"It seems it'd be safer here," Grelly said.

"Well, then," said Manisha.  "Why don't you make some friends here?  It's safer to have friends around anyway."

"I suppose you're right," Grelly said, going off with the kobold child.

Well, that was good-- a new ally, perhaps a friend, and the caves felt a bit safer.  Manisha went to check in with the rest of the kobolds.

The kobolds were roasting some lizards and some kind of root vegetable over a fire.

"Would you like some, new good?" one of them asked.

"Well, all right," said Manisha.  Teaching the kobolds how to cook went onto her list of things to do.  Stew, for example, would probably improve the lizard and veggies diet.

The lizard at least was nicely roasted with crispy skin.

"Tasty," she said.  "Well done.  Do you get all your food by gathering?  That must be hard in the winter..."

"It is, but we know where game often hibernates," the kobold said.

"That's good," said Manisha.  "I wonder, though, if there's a way for you to store more food, or raise some of it against lean times."

"Hmm. I don't know if we have enough room for that," the kobold said.

"Oh?" said Manisha.  "Are you running out of room?  That's something that I can try and help with, one way or another."

"We have no room for pens and are too close to the human road," the kobold said.

"Not pens," said Manisha.  "But what about storage bins for seeds and nuts and roots?"

"I suppose that could work," the kobold said.

"Well, if you could use them..."

Manisha used her magic and created several things-- storage bins, kobold-sized shovels, carrying baskets, barrels.  It was nice to use her magic for something like this.

Many of the kobolds went rushing over to the new equipment.

"Thank you, new god!" several of them said.

"You're welcome," said Manisha.  "Are there other things you need?  I can make some more things."

"Not at the moment, new good," one of the kobolds said.

"We could use some toys," one of the children said.

"Well, I can do that," said Manisha.  She kept it simple-- rolling toys, dolls, balls, hoop games.

The kids ran over to pick up the toys while thanking you.

Manisha smiled.  Children ought to have toys... and with more tools, the kobolds could store more food, and hopefully have less stress in winter.

"...what season is it here, anyway?" she asked.  "How far away is autumn, or winter?"

"It is the middle of spring, new god," Biter said.

"Plenty of time, then," said Manisha.  "Good.  Easy winters are better than hungry ones."

"We mostly dry meat and keep nuts," Biter said.