THE
PRIETA
DEER |
The Prieta is a slender graceful member of the deer family that is very adaptable to various environments and able to flourish. They are also made for running and can sustain a speedy pace for hours. The Prieta prefer grasslands, brushlands, bunch grass and sagebrush areas throughout the continent of Sarvonia.
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Appearance.
The Prieta stands a little over one ped at the shoulder and weighs between 9 and
12 hebs. They are a slender, graceful, animals with a deer-like bodies with
short bristly fur. The upper body and outside of the legs are tan to cinnamon in
color with a buff, palmspan length tail. The cheeks, lower jaw, chest, belly,
inner legs and rump are usually an off white. The male has two broad, black
bands down either side of the snout to a black nose and black breast patch,
together with black horns. The female has no black bands or breast patch but
does have a black nose and dark brown horns. The Prieta have large, protruding
yellow to light brown eyes on the fore part of the head. The horns of the Prieta
are a hollow sheath over a bony core arising from the skull directly over the
eyes. These horns are a twisted lyre shape on the males and can reach just short
of a fore in length and sometimes will branch into two points. The females have
short protrusions that reach about a finger length. The male sheds these horns
annually after breeding, whereas the female keeps hers. The Prieta does not run
but bounds or springs when moving very fast. These hops are low and cover about
five peds per spring. These running bounds are graceful and the Prieta can
easily out run a horse.
Special Abilities.
Because Prieta inhabit open terrain they rely on defense mechanisms of speed and
keen eyesight. Their eyesight allows them to detect movement up to three strals
away. When alerted to danger, they contract their rump muscles causing their
buff tail to stand erect, which other Prieta may detect from two strals away.
They use their speed to run away from danger. While initially they are very
quick, they can also maintain a fast steady running pace for hours at a time. It
must be noted here that hunters have found the Prieta to have an enlarged heart
muscle and larger than average lung size for an animal its size. This along with
its slender build is believed the main reason this animal seems built for speed.
Also when forced to, the Prieta can go long periods of time on little or no
water. It is believed they get what they need from morning dew. But every so
often they do need to get to a water source and drink deeply.
Territory.
The Prieta prefer grasslands, brushlands, bunch grass and sagebrush areas
throughout the continent of Sarvonia. They
can be found from Occens' Lake on the fringes of the Rahz-Dath desert in the
south to the Fields of Oun'tran'phu just south of the Caaehl Mountains in the
far north to the Peninsula of Glandor in the eastern
Kanapan Lands.
Habitat/Behaviour.
The Prieta live in small bands of three to five in summer and forming large
herds, sometimes over fifty animals in winter. The small bands are usually a
mother and her young although a male may sometimes be with them. Older males may
also band together in summer while the young bucks are usually alone. Being
highly mobile, they cover large feeding areas during the year. This high-strung
animal is active night and day, combining alternate snatches of sleep with
vigilant feeding in the early morning and early evening.
Diet.
Prieta are selective, opportunistic foragers. They feed on forbs, shrubs,
grasses, juniper and sometimes cacti and domestic crops. In winter, desert
populations are said to favor sagebrush.
Mating.
In late summer or early fall the male gathers a harem of three to seven females
fighting rival males for the privilege. These battles are never fatal and
usually consist of pushing and butting the opponent until one surrenders and
leaves. In her first litter, a female will only produce one young. Thereafter
twins is usually the case but three can also occur. These young are born in the
spring after what is believed a gestation of about 270 days. The young are born
looking exactly like a full-grown Prieta so for defensive purposes it will
instinctively lie motionless for hours. After two days a young Prieta can outrun
a human, even so, the first few days after
birth the young lie quietly in tall grass while the mother grazes. It is
believed the newborns do not have an odor and lying motionless makes them almost
invisible to predators. Hunters have observed countless times a predator walking
past a quietly lying young one, not even noticing. It has also been observed
that these predators can be downwind of a newborn and not even seem to pick up
any scent for them to investigate.
Myth/Lore.
Because of their keen eyesight and exceptional speed the Prieta have become a
challenging hunt. They can only be taken by deception and cunning. Most hunters
feel they have not accomplished anything until they bring home a Prieta to the
family table. Because of this fact, noblemen are often organizing hunting
parties to bring in a Prieta. The one advantage a hunter has over the Prieta is
the fact that the animal is not very intelligent. Although, they often seem more
intelligent than noblemen hunting parties.
Information provided by
Thuja
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