Hum

Physical Description

• Eye colour
  Deep oak. Distinctly human in overall appearance.

  ---

• Horn and Hooves
  Amber in colour but with a distinctive iridescence. Its horn and hooves are smooth, like ivory. Its horn curves gradually upward, coming to an extremely fine point. Its hooves come to blunted points, and are somewhat long in comparison to an average cervid.

  ---

• Coat
  Pure white with cosmic latte accents. Very smooth, short, relatively soft fur which remains a fairly consistent length across the body, though longer at the throat, tail base, and tail tip.

  ---

• Build
  

  Its body is a conglomeration of structures from real and fantastical species; present characteristics can be mostly be attributed to deer of several species and the Somali wild ass, though bits of other species have been known to seep in.

  Its ears are like that of a young Somali wild ass.

  Its facial features are that of a cervid almost entirely, except for its teeth which are something of a cross between those of deer, male horses, and other species.

  Its tail is structurally similar to that of a big cat, being solidly built and muscled for use in climbing and directional assistance while sprinting.

  Its body, overall, is similar to this deer, though not identical.

  ---

• Movement
  It adopts many gaits, including that of a cervine, an equine, or any number of other creatures. It may transition between them at any point in a movement cycle.

Mythos

Kind unicorns are often ill and injured. Healing is not a power without consequence: nothing can truly be created nor destroyed, only changed. In order to heal an individual, the unicorn must take the same degree and duration of suffering upon itself. Someone destined to die of cancer at age forty-one that they develop at age twenty-seven can be healed of their illness, but the unicorn must take upon itself fourteen years of cancer culminating in the feeling of death, before resuming their natural state. This is why not all, or even many, are healed, for there are not enough unicorns to take on the world's suffering and endure it. Still, a few are deemed worth sparing from what was seen fit to place upon them.

The myth of unicorns being pure, fair, and kind by nature may simply originate in the nature of those who can tell about their experiences with them. It is beings possessing these qualities who are able to tell of their encounters, and thus attribute their nature to their recounting. You do not hear the ways of unicorns from the wicked not because they never encounter them, but because they do not return. The wicked should not enter the forests without great consideration.

You carry within you the memory of other highest lives/
Of a God found somewhere/
And at the bottom of your self you recall what you were

– Vincente Huidobro, "Canto II".

She did not look anything like a horned horse, as unicorns are often pictured, being smaller and cloven-hoofed, and possessing that oldest, wildest grace that horses have never had, that deer have only in a shy, thin imitation and goats in dancing mockery.

- Peter S. Beagle, The Last Unicorn.

Unicorns are not found in Greek mythology, but rather in accounts of natural history, for Greek writers of natural history were convinced of the reality of the unicorn, which they located in India, a distant and fabulous realm for them.

- Wikipedia paraphrasing Ctesias' book, Indika.

He will never flee, for this mythical beast is not lawful prey, and no animals should remain so deluded. Then is his most peaceful demeanor transformed into mortal fury, and his unexcelled attack swiftly dismays even the boldest creatures of this world. Nor will the Unicorn relent in his fearsome wrath until his adversaries repent or are slain.

In battle, he falls upon his foes like a bright spear of flame. His merciless pointed hooves are quick and accurate. But his Horn is an instrument of healing and of knowledge, and never will he employ it in mortal combat, lest it be fouled with blood.

– Michael Green, Unicornis: On the History and Truth of the Unicorn.

It has been written that unicorns will lie down for maiden girls. This is not the case and it is very dangerous for anyone to approach a unicorn. Unicorns will only befriend those people of great innocence and purity of spirit.

– Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black, Arthur Spiderwick’s Field Guide to the Fantastical World Around You.

Two mighty kingdoms will contend for all the world, and turn against it, until the soil and the sea shall sicken and the wind become a flux of poisoned vapors. And all men shall be sorely tried, so that at the last, none may escape the choice between Light and Darkness.

Then, in the Time of Great Purification, will the Unicorn return in strength, lingering at the margins of our realm, to seed our minds with dreams of a brighter age to come; and many shall hunger to see him in his true shape. But being a spiritual creature, the Unicorn must conform himself to the images held in the hearts of those who call him forth. And there shall be so many ill-formed and conflicting ideas as to his nature, that he can hardly find a way to satisfy them all.

– Michael Green, Unicornis: On the History and Truth of the Unicorn.

Know thou, that the Unicorn is a creature of the Golden Age, which is his proper home. But as the enduring friend of Man, often he joins us in our exile, for he can cross the threshold of the ages. And when he departs from us, he does not disappear, but simply passes through a portal.

– Michael Green, Unicornis: On the History and Truth of the Unicorn.

Believe in yourself. You are an ancient, absent god, discussed only rarely by literary scholars. So if you don't believe, no one will.

– Welcome to Nightvale.