#((Velenna trained Almaea from a young age to stay in a human/elf passing shape-changed form))

[springvaletales]

One of Almaea's favorite things to do is walk amongst her people.

Velenna had no interest in replacing one mad tyrant with one in training, so she made sure her charge was well-socialized with the common folk who were fighting so hard to make a better future for their kingdoms while she was raising her freedom force. Almaea took the lesson to heart so thoroughly that even once she was crowned the Queen for Whom the Sun Rises, she would often sneak out of the palace to just walk around the budding Palace City. If left to her own devices, she would be gone all day, but Manon-Val was often sent to coax her back home after only a few hours.

Unfortunately, by the time Almaea had her last child she had grown into her horns, and even in her *humanoid form, the iconic 'halo' shape that rises above her hair (and the fact that her portrait has been circulating on the currency for nearly a thousand years) made her too recognizable to pass as a random elf or even a Tiefling. Any trips out of the Palace City now have to be grand affairs whether she likes it or not, and with the exception of the New Moon Festival, she can no longer blend in anywhere in her own kingdom (and even a few neighboring ones).

She commiserates with her husband, who lives a similar experience as a former paladin who can no longer travel without causing a stir, and these feelings play into why they both allow Vashael to so freely run around the kingdom with his friends. They know that one day, he's going to grow into his horns, too, just as his siblings are, and more people will recognize his portrait.

They want him to experience this freedom while he still can.

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