ink, then digital.

Work for an upcoming Ironclaw project.

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At some point, there were rhinoceroses. They just sort of appeared in the background of daily life. Improbably large, often towering over most people's line of sight, the massive rhinoceros is ironically the last person you usually notice in a crowd.

They are so big that to smaller species, they parse as scenery; like some kind of mobile, lumbering piece of furniture or sentient stage prop. Even other species thought to be large (horses, bears and such) are dwarfed by your average rhinoceros. Yet when the topic of size arises, they are hardly ever considered. No one typically notices rhinoceroses unless they are in the way, a situation every rhino is intimately familiar with.

The world is simply not constructed to their being. They have trouble with the most basic challenges of daily life that other species take for granted. Walking through doorways, for instance, is not always a trivial matter; sometimes rhinos have to conduct business through an open door rather than suffer the embarrassment of attempting to enter and causing structural damage. Some establishments sensitive to such patrons will have a rhino-friendly entrance located discreetly in the rear, or a concierge specifically charged with attending to the needs of visiting rhinos.

Rules of conduct and etiquette are flexible for the rhinoceros. They sometimes sit on the floor when there are no useful chairs or benches. Some may drink from bowls when mugs aren't up to the task. Notions of civility are suspended where they are concerned, and not wholly due to their gargantuan stature. As most rhinos are additionally foreigners, they are doubly awkward in common society, physically and culturally. In fact, in almost all regards, the rhinoceros fails to fit in, yet they don't suffer so much as you might think, simply due to being ignored.

Unlike smaller, or more defenceless species, rhinos are largely immune to extreme persecution for being so different. Even bigots inclined to purge them from society would have no practical way of doing so; attacking a rhinoceros is tantamount to attacking a boulder. It simply doesn't happen, at least not without extreme collateral damage. And why would it, anyway? If you conduct your business up a narrow flight of stairs, or a tight alley, then you avoid all contact with their kind.

It should come as no surprise that rhinoceros children are valued as social interlopers, often serving the adults of their kind as messengers, lackeys and formal proxies. It is a strange childhood for a young rhino: when other children are carefree playing, the rhino calf is basically forced to grow up and tend to adult matters during the few years they can do so without issue. It is not uncommon to see a sullen, quiet young rhino as the only child in the company of adults of other species simply because they can see eye-to-eye.

This can understandably lead to awkward social development and a lack of peer skills that continue into adulthood. Additionally, rhinos tend to be only children, which can further isolate them during critical years of development.

This all leads to a temperament that is at odds with their physical potential. A rhinoceros is typically soft spoken, polite, literal, sensitive, restrained, quick to apologize and self-conscious to a fault. Even though they aren't any more or less clumsy than other creatures, they have more accidents due to their size in a world designed by and for smaller people. This can lead to a life spent feeling constrained, oafish, clumsy, frustrated, guilty, and so on.

They make excellent workers when they are able to move freely or work alone. They aren't typically ambitious, many find opportunities in monastic or religious life, if for no other reason than cathedrals tend to be sturdy, open spaces and sanctuaries for misfits.

It should be noted that the above describes the rhinoceros in a certain non-native context. Rhinos in their natural self-made environment, among their own people are considerably different, but beyond the scope of this assay.