RobotElder
First Post
What if it's not a horn.....it's an ovipositor! 
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NOW LIVE! Into the Woods--new character species, eerie monsters, and haunting villains to populate the woodlands of your D&D games.
Creepy idea about unicorns....
- Thread starter RobotElder
- Start date
German author and cartoonist Walter Moers was way ahead of you: The last unicorn
Howzabout...
A unicorn isn't one animal, it is a magical, intelligent, parasitical snail that takes over the brains of horses.
A unicorn isn't one animal, it is a magical, intelligent, parasitical snail that takes over the brains of horses.
RobotElder
First Post
Even better! And like many parasites, it has a complicated lifecycle.
The horse-head snail seeks out a human in which to inject its eggs. Then the implanted eggs affect the human's behavior and body chemistry, making them wistful and prone to wandering, at the same time emitting a pheromone that is irresistible to dragons. The dragon then kidnaps the human and is influenced by the pheromones to guard him/her.
The eggs hatch and another stage of unicorn parasite then infects the dragon. This stage releases eggs into the dragon's digestive system which are then excreted.
When knights come to rescue the hostage, their noble steeds are then infected by the unicorn snail eggs which migrate to the brain, eventually devouring it and growing a shell-horn ovipositor (If the eggs happen to infect a paladin's steed, the resulting brain snail also induces the horse to sprout wings).
The horse-head snail seeks out a human in which to inject its eggs. Then the implanted eggs affect the human's behavior and body chemistry, making them wistful and prone to wandering, at the same time emitting a pheromone that is irresistible to dragons. The dragon then kidnaps the human and is influenced by the pheromones to guard him/her.
The eggs hatch and another stage of unicorn parasite then infects the dragon. This stage releases eggs into the dragon's digestive system which are then excreted.
When knights come to rescue the hostage, their noble steeds are then infected by the unicorn snail eggs which migrate to the brain, eventually devouring it and growing a shell-horn ovipositor (If the eggs happen to infect a paladin's steed, the resulting brain snail also induces the horse to sprout wings).
Not bad, but going back to legends, the "unicorn" probably seeks virginal humanoids for a reason. Let's assume that reason has to do with its life cycle. Perhaps SHE gets infected, and when she nears other equines- "Oh, look at all the lovely horses!"- the snail's offspring get passed through the maiden's fecal matter. Other horses become infected in turn only after getting too close to one of the tiny snails which, by this time, are gliding about the foliage...
Duh- MAGIC snail!
ShadowAssassin
Explorer
See Charlie Stross' Equoid story for the true history of unicorns and what HPL saw behind the woodshed.
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