Diplomacy: Cervidaen - Price of Loyalty Worldbuilding IV · 7:01am Oct 6th, 2014
Twelfth Sister ducked under the figment of the creature’s antlers, and brought a hoof up into its smoky jaw. As it recoiled from the sheer unnatural strength of the blow, its antlers ignited in darkness, waving in the Prench air like the shadow of fire. The magic was on the thestral before she could even think, slamming her backward and carving a trench in the forest soil with her back.
“What is your deal? Ninth, where in Tartarus are you?”
Instead of assistance, the dead mare found a fluttering, ethereal, cloven hoof slamming into her gut. Despite its appearance, the blow was solid, and it hurt.
“This form is not your doing. Remember me in the next world, corpse, for though I am trapped here, I have saved you.” The shade glared at her not with hatred, but sheer focused determination. “Goodb―” It’s eyes widened, as a faint white glow appeared in its throat. Then, just as abruptly as it had begun to speak, the shadowy creature collapsed in on itself until all that remained was a blackened circle on the forest floor, and a few stray flames of darkness.
Ninth Brother lowered his weapon, a bladed shoe of pure silver, and stowed it in his coat. With the same hoof, he casually produced a cigarette, crumpled and misshapen, and dipped it into the black fire. When a little orange ember appeared at the tip, he brought it to his lips and inhaled. Only then did he finally speak.
“Have fun on your first hunt?”
Twelfth Sister growled in the base of her throat. “Screw you, Ninth. Where were you? Having a smoke break that whole time?”
The elder thestral rolled his slitted eyes. “I wanted to give you a chance to learn the ropes. Where’s your silver shoe?” His eyes followed her wing as it gestured to a nearby tree. There, another of the silver weapons was embedded through the bark and into the live wood of an ash tree. “Well there’s your problem. Most shades with enough magic to manifest know what can actually hurt them and what can’t. Don’t show your hoof so early.” He pulled the cigarette out from between his fangs for a moment, and loosed a huge cloud of thick smoke in her direction. “And for the love of Celestia, kid, call me Malt when we aren’t in Canterlot.”
“I thought we weren’t supposed to use our real names anymore. Princess Luna made it seem like it was important.”
Malt shrugged. “Princess Luna’s a thousand miles away. Besides, Malt isn’t my real name.”
“It’s not?” Twelfth Sister cocked her head. “So… can I ask what is?”
“I can’t stop you from asking,” the stallion answered. “But I don’t think you’ve earned it just yet. Now, enough sitting here. The sooner we get his soul back to Princess Luna, the sooner she can have it back to Lady Valdria. I don’t like leaving them in the shoe longer than I have to.”
“Why don’t we just deliver it ourselves? We’re closer to Cervidaen, and Canterlot is in completely the wrong direction.”
The stallion who called himself Chocolate Malt stopped dead (pun intended) in his stride, and turned slowly toward his partner. “Rule number one, Eye, never go to Cervidaen.”
“First off, that's like the seventh thing you've told me and called 'Rule Number One'. Second, why not?”
Malt’s wing shot into his jacket, and with a speed that would have put a ninja to shame, tossed a soft-cover book in Eye’s direction. She stared down at the thin little volume, which lacked a title or author on the front cover. “What’s this?”
“Travel guide,” he answered. “Before we had a formal ‘Royal Guard Officer’s Field Manual’, that’s what was handed out. Thought that was a while ago.”
Twelfth Sister’s hoof flipped open the front cover, and then scrawled down the page until it located the publication date. 1399, The Age of the Sun. “Fifty years ago? Where’d you dig this thing up? Was your dad using it to prop up the dinner table?”
The stallion pulled his wide-brimmed hat low, and took a long drag of his cigarette. “It was mine.”
“Yeah, and I’m the Queen of Prance.” Twelfth Sister shook her head. “You’re not that much older than I am, Malt. I’m pretty good at guessing ages. You’ve got to be, what, thirty-one? Thirty-two?“
Malt spat the but of his cigaretted onto the forest floor, and stomped it out. “Eighty-nine,” he growled. “Did you think all the Night Guard were actually the same age? That everypony Luna accepted for a chance at redemption was a physically perfect twenty-something?” He snorted once, and then spread his leathery wings. “We’ll grab a cloud, and you can read. I’ll push.”
“I could wait until we get back to Canterlot…”
Malt shook his head. “If you’ve never met an elk, Eye, you’re going to want to read that as soon as you can.” The elder thestral shook his head. “You might even learn something.” With a single flap of his wings, the stallion shot into the air.
“Yeah, well screw you too!” Taking only a moment to spit on the ground, Eyewitness spread her own wings and followed her partner in the sky.
- - -
An Equestrian Travel Primer, Volume VII:
Cervidaen
Greetings, traveler!
If you’ve picked up this little book, you’re probably planning a trip away from Equestria. Don’t Panic! While traveling among the Elk can be a disorienting experience, through the information contained here, you should be able to interact just as easily as a local.
Population:
While no accurate count is available due to the magical nature of mainland Cervidaen, estimates put the global Elk population between 200 and 500 million, with approximately 176 million of their species living outside the so-called “elk woods”—forests much like the infamous Everfree Forest, in that they are actually larger on the ‘inside’ than their area would suggest, but lacking the intrinsic evil magic and overwhelming population of monsters. Of this majority of the Elk population, about three-quarters are “true elk” and deer, the most common varieties. Of the remaining species, about 20 million are caribou, and about 20 million are gazelles. The remaining 4 million comprise the total known population of moose.
Species:
In the same sense that ponies have breeds, elk come in several species. Unlike the breeds of ponies, these creatures do not produce viable offspring through mating.
Elk: The most commonly occurring species, elk (sometimes called ‘true elk’ to distinguish between the common term and the specific species) are naturally taller and more slender than a pony, standing an average of three feet, ten inches at the shoulder for females, and four feet for males. Both genders have large antlers, which are shed once a year. During this time, they are at their most vulnerable from a social perspective, as they cannot use their magic to communicate with one another. Elk call this season Dínenlû, meaning the Silent Time, and it most often occurs during the transition from autumn to winter. If possible, avoid visiting Cervidaen in this time period. Even during other times of the year, on a whole, elk are known for being introspective, spiritual, and enigmatic.
Deer: Contrary to popular opinion, these smaller elk are not enslaved en-masse by Commander Hurricane for the purposes of making foals toys for Hearth’s Warming morning. Smaller than an average pony, both genders of deer stand an average of three feet, three inches at the shoulder. Much like their larger kin, deer likewise shed their antlers annually during Dínenlû. Like their larger bretheren, deer have a predilection toward quiet and the appearance of privacy. Get to know one, though, and you will find them to be some of the most hospitable creatures in the world. They can generally be found living amongst the elk, on the mainland of Cervidaen.
Gazelle: Larger than deer but smaller than elk, fast, and less magically potent than their kin, Gazelles actually have a pair of horns instead of antlers. These structures are similar to unicorn horns, but vastly less powerful. Unlike the true antlers of other elk, these horns do not branch into multiple points, nor do they fall off annually. Gazelle are known to be slightly more pony-like in their approach to issues or confrontations, and are thus viewed as easier to communicate with. Combined with their lack of multi-track thought, gazelles are generally viewed as the easiest elk species for ponies to interact with, and indeed, a small population is known to live on the south-western plains of Zebrica, interacting peacefully with ponies, zebras, and griffons.
Caribou: Also called ‘reindeer’, this species of elk is the most known to interact with Equestria, in the frozen lands to the north and west of Bitaly. Standing an average of four feet at the shoulder, these creatures experience Dínenlû during the summer, and are less concerned with the visibility of their mouths (see below). Amongst the other species, the caribou also have the most distinct culture, focusing more on their own survival and less on the arts, on the comforts of others, or on the practice of their magical talents.
Moose: The largest and most powerful of the elk species, moose stand up to a full six feet tall at the shoulder, and can have antlers the size of a pegasus’ wingspan. Moose Dínenlû is in late autumn, and it takes them three months to grow back. When antlered, however, a moose is one of the most powerful users of arcana in the world, the rival of very old dragons and other rare magical creatures. Whenever possible, avoid conflict. Fortunately, this is easy. The moose are solitary, reclusive creatures, and though they live amongst the caribou, those that have been recorded to communicate with ponies are know to follow elkish culture very closely.
Customs & Culture:
Almost all of elk society revolves around a singular idea, which most ponies find very strange when they are first introduced to it: the Elkish afterlife of Hith Taurë (the Misty Woods) is actually where elk are meant to be, and that almost all living elk are in this world as a punishment for some crime or wrongdoing there. While in this world, each elk is judged by how much happiness and pleasure they created for others, and how much sadness or pain they caused. Upon their death, the elk is the assigned a new role or social standing in Hith Taurë based on their actions in this world.
As a consequence of this believe, Elk do not believe that the body is anything more than an inconvenient vessel, which provides temptation and draws them away from the goal of happiness for others. This conclusion is the basis for several customs. Elk consider the interior of each other’s mouths to be incredibly private, and only mating couples (elk do not practice permanent marriage, and couplings last only as long as it takes to raise their offspring) will speak to each other using their tongues and voices. In all other circumstances, elk communicate by telepathy, using their magic (the same as that practiced by unicorns). Eating is also an intensely personal event, and most elk take great pains not to be seen eating.
Because all elk are telepaths, there is no stigma in their society regarding reading one another’s minds. Do not expect your thoughts to be private while traveling in elkish lands. That being said, the elk generally do not care very much what you think. Even thoughts we would consider to be very rude if said out loud are simply accepted by the elk, who believe that idle thoughts are intrinsically tainted by the physical nature and desires of the body. Under this belief, until an elk has actually acted, their soul has not taken any pure action, and thus cannot be judged. Thus, elkish morality does not recognize thoughts or intentions to any degree. Only one’s actions matter in the judgement of their soul.
This leads to some interesting consequences: if an elkish builder’s structure collapses, and injures another elk, the builder is just as guilty of assault or murder as if they had attacked the other elk. In an extreme alternate example, if an elkish doctor fails to heal a patient, and that patient is revealed to be a thief or a criminal, the doctor is praised as a hero for his or her part in stopping crime.
Because the preservation of life is not as highly valued amongst the elk as other species, the elk place less emphasis on defense, industry, and other practices we as ponies use to make our lives more easily liveable. Instead, elk devote themselves to artistry (as a way to remotely bring joy and happiness to others) and magic (the only skill of the living world which carries over to Hith Taurë). Elk can practice several tasks at once, as they have the unique ability to maintain a train of mental process using each prong of their antlers. During Dínenlû, an elk is introspective and single-minded, but at other times, it can seem as if a single elk contains many minds.
Of warning: do not suggest that a single elk body contains more than one elk. In the past, on a few rare occasions, there have been cases where an elk has taken into its body the souls of other elk. Elk consider the taking or binding of souls to be the greatest evil any living being can perform, and necromancy is the one unforgivable sin in the culture of the elk which will strip from an elk the right to return to Hith Taurë, instead damning them to Tartarus. It is known that this was not the case in the past, though questions on the subject are likely to earn the questioner a cold shoulder from his or her elkish patrons.
- - -
“So the Elk just hate undead?” Twelfth flapped twice to keep up with her mentor, still holding the pamphlet in her hooves as she flew. “I mean, I get that we’re a little creepy, but they sound crazy.”
“You’re not likely to meet one now, but I met a few when I was still breathing, and they were nice enough,” Malt replied. The ashes of his omnipresent cigarette fell into the breeze rushing past his face. “They believe undead are always trapped, and that they need to free us. Usually, that means destroying our bodies and letting our souls... well, you heard the speech. Anyway, you’re welcome to read more, if there’s more you want to know. And ask me if something doesn’t make sense.”
“Yeah, sure. Give me homework, why don’t you, geezer?”
Malt rolled his slitted eyes. “You thought I was your age, and now you’re calling me geezer?”
Twelfth ignored him, somehow managing to flip to the next page of the book despite the wind. “Now, let’s see. Is there anything else in here worth reading about…?”
Now that's just fantastic.
Wow, elk are weird.
Really interesting worldbuilding post, but I have to admit I came out of it mostly just wanting a Twelfth Sister & Malt side-story.
Interesting how they consider necromancy an unforgivable sin, yet Valdria sided with Nightmare Moon...
Also the moose sound badass.
2511015
It's not clear what Valdria's actual positions are on much of anything so far as I've read. Of course, they may not realize that pony souls might dissolve or go on to somewhere other than the Summer Lands if they kill the undead. Otherwise they might be less certain in their response.