And then some!

Over the course of the evening, Mr. Baranov and his wife, spoke to me at length about her skills and the training she underwent in order to manipulate her throat muscles to create her songs. The also told me of how they met, and how they came to Madosin, to be part of her livestock industry, as goatherds. The other thing that garnered my curiosity, was what Mrs. Erhi was drinking.

"Fermented mare's milk?" I asked, befuddled. "How does one ferment milk?"

"By being very careful when bringing over the first batch," Mrs. Erhi replied, with a small smug smile. "After that, as long as you keep making it fairly regularly, the yeast culture will keep, letting you do it as many times as you'd like." Not being an expert on Wine or Beer distillation, I merely nodded. It must have been quite evident about my confusion, because she said, "would you like to try a sip, Mr. McKay?"

"If it is alright by your husband, Missus," I replied, looking to him.

There was the slightest little turn of his head and frown towards his wife, as if she'd made an offer that she shouldn't have, but then he shrugged and assented with a small wave and nod. Nodding herself, Mrs. Erhi pulled out from her bag a small canteen, and requested a clean mug from the bartender. Having obtained one, she poured out, essentially a mug's worth of milk, and slid it over to me.

From the nose of it, I could only pick up milk, but it seemed to hiss and pop, as if air that had been trapped within the drink were suddenly released. But at first sip, I was... confused. The texture as smooth and creamy, as one would expect, but... Imagine if you had taken a pitcher of milk and mixed it with a pitcher of wine. The overwhelming sourness of it made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end, but there was a sweetness to it's finish that I could not place, which compelled me to keep returning for another sip. It was an odd but not unpleasant drink.

And then everything went dark.