Welcome to Gaia! ::

"Several good pairs of walking shoes and boots," Earendil corrected Lin. "For that matter, I could use some, myself. Travel wears them out like nothing else can."

And they'd been doing quite a bit of traveling of late.

"And we may need a few other things for the trip," he added. "Since we don't know if the places we'll be going to will accept our currency, we'll need a good supply of items to trade."

"We don't know how long we're going to be gone, though," Earendil reminded her. "We don't know how many countries there are, or how big the continent is."

"Do you think there will be someone there who can help me with my mechanics?" Andarien put in eagerly. "You said there was someone somewhere who made musical boxes like my egg ... right?"

The door to the corridor opened suddenly, and a guard entered, bowed low, and announced, "Your Majesties, his Lordship Prince Radek has arrived."

Atalya and Reave both rose from their seats. "Thank you," Atalya nodded. "Please have him wait in the conference room. We will arrive shortly."

The guard bowed low once more and left the hall, closing the door behind himself once more.

"We must go," Atalya excused herself and her husband. "We will see you again at dinner."

And the two of them left.

"We should also probably get going if we're going to accomplish anything," Earendil murmured to Lin.

"Sounds good," Earendil grinned. He pushed his chair back and stood up, then held one hand down to Lin. "Shall we?"

Andarien hopped to his feet. "Can I get something to put some money in, too?" he asked hopefully. He'd never had money of his own, but now that he was older, he wanted to be able to get some.

"Maybe once you start earning some money," Earendil smiled at Andarien.

"Well, you would have to choose that for yourself," Earendil replied. "I earn money by making maps. The better quality they are, the more money I earn. Daeron earns money by working for Haven, hunting and protecting. The ranch makes money with their horses - breeding and selling them. Aranhil makes money by selling the jewelry that he makes. Haldir earns money by selling candy that he makes. You simply need to find something that you can make or do that other people would pay you for."

He paused. "Usually there are two ways to earn money ... by selling goods or services. You just need to think what you could do, one way or the other, that people would want to pay for."

"Maybe once I'm good with gears, I can make things for people!" Andarien beamed.

"You don't have to limit yourselves to one thing, either," Earendil smiled, seeing that Miyuki was hesitant. "There are people who spend their whole lives traveling, and they tell stories to pay for their food and clothing. Others sing. Others spar or fight. Many people do multiple things. And then there are people like the Rovers, who get by with barely any money at all - they simply forage and hunt for their own food."

Earendil smiled. "There's no rush. You're young still. You're still learning new things. Take your time to find what you like to do."

Once they had their money pouches and Andarien brought Eon from his room, they headed out to the city.

Outside, Earendil took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Ah ... you know, as much as I enjoyed our time in Gaia ... it is good to be back."

Andarien looked up at Earendil, then sniffed at the air. "You mean because it smells better?" he asked.

Earendil laughed. "In part. Yes."