Yale

“	And one of Yale University’s symbols is the yale, but that’s not important. These monsters… The Romans knew them as centicores. They are absolutely deadly. They’re also attracted to sudden movements and loud noises.	”
–Apollo in The Dark Prophecy.

A Yale

A Yale is a fierce antelope-like creature with large horns that can swivel in any direction. The Romans knew these creatures as Centicores. They're attracted to sudden movements and loud noises. They are fierce and proud animals, highly territorial and aggressive as well as being an endangered species. Since they are endangered, it is illegal to kill them making it difficult to access areas with yales. Artemis/Diana is tasked with monitoring the number of Yales and other endangered species. When monsters start to fade from mortals' collective memory, they regenerate less and less often from Tartarus, so they are left to breed and repopulate.

History

Eons ago, during Dionysus' eastern campaign, the wine god had unleashed a herd of yales into the ranks of an Indian army five thousand strong. Apollo still remembers the screams of those warriors. Commodus once had yales in his throne room, Apollo didn't know they were yales when he saw them, nor did he think that even the emperor would be crazy enough to keep them so close to humans. Soon the mortals started to forget about the yales, they became much rarer than the red-bellied hydras.

The Trials of Apollo

The Dark Prophecy

Alaric of the Triumvirate Holdings had two yales guard the entrance to the Cave of Trophonius. Upon being warned about being cursed by her Apollo if they are killed, Meg McCaffrey binds them with grass while in a tree. Although they manage to escape, the two successfully climb down into the Bluespring Caverns.

Appearance

Yales looked more like giant yaks than cows. Shaggy brown fur with yellow spots covered their bodies, while the fur on their heads was solid yellow. Horse-like manes trailed down their necks. Their fluffy tails were as long as Apollo's arm and their large amber eyes almost looked cute, but they weren't. The Yale's most prominent features were their horns, two glistening white spears of ridged bone, absurdly long for the creature's head.

Trivia

Two yales depicted on the coat of arms of the Yale Faculty of Arts and Sciences.

• The name Yale may come יָעֵל ("yael"), the Hebrew word for "ibex", a kind of goat.
• Pliny the Elder wrote in the eighth book of his Natural History that he has seen yales in sub-Saharan African plains. However, buffalo and antelopes has been known to inhabit there, so it's likely he just mistook them for yales.
• Although Yale University's mascot is a bulldog, the Yale is depicted on the official banner of the President of the University, which, along with a wooden mace capped by a Yale's head, is carried and displayed during commencement exercises each spring.
• In addition to the university in New Haven, Connecticut, the yale has also been used as heraldry in the British Royal Family.
• During the fight against the two, Meg briefly referred to them as Harvards. Similar to Yale, Harvard is also a private Ivy League research university with a very low acceptance rate.