Unicorns?

[Ireth]

My unicorns prefer virgins of both sexes as well, and will drive away any non-virgin who tries to touch them. They communicate telepathically/empathically between fellow unicorns and also virgins. Their horns have healing powers. and any mane and tail hair that they shed is gathered by the Fae for various uses, including reinforcing ropes and doing fancy embroidery, because it is both quite tough and very shiny, comparable to mithril. Some have speculated that enough of the hair woven into cloth could act like chainmail.

 

[Saigonnus]

I mean no disrespect to you, your opinions and your choices, but I have always despised the whole depiction of "have to be a virgin" to touch or even talk to a unicorn and preferred to paint them almost like a regular part of the flora/fauna of the land. Since they are empathic and telepathic they'd be able to tell fairly well when someone wishes them harm and could defend themselves or flee accordingly. I would think unicorns would be perfectly fine with a "lawful good" character in general since they generally don't kill without the "incentive" of being killed themselves. They hold themselves aloof of people in most cases anyway, but I don't think they would flee if such a character happened upon them. If the empathy was "at range" like they could feel someone in the woods a hundred yards away or more, that would be more than enough time for the unicorn to decide what to do.

 

[Ireth]

Well, looking at the story as it is right now: the mortals would be very familiar with folklore and the "unicorns like virgin girls" trope, so the males choose to stay back and let the girl help the injured colt. (The one Fae in their group has never been close to a unicorn, so he wouldn't know otherwise, and he isn't a virgin anyway). Dom even talks about the trope when the colt is being rescued, saying that it's sexist and "women get all the perks." The kicker comes when Dom finds a unicorn and helps it, even being allowed to ride it -- nobody else expected a unicorn to let a man within three feet of it, even if the man was an unmarried virgin.

I do rather like your ideas better than mine, it's just hard to put them into play when the only ones who get to touch unicorns are virgins. Switching my ideas up and having one of the non-virgin men be the one to help the second unicorn might work, if the man in question was willing to risk being gored if his belief about unicorns was actually true -- Dom does take the risk, as he sees it, because he isn't a girl. He gets off unharmed, of course, but that doesn't prove anything with regards to non-virgins and unicorns.

 

[BeigePalladin]

I too have never understand that "will only let fmale virgins touch me" thing; I mean, being a female virgin does not in any way make ou a good person, you could be a psychotic mass murderer and the frakking horn-horse would go and be freindly with it, but a rape-victim saint would be gorred... (I dislike that trope, can you tell...)

I do rather like your ideas better than mine, it's just hard to put them into play when the only ones who get to touch unicorns are virgins.

is their virginosity a plot point for anything else, otherwise it can eaisly be dropped? or their virginess/non-birginess could eaisly be not mentioned if it is a point.

 

[Ireth]

Heh. Yeah, I can tell you don't like the trope. Those are some good points. ^^

No, their virginity isn't a plot point for anything else, it's just something that's remarked upon and then dropped. The love life of the Fae is never mentioned, and the other man in the group is the girl's father, so is therefore obviously not a virgin. I had thought of doing a more Harry Potter-like approach, where unicorns just prefer girls to boys regardless of whether or not they're a virgin, but that's still problematic as well. All in all, I think the "good people versus bad people" is a better idea than "virgin versus non-virgin."

 

[BeigePalladin]

aye, especially for empaths. if they get a previous view of the aproachee then it would be beliveable that a unicorn would be able to pick/choose who's coming close, whch may also help avoid sticking unicorns with a hat (other than the hron) by having unicorns that might prefer other people than just good...

 

[Ireth]

That's very true. I'm pretty sure the Dresden Files series has an Unseelie unicorn in one of the books, so it wouldn't be entirely unique if I were to use it (not that I'm saying I should let that stop me). I personally prefer the image of unicorns as "pure" creatures anyway, but that's just me.

 

[Sheilawisz]

Ireth, I am fascinated by unicorns and they are part of my Fantasy stories too... My unicorns are just animals that are quite intelligent (way more intelligent than horses) but they do not have human-level intelligence and cannot talk or communicate directly with my characters.

My opinion is that unicorns should not be like people with hooves, but they are not ordinary animals either: They are something else, something different and unique, and maybe their intelligence is quite a different type of intelligence and they would think in a way that is neither animal nor human.

Communication between humans and unicorns by means of mental images, or maybe by dreams, would definitely add a touch of mystery and magic to a Fantasy story =)

Since this thread discusses a type of Fantasy creature, I have moved it from Writing Questions to the World Building forum.

 

[SeverinR]

My unicorns prefer virgins of both sexes as well, and will drive away any non-virgin who tries to touch them. They communicate telepathically/empathically between fellow unicorns and also virgins. Their horns have healing powers. and any mane and tail hair that they shed is gathered by the Fae for various uses, including reinforcing ropes and doing fancy embroidery, because it is both quite tough and very shiny, comparable to mithril. Some have speculated that enough of the hair woven into cloth could act like chainmail.

I like the mane and tail hair use, hadn't thought of that.

I mean no disrespect to you, your opinions and your choices, but I have always despised the whole depiction of "have to be a virgin" to touch or even talk to a unicorn and preferred to paint them almost like a regular part of the flora/fauna of the land. Since they are empathic and telepathic they'd be able to tell fairly well when someone wishes them harm and could defend themselves or flee accordingly. I would think unicorns would be perfectly fine with a "lawful good" character in general since they generally don't kill without the "incentive" of being killed themselves. They hold themselves aloof of people in most cases anyway, but I don't think they would flee if such a character happened upon them. If the empathy was "at range" like they could feel someone in the woods a hundred yards away or more, that would be more than enough time for the unicorn to decide what to do.

Like I said, my unicorns prefer virgins, because unpure make them nauseaus.

I too have never understand that "will only let fmale virgins touch me" thing; I mean, being a female virgin does not in any way make ou a good person, you could be a psychotic mass murderer and the frakking horn-horse would go and be freindly with it, but a rape-victim saint would be gorred... (I dislike that trope, can you tell...)



is their virginosity a plot point for anything else, otherwise it can eaisly be dropped? or their virginess/non-birginess could eaisly be not mentioned if it is a point.

My MC that talks with the unicorn talks of having the unicorn meet her best friend, then realizes she has probably been raped.
The unicorn explains purity is a state of mind, not of body.
The 10 yr old boy(they know) who is perverted and sex obcessed but still a virgin would sicken the unicorn, but a rape victim could still be pure of heart, thus the unicorn could be around her.

I use the touch communication as a humorous and annoying hinderence.

Paraphrased:
"Why did you let him attack me?" She screamed, "Answer me!" She turns angrily to look at the Unicorn."Your not even going to talk to me?" Diamon shakes her head, and walks forward, laying her head against her arm.
"I could not harm him until he was trying to harm you."

 

[Sheilawisz]

In one of my stories I have an arctic-like type of white unicorns that live in extreme cold and very high elevation: They have special hooves that allow them to run very fast and climb through snow and ice, they can travel for very long distances and their very long horns are made of crystal.

These unicorns cannot talk, but they are way more intelligent than any other "normal" kind of animal... and they can be friends with people, letting you to ride them and travel across the mountains =)

I want to ride a unicorn, just like I want my magical broom to go flying to the Mall!!

 

[Saigonnus]

Like I said, my unicorns prefer virgins, because unpure make them nauseaus.

Hence the reason for empathy... no need for them to even get close to an "impure" person in that case. The unicorns I have opted for don't get "nauseaus" around impurity, they just tend to steer clear of people or creatures that have an unbalanced or overtly hostile nature; ones that couldd possibly do them harm. If it comes down to it, and the need is there, a unicorn would potentially put themselves in danger to accomplish a greater good (rescuing their baby or member of the herd).

 

[Eeirail]

In my WIP Summer's Blood, the protagonists come across multiple unicorns at various points on their quest through Faerie. The first two they encounter are a mother and her baby; the heroine of the novel rescues the baby unicorn from a dry well that it falls into. Much later they meet a male unicorn, probably the mate of the aforesaid mother unicorn, which one of the heroes rescues from some trouble; it serves an important purpose in the climax.

My question is, do you think the unicorns should be more on the people-with-hooves end of the scale, with the means to actually communicate with the protagonists (telepathy, perhaps), or more like animals with above-average intelligence? I don't want them to be purely animal like the unicorns in HP seem to be, because the fact that my unicorns are capable of understanding human speech (more so than a trained dog could) and even knowingly repaying debts means they have to be reasonably smart. I just don't want it to seem silly if I make them TOO intelligent. Your thoughts?

Personally, I think it should be something else, something more mystical then then that, not to mention the "people-with-hooves" Would no longer be a unicorn I do not believe. I would say make them a different vision rather then just the horse with a horn, add something more, like maybe make it a different animal, make it more intresting.

 

[Ireth]

Personally, I think it should be something else, something more mystical then then that, not to mention the "people-with-hooves" Would no longer be a unicorn I do not believe. I would say make them a different vision rather then just the horse with a horn, add something more, like maybe make it a different animal, make it more intresting.

Well, my unicorns aren't entirely horse-like; they have the heads and bodies of horses and the legs of deer, which is kind of like some myths of unicorns describe them (horse's head, deer's body, goat's legs and lion's tail). I was inspired by the animated movie version of The Last Unicorn, which is rather stylized and has a unicorn with very spindly legs.

 

[Eeirail]

Well, my unicorns aren't entirely horse-like; they have the heads and bodies of horses and the legs of deer, which is kind of like some myths of unicorns describe them (horse's head, deer's body, goat's legs and lion's tail). I was inspired by the animated movie version of The Last Unicorn, which is rather stylized and has a unicorn with very spindly legs.

That sounds more like a Chimera to me in all actuality

 

[Queshire]

Considering the basic template is "horse with horn" I'd say all unicorns are inheirantly chimeric.

I haven't featured Unicorns in any of my story ideas, and I don't really plan to in the future, but quickly thinking, I'd put them on the same level as dragons or phenoix (I seriously doubt that's spelt right... bluh...) creatures that straddle the line between material and etheral, dangerous both magically and physically, nearly impossible to kill, and thankfully mostly unconcerned with other mortals. These types of creatures are like those optional bossess in rpgs that are harder then the final boss.

Keeping with the tropes, Unicorns are assossiated with Light and Purity but that by no means makes them good. They are extremely dangerous and are as likely to ignore you, help you, or shoot lazers at you no matter how pure or impure you consider yourself, appearently by following some criteria only they know.

As for the vigin thing, just how much someone's viginity matters varies from unicorn to unicorn but it's generally preferable to let the vigin deal with unicorns. This prefrence for vigins isn't because of any precieved morality of sex, but because sex results in the two people's essences mixing.