“Domesticated animals were always an important part of people’s lives in most of known history. They provided people with sources of labor, replenishable food, companionship, as well as aided in various other ways. For example, while cats are popularly kept as pets nowadays, previously they played a vital role in a community’s survival by hunting down rodents that if left unchecked, might well make their way into granaries and ruin the crops stored there. Many other common domesticated animals had similar histories to them.” - From a lecture by Garth Wainwrought, Professor of Sociology for the Levain Institute of Higher Learning, circa 611 FP.
“You built them underground? To deal with the cold, I assume?” asked Eilonwy out of curiosity as she watched Leif and Gudrun along with their two wolves lead them towards a set of wooden covers on the side of an earthen mound at the back of the house. The hole revealed after opening the cover had the typical stink of a coop to it, but was also rather small. It took quite a bit of effort for the taller ones like Eilonwy to fit themselves into the rather cramped confines.
“Partly to keep them warm, yeah, and partly because Hill Raptors normally live in burrows, so this is what’s comfortable and familiar for them,” replied Leif as he held a lit torch and walked behind his little sister, who led the way together with their two wolves. “I would have to warn the ladies to keep their hands away from the Raptors, though. They’re very… finicky creatures, and they bite if they feel threatened.”
“Rest assured, we’re just here to watch,” replied Kino from the back. Since they were going to stay in town for at least a couple more days, the group decided to take turns checking things out, so Aideen, Kino, and Eilonwy were the ones who went with Leif and Gudrun that day. The cramped space of the underground coop meant that they wouldn’t be able to fit more people in anyway.
After a short tunnel, they emerged into a larger cavern where Eilonwy could at least stand hunched instead of having to practically contort her body to fit the space. Many reptilian eyes stared at them from the darkness, accompanied by hissing sounds from the creatures.
Once Leif moved a bit further forward and his torch cast light upon the creatures, Aideen immediately saw the resemblance to the Snow Raptors. In comparison to them, however, the Hill Raptors had stubbier, shorter legs and more rotund forms, though the latter was probably due to how they were well-fed and lived sedentary lifestyles. They still retained most of the typical characteristics, including the toothy maws that they now opened as a blatant threat to the group.
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At least until the wolves gave sharp growls and the Hill Raptors collectively made squeaky sounds of panic as they raced and bunched up at the far corners of the cavern.
What they left behind were semi-circular indentation on the sides of the cavern where several clutches of eggs could be seen. Gudrun just walked over and collected the eggs – sometimes putting one back after she held it in her hand – and placed them into the woven basket she carried. All the while, the Raptors stayed far away, with the wolves standing between the two children and the creatures.
After they were done, the group turned around and left the coop in reverse order, the wolves covering their rear. Two of the dozen or so eggs were left behind, with the rest stored in Gudrun’s basket. It was only once the wolves turned and left that the cowering raptors dared to leave the corners of the cavern and return to their nests.
“Why did you leave some of the eggs behind?” Eilonwy asked once they returned to the surface, while Leif was closing the coop’s entrance once more.
“Those eggs are fertilized,” replied Gudrun nonchalantly. “We let them grow up with the others for more eggs and meat in the future. The ones I took weren’t fertilized, so no point leaving them down there as they’d just rot.”
“Makes sense, then,” nodded Eilonwy.
The group returned to the longhouse to find breakfast arrayed and waiting for them. Breakfast was a simple dish of porridge made with stale bread dissolved and cooked in a mixture of water and milk, then flavored with some crumbled cheese. The cheese was the same sweetish one they had the night before, and it made the porridge taste more like a dessert, in a way.
“Oh, thanks for the eggs, dear,” noted Yngva as she noticed the basket Gudrun carried. The burly woman picked out some of the eggs, leaving six in the basket, and brought them over to the kitchen. “I’ll be baking that pie now, later you and Leif take them eggs over to old Erik along with the pie, will you?”
“Gotcha, ma!” replied Gudrun as she plopped herself on the bench and started shoveling the still-hot porridge into her mouth vigorously.
Since the people who were in the house had their breakfast earlier, Yngva was already done with hers, and the woman immediately cracked some of the eggs and mixed them with flour and some rendered fat until they turned into a dough. She then kneaded the dough with quite a bit of force before rolling it into a thin circle and placed it on a circular wooden pan.
The filling was mostly made with a mixture of more eggs and milk, which was then flavored using crushed berries. The berries were a local sort, rather reminiscent of raspberries but were greenish-yellow in color. Yngva mixed in a good amount of berry juice and the pulped flesh into the filling, and also added a handful of still-whole berries as well after she poured the filling into the pan lined with dough.
She then took out a large sheet of what looked like off-gray leather from a drawer and wrapped the pan carefully,, before she placed the whole package over the burning embers of her cooking fire.
“Won’t the pan burn on the fire? It’s wood, isn’t it?” asked Kino out of curiosity.
“Hill Raptor leather doesn’t burn if you treat them a certain way, lass,” replied Yngva. With that as a wrapper I could put a pile of kindling over an open fire and they wouldn’t go up in flames.”