Chapter 195: Chapter 178 – Horned Lizards

"While southern and eastern Ur-Teros generally relied on mammalian pack animals for both labor and meat, the wildlife in the west and north of the continent were dominated by reptilians of all kinds instead, and it was these beasts that the inhabitants learned to tame and ranch." - Jionnis Esteban, Elmaiyan expert on animal husbandry, circa 429 FP.

A day after they crossed the borders, the party caught sight of the first ranches. It was difficult to miss, the air faintly smelling of manure as it is, while the great beasts being ranched within were equally impossible to miss even from a distance.

 

Horned lizards roamed the plains under the careful watch of the ranchers. Each of the great beasts was easily three meters tall at the shoulder, and often triple that length from snout to tail.

 

Their rather long snouts ended in large beak-like structures, and the way they grazed on vegetation made it obvious that these beasts weren't carnivorous. At the end of their snouts, just above their nostrils, each of the beasts had a great horn, easily a meter long or so and pointed skyward. Above their eyes the beasts also grew horns, which seemed to vary between them. Cal saw ones with no other horns other than the ones on its snout, others with two or three horns pointed forward, while others had five or more horns facing backwards, spread like the rungs of a folding fan.

 

Connected to these horned heads were thick barrel shaped bodies on four legs that reminded one of tree trunks. Their skins had interlinked bony plates covering most of their bodies, and what she could see of the seams looked very rough. Their tails were quite long and swayed from side to side, but did not seem prehensile or agile.

 

In between and around these massive lizards were ranchers who rode on their mounts - there Cal saw every kind of mount from large feathered lizards to boars as tall as people at the shoulders - and kept watch over their herd. Most of the ranchers were dwarven, and even those who seemed to be of mixed ancestry tended to have some obvious dwarven ancestry in them.

 

Despite their massive size and wicked looking horns, the horned lizards turned out to be docile creatures that the ranchers easily herded with shouts and flags. From what Cal saw, the only real danger those beasts posed to their ranchers was if they were to accidentally fall or lay down on them.

 

One of the ranchers seemed to have noticed Cal and her group looking at the lizards - the ranch had no fences, and to be honest Cal doubted any fence would be able to hold those great beasts anyway - and approached them. The rancher was a rather young dwarf riding a large draft horse, and he waved as he approached them.

 

"Howdy, stranger," greeted the young dwarf, now identified from his voice as a male. He stroked his still short beard with one hand as he slowed his horse and approached Cal and her group. "They be magnificent beasties, are they not?" he said when he noticed where the girls were looking at.

 

"Quite so," replied Cal diplomatically to the young dwarf. To tell the truth, she had seen larger beasts, but not ones raised and kept in a ranch like these. From the way the young dwarf wore some accessories made from ivory, they raised these beasts to eventually harvest them too, it seems. "Just never seen anyone run a ranch with beasts this big before."

 

"O, they be pretty docile sweeties, they be," said the young dwarf in reply with a cheerful laugh. "And since they just graze ain't like feeding them's hard. Not many things can eat them this far north either~"

 

"They're not native to this area then?" asked Cal on a point the young dwarf's words seemed to imply.

 

"Oh no. Me great grandpappy had imported some from further east long before I was born. They turned out to adapt well to life here, and nowadays these beauties are like one of the more common beasties to ranch," explained the dwarf animatedly, even gesticulating excitedly with his arms. "Anyway, ain't seen ye 'round here before. Ye be traveling?"

 

"That we are," Cal said in reply as she nodded. "Think your ranch can house us for the night? We'll pay of course."

 

"Oh, bollocks, leave that be. It be common courtesy to host strangers on the road here," said the young dwarf with a happy laugh. He then turned his draft horse around and waved at them to follow him as he headed towards the house Cal could see in the distance. "Come along! Ma would be happy to have guests to feed, I bet!"

 

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Cal and her nieces exchanged a look before they followed behind the young dwarf towards the house. Though it looked small from afar, once they approached Cal realized that the house was easily the size of a small mansion, and from what the young dwarf said, apparently they also had rooms in the house for their ranch hands to stay in.

 

At the front of the house, Cal saw an eldery dwarf seated in a rocking chair who eyed them with interest as they approached. Much like most of the others she saw, the old dwarf also wore a simple turban around his head, and kept his beard neatly braided while he smoked a pipe.

 

The young dwarf introduced the eldery one as his grandfather, and the latter nodded as Cal and her group politely greeted him. Cal guessed that the old dwarf was probably Aelfried's age, well into his late five hundreds, while the youngster was likely not even a century old yet.

 

Once they were inside the rather spacious house, Cal found herself welcomed by the young dwarf's parents, both middle aged dwarves in their three hundreds or so. The mother was especially enthusiastic at the prospect of having guests.

 

Perhaps it was universal to farmers and ranchers everywhere, but their hosts seemed quite eager to treat Cal's party to dinner that proudly featured the ranch's own produce. In this case that meant eggs and meat from the horned lizards.

 

The house's chef had proudly shown the egg of the horned lizard before he brought it to the kitchen to cook. The egg was strangely elongated in shape, and more importantly, was huge. It was easily the size of one of Cal's thighs or thereabouts.

 

When the egg arrived at the dinner table, first it arrived in the form of a thick, savory soup that tasted of meat stock and had wisps of eggs floating in it. Following that was a savory custard made with the egg and some minced meat, along with some chopped mushrooms.

 

A large and thick omelette came next, with the eggs perfectly cooked despite the thickness of the dish, with chunks of potatoes, onions, mushrooms, and meat suspended in the egg mixture. It was a hearty meal that had everyone's approval.

 

By now Cal noticed that the meats used in the meal so far tasted the same. It tasted similar to fowl like chicken or duck, but was noticeably gamier in flavor, not something she was familiar with. She guessed it to be horned lizard meat.

 

Her guess was verified when the chef displayed a truly massive cut of raw meat streaked with fat to the diners before he brought it to the kitchen to be cooked. Such a cut could only be from one of the great beasts ranched outside, considering its size. The meat was paler in color compared to most, but lacked any strong smells.

 

What was brought before her from the kitchen was a thick slab of steak cooked from the cut, the outside slightly charred, while the insides still somewhat pink in color, served under a creamy sauce that had mushrooms and peppercorns in it.

 

Cal naturally gave the meal a try, and found the flesh extremely tender, with a far milder taste than she had expected, yet also a rich one that blended seamlessly with the sauce poured on it, which gave it complexity and some spiciness that kept the flavor fresh.

 

Much like her nieces, she had not stood on ceremony and happily devoured the meal, accepting seconds when it was offered, with high praise for the chef, which seemed to please the lady host to no end.

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