Mono Mondays: Unicorn Blood
On Mondays, we like to support our resident artist, Mono! They're an up-and-coming scribbler of things dark and weird, and we consider ourselves lucky to have leeched onto— er, formed a mutually beneficial relationship with them. You can watch Mono hard at work creating various pieces on their YouTube channel. For those who don't feel like watching digital paint getting splashed around, we'll be showcasing a different piece of theirs right here every Monday.
This week, we have a public service announcement. Kids, don't do Unicorn Blood.
You see, per the lore of Mono's crazy little world, unicorns are strongly magical creatures. That much matches up with expectations. Should you encounter a unicorn, you're likely to see a pure white stallion, glowing with beauty and purity, a glittering horn jutting from its majestic head. Again, situation normal. You might even note that they seem to be ageless and unchanging, no matter how many years have passed since their previous sighting. No surprises, right?
Where the changes come in is why unicorns look that way. Mono's unicorns are playing a shell game.
It turns out that a unicorn's primary defense mechanism is pumping out a cloud of hallucinogens. If you're close enough to a unicorn to see it, you're close enough to be affected by feelings of passivity and euphoria. And hey, if the unicorn spots you and runs you through with its horn, you'll likely die believing you just weren't pure enough.
Those who aren't tripping every time they see a unicorn will have a rather different experience. The horned horses are eldritch beings, pumped full of magic, and over time, they look less and less like the ideal image seen in the hallucinations. Many barely resemble horses, and those that die due to misadventure tend to continue roaming about as undead creatures. Slimes, of course, love hanging out with unicorns, feeding off the stray magic pouring out of them and unconcerned with their appearance.
It does make killing a unicorn something of a damning experience, though. Just imagine- you've somehow overcome the feelings of peace and joy to shoot an arrow through its heart. The unicorn lets out a terrifying whinny, and the entire area seems to darken as its body withers and mutates before your horrified eyes. As far as you can tell, you have committed a grave sin, and the hellish scene before you is your just reward.
That's just from the airborne stuff. Like we said: don't do Unicorn Blood.