Domestic goat

Goat farming constitutes a cornerstone of animal husbandry in the lands surrounding the Sea of Jars. Were it not for the reliable source of milk, meat, hide and hair these animals provide, it is highly unlikely that most of the cities would have been able to achieve the heights of culture and industry they have reached.

Economic significance

Goats are a valued stock animal in so many places largely because they can be kept almost anywhere. On the alluvial plain the soil is fertile enough, and the hydrology reliable enough, that many areas will produce the lush grass growth required to support cattle or sheep, though that is not true of everywhere on the plain and certainly not true of areas surrounding northern cities such as Oluz and Elpaloz. Goats, being capable of thriving on almost any plant growth, neatly circumvent this problem. The also cope with hot dry conditions far better than other stock, which makes them especially valuable to the coastal farms that ring the Empty Quarter. Many farming families and communities have been living off goat farming for centuries.
The primary product of goats is their milk, which can be consumed in its natural state, though to preserve it from spoilage it is usually processed into cheese. Numerous kinds of goat's cheese are consumed in the cities, with the environs of Ramoros in particular noted for exporting a variety of cheeses considered delicacies in other communities. Very few urban dwellers ever see milk in its natural state and the uneducated are often only dimly aware of how cheese is made.
Goats are also raised for their flesh, though this tends to be eaten seasonally, mostly in the autumn to free up barn space for the harvest. In several cities, most notably Pholyos and Dypholyos creamy goat casseroles are a seasonal treat enjoyed in the autumn, when farmers drive large flocks to the cities for sale. This is widely accepted to be an echo of the pre-Wesmodian rites of the god Pergyad, though there are dissenting voices to this opinion.
Goats also yield a strong, lightweight hide thought to be superior in most respects to that given by cattle. Most of the leather in the Eleven Cities therefore comes from these animals.
Goat horn is also sometimes retained as a craft medium. Many rural homes contain knives or other tools with horn handles and the material is a common material in the humbler forms of personal adornment found in the cities. It is also frequently carved into decorative Tiling pieces, and almost invariably adorns Flockstones

Thaumatological significance

Often overlooked in urban areas, the domestic goat appears to have created a very deep emotional impression on those who work directly with them. Goats first arrived in the region in the care of herdsmen in the rocky hills surrounding the alluvial plain, where their presence and impact is recorded on menhirs carved with goatherd staves and crooks and horned heads. These are among the oldest signs of civilization in the relevant vicinity of the Eleven Cities. They are also widely believed to be early archaeological evidence of the worship of Pergyad, who would therefore be one of the oldest deities in the religious tradition. Stories have been told of such menhirs in the alluvial lowlands, made of soapstone and carved into subtle but clear anthropomorphic forms with horned heads - rather more clearly idols of Pergyad. These erections are said to exist only in deep wooded areas, such as those supposedly haunted by the Beast Men thought to be the semi-sane, and possibly semi-human, descendants of Pergyad's wild clergy. Assuming such edifices actually exist - and there is some doubt on the matter - they require field examination from trained thaumatologists.
Goats certainly appear to have been central to the worship of Pergyad in both urban and rural areas. Goat meat was consumed in large quantities at seasonal rituals in honour of the god, a particularly noticeable fact in cities such as Pholyos where red meat was otherwise seldom bothered with. Goats were also prominent in the rather more active worship of Pergyad in rural areas, particularly in the southern hinterland. In most communities prayers to him were spoken over flocks in the autumn, when breeding season began, and over kidding animals in spring, in rituals that seem to have involved flute music. Goat body parts, including horns, skin and in some cases the cured placenta, appear to have been used to create fertility charms in some communities, and this practice may continue in some areas. Eyewitnesses in the pre-Wesmodian era attest to goats being sacrificed; Wesmod himself mentioned this practice in the first of the Wesmodian Invectives as a wasteful imposition on struggling communities. Thaumatologists with an interest in the cult of Pergyad, and indeed in magic related to animals in general, therefore repeatedly find themselves interviewing goatherds and inquiring about superstitions and practices related to the well-being of their flocks.
Goat body parts are also sometimes used in the creation of flockstones, a folk tradition that has remained obdurately widespread in the south (interestingly, it has almost entirely died out in northern regions where goat-herding is more prominent). These temporary idols are usually made of some combination of stone, wood or thatch, but elaborate examples of the from are often wrapped or draped with goat skin, or topped with an (invariably male) goat skull, and many communities take their construction in autumn as an excuse for a party. There is a general feeling among thaumatologists that flockstones are echoes of the goat-sacrificing rituals related to Pergyad, but like so much else about that savage god little has yet been established with any certainty.