life afterwards. She had noticed quite easily how the young man was interested in her.

Otto had not minded that. He was of the opinion that people only live once, and thus they shouldn't let go of opportunities just because they were afraid of what might come after. It was an argument that softened Aideen's heart, and she allowed herself to reciprocate his feelings to an extent.

Even so, it was not the same as what she and Artair had once had between them. They remained close during her stay, intimate on occasion, but there remained a slight gap between them. In the end, Aideen couldn't really see him as more than a good friend.

Yet the young man had not minded that either.