Welcome to Gaia! ::

Donovan had to chuckle about that, the more he listened the more he was sure the kid was just as active and troublesome as some of the children back home.

"She's very.. .active," he commented.

Cindy chewed on the sandwich thoughtfully, it was a pity there was such a large time different, since with the portals that could be solved. At least somewhat, even though she knew none of her siblings were techncially the same age as Aliya's age. They rarely got to know people outside the family.

"If it weren't for the time difference, Donovan should bring Lin or Kali."

"Well, it's not like there's any harm in it," Ulani pointed out. "After all, it is a skill she'll need in the future. I admit I think I would have liked to wait until she was a bit older ..."

"She's already an excellent shot," Ulrich said proudly. "And she's not half bad with a blade either."

"But I do want her to have some experiences with other children," Ulani added quickly. "If you think someone would like to come here and play with her, feel free to send them."

Finally finished with his breakfast, Adonai got up on his knees and whispered into Ulani's ear, then slid off her lap and ran out of the room. A moment later came the sounds of him playing in the living room.

Cindy finished off her sandwich and hopped (for she was still small enough) off her chair. She gently pushed the chair back into it's place.

"And this is something I won't be able to add my points into," she added, "So I'll go and see to my books."

With that she left for the living room.

"My job," Donovan replied, "To lack a better term is to get rid of the Southland's bandit problem, the idea is to come back roughly once every decade to just simply wipe out as many as possible and create a bit of fear and then go home."

He leaned on the table on a bit as he looked thoughtful to explain his problems.

"First, I need information on any activity, you two will know it best in this area, but my other problem is I need to deal with the slaver issue. Between the fact that coming at gods knows what hours of the night, and that I need a place to start," he shrugged a bit, "I need a base of operations. I could like to make the base here inside the valley, and I have the gold to do so, but being around once per decade is going to be a problem."

He muttered a bit knowing the two could still hear him as he added the logistics of it.

"I need someone to take any kids home, I need horses, I would probably have to breed them so I don't have to spend on a horse once every few months my time, and I need people I can trust to breed the horses and look after the damn place."

He paused a bit and then added as an after thought.

"And doesn't mind the fact I only show up once a decade at best."

Well there was a human factor, but that was a given.

Ulani and Ulrich thought about it silently for a few moments, exchanging glances all the while; then, finally, Ulrich leaned foward and folded his arms on the table.

"If you want somewhere safe to set up your base," he told Donovan seriously, "then here in the valley would probably be the best - or, at the least, just outside of it. That way it's close to the portal for you, but still under the protection that the mountains can offer it."

"If you're going to do all of that," Ulani added thoughtfully, sitting cross-legged on her chair, "you're going to need ... I would think ... at least two dozen people."

"No one knows horse flesh like we do," Ulrich put in. "We bred horses for a while as well, but we bred them to sell, not to use, and it wasn't worth the hassle of bringing possible customers here or bringing the horses to the potential customers. Besides that, we didn't have much use for the gold it brought in."

"If you'd like," Ulani said hesitantly, "we can offer our services. Help you out with anything you need. If you want land here, it doesn't cost a thing - it doesn't belong to anyone. Save your gold to pay whoever you hire to look after things for you."

"And if you want us to take care of things for you," Ulrich added, "you wouldn't have to worry about paying us a thing. You've already helped us more than we could ever help you."


Adonai looked at Cindy curiously as she took out her book. It was pretty, and he wanted to know more about it. As she read, he scooted closer, an inch or two at a time, making sure not to move if she looked as though she was going to look at him. He pretended to play with his toys, dragging them along with him as he scooted slowly, silently towards her.

Cindy blinked, having a feeling she was being watched. She peeked out from over her book to see that Adonai much to her shock was a lot closer than he had been before. Wasn't he on the otherside of the room the last time she checked?