Overview
The Roe Deer is the forest edge's own animal — small, red-brown, and quicker than anything its size has a right to be. It is the first thing a new hunter sees and the last thing they catch. It stands 0.75 m at the shoulder, moves in short bounds along the tree-line, and it considers the edge a promise rather than a home. The edge belongs to the Roe, and the Roe keeps it for the taking, and the taking is the whole of the deer's own.
Habitat
The Roe Deer keeps the forest edge — the place where the tree gives way to the grass, the soft undergrowth and the pale, moving light of Glimmerwood. It is the edge's own, and the edge is the deer's, and the deer keeps the edge the way the edge keeps its light. It needs three things: undergrowth that does not fail, a tree-line that gives the shadow, and the pale light that moves and does not stay in one place. It is settled at the edge with hunting-lines over the undergrowth; a Roe that has not crossed the edge in a season is called the one who forgot the flash, because the flash is the whole of the deer's own.
Appearance
The Roe Deer is the small, light shape — short in the body, high in the ear, with the head set forward and the whole of it reading as one quick line from muzzle to white rump. The buck stands 0.75 m at the shoulder and carries 22 kg to 28 kg, light through the body, with the small V-shaped antler and the startle that is faster than sight; the doe stands 0.70 m, 18 kg to 24 kg, smaller, no antler, and the same startle, with a nose that finds the frost before the weather does. The coat is red-brown in the summer, short and fine, and it turns grey-brown by the first frost, the belly and the rump staying a clean white that reads as a flash in the dark. The eye is large, dark, and placed to see the wide, and it does not glow, but it is the mark of the breed, because the eye that sees the wide is the eye that does not run into the cold. The buck's antler is the smallest in the moor — a short V, one tine on each side, clean and sharp — and it is bone, and it drops in the winter, so a buck in the deep cold looks as plain as a hind. The white rump is the sign of the line, and the flash is the whole of the defense. The buck carries the line in the antler and the startle; the doe carries it in the nose and the leap. Elders are marked by a coat gone grey-brown and, in the buck, an antler worn thin and honest — an old Roe is one the edge still lets pass, because the edge that has let an old Roe pass once lets it pass always. The Roe wears no clothing, and the not-wearing is the whole of the deer's own, because the deer that is the edge's own does not wear the edge's own.
Behaviour
The Roe Deer is the quick, watchful thing, and the watchfulness is the whole of the behaviour. It does not cross the open, and it does not stand, because the standing is the whole of the death, and the death is not the deer's own. It moves along the edge where the tree gives way to the grass, in short bounds, and it listens more than it looks, and the listening is the whole of the law, because the Roe that has listened is the Roe that does not run into the cold. It is shy at the peace, and the shy is the whole of the defense, because the shy that is fast is the shy the eye does not count. A doe with a fawn moves in two-piece leaps, and the fawn keeps up, because the fawn has nothing to lose and everything to prove, and the proving is the whole of the next Roe. The two signature quirks: the white rump-flash when the Roe turns — the flash says here, and by the time the eye believes it, the Roe is three jumps away — and the two-piece leap, where the doe lands and starts again before the second bound, because the second bound is the whole of the escape.
Natural Weapons & Defenses
The startle is the whole of the answer, and the startle is the whole of the defense. It is faster than sight, and the faster-than-sight is the whole of the law, because the Roe that has started is the Roe the eye does not catch. The white rump is the second defense, and the flash is the whole of the trick, because the flash that says here is the flash the eye believes, and the believing is the whole of the loss. The Roe does not fight the hunter, and the not-fighting is the whole of the law, because the Roe that has started does not fight, and the not-fighting is the whole of the escape. The Roe that is caught is the Roe the eye has counted, and the counting is the whole of the death, and the death is the hunter's own.
Magic Alignment
Innate only — no school. The Roe Deer has the Rump-Flash — the white rump that says here and is three jumps away by the time the eye believes it, and the away is the whole of the escape. It has the Edge-Nose — the nose that finds the frost before the weather does, and the finding is the whole of the memory. It has the Two-Piece Leap — the land-and-start-again that is faster than the second bound, and the second is the whole of the escape. The Roe has no word, and the word is not the Roe's, and the not-being is the whole of the deer's own.
Society
The Roe Deer is the small-herd thing, and the small herd is the whole of the family. The herd is not the wide herd the way the Red Deer is a wide herd — it is the small, watchful herd, and the small is the whole of the defense — because the small herd that is watchful is the small herd the eye does not count. The best nose leads, and the leading is the whole of the law, because the herd that follows the best nose is the herd that does not run into the cold. A doe with a fawn keeps the fawn close, and the keeping is the whole of the promise, because the fawn that is kept is the fawn that does not lose. There is no lair, and the not-having is the whole of the deer's own, because the Roe that is the edge's own does not keep a lair, and the not-keeping is the whole of the law.
Culture & Lore
The edge's folk count the Roe by the white rump in the undergrowth. A white rump in the undergrowth means the forest edge is awake, and the awake is the whole of the promise. A buck without his antler in the deep winter is simply a buck, and the hunter who knows that loses less time than the one who does not, and the losing-less is the whole of the law. The hunter does not take the doe with a fawn, and the not-taking is the whole of the law, because the doe with a fawn is the promise of the next Roe, and the promise is the whole of the edge. The old ones say the Roe is the edge's own, and the edge's own is the edge's flash, and the flash is the Roe's, and the Roe keeps it the way the edge keeps its light.
Home
They keep the forest edge of Glimmerwood, the place where the tree gives way to the grass and the pale light moves and does not stay in one place. The edge is the deer's own, and the deer's own is the edge.
Relations
The Roe Deer is the edge's own, and the edge's folk keep their distance at the tree-line, and the distance is the whole of the law, because the Roe that is the edge's own is the edge's own. The Glimmerwood's fae keep their distance from the Roe, and the keeping-distance is the whole of the bond, because the Roe that is the edge's own is the one the edge keeps. The hunters of the edge take the buck in the green months and not the doe with a fawn, and the not-taking is the whole of the law. The Forgotten of the edge keep the Roe as the edge's flash, and the keeping is the whole of the bond, because the flash that is the edge's own is the one the edge keeps.
In the Story
In the current story, the Roe Deer is the flash on the edge — the small, watchful thing Uaellaen writes about when the light is the deer's. The Forgotten keep their distance at the tree-line, and the distance has held for two seasons. This season a white rump crossed the edge at the hour the light was not there, and the crossing is the whole of the warning, because the Roe that crosses when the light is not there is the Roe the edge has not counted, and the not-counting is the whole of the loss. The edge is keeping the light, and the keeping is the page the camp has not been shown.