Jyelyar Species in Melphor | World Anvil

Jyelyar

Jyelyar are the highest quality of mount available as they are more intelligent than horses and are faster. There are more things that they can be taught to do. They are primarily employed by the Order of the Rose.
It is recommended that a breeder should only give a young Jyelyar the most basic instruction, leaving the more advanced training for its intended rider. This is because Jyelyar do best when they only have one instructor. They need to be able to trust their rider. Having more than one person they have received training from can cause a great deal of confusion and leads to instructions not being followed, often with disastrous results.
As mounts, Jyelyar are highly loyal. The longer a Jyelyar has been with its rider the stronger the bond of understanding there is between them. As Jyelyar are partially empathic, this leads to a mount being able to read its rider’s needs. As a result, the Order of the Rose are unmatched on the battlefield.

  Speed
Average walking speed is 12 km/h. At a trot, they can manage 20 km/h.
An average Jyelyar can gallop at a top speed of 70 km/h. They can maintain this speed for 6 hours before they need a long rest.

Basic Information

Anatomy

Jyelyar are quite tall, larger than horses with a pair of antlers on their heads. Males have smaller ones while the females have larger, more lethal ones. Their skulls are thickly boned. A dense, shaggy fur covers their bodies from the head down to the knees of their forelegs and only goes half way from the shoulders to the hind legs. The rest of the body is covered in shorter, softer fur that is stripes. The tail is short and tin with a long tuft at the end. Their ears look like a cross between a dear’s and a horse’s.
The strangest thing about the Jyelyar is that they have two different kinds of feet. The forelegs have wickedly sharp cloven hooves while the hind legs have three toed paws. The forelegs have four raised ridges on the front that range between the bottom of the shaggy fur and above the ankles. Their feet are this way as the forelegs are more suited to defense as the paws don’t have any kind of claws. The forelegs are also used to dig up roots and other edibles from the ground.
Jyelyar don’t like to be active in the dark as their night vision isn’t very good.

Genetics and Reproduction

A female, called a jiina, carries her baby for 6-7 months. They aren’t born with their antlers, so the birthing process is relatively easy. They mature quickly and are considered physically mature at 2 years. They are capable of breeding at age 4. immature young are generally called jyen.

Ecology and Habitats

They're native to Arden. Their only real predators are griffin and wolves.

Additional Information

Social Structure

In the wild, Jyelyar behave differently than they do in captivity. Females form groups of 5-7 individuals and their young. They only interact with the males to breed. These groups are formed for mutual protection and to protect birthing mothers from predators as both mother and child are very weak in the day after the birthing. These groups also allow a female to have as many eyes on her child as possible at any given time.
Males, called jal, leave these groups at 18 months. They roam as far away as they can from the mother’s group in search of other females. There are at least three males near each group of females, sometimes even more. It is the female who initiates mating. Problems occur when more than one female desires the same male. They will fight over who gets him. These fights are bloody and dangerous. The victor is then bred by the male who won’t mate with another until the baby is born. Most often, he’ll leave the area once he’s seen that his offspring is healthy. Sometimes he’ll stay in the area to mate with another female. In very rare cases, he’ll mate with the same female as before.

  Jyelyar who live in captivity still don’t interact with the adult males, but the females don’t fight over them either. They don’t need to form nursery groups for protection.

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

The Jyelyar are a partially empathic. They are more intelligent than horses, but not as intelligent as people. The empathy serves to warn them of approaching predators.

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