scruffy and goatish, with a long beard and ridged horn.
2
lanky and knobby-kneed, with a velvety and branching horn.
3
short and chubby, with a wooly fleece and a curling horn.
4
built like a tank, with a wide, scratched-up horn and a thick, folded hide.
5
as a different breed of horse each time you blink, now
an elegant Arabian and then a sturdy percheron - always alabaster-white,
and always with a sharp, straight, pearlescent horn.
6
blubbery yet sleek, with a speckled hide and an almost comically-long horn.
D6
This unicorn is
1
a minor god of purification rites who abdicated their
portfolio in the belief that they could do more good as a creature of
flesh and blood.
2
a prodigy that was born in a place where the upper realms touched the mortal world.
3
an angel from a pre-human era when it seemed like quadrepeds might inherit the earth.
4
a kludge-beast of reanimated taxidermy created by a childlike enchanter.
5
the creation of a temple that required an unblemished sacrifice, though it's escaped this fate to this day.
6
a spontaneous exudate of the universe spawned in response to a rising tide of evil.
D6
This unicorn is troubled by
1
a hypocritical and narcissistic knight who is convinced that the unicorn is the only mount worthy of bearing their rump.
2
an aspiring bishop who believes a sign of favour from the unicorn would secure their virtuous reputation.
3
a mind-bogglingly wealthy merchant and horse-breeder who wants it captured for their stables.
4
a nightmare who wants to kill and impersonate it for its own malicious ends.
5
an overbearing mother-in-law-to-be who wants it to confirm the virginity of her son's future bride.
6
a hag and her trio of ogre sons who are inexplicably convinced that the unicorn can grant wishes.
D6
This unicorn inhabits
1
a silver palace somewhere along the way to Heaven where good souls near death sometimes go for a pit-stop halfterlife.
2
a lush vale that doesn't appear on any maps, where the meek can seek sanctuary without violence.
3
a cathedral it built itself from the bones of forgotten martyrs it exhumed from unmarked graves.
4
a ruined castle where a goblin-market has been set up, a
market where sentimental belongings and heirlooms can be restored to
perfect condition.
5
a mist-shrouded glade where lost travellers sometimes
stumble, where they can rest and receive succour before going on their
way.
6
whatever caves or other shelters it finds as the sun sets in its endless wandering.
D6
This unicorn's goodness
1
is puritanical, with scant forgiveness for little lies, errors, and weaknesses.
2
takes the form of self-sacrificing charity, allowing the hungry to gnaw off its own leg.
3
is ruthlessly utilitarian and long-sighted, making it
capable of shocking callousness in the present for larger gains to the
greater good down the line.
4
is uncertain of what the good even is, skeptically questioning itself into inaction.
5
is relentlessly optimistic, able to see the silver lining and redemption in even the meanest creatures.
6
is that of a zealot, a tireless and violent destroyer of evil.
D6
From this unicorn can be looted
1
its horn (called alicorn), which detects and
neutralizes poisons on contact, though this causes it to gradually
blacken and decay.
2
its blood, which restores drinkers to a state of innocent youth.
3
its brain, which when eaten grants great wisdom,
particularly with regard to moral matters - and often great regret for
killing a unicorn for its brain.
4
for its bones and hide, which can be worked into weapons and armour with particular efficacy against spirits both good and evil.
5
for its heart, which as an object of immense purity can
soak up a number of curses (or one massive curse) through a sort of
magical osmosis.
6
for its hooves, which can be worked into shoe-soles and
keys and other such trinkets that allow one to trod the weird ways
through the planes and cryptogeographical places.
Unicorns are one of those creatures that are simultaneously over and under appreciated. It's fascinating their historical relationship with sexuality and womanhood, and the way they've become a symbol for women. It's also interesting how versions of them exist in many cultures, including things like the Qilin in Chinese Mythology (Kirin in Japanese, etc.).
I just read The Witcher Lady in the Lake, and I like the interpretation of Unicorns in The Witcher books as well, where they are more like intelligent but weird aliens. The Laundry Files also had a cool take on unicorns.
Despite how reductive unicorns can be, like "white horse with a spiral horn", there are potentially many more interesting directions to take it, so it makes a lot of sense for your style of generator. I'm actually surprised you haven't done unicorns before.
Unicorns are one of those creatures that are simultaneously over and under appreciated. It's fascinating their historical relationship with sexuality and womanhood, and the way they've become a symbol for women. It's also interesting how versions of them exist in many cultures, including things like the Qilin in Chinese Mythology (Kirin in Japanese, etc.).
ReplyDeleteI just read The Witcher Lady in the Lake, and I like the interpretation of Unicorns in The Witcher books as well, where they are more like intelligent but weird aliens. The Laundry Files also had a cool take on unicorns.
Despite how reductive unicorns can be, like "white horse with a spiral horn", there are potentially many more interesting directions to take it, so it makes a lot of sense for your style of generator. I'm actually surprised you haven't done unicorns before.