Shadow Unicorn
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Shadow Unicorns are a corrupt, malevolent form of unicorn native to the Demiplane of Dread, distinguishable from its true cousin by its infernal coloration; a dappled gray coat, varying from coal to steel in coloration, offset by long, silky, sin-black mane & tail, paired with smoldering red eyes, razor-sharp cloven hooves the color of scorched earth, a mouth filled with fangs, and a 2ft-3ft long ebon or steel-hued horn, which is sometimes illuminated by a corona of crimson flames. Stallions possess tangled black beards, which mares lack.
Residents of the forests of Darkon, Falkovnia, the Phantasmal Forest of Avonleigh, Invida, Valachan and the Shadow Rift, Shadow Unicorns are believed to be the spawn of the Unicorn Darklord Addar and his nightmare consort. Statistics for the race appeared in the "Ravenloft Monstrous Compendium III" for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons and in "Denizens of Darkness/Dread" for Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition (Darkness for 3.0, Dread for 3.5). Weirdly, despite the wonderfully horrific "unicorn/nightmare hybrid" art made for Denizens of Darkness, the 3.5 reboot replaced this art with a much cheesier piece consisting of a grayscale standard unicorn with goofy sabertooth fangs.
Cruel, sadistic monsters, shadow unicorns live to inspire fear and pain in others. As intelligent and patient as they are malicious, these dark steeds will attempt to attack in whichever way will cause their foes the most heart-rending fear, pain, and horror. They are very well adapted for this; their dark heritage allows them to meld with the shadows around them, rendering them inaudible and all but invisible when in dark areas. They use this ability to sneak around their victims, occasionally allowing the pounding of their hooves to be heard in order to inspire fear. Add in their ability to "blink" (teleport short distances) thrice per day when engulfed in shadow, and their magically terrifying wails, and scaring people comes easily.
More than one victim has been frightened nigh unto death by the sound of a galloping shadow unicorn pounding closer and closer behind him only to have the actual beast rear up in front of the terror-stricken traveler seconds later with its horn blazing, eyes glowing, and piercing shriek ripping through the night air. This is truly one of the most frightening sights in all of Ravenloft and an event that few live to relate to others.
Even in the heat of battle, the screaming of a shadow unicorn mimics the effects of a Fear spell (as does the pounding of its hooves, in 2nd edition); in 2e, there is a 5% chance whenever somebody fails their save against this fear effect that their hair will permanently turn white, whilst in 3e, this happens as the result of suffering a Major Effect as a result of a failed Fear check.
When fighting, shadow unicorns employ hooves, fang and horns with skill and relish. Their horn is particularly lethal because the shadow unicorns can engulf it in magical flames; in 2e, this grants +2d4 damage for 8 rounds and can only be done thrice per day, whilst in 3e, they can do it at will but for only +1d4 damage. Their charge attack is particularly deadly. Defensively, they are immune to poisons, charm spells and hold spells. In 2e, they are also immune to death effects.
In 3rd edition, it's noted that the horns of shadow unicorns are prized for their value as a reagent to make flaming weapons or alchemist's fire. This stems from the fact that, in 2e, powdered shadow unicorn horn can be used by an alchemist in the creation of 2-12 (2d6) applications of oil of fiery burning.
Shadow Unicorns are, in a small mercy, extremely territorial. Each stakes out its own sizable territory, and will fight viciously to defend it; only during the spring mating season will two shadow unicorns tolerate each other, and then only long enough to successfully tup. A shadow unicorn mare gives birth to twin foals after a fourteen month gestation period. In approximately 5% of these births, one member of the twins is actually a unicorn. Such throwbacks have the same initial coloration as young shadow unicorns, but both their abilities and temperaments match those of true unicorns. Such animals will grow up to become the mortal enemies of shadow unicorns if they survive. Fortunately for these unicorns, their mothers are incapable of distinguishing the youthful unicorns’ true nature until the creature’s near adolescence. At this point the unicorn’s coat grows in far too white for even the palest of shadow unicorns and, more importantly, the unicorn is incapable of causing its horn to flame. Most such unicorns flee their homes by this time, venturing out into the world to do what small measure of good they can for the forest and its denizens.
In 2e lore, it's established that forests haunted by Shadow Unicorns are particularly gloomy, miserable and twisted places. This is because shadow unicorns have the power to carve Glyphs of Gloom, enchanted sigils they etch into living trees with their horn. A Glyph of Gloom not only serves as a warning to other shadow unicorns, but it sucks the life out of its host tree to cause a magical gloom to descend on everything within 100 yards of the glyph. This gloom causes the light in the area affected to never rise above the level of twilight. A light spell can temporarily reverse this effect, while a continual light spell will provide a continuing oasis of light – at least, until the shadow unicorn senses the offensive presence and comes forth to put an end to it. A tree hosting a Glyph of Gloom dies within a year, forcing a shadow unicorn to constantly reapply its territorial marks, leaving a trail of dead, ruined trees in their wake, slowly killing the forest over the course of the shadow unicorn's 1000-year lifespan.
This ability is absent from the shadow unicorn's official 3e writeups, but is present in its writeup for 3e in the Book of Sacrifices.
Needless to say, these creatrues are a blight upon the cursed lands they call home. Whole forests have slowly withered and eventually been destroyed under a shadow unicorn’s vile ministrations, while much of the wildlife abandons the area in terror. In addition, over half the animals that do reside within a shadow unicorn’s woods do not reproduce, thus cutting population levels drastically. All in all, these vile creatures are abominations, foul mockeries of their virtuous cousins, and the cancerous heirs of their ancestors’ twisted desires.
Such is the sadism of these monsters that, despite being omnivores, they prefer to feed exclusively on things that can suffer. They especially relish the flavor of sapient plant creatures, making them one of the few predators of the evil treants that share their woods. Occasionally, a grove of such creatures will come to an uneasy understanding with a particular shadow unicorn, but such an alliance rarely lasts.
Travelers who pass through a shadow unicorn’s forest are well advised to do so as swiftly as possible, since shadow unicorns delight in terrifying such intruders. Once the shadowy steed has noticed the travelers, it may or may not kill them outright. Why such a creature allows some to survive while it brings other unfortunates to their untimely ends is unknown. Certain peoples, in particular the Vistani, swear that speaking loudly of the shadow unicorn as a powerful lord, making obeisances to the forest, and leaving jewelry and other trinkets hanging from the branches of glyph-marked trees will gain safe passage, at least on most occasions. The Vistani even have several songs that are sung only while travelling through the woodlands claimed by a shadow unicorn, all of which show honor and reverence to the dark steeds.
The actual lair of a shadow unicorn is most often formed from tangled limbs and hanging vines, sheltering an area of ground strewn with mosses and various pieces of jewelry. Such lairs are always found at the heart of a dark steed’s territory.