Talking about a work in progress is one of those problematic writer things, as least for me. Saying too much sort of…takes the wind out of my sails. So I’ve struggled with how much to say in this post.
High fantasy (also called epic fantasy) is defined as a story that takes place in a completely different realm from Earth. Its societies, environment, animals, people, etc, are all different. So no references or comparisons to our world. I frequently ask myself, do I really need to create a new intelligent being, animal or plant for this situation? Or can I just call the broccoli “broccoli” and leave it at that? If you create something new, be it biped, animal, or veg, there must be a good reason in the story. And you need to work it into the narrative without resorting to the dreaded “info-dumping”. Otherwise readers lose patience.
For instance, although there are intelligent species besides humans, my world doesn’t have horses. And no cats (sorry), but I did create a cat-equivalent. The planet is earth-like, with a higher water-to-land ratio, and a lower average annual temperature. There are some hot dry areas, but most zones are temperate or colder, with more mountains and larger frozen areas at the poles. Hooved animals are still necessary for the inhabitants’ development level, but my world's genetics found different solutions to the problems posed by environment, landscape, and climate.
The herbivores on the main character’s continent evolved in mountainous terrain that’s cold most of the year. I mixed traits from mountain goats, pronghorn, wild sheep and llamas, to come with a few different breeds. Their feet have three or four three-jointed toes, with pads of grippy hairs on the bottom for traction on ice, snow and wet stone. The coat has a soft inner layer and longer hollow-cored hair, and a lanolin-equivalent skin oil that prevents them from becoming water-soaked. They also have horns.
Over time people domesticated and selectively bred these animals to fit various purposes. One is a riding animal, the takri, with lyrate-curved horns. We think of a lyre shape as being in two dimensions, curving out, in, and out again. These horns add a third dimension to the basic lyre shape by also curving slightly forward from the base, then back, and forward again at the tips.
The takri has three-toed feet with grippy hair pads, a shaggy two-layer coat, and it's built like a large goat/antelope, with body and legs strong enough to carry humans. Compared to a horse, the head has a wider forehead tapering to a narrower nose, longer ears, and vertical-slit eyes. They’re intelligent animals that form strong attachments to their owner, and live to 30 years or more.
Takri were partly inspired by pronghorn antelope. We see those regularly here on the open range. It fascinates me that pronghorns are one of the few animals remaining from the Pleistocene. I’ve always wondered - what is it about pronghorns that’s helped them survive so long? In creating the takri, I took the answers my imagination dreamed up and ran with them.
(BTW, animal horns, what an unexpected rabbit hole! I could make up nearly anything and it’d be just as likely as what actually exists. These are just the more common antelopes. https://similarbutdifferentanimals.com/2018/05/30/antelope-horns/)
If you have time, please humor me by making a test comment. Say hi, or give me a book suggestion. Thanks for reading!
