and <once> we had entered their voice still reached <on occasion>.

[park sang joon]

I walked with Vinta to the huge hilltop manor house. It commanded far views of rocky valleys and hillsides where the grapes were grown. A great number of dogs approached and tried to friendly as we made our way to the house, and once we had entered their voice still reached on occasion.
["Trumps of Doom" of The Great Book of Amber by Roger Zelazny]
I'd like to know why it is "once," not "after/ though."
Thank you in advance for your help.

 

[Loob]

It could have been "after". It doesn't mean "though".




PS. There seems to be at least one word missing from your quote....

 

[park sang joon]

Thank you, Loob, for your very kind answer.
Then I was wondering if you think "once" is appropriate to the context.

 

[dojibear]

"once" is like "after" but a little different....."once X happened" means "starting at the time X happened", where "after" could start later.

In the book quote, as long as we were outside, the barking of the dogs was easily heard (of course). As soon as we entered, their noise was blocked by the house (of course) but they were loud enough that their sound still reached us sometimes ("on occasion").

 

[park sang joon]

Thank you, dojibear, for your further explanation.