User blog comment:The Reptile King/Chocolate Holstaurus Chat place/@comment-27950421-20160428000033/@comment-27950421-20160429185720

It seems to me Safnar, that you don't fully understand what it means to be alpha of the pack. It's not about leadership or being the strongest. Being the strongest certainly helps, and giving the alpha leadership how the pack repays the alpha but in truth the alphas job is to protect the pack. When a leopard goes after a troop of gorillas it is the silverback that fights it off while the others flee. When a pack of wolves are hunting, it is the alpha the faces off with the mother moose while the other kill the baby. When a rival male comes into a pride of lions intent on killing the cubs and forcing itself upon the females, it is the male who is already dominant who defends them. Tyrants who abuse the position do arise, however as soon as another alpha arises regardless of how strong the new comer is, the others turn on the tyrant. They would rather follow kind weakling than a strong tyrant.

The same goes for the raptors. When they're hungry, I'm the one brings them food. When they're sick, I'm the one who cares for them. And when they're scared of vets with big scary needles, I'm the one that protects them. That is why they will not turn on me. That and the fact that I can drop kick a Baphomet into next week.

Anyways back the the experiments, I'd hate to point out obvious, but have we tried just feeding the straight chocolate? Just... lots of chocolate? Or maybe Coco beans instead of leaves. A plants chemical and magical properties can vary a great deal depending on the part of the plant that used. Also I would like to have some magical scans going on to see how exactly the changes in diet is altering the milk. If we can make a spell that replicates that then we could have it to where they can produce chocolate milk and eat whatever they want. With a slight alteration to the spell changing the flavor would be easy, and with a permanent hereditary enchantment we could make entirely new breeds of holstaurus.