HERDING: THE THIRD WAY Alynx and dogs, dogs and alynx... For Orlanthi in Dragon Pass ( at least in the northern areas) there is a third way when it comes to herding. Its one I've explored in my own Far Point campaign.
Stead Trollkin.
They're cheap, expendable and eat garbage. With the correct mix of discipline, they can be extremely loyal. You have to be handy with the crutching shears to keep the little buggers in check, and there are tricks in breeding to get the right numbers who are not too big, docile and just bright enough, but with proper management enlo can be a valuable stead resource. Their urine is valuable (oh, no, not again...) and they can also collect wood, spread hay, brew sticklepick and a hundred other mundane tasks as well. They work at night, and stay in their pens during most of the day. And the younger ones provide sport for stead alynx.
There are down sides of course. Mythologically, it makes the stead more vulnerable to Darkness, and this can have major ritual and magical impact. It *may* antagonise local dark troll communities. It's considered "un-Orlanthi" (just like using dogs). Bright shinies and small valuables tend to disappear. More than one stead has fallen when runaway groups of 'feral' enlo have come back in force. But hey, it works at Lagerwater, and there are a dozen or so communal steads among the Tovtaros who use stead trollkin in a major way.
Comments?
John
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