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  • 69602352_Dzo98FSWOE2TELw.png The stone balancer

  • Sangai stag capable of speech and reason.

Updates

  • The Dark Place A collection of memories and present-day events.

  • Sangai naturally rut from late January through late April, from the onset of mid-Winter to mid-Spring. Since stone is one of few denizens in rut at this time, he may attempt to minimize the changes to his behaviour; however, he still has all the instincts of a rutting stag, and it will often affect his interactions.

    The most violent time for sangai is late February through late March—late Winter into early Spring—when the stags display and fight to establish territories and harems. Due to this, stone's temper is often short at this time; he becomes territorial and protective—even possessive, if it's allowed of him. His herding instinct becomes much stronger toward anyone not perceived as a rival or threat, with him particularly attracted to other feral deer. He is prone to mood swings—positive and negative—and tends to become depressed when left alone. To sum him up: he is quick to judge during this time, and while he seeks to form a group which he will protect at all costs, he is also rather aggressive and prone to conflict.

    Late March is the end of the sangai rut's peak; after this point, mating has typically begun and males are generally less aggressive. Likewise, come early Spring, stone becomes more patient and docile, though retains his strong herding instinct through the remainder of his rut. At this point, his viewpoint is typically "the more the merrier". While earlier he was quick to display aggression, Spring triggers courtship behaviour in him. When welcomed, he will court most receptive beings, lavishing attention on others to earn their favour. During this time, he lives to please, he seeks to impress, to be noble and strong and desirable. He makes every effort to expand the herd of individuals who like and admire him, and will do almost anything for them. To sum him up: his herd is not a thing he possesses, but rather a group of individuals placed on a pedestal, who he aims to impress with every fiber of his being. Any previous notions of possessiveness were simply to have an audience to pamper, and he dedicates himself to it entirely.

    From mid-Winter to mid-Spring.

Basics

  • Name Will never accept a name.
  • Similarly to how stone will never accept a name, he does not accept nicknames; both "stone" and "stone balancer" hold no significance to him, nor is he aware of their use. As a nod to the fact that he is a truly nameless animal, these nicknames are always written in all lower case, rather than as proper nouns with the first letter capitalized.

    Prior to departing his homeland, he was a feral, ordinary deer. Even with his ability to think and speak as granted by Magic, he still views himself as a wild animal. While he enjoys his new abilities, his resentment toward the Magic leaves him ambivalent. He refuses a name the same way a wild horse refuses a bridle, or a wild bird refuses a cage; he feels that by accepting a name, he would be surrendering his wilderness.

    The stone balancer, stone.

  • Species Panolia eldii eldii, locally known as sangai, or Manipur Eld's deer.
  • Sex Male. He/him/his.
  • Age November 11th, 2004. Mature adult, no longer ageing.
  • Height 122 cm/4 feet at the shoulder. 26. Alternative reference/without antlers.
  • Weight 100 kg/220 lbs to 130 kg/287 lbs. Average in kilograms/in pounds.
  • Scent

    While rutting: His own urine—an astringent, ammonia-laden scent.
    Cool seasons: Fallen leaves, dry grass, dust.
    Warm seasons: Mud, fresh vegetation, wet fur.
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Quick Facts

Old. Given to long, frequent periods of rest partially due to age, mostly due to lethargy.

Wild. Largely a feral animal. Behaves primarily according to biological needs and desires.

Proud. Strives to be respected and regarded as reliable. Confident and easily offended when dismissed.

Voiced. Speaks aloud to communicate, as a human would; has modified anatomy to do this, caused by Magic.

Casual. Acknowledges others by looking at them with no reaction, or sniffing them, then returning to what he was doing—this is a means of displaying approval.

Natural. Equally capable of feral communication, however is limited by species, being more accurate and detailed with those of closer taxonomic relation.

Reserved. Does not use some common communicative gestures, considering them "unnatural"; others he's learned are performed with an unusual curtness.

Enduring. No longer physically ages since departing his homeland; all bodily characteristics are unknowingly governed by his belief, be that to his favour or detriment.

Purposed. Driven to be the protector and provider he feels stags live to be. Protective to a fault; views himself as the expendable protector of his herd, if necessary.

Nostalgic. Often found around bodies of water or in dense forest—they remind him of home. (Background image is of his home range, the phumdis of Loktak Lake.)

Perceptive. Capable of spontaneously understanding virtually anything via Magic; copes with the constant influx of unwanted knowledge by rock balancing.

Prejudiced. Distinctly hates having anything to do with Magic, anything he considers unnatural, and any being he considers to be a threat to himself or his herd.

Mistrustful. Tends to avoid areas he associates with Magic, the unnatural, and predation. Any negative experiences are remembered, and heeded accordingly.

Companionable. Considers others around him to be herd-company, even at a distance. Often reliant upon socialization and camaraderie.

𓃙 Physique

  • Body colours
    69697729_gbhmm6AiUJLX4zM.png Coffee eyes, 69696627_th6V1eC3Ediv6ro.png armadillo nose, and 69696575_vZVK3zm2Ahef1UJ.png umber hooves.
  • Winter coat
    69697753_V3s1xvtavRiikpJ.png Wenge base with a 69697768_7TxAGkDGdcJUDnw.png millbrook back, a 69697775_nnQJo5dq3PCY7Hz.png malta belly, 69696622_seaggkfjFEuGONh.png khaki legs, and a 69696641_I97ma4TfnpSFsZt.png black coffee mane. His Winter coat begins to show through in early September, and is fully developed by the beginning of November. The process gradually grows more noticable, with the change being incremental and not a dramatic shift. While his fur is much denser during cooler months, the fur on his neck is particularly thick and coarse as well as darker overall, lending to the appearance of a mane. His colours are darker and desaturated, and somewhat inconsistently patchy across his body.
  • Summer coat
    69697836_PeHytGgJyblC1Ns.png Milk chocolate base with a 69697823_AyxhnTmcKpngixb.png jambalaya back, a 69697808_9u23rn0jqy7bTFL.png pale taupe belly, 69698132_mJUktghQfrEfr89.png brown sugar legs, and 69696561_dm4T5ASLdOs9gIj.png sisal flank spots. He begins to shed his Winter coat in late April, and is in his Summer coat by the beginning of June. The process is very obvious, with patches of thick fur coming out in clumps, and a generally scruffy appearance across May. His fur is much thinner and less insulative during the warmer months, with an overall colouration somewhat more uniform reddish-orange across his body, and the distinct presence of fawn-like pale spots on his flank and lower back.
  • Year-round coat qualities
    He has smooth, thin fur with sparse underfur, and uneven hair length resulting in a shaggy appearance. The fur inside his ears is very long and smooth, almost silky but still somewhat rigid. His fur is speckled with gray overall, having lost pigmentation over the years, and continues to grow more gray over time due to stress, but this pigmentation loss is reversed in times of calm when body chemistry returns to homeostasis.
  • Antlers and rut

    His antlers may begin being shed at end of June, and will be shed by the beginning of September; his antlers shed their velvet between late December and early January. In preparation for his rut, his neck muscles begin to visibly strengthen as soon as the velvet is shed, are at their peak size by early March, and return to normal size by the end of April. His rut period is from late January through April, with the peak fighting months being late February and March; he urinates on himself through his rut, particularly at its peak.


  • Age
    Though he is a member of a subspecies whose wild lifespans average ten years, stone is much older than this. Since he departed his homeland at nine years and four months old, he has not truly aged. His body now is only affected by his belief, though he is unaware of this. Initially he felt old, and so his joints were frequently sore and he grew tired rather quickly. When he is stressed, his fur grows in grayed; when he is injured, he limps and feels pain. However, as time has gone on, he's forgotten some of his age, and has come closer to how he once was in his prime. In times of peace, his fur grows vibrant, his body seldom aches, he finds himself energetic as long as he believes it true. Though unaware of it, he has become "timeless", and is only affected so much as he believes himself to be.
  • Posture
    His head is generally held high, not in a challenging manner, but rather with the stance of an individual already in a position of importance. His bodily posture ranges from tense but confident to relaxed and open; he very rarely displays any form of submission. His ears are typically relaxed, his back is never hunched, and his tail generally hangs loosely.
  • Smell

    A deer's sense of smell is around one-thousand times greater than that of a human, with deer being able to distinguish up to six individual scents at once. This sense can extend up to eight-hundred meters, or half a mile. Scent is their primary method of communication, with species possessing several varied forms of scent communication such as urine and feces, salivary deposits, and a number of glands called the preorbital, forehead, tarsal, and interdigital. He freely utilizes all of these to the fullest extent of his capacity with absolutely no regard for others' social norms, and consequently may come off as a bit… Smelly.


  • Vision

    Due to their eye structure, deer have a type of dichromatic colour vision called protanopia. He can distinguish blue from red, but not green or orange from red, and also sees colours like light gray and tan better than dark reds, browns, or greens. On the contrary, he sees colours in the blue spectrum—including into the ultraviolet range—up to twenty times more distinctly than humans can, likely because this is the most prevalent spectrum of light during the crepuscular periods, when deer tend to be most active. His horizonal pupils allow for nine times the light absorption of the human eye, leading to night vision at least eighteen times greater than a human's and a roughly 310° field of view, including about 65° of binocular frontal vision providing depth perception, and lacking only about 50° immediately behind him; this allows him to track the motion of anything within his field of view, which is about 85% of his eye-level surroundings, without moving. His vision is processed at least twice as fast as a human's, giving him hyper-sensitivity to movement and ample time to react. However, with little need for acuity of detail, his vision is only about a third as detailed as a human's, measured at 6/18 (metric) or 20/60 (imperial).


  • Hearing
    Deer have a hearing range similar to that of humans: a human's most sensitive range is from 2 to 5 kHz, and an overall range from 0.02 to 20 kHz; a deer's most sensitive range is from 1 to 8 kHz, and an overall range from 0.25 to 30 kHz. Deer can hear ultrasonic high-frequency sounds that humans cannot, and can utilize the muscles in their ears to target the source of a sound with precision. Deer are capable of independently rotating their ears nearly 180°, allowing their cupped shape to funnel sound from opposite directions simultaneously. His hearing is average for his subspecies, though he has learned the importance of certain sounds and the spoken word.
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Personality

Upon departing his homeland, stone's body was instantly modified by Magic to suit the demands which were put upon it: his brain became more complex to allow for more developed thought and memory, his vocal cords shifted and grew to resemble those of a human, while his anatomy was modified to produce human language. He is ambivalent toward the intellect he acquired upon departing his homeland due to its Magical source: he enjoys being able to reason to the degree he now can, to think and deduce and understand—but, he never asked for it, and he cannot forgive the Magic for putting it upon him. He is perfectly at ease with all things he considers "natural", including thinking, speaking, and manipulating his environment, as he did all of these things back home to the best of his ability. These things, to him, are rooted in the "natural"—that is to say, they are physical, non-Magical things which are Earthly in nature. For this reason he enjoys learning about the world around him and possessing his new-found intellect. However, given that the origins of his reasoning are still seated in Magic, he finds himself burdened by conflicting thoughts and feelings—comfortable with the nature of his new surroundings and abilities, but repulsed by the Magic that brought them to be.

As a result of his contempt, he does not let his mind wander idly—that is when the knowledge comes to him in full force. His method for coping with and staving off the knowledge is to occupy his body and mind with rock balancing. Though not particularly good at it—he is, after all, using his mouth—he devotes much of the time not spent on the upkeep of his body and socialization to carefully constructing these cairns. He does not keep track of their height nor even where he builds them, as this would be too mindful for his tastes. He does not mind if something happens to them, even while he's building them; he does not bond to his craft, only uses it as a tool of distraction. He merely collects some stones by his side and sets to work, leaving when he is satisfied.

Fairly non-confrontational, he is content to lie down most of the time, watching others participate in their endeavours. Though he is often at rest, it is not truly because of his age. It's true that, for his subspecies, he has passed his prime—however, his body is more capable than he lets on, and growing steadily closer to his old self the longer he lives as a "timeless" being. Any soreness is largely from his idle tendencies, and he can outpace many with less experience. Ultimately, he's just fallen into a habit of lethargy.

Being a feral creature, his personality is greatly altered by his hormones and physiological state. He is at his most vulnerable when he is without solid antlers. He is prone to wary behaviour around others across these periods, but has calmed down significantly as he's gone on living away from his homeland. He finds safety when in the presence of those he trusts, and will stand up for himself or others in proper company. When alone, he wanders about seeking trustworthy company, avoiding or fleeing from that which threatens him. Rarely though does he truly fear anything now that he has grown accustomed to strangeness.

In contrast, when his antlers are grown, he tends to be quite confident in himself, but not brash or overzealous. His confidence is felt as a certain self-possession, and he is as close to objective in his analysis of whether it is wise to fight, flee, or freeze as he can be in this physiological state. This state of mind is the closest to his most base personality of all those governed by his hormones.

Continuing on to the extreme, when his rutting period comes about or others around him are in rut, he goes from being docile and unassuming to audacious and uninhibited. While not a stupid being, he's more likely to make rash decisions when his testosterone levels are elevated.

Along with his rut comes an amplified sense of his responsibility to fill his role as the "patriarch" of a herd. He is the guardian, the provider; he must always be steadfast and reliable, to help and protect those for whom he deems himself responsible. From his perspective, it is his legacy to devote himself to a cause bigger than himself: the safety and comfort of others, and the continuation of his herd. Even while not in rut, this is a constant aspect of his personality which will come out when others are vulnerable, or others try to help him—though he will always be grateful for efforts made on his behalf, he can be somewhat prideful.

According to his feral history, he is a herd animal through and through, and welcomes company; whether at some distance or up close, he is far more comfortable and at ease with others. That said, he does prefer a bit of distance while getting to know someone, and may settle himself away from those so eager to befriend him that they do not give him personal space. He is also seasonally prone to preferring large herds, smaller herds, or occasionally even solitude.

Contrary to his ambivalence, he enjoys conversation: learning about others' experiences and thoughts, and even enjoys speaking himself; he can be exceedingly verbose around those he is fond of, and is often found chatting to himself even in the company of those who cannot understand him. It is of note that the stone balancer actually does quite literally speak, aloud, as a human would. He considers all spoken languages to be the same "language" cognitively, simplifying them to himself as merely "talking". In other words, while he can become instantly aware of the pronunciation and meaning of any word in any spoken language, he does not recognize words in different languages as being in different groups, and instead merely perceives that there are many equally valid ways to vocalize singular concepts.

When not speaking, he communicates in the feral ways one would expect of a deer: scent, body language, non-word vocalizations, and the like. He is, however, only capable of communicating perfectly—albeit simplistically—with members of his own subspecies in this way. When communicating in a feral manner with members of other species, miscommunication is common due to differences between vocal, visual, and olfactory cues. Simply put, different species communicate differently, and he is still limited to his own feral capacity in this regard.

Though he prefers the company of others, there are some beings which he may be wary of, or in some situations, even reject outright. These sorts include: his natural predators, or beings who he considers to be formidable even if they appear otherwise nonthreatening; beings who are in some manner "unnatural", including "unnatural" colours and hybrids of two or more species which cannot naturally reproduce; beings who appear sickly or somehow dead/undead; and beings who associate themselves with Magic. These are merely examples of beings who he may initially be wary of, but could easily warm up to. He is mistrustful not only due to others being somehow "wrong", but more specifically by how their appearance and/or behaviour may negatively impact him. It is important to note that, like with other aspects of his personality, he's become much more open-minded since his arrival, and is tending toward more and more acceptance all the time, with regard to life events.

Contrastingly, he is drawn to some entities upon first meeting them, including: benevolent or neutral spirits, deities, mythological creatures, and the like (I imagine that animals on Earth would be generally innately aware and at peace with such beings, and that these beings are entirely separate from Magic); "natural" beings—especially but not limited to deer—which are generally herbivorous; and female two-toed hoofed beings (particularly cervines), for obvious instinctual reasons, as well as that a good portion of his Earthly life was spent protecting his harem and their offspring. Again, these are only an examples of the sorts of beings he finds himself drawn to, and his developed curiosity often pushes through his caution.

He will, generally, treat all actions and appearances as they seem to be in-game. He generally perceives a being to look like its in-game appearance implies due to his poor eyesight, and is only granted clarity if I elect to research the character; understandably, this can lead to some interesting misconceptions, and his behaviour will reflect his current understanding. I assume the least detrimental result of his actions until shown otherwise; for example, if he strikes a character, I assume he is merely trying to intimidate them and they have not been harmed, unless the player chooses to have their character suffer a wound. He perceives all "unnatural" things (lag, glitches, etc) as some form of Magic; additionally, movements such as tripping or walking through trees are also perceived literally. Basically, I only alter his perception to suit his character and when I'm not certain how to translate it.

Having come from living in and around a lake, he spends much of his time around water; there he occupies himself with drinking, eating water plants (a personal favourite of his), and wallowing in the muddy shores. He may at times spend hours just laying or even sleeping in the water at the shoreline, and has grown fond of watching some of the smaller animals which frequent the areas. His homeland also heavily featured dense forests, and thus he is happy to spend days simply wandering through them.

As he's gone on living away from his homeland, he's worked on coming to terms with his circumstances, and his herd has been imperative to that. Though he will always resent the Magic for taking him from his home (if it did—he thinks so), forcing intelligence upon him, and continually feeding him information without his desire or consent, he's come to love many of the beings he's met, the fact that he can think to the degree he can, and what his life has become as a whole. He will never be completely satisfied, and he will always be disapproving of many beings he encounters, but given a chance to go back now, if he had to give up his new herd and his intelligence, he wouldn't. That alone speaks volumes of how he's changed since he first arrived.

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Behaviour

Little research has been done on sangai social behaviours, so his body language is based on other species.

Typically, the stone balancer will behave amiably, maintaining a sort of cautious acceptance. He does react negatively to certain in-game appearances, which is an assumption about the character based on the features used to represent them. I will generally try to locate the character's biography during interaction, so his behaviour may change to reflect his current perception.

His actions are a combination of his natural behaviour as an animal, what he finds reasonable with his intellect, and body language he's adopted from others. However, he is selective about body language, and absolutely will not engage in some common gestures.

He may come off as rude, abrasive, or aloof due to his tendency to err on the side of caution; he far prefers to run or be standoffish if he knows it will keep him safe.

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Body Language

Initial Response:
Upon first meeting another, he will look at them from his current bodily position, moving only his head while doing so. He will hold a stare for a few seconds while he evaluates them based on their appearance, behaviour, company, and biography.


Ambivalence:
Often times, he neither accepts nor rejects another outright. In this period, he'll exhibit somewhat in-between signals, though none are intended to be ambiguous.

Indecision: Standing with his side indirectly toward the other and occasionally glancing toward them, neither aggressive nor fearful, but not comfortable.

Cautious acceptance/”I don't want trouble”: Standing with his side entirely toward the other, his gaze averted.


Acceptance:
If he accepts the other but their acknowledgement is brief, he will then return to what he was doing, reassured that he does not need to pay close attention to them.

If they express friendly behaviour such as sniffing, he will return with a sniff and maybe an amiable word. If no further action is taken by them, he will return to what he was doing, even more assured than he otherwise would have been; likewise, further socialization will be equally reciprocated.

Trust: He will graze, drink, and bathe around the other, putting himself in positions of vulnerability.

Complete trust: He will lie down and sleep around the other, and feels no need to scrutinize their actions, comfortable even with them in his blind spot.


Rejection:
He responds negatively in two ways: a flight reaction or a fight reaction. As with any interaction, the escalation of these responses is situational, and engagement which begins with one response may change to another. He sets his own health above virtually everything, and thus will almost always flee from any perceived confrontation. His exceptions to this rule are: when defending another being, when he is in rut, or when he knows that fleeing will not help him.

Flight:

Alarm: Head facing the other for a prolonged period of time.

Snort + Stomp: Head facing the other for a prolonged period of time + Vocalization + Stomp.

Fight:

Ear drop: Facing the other directly with head and body.

Hard look: Facing the other directly with head and body + Stomp.

Sidle: Head facing the other while walking an advancing circle around them, stomping periodically.

Boxing: Repeated stomping.

Antler threat: Repeated stomping while moving forward.

Rush: Repeated stomping while moving forward close enough to make contact.

History

Manipur, India—the southeastern portion of Loktak Lake, among the phumdis.

Heralding from a protected area (Keibul Lamjao National Park) created due to the endangered sangai, he and his herd rarely faced predation by humans, and were given some protection by them from other natural predators as well. As one of the older members of his herd, he had given up his place as one of the dominant stags in the breeding season before departing. Despite this, in his prime, he sired many fawns and led his own harems. Though past his prime, his antlers are still quite impressive due to his age, and he's had a fair deal of experience, so he knows plenty of tricks if need be, and has certainly not given up on courting and showing off.

While he was originally a purely feral deer led almost entirely by instinct and qualia, upon departing his homeland he was granted intellectual awareness of the world by Magic, resulting in a human level of cognition. Now he finds himself aware of language, logic, complex cultural beliefs and behaviours, a gist of the overall nature of the world, the greater implications of cause and effect and the problems which may follow current paths of action, and other general data-based knowledge. So long as he keeps his mind occupied, busied by unimportant tasks, the knowledge will not come; however, if he loses focus and his mind idles, awareness of all manners of things come flooding to him via that Magic. Though he has come to terms with the nature of his new-found intellect, he still strains to keep touch with his feral past, and to resist embracing the knowledge and its source.

Born on November 11th, 2004. Entered The Endless Forest in March, 2014. Entered Reach of the River on August 2, 2023.

Documentary on sangai by Moundain Films.

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𓃛 Stria: Daughter (adopted)

Met March 31st, 2014 (Stria's birth)

Present for and bonded since Stria's birth, he witnessed a good portion of her growth in her early days before his increased absences, and considers her a daughter. Though he's not always been the fondest of her decisions in company or life progress, he's always supported her the best he can even where he cannot understand her. Regardless of his concerns, she's grown to be more physically capable even than he, and he's finally come to realize she does not need his protection anymore; regardless, whether she wants it or not, she still has it. She is constantly there to press at him and force him to face the world, encounter new things, and challenge old ideas; he is there to impart his own knowledge upon her and guide her where he can, if needed, though not always wanted. It is no longer about what he should do for her, and is instead about what they will do for one another.

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𓃚 Rune: Son (adopted)

Met March 29th, 2014

Thinking fondly back to when Rune, barely older than a newborn, first snuggled up to him for warmth at the Pond, stone considers him a son. He feels a special tie to the roe since stone was the first to bond with the buck. Stone takes comfort in his very feral appearance and is comforted by his cautious nature, in that he ought to do well for himself with it. Like many, Rune is a scarce but welcome blessing, and will always be held dear to stone as one of his most rudimentary herd-mates.

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