Цех Скотоводов

The Masterherder, who is usually a skilled veterinarian, covers all breed propagation. His craft is in charge of the care of the studs, and keeping track of the best bloodlines. His goal is to breed stronger animals. Mountain ovines and bovines are different from the types of best off in fields and plains. He and his crafters keep the bears of each of them to the breed.

Artificial insemination has survived as a skill from the earliest days of beastcrafting. The present-day Craftmasters do not know the source of their knowledge, but the process works and continues to work. During the First and Second Passes, the veterinarians used embryo transplant as well, but those techniques are long lost.

Part of the Masterherder. The Beastcraft steps in to prevent runners from being overbred for size or strength, and instead encourages the cultivation of appropriate breeds. A female racing runnerbeast will not be easy to produce a plow animal, as Lord Alessan of Ruatha discovered when he tried to breed hardy animals for carting that could get along on little fodder. Heavy drafts of animals exist for these jobs, and the Beastcraft would rather have been allowed to trade. To Alessan's good fortune as a racing enthusiast, his combination did produce fleet. Unfortunately the plague caused many good bloodlines, as well as knowledge and technique, to be lost forever.

The Beastcrafthall has nothing to do with dragons, fire lizards, or watch-whers. Generally, a dragon healer from one of the Weyrs, such as Moreta, cares for one of these when need arises.

The beastcrafters are involved mainly with the study of the animals that come from Earth: runnerbeasts, bovines, llamas, porcines, caprines, ovines, and canines. They also look after avians, domestic wherries, and the rare chickens and geese, improving egg yield and size of roasting fowl. Some journeymen make a special study of the tunnel snakes, not as they are of breeding stock, but more as an investigation of their habits so that they can easily get rid of themselves of these destructive and dangerous pests.