The Hypha or Ashen are a deer-like people whose culture was wiped out by the Divine Principality; they still exist, but have been forcibly integrated with the empire. They once called themselves Hypha, but became known as Ashen after their assimilation. Those attempting to resist the influence of the Principality are divided on the question of whether to call themselves Hypha or Ashen.
While they are primarily portrayed as resembling fur-less humanoid deer, individuals have been described as moose-like or with goat-like horns in place of antlers. In their initial conception they were described as having faces more akin to a skin covered wolf's skull than a deer's.[1]
Old Hyphan Fleet
The Hypha were nomadic, starfaring people who followed the Strand through space. They also augmented their antlers with the rendered components of their dead, the Chorus Bond, in order to turn people into Strati.[1]
Known Hypha
Ashen
After the Hypha were wiped out, their descendants become known as the Ashen, both because they still follow the weakened Ash Strand and because they wear the ash of the dead on their faces. Knowledge of the Chorus Bond would still be passed down though the generations among a lineage of master and apprentice, sort of like the Sith.[2]