Welcome to Gaia! ::

"To be fair," Sir Gilead chuckled, "everything about my sister is unexpected. She had a good opportunity to marry, but she passed it up so that she could work on her own."

"Sir Gilead's sister, Lanaea, is the only family he has left," Amora confided to Lin. "But she won't let him take care of her. She insists on taking care of herself."

Sir Gilead smiled. "And she is quite capable of doing so," he nodded. "Though I do wish she weren't always alone."

Sir Gilead nodded as they approached the shop - recognizable by the intricate carving of the sign - and opened the door for the two girls.

"Not for safety, mind you," he added, "but just because being alone isn't good for anyone."

Inside the shop, there were a few customers looking around at the wares, mostly at the furniture - a dining set, it looked like, with a table and set of six chairs, all beautifully carved, as well as a bookcase. The shop was different from most in that, rather than having a display area and counter, and the back of the shop cut off from view, the entire first floor was open, with the display all around the front, a beautiful desk in one corner (obviously not for sale, as it was covered in paperwork), and most of the space, easily the size of a small house, was the work space of the artist.

Lanaea herself was seated on a stool in the working area of the room, leaning back against the wall and wittling away at a piece of wood in her hand. She was keeping an eye on her customers, waiting for them to be ready for her.

At Lin's soft exclamation, Lanaea looked up to see the three who were just coming into the shop. Her eyes lit up and she set her work aside, rising to her feet and skipping towards them all.

"Gilead!" she exclaimed, sounding almost childish as she threw her arms around her brother. She was clearly an adult, and like all elven adults her age was therefore indeterminable, but one almost had to question how old she was. But was most startling was also most noticeable only when the two were standing together: while Sir Gilead's hair was pitch black, Lanaea's was a bond so gold that it seemed to shimmer even indoors.

Amora giggled, watching the brother and sister embrace. It was rare that she saw any of the guards outside of duty, and it always amused her to see them acting like themselves.

Sir Gilead chuckled at Lanaea and turned to face Lin, one hand on the woman's back as if nudging her forward.

"Lin Winters," he said softly and warmly, "my half sister, Lanaea. Lanaea, Lin Winters, guest of their Majesties."

The woman smiled warmly at Lin and bowed her head respectfully. "It is a pleasure to meet you," she said cheerfully. "And I thank you for bringing my brother here, he never comes to visit me anymore."

Lanaea smiled at Lin. "I understand," she said softly. "It's one of the reasons why I designed my shop the way I did. Because people were always curious to know how I make my wares ... and because I love to work with the wood so much I don't know if I would be much good at leaving it alone during the day to take care of my customers."

She giggled softly. "But come, you should take a look around. If you have any questions, any questions at all, do not hesitate to ask. I am quite open."

In the half of the room that was reserved for completed works, a pair of statues seemed to be almost protecting the rest. They were a life-sized and very realistic set of elven guards, fully armed and armoured, swords drawn and raised. There were various sets of shelves, tables, desks, chairs and stools, and some of the shelves had rows of smaller figures on them: kings and queens, knights and soldiers, craftsmen and women, adults and children ... if one were to examine the entire collection, one could expect to find almost an entire civilization.

Amora turned to Lin and smiled. "Anything catch your eye?" she asked brightly.

Amora smiled at Lin's comment. "Pengolodh already has," she giggled. "Perhaps when we get back, you should ask if you can see his collection. When he was younger, he used to spend hours setting them up just so ... especially the soldiers. I think his tutor also used them to help teach him about some of the battles in some of the wars."

Pengolodh had never enjoyed his academic lessons, but he didn't seem to mind when they had visual aids. Still, he prefered his physical training much more.