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News

News items can be fed to students through some kind of electronic journal in Geniverse. Here are some stories.

Is Meat Best?
Reading Body Language
Hunting Drakes: A Total Experience!
Improved Hunting Drakes Ready for Market


Is Meat Best?

For years, the Guild has recommended a traditional diet for drakes: meat and bones. There is no question that this diet comes very close to what the wild ancestors of today's fancy drakes thrive upon in nature.

Purists often insist that the very best diet for drakes consists of what drakes would eat in the wild: small mammals like mice and rats, and birds up to the full size of the drake. Some drake owners go so far as to offer these to their drakes live, as many drakes seem to enjoy hunting live prey.

Most drake owners follow Guild recommendations and feed their drakes meat and bones, either raw or cooked. Recommended types of meat include those that drakes would not eat in nature, such as beef, pork, and lamb. While this kind of feeding does not give drakes the opportunity to engage in hunting behavior, offering soft toys that mimic mice and birds seems to address this need in drakes. Anyone who has tossed a plush bird toy to a drake and seen it ripped apart would have to agree.

In the Eastern Kingdom, where the Drake Breeder's Guild has no Guild Hall, there are tales of unusual, highly favored drakes that become ill on a diet of meat and bones. These delicate drakes are fed a meat-free "Celestial Diet" consisting of rice, vegetables, sesame seeds and herbs. Owners of these drakes often adhere to the diet themselves, as part of the practice of the Fourfold Way.

For the rest of the Five Kingdoms, is meat best? Guildmaster Thaddeus Bellowsman of the Guild Hall in Empire City reports that all drakes in breeding pens and stables are fed meat and bones, usually chicken. Live chickens are reserved for breeding pairs, as the presentation of a fresh kill to the female is an important part of male courtship behavior.


Reading Body Language

We have all heard of people who were "good with drakes." What does this mean?

Part of the training of new Guild members is learning to handle drakes. There are two vital parts of this training: reading drake body language, and learning to use your own body language as a handler.

Reading drake body language is simple. The greeting displays include hooting, wing lifts, and lowering of the head to present the neck for stroking. Good handlers always acknowledge a greeting display with a call or gesture.

Drake threat displays include rearing up on the hind legs, beating of wings (but not flight), a wide-open mouth, and a raspy hissing vocalization. Males will often inflate their throat sacs, which is also part of their mating display. Handlers encountering a threat display should stand their ground, remain calm, and not insist on handling the drake. It is also a poor idea to offer food to a drake in response to a threat display, as this rewards aggression.

Body language on the part of the handler is also important, as drakes always read it. Drake handlers should move in a calm and purposeful manner, alert and confident. One of the benefits of drake ownership is that drakes train their owners to be more centered. Drakes do not like distracted or depressed handlers!

Anyone who intends to handle drakes, including new owners who have taken them on as pets or hunters, should be taught these things. Increasing drake ownership in the general population is an important goal of the Guild, and new owners who are "good with drakes" will create interest in others.


Hunting Drakes: A Total Experience!

One of the most significant developments in the 30 years since the Guild Hall was built in Empire City was the training of the first hunting drakes. It was 27 years ago that legendary Guildmaster Randolf Anvilstriker introduced the first hunting drakes to the Central Kingdom.

Guildmaster Anvilstriker collaborated for two years with experienced falconers to train the first hunting drakes. They used the reliable Nightwing breed, known for being healthy, strong, and easy to train. The Falconer's Guild worked closely with Anvilstriker to adapt training methods and equipment from falcons to drakes.

The first public displays of hunting drakes at the Autumn Market were coordinated events to introduce not only hunting drakes, but also handcrafted gauntlets, falconry hoods, and game bags. Fashion designers worked to develop striking new boots and cloaks that evoked Restoration Age fashion.

The rich Charcoal scale color of Nightwing proved to be a delight to designers, who reacted with a palette of black and silver. The look spread to general fashion, and for a few years formalwear among the wealthy did not stray far from black and silver.

Within a few years, travel agents in the Central Kingdom began offering all-inclusive tours to the rich hunting plains in the Southern Kingdom. Affluent travelers could enjoy travel by luxury rail, training in drake handling, and being completely outfitted in high style. With a week's stay at hunting resorts in the Southern Kingdom, even the most inexperienced travelers could expect success at the hunt, often returning with a video record to share with friends.

For the Guild Hall in Empire City, it was a fine start.


Improved Hunting Drakes Ready for Market

Some have argued that the lucrative trade in hunting drakes has peaked. Following years of rapid expansion, sales of trained Nightwing drakes have leveled off. Improvements in drake nutrition have increased their lifespan, so the sale of replacement drakes has also fallen.

A plateau in sales does not suit Guildmaster Thaddeus Bellowsman, of the Guild Hall in Empire City. He had anticipated this development, and two years ago devised a plan to increase sales to meet the Guild's requirement for funds to expand laboratory space and to recruit new apprentices. The Guildmaster planned to expand the use of hunting drakes to new areas of the Five Kingdoms, specifically the Western edge of the Eastern Kingdom. This effort is a long-term plan that is progressing slowly.

A more immediate source of additional sales is the development of a superior hunting drake, Swift Steel. The Swift Steel drake incorporates two genetic variations known to breeders, but not available in a hunting drake.

The first genetic variation is the absence of forelimbs. The presence of forelimbs in drakes and dragons is something of an anatomical compromise, as the forelimbs originate in the same anatomical segment as the wings. This limits both the range of motion of the wings and the extent of wing musculature. In drakes lacking forelimbs, there is an improved range of motion of wings. Careful selective breeding over many generations has increased the muscle mass supporting the wings, resulting in improved flight speed and duration.

The second genetic variation is metallic scale color. Swift Steel drakes lack pigment in the surface layer of their scales, causing a metallic sheen. This transforms the attractive Charcoal of the popular Nightwing breed into a striking color called Steel. While this has no effect on the hunting ability of the drakes, it has novelty appeal.

Prior to the introduction of the Swift Steel drake, the Guild worked closely with craft Guilds to devise a new set of coordinated hunting accessories and clothing for a sharp new look likely to turn heads at hunting resorts next season. The coordinated introduction of the Swift Steel drake and the new line of accessories at the New Era 40 trade show in Empire City was a big hit, and advance orders are brisk.