Ah, a wall that may or may not affect geomancy... when in doubt, mete it out!  She sent one of her aides to hire a skilled geomancer to assess the area - would be payed properly of course for his honest assessment - and would have the geomancer report to her in-person before she made an assessment.  Here-say was not the best information for decision-making, after all.<br/><br/>The request for lumber was not the best, so she was told (really, she wasn't the most aware but her advisors would be loathe to try and lie to her, considering what she would do to them if they did).  Still, in building ties sometimes it was good to let you allies benefit now and then, this much she<em>did</em>know.  Besides, this manse was likely the most powerful source of wood-aspected essence in all of the west; the demense here was immensely potent; they were not hurting for trees or anything agricultural, and could afford to give out more of it.  That she decided to approve.<br/><br/>As for the pirate raids... well, military aid... so far they had had no need for a formal military; she and her monks could handle things quite well up until now after all.  Of course, her Monks currently were religious priests, personal guards, soldiers, personal sailors, and artifact crafters in her manse... and police as necessary... she couldn't rely on them for everything now could she?  Well... might as well put out an 'order' for funds to be put aside for a standing army, and for recruitment to begin.  Females and males alike for the standing Army, and males and Tya for the standing Navy and Marines.  She couldn't offer assistance to the other Islands right now, but she could be prepared to assist in the future.<br/><br/>She considered sending her monks anyhow but... well... a massive celebration would be a good time to attack, while they are 'unprepared', so she wanted to make sure they stuck around.