Unicorn

Physical Qualities. Unicorns are usually amongst the smallest of the Theru tribes, with slim rangy physiques. They tend to have pale or lightly tanned skin, slightly elongated legs, and bold features. They have slightly pointed ears, an elongated jaw, and almond-shaped eyes that point rather sharply at the corners. Their hair tends to come in a mane, a brilliant flourish of hair on the top and back, and rather little on the sides of their head. Hair colors are usually pale; white, gray, and platinum blonde. Eye colors run the gamut of browns and blues.

In hybrid form, their facial features develop into a strangely attractive mixture of equine and human. They develop eponymous horns from their forehead, which tend to curve up and back on most unicorns. The develop tufts of hair on wrists and ankles, a long flowing tufted tail, and digitigrade hooved feet.

Playing a Unicorn. You are likely trusted and respected anywhere you go, and its up to you to take the responsibility seriously. It is extremely rare for a Unicorn to be a rogue, and almost unheard of for a Unicorn to be anything other than of a good alignment. Whether this is a natural inclination towards selfless behavior, or simply cultural perception, is for you to decide.

To put it bluntly, Unicorns are kind. They are the Mr. Rogers of the fantasy world: fully aware of the evil around them, but dedicated to making the world a better place. Do not come to me with a background for a secretly evil Unicorn, because I'll just say no.

Unicorns are rarely barbarians, druids, rogues, or rangers. They tend to favor scholarly spellcasting classes, such as cleric, or wizard. Those martially inclined Unicorns might favor monk or paladin, and the few Unicorn fighters become eldritch knights or rune knights. Unicorns are one of the only tribes that have active sorcerer and warlock populations, favoring the Celestial bloodline and patron respectively.

Culture. Unlike other Theru tribes, the Unicorn tend to form oligarchies within small townships numbering anywhere from 100 to several thousand individuals. Typically, the oldest and wisest members form a council to hash out matters of state. All unicorn townships are united by tribe and racial identity. When a matter concerns multiple townships within a region, they tend to defer to the largest or most experienced township to make a decision for the entire community.

A select few of these townships are in truth colleges of arcane study, called Academies and Universities. Promising young students, unicorn and were-unicorn alike, are sent to these colleges to learn. In these cases the council is formed from the primary magical teachers with a headmaster or dean as the council leader.

Academies are colleges intended to promote teaching in the art of combat. These colleges test a young mage’s arcane might, as well as her dedication to virtuous activities. While some academies focus solely on magic, many others, such as the world-renowned White Lotus academy, focus on combining martial and magical talent.

Crime is exceptionally rare. Namely for two reasons: the penalties for committing any crime are exorbitant, and unicorns are simply racially and culturally unlikely to ever commit a crime. After all, it is very rude to steal. Most repeat criminals are humans or members of another tribe visiting unicorn lands.

Relations. Unicorns are almost universally well thought of, even amongst the more reclusive or xenophobic tribes. As a whole, they have been diligent about cleaning blight, healing the corrupted, and spreading a positive influence through the world.

Unicorn adventurers do face small prejudices, however. Despite their famed talent in bending the known evils of arcane magic to good, many of the untrained regard the unicorns as “nice people who haven’t figured out that magic is evil”.

Humans. Were-unicorns are considered equals in unicorn society. Humans are not as strongly inclined towards arcane pursuits, but they do have the tenacity to learn. While humans are culturally equal to the unicorns, they typically serve in more menial positions. A unicorn simply doesn’t have the capacity or skill to work in mines, on farms, or perform most other kinds of labor. But their appreciation for a human’s capability in heavy industries is unmatched amongst any of the other tribes. A single unicorn might spend his entire life attempting to create new systems to make a human’s work and life easier.

Were-unicorns share many of the same physical traits as their Theru brethren, except they do not develop the distinctive manes and bleached hair colors. Were-unicorns tend towards bleached hair tones, but some might have darker browns and even black hair.