A Source of Revenue

Writers: Ames, Miriah
Date Posted: 8th February 2013

Characters: Wirnan, Karhal
Description: Karhal meets with Wirnan for a weekly update and shares his idea on canines
Location: Amber Hills Hold
Date: month 12, day 9 of Turn 6

Wirnan

Karhal

It was time for their weekly meeting on matters of the Hold. It was
important that Wirnan kept up on matters of the Hold, especially with
the babies born to the Lord and Lady.

Babies...that thought made Wirnan pause. He still regretted all that
had happened between himself and Kaya, but most especially the loss of
their child.

With the knock on the door, Wirnan pulled his thoughts back to matters
at hand. "Enter," he called out.

Karhal strode in to the office, hides in his hand. He gave a slight
bow to the steward. "Good morning, Wirnan." He handed the steward his
notes, his voice brisk and straight to the point. "There are some
things that need to be discussed. Daihmin has noticed that some
miscreants are meddling with the lights in the stores and there have
been complaints. We've not yet found out who the culprits are, but
we're working on it with a young lad who may be of help."
Wirnan was already glancing over the hide, setting it aside to take a
closer look later.

"Good to hear that there is a means to putting an end to the problem.
We can't have people causing havoc in the stores.That would only build
anxiety among the main hold population if that began to think someone
may be messing with the stores themselves. Keep on it, Karhal." Wirnan
gestured to the seat at his desk.

"Is there any further news on the animals that were found near the
outskirts of our land?" Wirnan wanted to make sure it was just an act
of nature and not someone bent on causing trouble.

"I've had some guards doing patrols in those areas." Karhal finally sat,
rubbing his chin. "It looks as though we may have a bit of
a wild feline problem. There's been scat and claw marks sighted in
many of those areas." He leaned back. "I suggest that we take some
good canines and track them. Good ones, mind. Preferably trained."

"Canines? Hmm," Wirnan pondered that for a moment. "I imagine that
would be a good way to try and solve this issue. Do keep me informed
as to your progress on this." He paused for a moment, "So, anything
else I should be aware of?"

There was a long pause as Karhal stared at Wirnan for a moment.
"Speaking of canines, I thought Lord Zathris would have informed
you about my idea for guard canines."

"Guard canines?" Wirnan paused, "I haven't spoken with Lord Zathris in
detail for a few days. I recall him mentioning something about
canines, but our time was limited and he didn't get to elaborate
further. Care to share your idea with me?"

Exhaling slowly, Karhal was brief in his description. "As a way to
bring in marks, I could train canines like my Livie as guard animals.
They can be intelligent and more controllable than whers, plus
less expensive for upkeep. They don't require one single handler
and they could be a source of revenue."

Wirnan was intrigued. "The idea sound intriguing. Explain to me how
they would bring in revenue. I see that they would help the guards and
protect the land, but how are you envisioning them bringing in extra
marks for the Hold?"

"I could breed Livie to a canine of similar qualities, train the offspring
and offer them to other holds. I'm sure there will be some needs of
demonstrations, of course, but it is a possibility that other Holders
will be interested. And if not, then at least our Hold will have a strong
guard force with teeth behind it."

"Ah, I see," Wirnan replied, his face lighting up as the idea finally
made complete sense to it. "It sounds like a worthwhile endeavor. Let
me know how I can help. I look forward to seeing how this works out."

Considering Wirnan for a moment, Karhal's stoic face cracked a smile.
"Actually, you can help. This process isn't going to be immediate. It
takes time to evaluate and train the canines. I'll need some of the best
canine bloodlines to make this work and then the contacts with other holds
to
gauge their interest."

"Now _that_ is something I can help with," Wirnan replied. He paused
for a moment and shuffled around his desk as though searching for
something. "The other holders will be easy to contact as I communicate
with them regularly. As for the other, I have a list I can find of all
the registered canines here in the Hold. It might be a good starting
point for you." He stopped shuffling papers. "I will search for it and
send a copy to you once I find it."

"That'd be appreciated, Wirnan. There might also be an issue of perhaps
bringing in guards from other holds to teach them how to work with
the canines." He drummed his fingers against his thigh as one lip
corner lifted slightly. "At a cost, of course."

"Of course," Wirnan grinned, liking this idea more and more. "I truly
look forward to working with you on this."

Last updated on the February 11th 2013

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