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Monoceros | |
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The Monoceros is a legendary creature with the body of a mule, feet of an elephant, tail of a boar, and head of a deer. From this protrudes a single, straight, black horn measuring one-and-a-half cubits in length (approximately four feet). With this horn, it is able to pierce anything in a single blow. It is said that the Monoceros possessed a most terrible bray which would drive all things away from it, sometimes even kill those who heard it. Although it is able to be killed, the Monoceros will never be captured alive; it will fight to the bloody end. The Monoceros is related to the Unicorn; both of them originate from the same sources, but seperated over time. Each of there names have the same meaning but are in different languages. One of the earliest mentions of the Monoceros was by Herodotus int he fifth century, BC, reporting a horned ass in Africa. The earliest, detailed account of the Monoceros was made by the Greek historian Ctesias in the fourth century, BC. He reported a wild Indian ass that was as large as a horse, possibly larger. It's body was pure white, but its head was dark red or purple with blue eyes. He goes on to describe its speed, strength, and curious feet, which were solid, heavy, and reddish in colour.  The horn, according to Ctesias, was white at the base, but turned to black in the middle, and then was tipped in red. He reported many curative properties of the horn. It could neutralize poison if made into a cup, and if the filings of the horn were mixed into a potion, it could cure diseases. The horn was used by the Monoceros as a weapon, but not its only one. It also used its teeth and feet and was reportedly a vicious fighter. Pliny the Elder, in his work Historia Naturalis written in 77 AD, gave an account which would become the standard for the Monoceros, which is used above. By the time of the old Latin bestiaries, the descriptions between the Monoceros and Unicorn became blurred. It was universally decided that the Unicorn would be the white, spiral horned horse of a docile nature, and the Monoceros was to be the wild, vicious, bellowing mule. The name Monoceros is Greek ("Mono" = "One", "Ceros" = "Horn").
Monoceros was the third creature I created for Battling Dragons, but was nonetheless an important milestone for the game. It was the first one for which I used an ink pen, quality colour pencils, and good paper. Monoceros was also groundbreaking in that it only had two forms. Every creature before it had three (although the Kamaitachi debuted before the Monoceros, plans for it were already well underway). The two forms it has are already difficult enough to distinguish; a third would be impossible. I decided to keep true to the bestiary Monoceros rather than any of the earlier descriptions. This made it easier to differentiate it from the attributes normally associated with the Unicorn. |
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