The Hyksis and Fearaki are beasties belonging to and created by OpalSkye: http://opalskye.deviantart.com

Hyksi buck character of mine, rough draft. I based his design and markings off of caribou and okapi. I intend to color him.

Rue is a shaggy, 21 year old buck with a thicker, heavier frame than most. While he's very strong compared to most bucks, he's also not as fast. This has made him more the type to stand and fight than run away, though he's old enough to know when to do so. Heavily scarred, with a quiet, somber temperment, this near middle-aged male is laced with the marks of a warrior who learned his lessons the hard way. He will plunge into dangerous situations to rescue those he considers in need. Protective and somewhat acerbic, he tends to act older than he actually is. Perhaps it's the company he keeps.

Unlike most bucks, he wanders, and doesn't seek to take over a herd or steal away dals. As a kyfaw, he watched his mother, an older dal, fall steadily in the esteem of her herd, until finally, deemed useless, she was cast out. He chose to go with her, and seeing her long for the company of other Hyksis, nervous about her safety and that of her young adult son, made him angry with the tradition of leaving behind or chasing away the elderly or weak. Ever since her eventual death, he has gathered cast-offs... dals too old to bear, even other bucks in their dotage. Those deemed unworthy through injury or deformity. These, he protects, and such a herd as this is never in danger of being taken over. It does, however, often mean he only travels with a few at any given time, and sometimes, if the season is unkind, or illness strikes the weaker members, he can lose his whole following. He does not fight the natural death - while he does everything he can, his purpose is only to lend dignity, to show care. To let those know they are not useless, not unwanted or reviled.

The one advantage this attitude has had is in his education. His knowledge of Sets is vast, gleaned and taught to him from scores of elders that he has watched over, hunted for, and defended. As for dals, while other bucks value beauty over all else, he has come to prefer a dal with a brain and the courage and sense to use it. A dal who has practical skills and a cool head is more attractive to him than any flighty, skittish female. Not that he generally has time for dals anyhow. Even when solitary, other matters tend to occupy his thoughts. Time enough for dals and kyfaws and all that nonsense later.