Welcome to Gaia! ::

"Ah," Ulani smiled. "Yes. Would you like to see some of the plants that we use, then? Nearly every plant can be used in one way or another, but we have some that have special properties that some might consider magical ... not only in healing, but in other matters."

Adonai was still playing with his glowing pebble, his arms around Ulani's neck, his head resting on her shoulder, and he spoke to her in baby elvish.

She laughed. "And apparently Adonai wants me to teach you about the stones, if you're interested."

Ulani smiled. "The stones are quite simple really. I mean, I'm certain they weren't here before Ulrich and I returned, but how they work? What they are? It's very simple. No magic involved."

She paused. "Although ... strictly speaking ... the potions that we use here don't either."

"They do," Ulani agreed, setting Adonai on the ground again and picking up the basket with all the dishes in it. "I believe that in your language it's called phospher ... or something like that. There are animals who have it in their fur, insects that create their own, veins of the stuff running through the earth ... and now we have several stones of it."

She watched as Adonai ran off towards the house again and moved to follow him so that she could put the dishes away.

"And they weren't there before Ulrich and I returned here after the war," Ulani nodded. "My best guess as to their origin is that someone brought them up from the Southland, there's a mountain, a dormant volcano, actually, where they can be found in plenty. But that's the only place I know of in the entire Four Lands."

She held the door open for Cindy to go into the house first.

Ulani shrugged. "Not really," she replied, following Cindy into the house and heading for the kitchen. "I mean, we could use them for light - Ulrich does sometimes, especially in the winter - but really, Adonai plays with them and that's it. Until he grows a bit older, we won't know whether or not he has the wishsong, and if he does he doesn't need them anymore. Aliya's wishsong manifested when she was only five years old, so she hasn't needed a secondary light source in four years."

She set the basket on the counter and started putting the dishes away.

"They're quite useful for when I have no energy for the wishsong, though," she added as she worked. "I mean, as long as they're warm they give off light, and the warmer the brighter. In winter you tend to spend more time warming them than using them, but Adonai likes it well enough."

Ulani laughed. "Indeed he does."

She listened carefully for a moment, then nodded to herself. "It sounds as if he's gone for a sleep," she murmured softly. "That's good. He tends not to sleep when Aliya's around, she's too noisy."

She looked over at Cindy. "If she's ever being too noisy for you while you're trying to work or read or something, just let her know. She's a chatterbox but she's a good sport about being quiet when she's asked to."

She was an elf, after all.

"Ah," Ulani laughed. "Yes. If she does that again, just let her run out of steam. It might take her a while, but she does stop eventually. Sometimes I swear she talks while she inhales as well. But just tell her you didn't catch it all and you would like her to repeat them one at a time, and she's good about that, too. She's just very excitable."