Of the Unicorn

Biology

Lifespan, life stages

Unicorns can live upwards of thousands of years. Many unicorns that have been slain have been theorised to be hundreds of years old. They are considered mature when they reach the age of 100 years, and can bare a single foal every 400 years. This may seem long, but unicorns seem to have an unusual relation with time; hours fly by when deep within a unicorn's forest.

Size

Unicorns are extremely similar to horses in terms of shape, but are smaller and comparable to goats in terms of height and weight. Their most notable feature is a long singular horn on their forehead that forms in a spire shape. This horn is always golden, but may be either dull or bright. This horn can grow to remarkable sizes when the unicorn reaches maturity; typically a unicorn's age can be told from the length of the horn itself. A young unicorn's horn may be anywhere between 1/2 foot to 1 feet; an adult's can be 2 feet or even longer. It is unclear what the horn is made of, and is occasionally referred to as an "alicorn".

Appearance

Unicorns are always covered in a coat of white fur, and it tends to grow quite long around their fetlocks/pasterns. Their mane can be white, cream, silver, or even gold, and it may change as they age. They have long tails that end in a sprout of hair the same colour as their mane. They have cloven hooves that are the same colour as their horn. They have many varieties of eye colour, though brown, blue and green are most commonly seen. Male unicorns often sport a beard much like a goat when mature.

Diet

Unicorns forage for their food. Their diet mainly consists of grass and other hay material within the pasture of their forest. They also enjoy fruit, but will not actively seek them out, instead letting them grow until they fall off the tree naturally. They also will eat some vegetables, and like horses, greatly enjoy salt. For humans entering the unicorns' domains, it is considered wise to leave the unicorn a handful of salt or a piece of fresh fruit as a favour out of respect and appreciation for the unicorn's land. Unicorns will only drink water that they have purified themselves.

Reproduction

Unicorns will venture outside their forests in order to find a mate. Unicorns mate for life and will choose to either oversee their forests together, pass the land onto another unicorn/magical creature, or abandon it for use by any non-magical species depending on how far away both unicorns’ habitats are from each other. A unicorn's child will inherit the role of protecting of the forest they inhabit from their parent. A unicorn under 10 years old is considered a foal, and is weaned after around 2 years.