Welcome to Gaia! ::

Kali's tablet wasn't as complex as Shiro's, despite the fact she helped him design his. However, her agreement with Shiro was for the tools she needed to help get the clan's nature themed power grid up and running. Shiro knew all the best suppliers, and that had been her top project.

Still, what she had was workable, and at the moment she was viewing a top map of the grounds. The hard part was putting in the new system (probably next to taking themselves off the city grid).

Setting her tablet down for a moment Kali murmured, "I know, but I want to make sure all the details are laid out before calling in the workers. I'd hate for all the gardens and nice layout to be ruined because of mis-planning."

Lin led Earendil for once, over to the table and motioned him to sit down. As she did so she asked.

"What is the clan building now?"

"We're getting our own power grid," Kali smiled, "As you know, Shiro has been working towards getting one set up for the library, but taking us all off the city power grid would benefit us."

Kali paused and look thoughtful as she knew the kind of background that Andarien came from. The kitchen was one of the few places that had no windows so the lights were on. She pointed to the ceiling at the light bulbs.

"You see those lights? They run on an element called electricity. Many things in this house and on the grounds in general use electricity. A power grid are a series of lines underneath the ground where electricity runs through, kind of like pipes that carry water, and it brings it to us to use. Without that our lights won't work, nor will our stove and much of our technology," she paused on that explanation and then added, "We call it a power grid, because the lines are set up like a grid, which is attached to a larger grid. At the moment our power grid is attached to the city's power grid, and we pay the city's government for that power. If we make our own power though, we don't need to pay the city for theirs and more importantly if anything happens to the city's power grid, it won't affect us."

Not that they were paranoid or anything about stuff like that, but it was always good to be prepared and safe.

Kali grinned at him, "Because without it we wouldn't be able to run much of the technology that works here. We wouldn't be able to light the manor because the lights would not work, or cook our food because the oven and stove runs on it as well. The hot water from the tap when you wash, is the result of a heater that uses electricity to heat and then pump the water through the pipes to the shower and taps."

Lin chuckled at this, "Though you could replace all the lights with candles, and the stove and the heating with wood, the insulation is good enough where we wouldn't use a whole lot during the winter, and physics and some reworking of the plumbing could allow for water to still run through the taps..."

"True," Kali grinned, "But we would have to gut the whole manor and all the houses on the grounds to do that. Then we would have to find a provider of wood and candles, and all sorts of raw materials to keep the place running. Not that we don't already need providers for the light bulbs, but if choosing whether just to gut the grounds or gut all the homes on the land, I'd rather it just be the grounds... we need a bit of rewiring but nothing major for the homes itself."

The sisters looked at each other and Kali just giggled because she didn't mind the fact Andarien didn't understand. She knew their lifestyle was very different, while Lin was giggling over the fact that Andarien was missing the long term. It was just as much trouble to covert to non energy as it was to find a source of energy.

Kali nodded, "Another time then, I want to run the last specs by Shiro so we can begin."

"Well if that's the case then dig in," Donovan replied handing out the plates to everyone.

Lin leaned over to him, looking back the way they came. Even though she didn't get to spend a lot of time here, she was use to it. Though if she thought about it, the grounds here had more personality than older grounds that were set up in a grid like fashion with the main house being in the back. Instead, someone (probably Trisha and Yukiko) tried to make the grounds as natural looking as possible.

Nevermind the fact along with pathways there were a lot of waterways for the resident mers.

"I guess so, it's pretty large and with people having their own homes and businesses, it's become like a spread out mini village."

They even got tourists to a degree, but that was because there were businesses on the grounds, though they had gates to keep people out after hours.

After a good walk and a shortcut later they were in the heart of Durem, though instead of going to the market place they were going through a plaza that held many shops. In a way it was like walking through Cara Gadlhon seeing all the people there, and yet at the same time not.

For the Gaians came in all shapes and sizes, most of them bipeds by nature, some with wings and tails, or ears that were both round, pointed or animal like. Nevermind the amount of hair colours, that one had to question if it was natural or not.

Down one street was a shop, that had large sign that said "Len's Lens" on it. Lin had to wonder if the guy was named like that on purpose or if it was an aliases of some sort.

Lin chuckled, "Yes, I know. Durem is a trading hub, even though a lot of Gaia cities have many types of people, this one does more so than others. Now let's go, we need your new lens."

She opened the door to the shop and the overhead bell rang. It looked like an eye doctor's shop or a glasses store. Along the walls were rows and rows of frames and mirrors so customers could check it out. There were at least two people helping others look for a nice pair. The person she assumed was the owner stood behind the counter. He was a tall man, with cat ears and tail but they had a white tiger's colouration on them. Along with his startling blue eyes, he really did remind Lin of a white tiger.

"Greetings and welcome to Len's Lens," he was surprise soft spoken, "My name is Len, how may I help you today?"