Jelenan

"An antlered Jelenan stag is an awesome sight. The Jelenan live in a variety of habitats of their world of Nassius Prime. However, these shy, solitary species are often difficult to spot in their natural habitats, despite their fairly large population."

- Senior Anthropologist Mammon Hoole statement about the Jelenan species

Jelenans were a primitive race of bipedal, humanoid cervines that lived in a simple, tribal society on the eight mooned world of Nassius Prime in the Outer Rim. Finely built, physically powerful, agile, and fast-moving, Jelenans were the most notable species on their planet to visitors. Jelenans were a shy species that often spent daylight hours hidden away in the vivid forests and meadows of their homeworld.

Biology and Appearance
Jelenan physical statistics were well suited to their habitats; possessing elongated, pronounced snouts; smooth fur, long pointed ears, large, wide-set eyes; blunted teeth, small, stumpy tails; and rack antlers. Jelenans generally had very slender, lithe, muscularly compact, athletic bodies; long, thin arms; and powerful legs suited for rugged woodland terrain of their homeworld. Jelenans were also excellent jumpers and swimmers. Jelenan voices were very smooth, and had been remarked upon as being hypnotically soothing, almost like liquid.

Jelenans were primarily herbivores and ate grass by simply cutting it between their sharp lower teeth and their hard upper gums. Jelenans also had strong teeth in their cheeks which enabled them to eat twigs and bark during the winter when grass was normally scarce.

Size, weight, and skills
An adult Jelenan male would weigh from one hundred-fifty to three hundred pounds on the hoof, with females averaging from one hundred to one hundred-seventy pounds.

Jelenans also had immense, strong, three-fingered hands (including an opposable thumb) which were tipped with a tiny piece hoof. Their hands could provide increased dexterity and gripping power, functioning like a Human hand. While normally bipedal, Jelenans could walk on both legs and use their hoof-tipped, fingered hands as front feet. The Jelenan feet were two-toed, broad, flat, and deeply cleft hooves. Their feet could spread wide apart in each step to give maximum support on marshy ground or snow. Jelenan dew claws touched the ground only when they were walking; which also helped to give a maximum area of support. Jelenans often made clicking noises with their feet as they walked which was produced by a tendon sliding over a bone in the foot. Jelenans could maintain a speed of about fifty miles per hour for four or six miles over flat leveled ground. A two-month old Jelenan fawn could outrun an ordinary-sized humanoid. At four months, a Jelenan fawn could outrun a horse. Galloping at full speed, a Jelenan’s stride could be more than twenty-five feet. When chased by a predator, a Jelenan could jump ten feet into the air and cover thirty feet in a single leap. This maneuver was also used to confuse and frighten predators and attackers. It also gave Jelenans a clearer and wider view of their surroundings.

A Jelenan could rely on its well developed scenes of hearing, smell, and sight to detect dangerous predators. While a Jelenan is eating, its sight was often blocked by vegetation, so it would have to raise its head in order to take a look around for a few minutes. Constantly alert for signs of danger, a Jelenan could spot a moving object a mile away with their large eyes, but it may not be able to see a motionless predator just a few feet away. A Jelenan’s triangular ears could move to pinpoint the quietest noise. When it is alarmed, the Varanian would stare and rotate its ears towards the place where it senses the source of danger. If the denger approaches, the Jelenan would use its rapid sprinting ability to escape.

Antlers
Jelenans displayed obvious sexual dimorphism as a consequence of the specialized roles that each played in each herd. Jelenan males were easy to distinguish by their larger size and antlers, often reaching the span of two feet, being divided into two branches curving forward and inward, with multipointed forks. A Jelenan male with a total of twelve points on its antlers would be considered a leader. Jelenan females, however, were smaller then the males and mostly had no antlers. The horns of the females whose races did possess antlers were often smaller then that of their male counterparts. Both genders used their horns for defense. Males also used them to fight other males over a mate.

Some other races of Jelenans had backward curving horns with small forward facing prongs. Some female Jelenans of various different races had horns that were very small. Other types of Jelenan included thick, ringed, lyre-shaped horns, long, spiral-shaped horns, and a single, backward-facing horn on their snouts. This antler identifying method was often used by visitors or strangers to tell which race or breed a certain Jelenan was. Depending on what subspecies, the shape a Jelenan’s horns or antlers was unique to each individual and thus could potentially be used to identify individuals, much in the same way as fingerprints were used to identify other species.

Young Jelenans had cranial velvet horn-knobs which would eventually grow into horns towards adulthood. If their velvet was cut, they would die from cranial injuries. Jelenans would normally shed in the winter and would grow again before the mating season. Jelenans would reach full size by seventeen years. While most Jelenans mainly ate the velvet that fell off their antlers, the ones which lived in the herds inhabiting in the highlands would eat their shedded antlers due to the soil being deficient in minerals that the Jelenans needed to grow new antlers. Fighting male Jelenans sometimes locked their antlers together and could not separate. When this happened, they would both die of starvation.

Fur
Jelenan coat colors often raged from dark brown to tan, red, gold, and gray. Some races had white colored faces, thighs, and bellies while others ranged from creamy white to chocolate brown. The coat of a common Jelenan fawn was often brown with white spots on its back in order to keep camouflage. The pelts of Jelenan children of other types of races had grayish-brown colored coats. But at three years, it would change to the same pale color as their parents. Some Jelenan fawns of other different races were also known to have been born with thick, wooly fleece. During winter, a Jelenan’s coat becomes dark gray, heavy, and dense with a woolly underfur which was waterproof by stiff guard hairs on the top.

When alarmed, a Jelenan would leap into air, exposing the white marking under its tail. This was done by rising up and spreading its long white colored hairs on its rump to warn other herd members. It would also emit a strong scent from glands at the base of the rump hairs.

Jelenan muzzles were fur-clad to help combat the subzero temperatures of the winter. As Jelenans reached their elderly stages, an extra of skin would grow and hang from their chins. This dewlap could grow as long as two feet.

Breeding, Reproduction, and Early Life
The female would give birth to one or two fawns after a gestation period of eight months. Young females would normally produce up to one offspring, but mature females may bear up to two or maybe three. The fawns could stand and walk after birth, but they would remain hidden in a cover of vegetation for the first few weeks. They would emerge only when their mother would return to feed them. Female Jelenan fawns would reach maturity in a total of ten years (depending on population density), but male fawns would not be fully mature until at least twenty years of age. At the time of their maturity, they would also leave their mother.

Behavior
Most Jelenans would normally live alone or in small groups for most of the year. The groups would usually consist up of one or two females with their young, or they could be bachelor groups of six or seven males. In severe winters, up to fifty Jelenans would gather together for protection from the cold. The male could be territorial, especially if food was scarce. Outside the mating season, males would form their own roaming herds to separate from females and young. Typical Jelenan herds were almost constantly on the move during daylight hours, searching for food.

The mating season happened annually around in the autumn season of Nassius Prime. By that time, the Jelenan female would become sympathetic and the male would enter a period of excitement. Males would become aggressive, competing for the opportunity of breeding with a female. After mating, the male would then leave the female to fend for herself.

Extremely shy and slightly xenophobic, Jelenans did not trust any other species besides their own kind, and were reluctant to allow members of other species access to their society. As a species, the Jelenans were also isolationists, generally avoiding settlements of any other sentient species besides their own kind. Rarely seen beyond their native region in the galaxy, only a few Jelenans could be found on planets near their homeworld.

Custom
All Jelenan herds were run by a patriline society; the home, family, children, inheritance, family ties, and herd membership were under the absolute control of the males. Authority in Jelenan herds was held by a king and his bond-mate. One member of a herd was said to be a shaman who many believed to have special magical powers and claimed spiritual rites within the herd, serving as a consultant to the king on almost all matters.

Life in the Jelenan society was organized around the extending family and other closely related individuals. The strongest and fittest males would become warrior scouts and were responsible for providing protection for the herd from natural encroaching predators and rival herds. Females, however, were just a convenience to raise the fawns. Other than this, females had no part in society matter. Regardless of gender, Jelenan children were a treasured source of joy to all the herd. Great respect was also paid to the elderly members of the herd for their experiences of wisdom, and typically the king was one of the eldest members of the herd, assuming this role fallowing a long and productive life.

Though cultural features, language, and customs varied enormously from one herd to another, there were certain elements which were encountered frequently and shared by many herds.

Language
Jelenans normally spoke their native language of Jelenan, which consisted of sounds, scent, body language, and marking. All Jelenans were capable of producing the audible noises of their language, even at birth. Fawns released a high pitched squeal to call out to their mothers. Females were also known to bleat. Grunting produced a low, guttural sound that would attract the attention of any other Jelenans in the area. Both females and males snorted, which often signaled danger. As well as snorting, bucks also grunted at a pitch that would get lower with maturity. Males were unique, however, in their grunt-snort-wheeze pattern that often showed aggression and hostility. Another way Jelenans communicated was with their tails. When a Jelenan was spooked, it would raise its tail to warn the other members in the area that can see them.

Religion
Nelvaanian religious beliefs were central to their simple tribal culture. Most Jelenans believed in a god-like figure known as “Ronno”, meaning “Creator Spirit”, who presided over all things. Jelenans also believed that every aspect and thing had a spirit presiding over it, but did not hold the belief in multiple gods. The other spirits would either both cause trouble or help and protect them from danger. Good spirits would also take care of them by bringing seasons of good luck. Spiritual beliefs were not a separate part of life for Jelenans. The spirit world guided Jelenans in their understanding of nature. The goal of a Jelenan life was to be in harmony with both the natural and supernatural world. Different Jelenan stories tell tales of different spirits as well.

Some ceremonies celebrated the stages of life: birth, marriage, old age, and death. Herd members would chant and dance in hope of strengthening the herd and bringing it good fortune.