Legends from Darkwood pt 2: Rose's story

[q99]

Following off of part 1, we continue our story of unicorns and hunters, this time focusing mostly on young Rose.



Where we last left our heroine, she had just shot a unicorn while a young girl cried about it.

Wait, what'dya mean Rose is the heroine, not Raynd? Raynd's more badass!

Ah whatever, we'll follow Rose anyway :)
Psst, Raynd is totally the heroine.

Rose runs home to tell her daddy, the mayor of the town, about it. After hearing the story of the unicorn, he starts explaining to her how prosperous their town is.



She starts crying again, and he explains that it may seem cruel, but it's all for the best, and she'll understand once she bags her first unicorn.

Wait, what?



Oh yes. Rose has been trained since she was little to be Raynd mk 2.



Not knowing what else to do, Rose runs away from home, and ends up at a local restaurant, not far from the sections where adventurers hang out.



Oh, a smile! She's feeling better already :) Looks like daddy doesn't have to worry, all Rose needed was a little time to get over it.


Next part: Assassinations.

Scans from Legends from Darkwood #1, 5 1/4 pages from a 34 page issue.


Suggested tags:
Title: Legends from Darkwood
Publisher: Antarctic Press
Creator: Chistopher Reid
Creator: John Kantz

Comments

[sarno001]

Still makes more sense to me to capture and breed these animals instead of just hunting them, but whatever. Daddy's "The UNICORNS, child!" made me laugh. Thanks for posting!

[q99]

Could one virgin reliable capture a large mystic horse reliably? Raynd's badass, but she's weaker than a horse, and they are smart enough to recognize traps. There's a question of how they'd do in captivity too.

[icon_uk]

AFAIK the only necessary qualification to ride (eg tame) a unicorn is the virginity part, so I don't think strength of body is anything to do with it.

[q99]

Maybe get a ride that way, but a ride into a holding pen? No, they're still wild and free and won't go near other humans.

I would bet they'd do lousy when captured too.

[icon_uk]

If you're going to accept that the magic of virginity (A phrase I never thought I'd find myself typing) is enough to affect them at all, why assume that being wild and free has any impact at all on the influence a virgin would have over them?

St Martha of Tarasque bound a unicorn with her girdle, as did the girl in the story of St George (Well, presumably not the SAME girdle, that would just be silly, and unhygenic too)

Isidore of Seville made many comments about the fireceness of a unicorn in battle, but noted that when a virginal maiden beckoned and offered it a lap to lay it's head on, it instantly calmed down and became as docile as a lamb, and could be taken by hunters.

[q99]

It's not that virginity has magic effect on them in this world, it's that they, being pretty smart, trust virgins and are willing to let themselves be seen by them, but it doesn't override their sense of self-preservation.

After all, the one in part 1 was running away from Raynd's gun even though she was a virgin and the unicorn was with Rose, also a virgin.

I dunno if Darkwood unicorns would be willing to be girdled even by a virgin, and they strike me as the type to bolt once they knew something was up.

[icon_uk]

Ah right, sorry, I thought we were commenting on the general notion of unicorns, rather than specifically these ones.

[q99]

Yea, I can see it in other worlds.

It's only short sightedness that prevents us from having breeding populations of unicorns in the modern day!

[icon_uk]

Charles Addams had his own suggestion for what happened



I wish I could find the cartoon I used to have which showed the animals filing into the Ark and next to them the "Stand-by Ticket" line with the unicorns, centaurs, gryphons etc all looking a little dejected...

[q99]

Oh, and if you liked that bit, you probably would've loved his infrastructure speach (cut for space, unfortuantely :) )

[foxhack]

Some of this artwork is just... ugh.

I wouldn't mind more scans of the Raccoon woman, though. For research. Yeah. >_>

[q99]

That's not even one of the sexier picture of her ^^

[skjam]

"Unicorn Surprise is made of UNICORNS!"

[cainofdreaming]

To serve unicorn is a cookbook!

[fleur_de_liz]

Soylent Green is made of unicorns!

[glprime]

The Unicorn is your father!

[cainofdreaming]

My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my unicorn. Prepare to die.

[salad_barbarian]

I came here to chew bubblegum and kick unicorns... and I'm all out of bubblegum.

[darkblade]

All the Unicorns will look up and shout "Save us!" and I'll look down and whisper "No."

[halloweenjack]

Wait wait wait--she learned, in school, which parts of a unicorn are the tastiest and still didn't figure out what Unicorn Surprise was made of? Rose is seeming not-so-smart here.

[rhythmbandit]

Ah, who pays attention in school anyways? History, geometry, unicorn cooking, it all blurs together.

[skjam]

Perhaps she did better in "abstinence class".

[q99]

And to be fair, the gist of the class seems to be 'it's all good!'.

[lissa_quon]

Yea l am getting "too stupid to live" vibes from her right now.

[rhythmbandit]

Ha! I like the Adventure Bulletin, feels like we're in an RPG. Also that is one creepy smile.

[ravenous_raven]

Unicorns are real, they're just fat and grey and we call them "rhinos" now. Just sayin' :)

[cainofdreaming]

Unicorns are real. They've just had to migrate into the seas due to extensive hunting. Nowadays we call them Narwhal.

[psychopathicus_rex]

So what I'm getting from that last bit is 'Unicorn hunting is wrong and evil - but hey, there are other ways to bring in the bacon. I just need to find one... Wait, what's that? 500 in gold?! Yeow! I've got it! I shall use my training to support the village as a high-paid professional assassin! Yes! That's much more ethical!' Am I alone here?

[q99]

Well, no, that's not exactly it.

It's more, "Wait, 500 gold? I have money, can use that to *hire* an assassin!"

Far more ethical, you see.

[psychopathicus_rex]

To hunt unicorns FOR her, you mean? Or to track down and kill the current hunter? Either one is problematic.

[q99]

The later. She doesn't want unicorns hunted!

[psychopathicus_rex]

But she's next in line to hunt the beasties! She's the heir to the position, so to speak. If she kills the hunter, she BECOMES the hunter. This doesn't strike me as the best solution to the problem.

[q99]

It's not like she's planning on taking up the job if Raynd fails.

[psychopathicus_rex]

Well, but she's still a young girl living under her father's roof, right? And her father is the MAYOR, which makes things worse. I doubt she'll have much choice in the matter, unless she's planning to run away, in which case, someone else will do the job. If the town DEPENDS on unicorn bi-products to keep their economy running, then change ain't really in the cards here, unless she finds another source of revenue to keep the place going - hence my inference of her becoming a high-priced assassin.

[q99]

It's not like it's the only job in town, just the one that made the richest family in town so rich.

And it's also not like there's a surplus of trained virgin hunters around either. Rose herself wasn't expected to be ready for a few years still.

[psychopathicus_rex]

Well, sure, and you could probably get a job other than coal miner in a coal-mining town, but that wouldn't change the fact that the mine is still the town's primary industry, and if you take it away, the town will suffer. Anyway, when you get right down to it, unicorn hunting is HUNTING - it doesn't take a genius. The current method may be the handiest, but it's far from the only one. Get a virgin and a few deer-hunters with nothing to do, and you're golden.

[q99]

Raynd is the only person on the planet who's known to have successfully hunted a unicorn, they don't approach if there's others around.

[psychopathicus_rex]

Oh. Well, OK, that changes things, but still, wiping Raynd out will only solve the initial problem - it'll still wreck the town's economy, and unless she can come up with a fresh source of income, it's only a matter of time until a new hunter comes along and starts things over again.

[q99]

Considering all the trained people the town now has? I'm sure Rose is sure they can manage.

[psychopathicus_rex]

Well, we shall see. I'm still of the opinion that all this will end in tears, but I've been proven wrong before.

[q99]

I *know* how it'll end, but that's a spoiler :)

[psychopathicus_rex]

Fine - *I* shall see, then. Picky, picky.