Lamp Fawn

These spotted deer are one of the many species endemic only to the Sea of Lights and are commonly seen roaming in small same-sex herds as they hunt for soul berry bushes and will-o-wisps. Being such a prevalent species in the Sea of Lights many conflicting cultural values have been assigned to them by the different drow populations. Some see them as omens of coming death, kindly beings who escort the dead to the afterlife, or even foul tricksters akin to devils with the deals they make. They are vaguely celestial and may be related to unicorns but their taxonomy is poorly understood because of the difficulty in obtaining specimens outside of the Sea of Lights as well as trapping them.

Basic Information

Anatomy

They are slender, tall, and long-necked in comparison to most deer species. Their features are delicate over all, right down to dainty hooves. Their oversized eyes catch moonlight like mirrors, looking like glowing silver when they step in to moonbeams and wells of solid blackness in the shadows of the forest. For some reason their tapetum lucidum is never captured in photographs regardless of the light intensity present when taken.
Their coats range between charcoal and dark, de-saturated blues and purples.Their fur is dappled with spots that are several shades lighter when not active. The Lamp Deer can choose to flash these dots with bright cyan light as a way to attempt to frighten danger away, communicate with other Lamp Deer, or lure and entrance their desired prey: will-o-whisps. They have a tendency to always be glowing to some amount unless they believe danger is nearby. Among their most unique features are their three tails. These can be flashed much like their spots and the way they do this can allow for silent communication through the woods between members who might otherwise have a hard time spotting each other. Fur that can light up is referred to simply as glow fur.

Genetics and Reproduction

Rut is triggered by a great abundance of soul berry bushes in bloom. Males attempt to attract mates by over-eating these berries, inundating their fur with oils and drooling while they give their trilling territorial barks and wails. They select a comfortable place and mark it with the over-abundant froth.
Lamp Fawns split in to one male to a few females during periods of rut. Gestation is incredibly short, with a female able to carry up to four fawns to term in two weeks, and she will stay with the male for two months. During this time he is expected to anoint all females with oils for making prey come to them as these pregnancies are very heavy and they don't fancy being mobile, staying in the spot the male had staked out. Lamp fawns show surprisingly little care to their young. The father crop-feeds them a single time so they have their first soul berry oils then chases them off. Many, many fawns hit the ground each year, but very few survive their first few months and even less the two years to hit maturity.

Ecology and Habitats

These creatures can only be found in the Sea of Lights. They are unable to process the more vitriolic will-o-whisps of other regions and exposure to direct sunlight is incredibly stressful to them. Individuals not shielded from moderate sun will go permanently blind very quickly. Within the Sea of Lights they are spread all throughout in both forest (deciduous or boreal) and grasslands.

Dietary Needs and Habits

They eat only two things: soul berries and will-o-whisps. Eating any other matter causes them to become violently ill. Soul berries provide them no sustenance but they do provide the luminescent oils that the deer chew, swallow in to a crop, and regurgitate to preen on to their glow fur in a grooming process called anointing. These oils then glow when blood is flushed directly under the skin to introduce heat, which is why many patterns seem wave-like. Will-o-whisps provide actual sustenance in the form of pure energy, which the stomach converts and then stored in the blood and heart. One will-o-whisp can fuel an average sized Lamp Fawn for several days. Surprisingly they do not drink, but they do enjoy soaking. Lamp Fawns do not create very much in the way of organic waste which can make it difficult to assess populations or track individuals, especially when combined with their tendency to not leave hoof prints.

Biological Cycle

Because there is no sunlight to help judge seasons by male Lamp Fawns grow their antlers according to the phase of the moon. They are very small. By one full moon they will be big enough to start shedding velvet, by the next they will fall off, and it starts all over again. Because of this and how common a creature they are Lamp Fawn antlers are popular to use in crafts, make in to trinkets, and offer as souvenirs.

Additional Information

Social Structure

Females make friends they keep for life and often stat with year-round during rut when they select the same male. When it isn't rut males re-unite with any brothers they were born with as if no rivalry ever happened.

Domestication

While the Lamp Fawn is a wild animal they can be harmfully docile. It isn't difficult to make friends with them if you can offer them soul berries, but they might come to rely on a single source. Those who grow berries fare well and tend not to hurt the deer but those who purchase soul berries and continuously feed the same population risk that population vanishing if they can't continue paying for berries.

Uses, Products & Exploitation

Lamp Fawn have a tender venison that doesn't get game-y with age. That said, one must be very mindful to kill them in one shot, because any deer left standing will flee to the ethereal plane. They are also very difficult to track. It is said the first drow wandered too deep in to the Sea of Lights trying to follow these deer.

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

These deer have exceptional dark vision and are reportedly able to see even within magical darkness. The light they emit, be it reflected with tapetum lucidum or from their glow fur, is not obscured by magical darkness.
Lamp Fawns can enter and exit the ethereal plane at will, like many of the creatures in the Sea of Lights. They need to do so to capture and eat their prey. There are somatic components involved in this that require all three tails. If a Lamp Fawn loses even a single tail it spells certain death by starvation.

Scientific Name

Dama Sepasonearus

Lifespan

8 years

Conservation Status

While it is sparse in certain portions of its range because of superstitious locals the species is generally considered Least Concern and can even make pests of themselves from time to time depending on how kind the seasons have been to their populations.

Body Tint, Colouring and Marking

Their coats range between charcoal and dark, de-saturated blues and purples. They are spotted. A few color variations exist, such as marbled, and white specimens have an almost mythical status, but this interferes with the success of their lure system so these individuals do not fare well.