PM to join Cold Hands, Warm Heart

[Dravite]

7 Summer, 515 AV
6th Bell

White steamed curled away from the animal’s backs and the ends of their noses, rising skyward with the first fingers of Syna's light that stretched across the horizon. It had been a rather cool night which usually meant a warm summer’s day would follow. A horse nickered in the distance and Drivate finally stirred from sleep to sit up gently on his bedroll, mindful of the dull pain in his right side, to find that he was alone and that the fur door to his family’s tent had been rolled back and left open. "Kaia?" He called for his wife.
She appeared in front of the doorway and smiled, hot pan in hand, cooking breakfast. "You're awake," the woman smiled and waved to him, "come, it's time to eat.

Dravite lay back against his bedroll for a few more chimes, not quite ready to brace the cold. He plucked his shirt down from a low hanging piece of rope he had left it over to dry in the night and slowly slipped it on, threading his right arm through the corresponding sleeve first so that he would not have to raise it like he did the left. Once he was out of bed, he put on his leather tabard having grown accustomed to the snug fit, and exited the tent to join his kin for breakfast.

Roan had been hunting and returned early with a duck as his prize. There were a pile of brown and blue feathers where he had sat plucking it, and a broken arrow he had been forced to snap in order to remove it from the bird cleanly. "Nice shot," Dravite smiled, "I've never had any lucky catching duck."
"And you probably never will using a spear," Roan jested. "Have you ever considered learning the bow?"
"I've toyed with the idea," Dravite admitted, "but I just don't think it's for me."

They sat picking pieces of cooked duck from the still hot pan while the sun rose at their backs, shooting their shadows against the edge of the cream coloured tent. For the most part they ate in peace; choosing to get up before the majority of the city had its perks, and save for the odd crow of a cock somewhere in the distance, the serenity of the morning was unbroken.

"How far is it to Syliras?" Roan asked.
"Just over thirty days at this time of year I believe."
Roan looked thoughtful for a time before piping up again. "Which way?"

Dravite turned to glance at the sun, recalling what Mayra had taught him. He pointed to the horizon and checked to see that he had Roan's attention before he explained. "The sun always rises in the east and set almost directly across from this point in the west. North, east, south, west," Dravite pointed out each of the points to the diamond shape he recalled when plotting them out.
Roan smiled. "I always get confused between the two."
"A stranger with dog teeth from the mountains of Kalea showed me how she maps the earth using the sun, I have never forgotten."
"My father taught me something like that," Roan admitted.

The young man picked up his broken arrow and straightened it up before stabbing the point into the ground so that it stood upright. "When the sun is high in the sky, you take a tall stick and position it like this. You mark the furthest point of the shadow with a rock and then wait fifteen chimes."
"What happens in fifteen chimes?" Dravite asked.
"The shadow shrinks," Roan explained, "and at the end of fifteen chimes you mark the second point with another rock.
"And what does this tell you other than fifteen chimes have passed?"
Roan laughed. "You see this is where my memory grows foggy and I do not recall if it is the right or the left foot you position by the first rock, the way your feet face then point directly to the north... Or was it the west?" Roan seemed to have confused much of the knowledge he was trying to impart.
"Let's test it," Dravite told him.

He finished his breakfast and got up, plucking the arrow from the ground to draw a diamond in the dirt with the sharp end, marking each of the corresponding points with the letter that signified the right directions, starting with E for east as they had the position of the sun at their backs. "We will leave this here and return at midday to test your theory," Dravite smiled, pleased with his plan.
"I like your thinking," Roan grinned. .
.
.

[Dravite]

"Were you thinking of visiting Syliras?" Dravite asked Roan who was busy unpacking his bag.
"I had considered it, only because we are so close this time of year and I wouldn't mind doing some trade."
"You know they bring their trade to Endrykas this time of year don't you?"
"They do?" Roan looked up from his belongings. "I didn't know that."
"Yeah I was actually thinking of visiting the marketplace today to seek a bit of trade with them."
"What were you looking to trade?" Roan asked.
"I collected half a saddlebag full of meteor rocks in the spring, I was hoping they might be willing to pay or at least trade something for them."
"Did you have something in mind?"
"Gold would be preferred, but it will be interesting to see what they offer."

The marketplace seemed rather quiet this morning. The traders were still setting up their stalls for the day, while others, tired after setting up early to get a head-start, already looked as if they wished the day was over. "Chickens, get your chickens here," a shrill voice called.
"Iron arms, the best daggers in all of Endrykas!" Came a deep drone.
"Freshly tanned hide!"
"Vegetables!" Another voice sang. "Fresh, cheap vegetables!"

Dravite had grown accustomed to the noise, but he wasn't as good as ignoring the tradesmen like most of the locals. Every now and then he would catch someone's eye and have to try and make a quick escape before they cornered him. Having spent most of his life on the fringes or miles away from the moving city, he was still working out the best way to handle his business in the marketplace. He wanted to get away from the mainstream trade to look for an independent buyer that might be interested in the rocks he had collected.

Slowly he made his way about the noisy streets with his backpack slung over his left shoulder. Half a bell had passed before he came across someone who seemed to be in the business of selling raw materials. Dravite carefully set his backpack down on the table and opened the leather bag up to let the man behind the stall examine the bits of meteor he had collected. "Think it's worth anything?" Dravite asked.
"To someone, I'm sure it is," the man told him, "unfortunately I have no used for it; perhaps if you hold onto it for a while?"
Dravite nodded. "Yes, that thought crossed my mind; give it some time to appreciate in value."

As Dravite continued on down the street he came across a boy sat on a little footstool milking a goat. Dravite greeted the boy when he smiled and crouched down to pet one of the kids. "They have funny little eyes don't they?"
The boy returned the smile. "Yes, they are quite comical to watch."
"Are they expensive to keep?" Dravite asked.
"Not really, they don't need as much water as other animals and they will eat almost anything so they never go hungry."

Dravite watched the boy milk the goat, noticing how much he managed to collect in what seemed a short time. "How's it taste?" He asked, having grown up with a herd on Zibri.
"Not bad, you get used to it. Would you like to try some?"
"Sure," Dravite smiled.

He held the rope tied around the goat’s neck as the boy disappeared to fetch a wooden mug. The goat struggled and reared up on its back legs, bunting him as it came down. Dravite laughed and stroked the goat in an attempt to try and settle it. When the boy returned he giggled. "They are master escape artists," he said, handing Dravite half a cup of milk.
"She didn't seem to like being tied up."
"No, this one gets a little restless," the boy admitted.

Dravite brought the mug to his lips and tasted the milk, swishing it around in his mouth with his tongue. It had a distinctive taste the man wouldn't forget in a hurry; slightly sweeter than Zibri milk, but a lot more pungent at the same time. "It's interesting," he admitted.
"Depends what they eat," the boy explained, "as I said, they tend to eat anything you let them near, weeds, shrubs, grass, vegetables."


The horse lord thought about the idea of owning a few goats and collecting milk for his family. "What would I need to set up a little business like you have here?" Dravite asked.
"We keep the milk in jars, but it's no good once it's warm. When we camp near streams we tie string around the lids so that they won't float away and that keeps the milk cool for a couple of days until we are ready to use it."
"I suppose it's freshest off the goat," Dravite laughed.
"Yes, but a lot of work for one person."
"True. Anything else they are good for?"
"Cheese, but it isn't easily done; nice meat for stews and good hides too."
"How much milk would I get from one goat?"
"It depends how many kids she has," the boy admitted. "You might get half a gallon a day from a goat with twins."
"That would be enough for my family," Dravite smiled, "any for sale?"
"Yes of course!"
"I think I'd like two goats with twins if you have any."
"I've got one goat with twins and another with triplets."
"Triplets!" Dravite exclaimed; utterly shocked.
"Yeah, we once had a goat that gave birth to five kids, but one of them didn't make it."
"That's a lot of goats," Dravite said thoughtfully, "I will take them both and the five kids."
"Would you like a buck? We have a young male that we bought from Riverfall last winter who is almost ready to mate."
"Why are you selling him?"
"He ate my mother's favourite hat, I've been keeping her from putting him in a stew ever since."

Dravite laughed; what would Belkaia say when he came home with eight goats?" He looked at the little goat herd and scratched his fingers through the light smattering of stubble across his jaw. He had been thinking about setting up some long term goals for his family and if hunting was slim in the winter the odd goat wouldn't go amiss. "What gender are the kids?"
"Four females, one male," the boy told him.
"Do I need the buck then?"
"Not unless you want to have new goats in the spring. If the goats don't give birth you won't get any milk next year."
"Hmm," Dravite hummed, "it seems there is a lot for me to learn."
The boy smiled. "They aren't that hard to work with. Carry one of the kids home and they will follow you anywhere."

Dravite paid the boy for the goats and told him that he would be back to collect them at the end of his shopping trip. He needed to buy a bucket and some jars for gathering the milk, and some thread to weave his own collars for the animals, or find someone who could do that for him.

LedgerBuck -10 GM
2 x Doe -10 GM
5 x Kid -10 GM
Total: 30 GM

.
.
.

[Dravite]

"One bucket and jars, will that be all?" The merchant asked.
Dravite looked down at the bucket on the counter filled with his other purchases and agreed with a nod. "That will be all, my friend."

He paid the merchant and took the bucket in his right hand to head back to the boy he had left the goats with. It was only a walk that took ten chimes, but after a morning in the markets, Dravite had grown tired. He couldn't wait to get back to camp and show the goats to Belkaia and his son, Kyanite.

The boy greeted him with a warm smile. He had managed to round up the goats while Dravite had been gone and pointed out his favourite of the five kids, a little female with long, floppy ears. "She is my favourite," he beamed and moved into the small herd to pick her up.

Dravite smiled and watched the way the boy handled the animals, holding the mothers horns as he walked by one of them to fetch the kid. The goats didn't seem phased and happily stood bleating to one another. "I guess I should have asked how old they were," Dravite spoke up.
"The buck is coming up two years and both the does are twice his age," the boy explained.
"How long do they live?"
"I'm not too sure, but my father knows all about them, he's even written a book all about goats.
Dravite laughed. "I don't suppose he would be willing to sell it to me?"
"Sure, we sell plenty," the boy smiled, "let me go get one for you."

When the boy returned with his favourite kid and book in hand, he was accompanied by his father. "Hello," the tall man signed his welcome and put his hand on his son's shoulder.
"Good morning," Dravite waved, "I'm Dravite Blackwater; I purchased some of your goats earlier this morning."
"It's nice to meet you," the man smiled, "I'm Trail and this is my son, Marsden."
"Marsden was just telling me a little about the goats I've bought today."
"Yes you've got two kinds here, the doe with the floppy ears is a better milk goat, as there is more fat in her milk, while this one here with the straight, shorter eyes I find has a leaner, better tasting meat."

Dravite looked at the doe with the long, drooping ears and scratched the top of her head gently; she didn't have horns like the other short eared doe. He looked at the buck who was black with short ears, had a long, shaggy coat and short, rounded horns that were thick at the base and smooth at the ends. "It seems I have a real mix here," Dravite smiled.
"That you do, my friend."
"I have a three year old boy at home, is he going to safe around the goats?"
"I haven't had any trouble with them, but the buck is from Riverfall and I think he has some wild gene in him. I was going to use him to add some fresh blood to my herd but his coat is too long and I am trying to breed short haired animals."
"I see," Dravite nodded and scratched around in his pocket for the miza he needed to pay for the book. When he presented the coin to Trail the man shook his head.
"On the house," he said, "you've already made me a wealthy man today."
Dravite insisted, "I can't do that, not when you went to the trouble of writing it."
"I won't take it," Trail laughed.
"Then take half at least, or give it to Marsden for doing such a fine job."
Trail looked at his son and smiled warmly. "Half to the boy for a job well done."

Dravite gave the coin to Marsden, sneaking the full amount to the boy as he took the kid from his arms. He put the book in his bucket along with the rest of the things he had purchased throughout the morning and headed off down the street. The kid bleated for his mother and just as Marsden had promised, the other goats followed gaily, springing up behind him all full of life, happy to go wherever he led them.

LedgerBucket, 2 gallons -5 SM
Common Book -5 GM
2 x 32oz Jar -4 SM
Total: 5 GM, 9 SM, 0 CM

.
.
.

[Dravite]

When Dravite finally returned to camp he was relieved to see that both Belkaia and Roan where home; sitting out on the grass enjoying a warm spot of sun. Kyanite was the first to notice Dravite's return and called excitedly to his father before pointing at the kid in his arms and shouting, "Look!"
Belkaia looked up from what she was doing and got to her feet quickly, running over to join Dravite and steal the baby goat away from his arms. "By the light of Syna," she beamed and pressed a kiss to the soft fur on its dome, "she is a sweet thing!"

Dravite smiled as the rest of the goats came bounding into camp and quickly started attacking the long grass. While the animals were distracted he tied both the Doe’s and the Buck up, giving them enough rope to roam about the campsite. "Do you like them?" He smiled, watching Kyanite stare at one of the kids; the boy looked tempted to touch but wasn't sure if he should.
"My love they are beautiful." Belkaia beamed, "look at her little eras!"
Roan laughed. "Why goats; most people keep Zibri you know?"
"I know," Dravite nodded, "but they are relatively inexpensive and good little milk producers."
"Surely they don't produce as much milk as a cow?"
"No, but enough for our family; what more do we need?"

They spent half a bell fussing over the goats and watching the kids play, bounding over each other and racing back and forth across the campsite as if their legs were made of tightly coiled springs. "What do we do when we run out of grass here?" Belkaia asked.
"I can take them out onto the edge of Endrykas and watch them graze."
"I can do that!" Belkaia smiled, "I would enjoy that."
"Well when I'm working with The Watch you will have to look after them."

She sat with Marsden's favourite kid in her lap and Kyanite at her side, petting the animal's long, narrow legs. Dravite remembered the sun theory he was going to test out with Roan and looked over at the young man. "Is the sun high enough?"
Roan gave him a puzzled look before he also remembered. "Oh, yes!"

They set up a marker using a tall stick and Roan took off one of his shoes to mark the furthest point of the shadow. "Now we just had to wait a while until we can mark the next point."
"Fifteen chimes?" Dravite asked to reconfirm.
"Yes," Roan nodded.

Dravite counted to pass the time and make sure they waited no longer than fifteen chimes; he had never been very good at mathematics, favouring other subjects while he had been a boy, though he had learned enough to get by and count his money correctly. "Fifty-eight, fifty-nine, sixty; and that makes fifteen chimes," Dravite called to Roan and watched as he marked the tip of the shortened shadow with his other shoe.
"Explain how this is meant to work again?" Dravite asked.
"Well one foot for each of the markers, I just don't remember which goes where."
"What are we trying to work out?"
"True north," Roan explained.

Dravite got up and looked at the diamond he had drawn in the dirt earlier that morning. He found the point for north, marked with the letter N and held his arm out, pointing in the corresponding direction. "By my diagram, that way is north."
Roan turned to face north by Dravite's calculations and then looked down at his markers. "That makes the first mark west and the second mark east," Roan smiled.
"First marker with left foot is west and second marker with right foot is east, will point you true north every time," Dravite spoke aloud, committing the facts to memory, "this is good, it will point us the right way if ever we get lost in the grasslands."
"Or anywhere for that matter," Roan grinned, pleased with himself.
"Good work, Roan!" .
.
.

[Dravite]

Dravite lay down on his bedroll in the tent with the door folded open to let the sun in on his feet. He rolled up his blanket to use as a pillow and propped his head up to start reading the book he had acquired written in the language of Pavi by Trail Tallgrass, a well-known pavilion name among the Drykas people. The man had even gone to the trouble of drawing pictures of goats at each stage of development in their lives for both genders. There were chapters on feeding, growth rates, grooming, reproduction, milking, and even one on handy recipes for meat, milk, and cheese. Dravite marvelled at the detail and love that had gone into each handwritten page before turning to the chapter about different types of goats found across the region.

Soon Kyanite joined the man in the tent and Dravite summoned him with a wave, letting the boy settle against his left side, tucked under his arm with his head on Dravite's shoulder as he continued to read. "What's that?" Kyanite asked.
"A long haired mountain goat," Dravite explained, pointing to the picture with his right hand.
"Goat," Kyanite repeated, "goat, goat, goat."
"Shhh," Dravite hushed his son quietly, "I'm reading, you have to be quiet."

Kyanite settled and stared up at the book as Dravite read aloud to him. Each time he turned to a page with a picture of another goat Kyanite would get all excited again and shout the word, "goat!" Which soon left Dravite with a tension-headache.
"Kyan, shhhh."

A bell passed before Belkaia was done playing with the kids and watching their parents. By the time she ventured into the tent it was mid-afternoon. She giggled when she found both her boys asleep on the bedroll and picked the book up off of Dravite's chest where it had come to rest as the man had drifted off. She set the book aside, along with the rest of their things and sat down beside her husband to lay against his left side gently, mindful of his slow healing rib.

Dravite opened his eyes and sucked in a breath of air, surprised he had drifted off so quickly. "Are you all right?" He asked his wife.
She nuzzled his cheek with the tip of her nose and nodded. "I'm fine, my love."
He wrapped his arm around the woman and kissed her temple. "We will have fresh goat's milk tomorrow morning."
"I suppose you expect me to fetch it," Belkaia grinned knowingly.
"I'll do it," he offered, "I don't mind honestly; it would be nice to learn more about them."
"Can you milk them in the evening too?" Belkaia asked.
"I don't know, I didn't read that far; where is the book?"

Belkaia turned over carefully and reached for the book. She passed it to Dravite and he read the index in order to find the chapter he needed. Quickly he skimmed the handwritten text on the page with his eyes and read aloud the parts he found interesting enough to share with Belkaia. "Each doe should produce enough milk to satisfy her kids hunger with enough left over for a morning or evening milking. You will be able to take half a gallon of milk from a doe with two kids without putting her young at risk. If you find that the kids are hungry, try milking every second day."

Belkaia cuddled up to Dravite excitedly and rubbed his belly. "I can't wait to try the milk!"

Dravite read on. "The buck should be replaced every two to three years to prevent inbreeding. I recommend culling any goats who produce slow kids, give birth to a single kid two years in a row, or don't produce enough milk to wean their kids. Any undesirable traits should be cut from the herd to prevent producing more weak stock. Goats with kids will produce milk for up to ten months of the year."

"Goodness," Belkaia giggled. "A gallon of milk between the two doe’s will be more than we can drink."
"We could sell half a gallon to one of our neighbours for one silver."
Belkaia pinched Dravite’s soft belly and grinned. "A nice bit of money to be made on the side."
"Who knows, in a few years I might be able to give up my job all together and run a goat farm," Dravite teased, knowing he would do no such thing, being that he was far too loyal to The Watch and the protection of the Drykas people.
Belkaia smiled. "One day at a time, my love." .
.
.

[Dravite]

They lay there in each other’s arms for a time, enjoying the summer warmth on the air and talking of their plans for the future. Kyanite had finally stirred, fresh from his nap and crawled between the two of them to cuddle up like a lean dog trying to stay warm. "Show me how it's done," Belkaia cooed, "I want to try it myself when I know how."

Dravite had seen Marsden milking the one of the doe’s and thought how hard could it be? He sat up on the bedroll and slowly got to his feet, leaving the tent with Belkaia and his son in tow. The new bucket he had bought from the marketplace was washed before he got ready to use it and he looked at the kids all dozing in the sun. "I don't know how well this is going to go," Dravite laughed when he noticed Roan poke his head out of his tent.
"Are you going to milk one of them?" The young man asked.
"I'm sure going to try," Dravite admitted, "whether or not I'm successful, we shall soon see."

Roan chuckled and disappeared back into his tent to finish making the arrows he had made a start on the day before. Dravite knelt down alongside the floppy eared doe washed her udders with some of the water from his water-skin that had grown warm after sitting in the sun all day. The doe didn't seem to mind the attention but as soon as he positioned the bucket under her and took hold of one of her udders to squeeze some milk from the animal, she kicked him lightly. Belkaia laughed and rolled back in the long grass, amused by the scene that was unfolding in front of her.

"What are you laughing at?" Dravite smiled.
Belkaia composed herself long enough to get any answer out. "You! I keep telling you that you have very cold hands!"
"Cold hands, warm heart, my love."

Belkaia only smiled and watched as Dravite rubbed his hands together to warm them before trying again. As his fingers closed around the animal’s udder and pulled, she kicked him again, bleating this time as she looked back at him. "Perhaps we will not have any milk after all," he shrugged and watched as Belkaia raced off, returning soon after with the book in her hands.
"What does it say about milking?"
Belkaia turned to the right page and read to Dravite. "Many people who are new to gathering goats milk make the mistake of pulling on the udder rather than trapping the milk between finger and thumb while using the rest of their fingers to gently squeeze the milk from the goat’s udder."

Dravite scratched the back of his head and looked at the goat. "Good thing my wife here likes to read the instructions before she plays with her new toys," he teased stoked the doe’s back for a time before giving it another go. "Be gentle," Belkaia added, "you don't want to damage the udders."
"No I don't," Dravite laughed, finding the whole situation rather amusing.

He squeezed the milk from one of the udders, repeating the slow process as he watched the White milk shoot into the bucket. "This will take all day!" He groaned, "there's not even enough collected to wet our lips yet."
"Keep going," Belkaia encouraged before setting the book down and moving to the other side of the doe to join in, taking hold of the second udder.
"Feels warm," Dravite told her, "how do you feel about warm goat’s milk?"
"It's sounds better than no goat’s milk," his wife chuckled.
"This is harder than it looks," the horse lord complained.
"I think it's quite relaxing."

"A quarter gallon fills one thirty-two ounce jar," Dravite explained as he poured the milk from the bucket into the jar and only just filled it to the top.
"So we only got a quarter gallon from her?"
"Seems so," he nodded.
"Not bad, especially since she has three kids to feed," Belkaia admitted, pleased with her new animals.
"Agreed; I think we should milk her every second day."
Belkaia offered a curt nod. "That sounds fair; we could do that for both goats so that they each get a break."
"Sounds like a plan," Dravite smiled, "now who wants to try it?" .
.
.

[Naiya]

Here's what the Fox says

Name: Dravite


XP Award:

• Animal Husbandry +4
• Cooking +1
• Drawing +2
• Hunting +1
• Intelligence +4
• Investigation +1
• Land Navigation +2
• Leadership +1
• Mathematics +3
• Observation +5
• Planning +3
• Rhetoric +2
• Socialization +5
• Storytelling: +1
• Teaching +2
• Wilderness Survival +1

Lore:

• Animal Husbandry: Does will follow their kids
• Animal Husbandry: Does only give milk if they kid
• Animal Husbandry: Don't breed animals with traits you dislike
• Animal Husbandry: Floppy eared goats have more fat in their milk
• Animal Husbandry: Goats, Bucks, Does, and Kids
• Animal Husbandry: Goats eat anything they can reach
• Animal Husbandry: Goats Kid in the spring
• Animal Husbandry: Grazing goats
• Animal Husbandry: Milk from a goat tastes like what they eat
• Animal Husbandry: Proper milking of a goat
• Animal Husbandry: Recognizing a long haired mountain goat
• Animal Husbandry: Short eared goats have lean, flavorful meat
• Cooking: Make cheese from goat's milk
• Food Preservation: Store goat's milk in the river to keep it fresh
• Hunting: Choose a weapon suited to your prey
• Intelligence: Asking the right questions to get what you need
• Land Navigation: Marking the shadow of a stick shows how to find true north
• Mathematics: Counting money
• Mathematics: Keeping time
• Mathematics: Liquid measurements
• Planning: Keeping the future in mind
• Wilderness Survival: Knowing how to find your way

Seasonal Goal Completed Buy an Animal

Notes: I think you went overboard on the challenge, it says "Buy an animal. You bought eight! As an additional award to your completed challenge, and your acquisition of a new herd, I went overboard too. I awarded a ton of lore, everything I caught about the goats, as well as as many other relevant lores as I could find. If you have questions, please feel free to shoot me a PM. I look forward to seeing more of your excellent writing!