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A member of the Inner Circle of the Seelie Court, Eachthighern is lord of unicorn and pegasi. He is both guardian and healer, and his name is a byword for loyalty among the sylvan creatures.

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Eachthighern (PDF Version)
(The Unicorn Lord, the Lord of Horses, the Wind Steed, the Lord of Pegasi)
Lesser Power of the Planes, CG

Portfolio:                 Healing, loyalty, protection, unicorns, pegasi, equine creatures
Aliases:                     None
Domain Name:           Wanders/the Seelie Court (Enchanted Glade)
Superior:                   Titania
Allies:                       Aerdrie Faenya, Epona, Erevan Ilesere, Fionnghuala, Hanali Celanil, Mielikki, Oberon, Poseidon, Silvanus, Stronmaus, Syranita, the centaur pantheon, the Seelie Court, the Seldarine
Foes:                           Cegilune, Daragor, Erythnul, Malar, the Queen of Air and Darkness, the orc and goblinkin pantheons
Symbol:                     Unicorn horn
Wor. Align.:              LG, NG, CG, LN, N, CN

Majestic and proud, Eachthighern (ek-TEE-arn) the Lord of Horses is the courageous patron of unicorns and pegasi. His nobility and loyalty are legendary, and he is revered for his dual roles as guardian of sylvan lands and folk, and healer of sickness and injuries. He allows few powers to ride him, but those who do know they have been blessed with a steed and ally who can be counted on, whatever may come.

Despite being a member of the Seelie Court’s Inner Circle, the Unicorn Lord’s origins lie outside of Titania’s realm. Stories of his birth are varied and conflicting, but three primary tales are told among the faerie folk and their allies. In one tale, Eachthighern is a gift to the Seelie Court from a sky god friendly to their cause or in return for some boon or service. Typically a major sky god of a nearby race, recorded deities in these tales include Zeus, Stronmaus, or Aerdrie Faenya, among many others. Whether that deity sired the Unicorn Lord, elevated him to godhood, found him, or created him in some other way is never stated, and the faerie folk response to questions about it elicit a response similar to the human proverb “don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.” Rare variants replace the sky deity with one concerned with horses, including Poseidon and Epona, although many of the other details remain the same. The second major tale about the Unicorn Lord’s origin, which often takes the form of an epic poem, describes him as being the offspring of the ki-rin god Koriel the Vigilant One with a mortal ki-rin, unicorn, or pegasus. In the tale, Eachthighern finds himself drawn to the woodlands and the plight of sylvan folk who are under constant threat. This threat varies but usually reflects a real threat faced by the local sylvan races. Eachthighern wishes to protect the small sylvan races permanently, but knows he cannot do so without Koriel’s permission, for it would violate the loyalty due his sire. After an impassioned plea which describes the various evils the sylvan lands and peoples have suffered, the Vigilant One sees the wisdom in having his offspring act as a permanent ward against evil in woodland regions; while saddened that Eachthighern won’t be by his side to take the fight to evil’s doorstep, Koriel is proud that the Unicorn Lord has forged his own path of courageous goodness. The third and final tale told about Eachthighern’s origin takes the form of a comedic tale with many local embellishments. The core of the story involves an evil deity (often Cegilune) disguising themselves to trick Oberon or Titania out of some portion of their power or an item of great magic by claiming to do some task in a seemingly impossible way or period of time. The King or Queen agrees to the deal after eliciting a guarantee that the task will actually be carried out, but then is surprised when the disguised deity produces the means to perform the task more quickly than imagined. At this point, Erevan Ilesere, who was visiting the Seelie Court for an extended period of time, proceeds to change his shape into a variety of forms in order to impede the progress of the task. The tale usually runs through two or three escalating iterations of this process before the evil deity produces a magical horse (usually an incredibly powerful nightmare if Cegilune is the villain) that appears to be immune to the Triskter’s ploys, and threatens to finish the task just in time. In desperation Erevan polymorphs himself into a mare in heat, and leads the magical stallion off on a merry chase through the Seelie Court, but he is ultimately unable to outrun the horse. In the end, the villainous deity finishes the task just slightly too late to gain the magic they’d desired, and so the Seelie Court not only is saved from the trickery but gains some manner of benefit from the task’s completion. More importantly, however, they receive Erevan’s foal, which grows up strong and noble and without a taint of the evil god’s powers.

The Unicorn Lord is prone to wandering, and his silhouette is a common sight in the skies above the Beastlands and Arborea. On these travels, he has been known to bear Oberon or Fionnghuala on his back, although more commonly the Faerie King rides another steed and the Mistress of Swans flies alongside. Eachthighern travels throughout and above sylvan lands, vigilant for the forces that would bring harm to the deep forests and its peoples. This has brought him into conflict with many other powers, as well as earned him a variety of strong alliances among those who share similar concerns as he. Outside of these deities, Eachthighern also has a strong bond with the elven power Hanali Celanil; Lady Goldheart is the only power outside the Seelie Court known to ride him regularly. The Lord of Horses has sired a number of foals through the centuries, and while most are content to remain under the boughs of the Seelie Court, a few inherited his desire for travel or have chosen to make their homes elsewhere. One of his offspring, known as Yathaghera the Winged Queen took a liking to the elven island of Evermeet in Realmspace. This was a land Eachthighern had not explored and did not manifest in, out of respect for a native deity named Lurue who served much the same purpose as he. While they had no formal contact due to the Unicorn Queen’s disinterest in realms beyond Realmspace, the Time of Troubles in that sphere has changed this somewhat. At that time Yathaghera voluntarily merged with Lurue in order to enhance their powers against mutual foes, and this has caused Lurue to seek an informal alliance with Eachthighern while she begins to craft a new home for herself among the upper planes.

Not all of the powers the Unicorn Lord has encountered on his wanderings have been the sort of souls he can forge a bond with, however. Some of these powers, such as the gods of goblinkind, represent many of the common threats he has sworn to defend against. A few powers rise beyond this and have earned great enmity from Eachthighern. In particular, he blames the Queen of Air and Darkness and Cegilune for the corruption and creation of black unicorns and shadow unicorns. He is unsure which of the two deities is responsible for these evil creations, but he has vowed to prevent them from creating any more similar beings.

Eachthighern is an active deity who often sends his avatars to explore and protect sylvan realms on the Prime Material Plane. In addition, he is by far the most likely member of the court to accompany others on their own forays to the Prime. He frequently appears to defend sylvan races of all sorts from depredations by outside forces, and his entrance has been known to strike fear in the hearts of goblinoids. He also aids and heals those who’ve been grievously wounded in the defense of sylvan lands, especially if done so for pure and good reasons.

Eachthighern’s Avatar (Druid 30, Ranger 22)

Eachthighern appears as a great winged male unicorn with a glossy white coat, brilliant blue eyes, cloven hooves, and a long spiraled ivory horn sprouting from his forehead. His belly has a slight grey dappling, and his beard and mane are fringed with grey. He draws his spells from all spheres save law, numbers, and war.

AC −3; MV 48, Fl 72 (MC A); HP 172; THAC0 −1; #AT 3
Dmg 2d6/2d6/2d10 (hoof/hoot/horn)
MR 45%; SZ L (11 feet long)
Str 18/00, Dex 15, Con 17, Int 16, Wis 17, Cha 20
Spells P: 11/11/10/9/9/9/8
Saves PPDM 2; RSW 5; PP 4; BW 4; Sp 6

Special Att/Def: In battle, Eachthighern makes full use of all of his abilities, favoring magic over melee if possible. If he must, he attacks with his forehooves and horn; if airborne he can also perform a special kick attack with his rear hooves. The victim of such an attack takes 2d8 points of damage and must make a saving throw vs. paralyzation or be stunned for 1d4 rounds. The Unicorn Lord’s horn is considered a +4 magical weapon for determining what it can strike, and he can perform a charging attack with it if he has at least 30 feet of open ground or 60 feet in the air. While such a charge sacrifices his hoof attacks for the round, it deals triple damage (6d10) to any creature struck. Finally, from a height of 50 feet or more, the Wind Steed can dive at an opponent and strike with his forehooves for double damage, and gaining a +2 bonus to his attack.

With a simple touch of his horn, Eachthighern can bestow the benefits of a cure light wounds spell on up to 20 good-aligned creatures during the course of a day, although no creature can benefit from this more than once in that day. Three times per day he can cast cure serious wounds, cure disease, slow poison, and neutralize poison, and once per day he is able to cast cure critical wounds, heal, and restoration. Once per week he can banish an evil extraplanar creature, cast forbiddance, and speak a holy word. Within woodland environs, and for 10 turns after leaving, the Unicorn Lord can cast detect charm, detect magic, detect invisibility, ESP, faerie fire, forget, know alignment, plant growth, speak with animals, and obscurement at will, and goodberry six times per day. In addition, he is able to pass without trace automatically, and move silently and hide in undergrowth (as hide in shadows) in such areas with a 95% success rate.

Eachthighern is immune to all enchantment/charm spells, as well as caused wounds, poison, paralyzation, disease, death magic, and polymorph attacks. He can only be struck by weapons of +3 or better enchantment. Even if magically compelled, no sentient non-evil plants, non-evil faerie creatures, or normal woodland animals will attack him. However, outside of a sylvan environment, his magic resistance is halved and he suffers a +4 penalty to his Armor Class.

Other Manifestations

When he chooses to manifest, the Unicorn Lord tends towards effects that protect his followers. He has been known to grant those in danger a powerful sanctuary (applies a −4 penalty to the save) or protection from evil (double penalties) effect. He has also cloaked large swaths of forest in an obscurement that does not limit the vision of his followers, and in the rarest cases he sends ghostly winged unicorns (as normal unicorns with maximum hit points, and MV Fl 48 (C)) to defend a creature in danger.

As a member of the Seelie Court, Eachthighern is served primarily by aasimon, asuras, and eladrins (especially coures), but he also calls upon aarakocra, air elementals, air sentinels, asperii, avariel, bariaurs, buraqs, centaurs, chevalls, coltpixies, equinal guardinals, feystags, hippogriffs, hollyphants, horses of all breeds, hybsils, moon-horses, moonstone dragons, opinicus, pegataurs, shedu, spirits of the air, and sylphs. He displays his favor through the feeling of a cool, gentle breeze on the face, white flowers of all sorts, the phantom sounds of heavy wingbeats or hooves on a forest floor, and pale conical spiral shells incongruously found in the forest. His disfavor is rarely displayed except in the sound of a disappointed whicker from an unknown source.

The Church
Clergy:                      Clerics, specialty priests, druids, paladins, rangers
Clergy’s Align.:      LG, NG, CG, N, CN
Turn Undead:           C: yes, SP: Yes, D: No, Pal: Yes, R: No
Cmnd. Undead:         C: No, SP: No, D: No, Pal: No, R: No

All clerics, specialty priests, and druids of Eachthighern receive religion (Seelie Court) as a bonus nonweapon proficiency. Unicorns, pegasi, and asperii who serve the Unicorn Lord as priests may cast their spells without a need for a holy symbol or material components, and vocal and somatic components are those suited to their forms.

The faith of the Unicorn Lord is greatly respected by the sylvan races, for his devoted followers are loyal guardians of the forest lands they dwell in. Further, they are known for their compassion and the care they give to wounded creatures of all sorts. Many of the faithful are loners and do not often establish long-term contacts with neighboring faiths outside of the Seelie Court. Those that do focus almost exclusively on Eachthighern’s tenets of protection, and are considered among the most loyal allies one could want.

No temples are built to honor the Lord of Horses, for the clergy utilizes deep sylvan glades as places of worship. They make no alterations to these locations, as such an action would mar the sacred nature of these glades; they even ensure that their services do not significantly trample the natural plants of these places. A few members of his clergy, all humanoids, construct chapter houses and similar structures for their sects to reside in, but even within these structures no shrines or other locations of worship are designated. Instead these priests will worship outside of the building in an area of nature preserved for this purpose.

Novices in the service of Eachthighern are called Foals. Full priests in the service of the Unicorn Lord are called Protectors of the Greenwood. There is no formal hierarchy within the clergy, and most priests create individual titles of their own should they desire it. Specialty priests are called spiral horns. Specialty priests make up the vast bulk of Eachthighern’s priesthood (80%), with druids (10%) and clerics (7%) making up most of the remainder; a small number of rangers (almost 3%) and a handful of paladins (less than 1%) are found primarily among his non-equine clergy. Unicorns are the largest contingent in Eachthighern’s priesthood (60%), followed by centaurs and pegataurs (26%), pegasi (5%), asperii (2%), chevalls (1%), other equine and sylvan races (3%), elves (including half-elves, 2%), and humans (1%). The Unicorn Lord’s clergy is evenly split among males (50%) and females (50%); among non-equines, females are drawn to his clergy in greater numbers, which is offset by a slight edge in males among centaurs and their kin.

Dogma: Protect the peoples and the lands of wild sylvan forests. Defend them from marauders, and act as champions for those who are less capable of defending themselves. Show compassion and mercy, and tend to the sick and injured whenever possible. Those who are true friends deserve lasting friendship in return.

Day-to-Day Activities: Members of Eachthighern’s clergy typically have a region of land that they consider their territory. Not territory that they own or that is theirs to use exclusively, but land they feel obligated to protect and defend. They wander it often, watching for threats and observing the health and well-being of the land and its denizens. They do not often reveal their faith, and prefer to go unrewarded for their actions, although they will happily accept a meal and some company out of kindness.

Important Ceremonies/Holy Days: The priesthood of the Unicorn Lord observes no regular holy days or celebrations across the whole faith. Some extended groups of human or elven worshipers meet shortly before the winter solstice to update each other on events, and group worship of Eachthighern is common at these meetings. They have no formal name for this meeting, nor do they consider it a true ceremony.

Major Centers of Worship: Eachthighern’s clergy does not create great temples or conduct pilgrimages, and there are no widely known sites sacred to the Wind Steed.

Affiliated Orders: The Order of the Alicorn is an order of paladins, rangers, and priests dedicated to Eachthighern and his tenets. Small chapterhouses of this order can be found in the deepest forests of Oerth and a few other worlds, rarely containing more than eight individuals maximum. Most members have befriended unicorns or pegasi who allow the members of the order to ride them, and as a group, they patrol the forests they dwell in, searching for threats or those in need of healing or aid. The forests this order chooses to protect tend to be quite large; as such, many denizens have little or no first-hand knowledge of these guardians.

Priestly Vestments: The formal garb of the Unicorn Lord’s humanoid and centaurine clergy consists of grey-fringed white robes with an ivory colored collar. Some members of the priesthood also choose to decorate their robes with white feathers, or wear white feathers in their hair; this is especially favored by pegataurs, humans, and elves. The holy symbol used by these priests is a silver pendant in the shape of a unicorn’s head or a thin spiral cone representing a unicorn’s horn.

Adventuring Garb: Comfortable clothing suited to traveling through forests, such as leathers, trousers, and jackets are the favored clothing of the non-equine clergy. Colors well suited to blending in with the natural environment, although dark greys and blacks are frowned upon. When engaging in battle, armor that is not very restricting, such as leather and mail are preferred, and the weapons most common among the clergy are bows, spears, lances, and short swords.

Specialty Priests (Spiral Horns)
Requirements:          Constitution 12, Wisdom 12
Prime Req.:                Constitution, Wisdom
Alignment:                CG
Weapons:                   Any piercing (wholly type-p) weapons
Armor:                       Any armor types up to and including chain mail and shield
Major Spheres:         All, animal, divination, elemental air, guardian, healing, protection, summoning, travelers
Minor Spheres:         Combat, plant, weather
Magical Items:         Same as clerics
Req. Profs:                Lance or spear, healing
Bonus Profs:             Land-based riding (unicorn), airborne riding (pegasi)

• Spiral horns may be any equine race, any centaur or centaur-kin, any sylvan race, elves, half-elves, or humans. Most spiral horns are unicorns, however.
• Spiral horns are not allowed to multiclass.
• Spiral horns are immune to normal diseases and poison. They can still be affected by magical diseases such as mummy rot or gas attacks, such as the cloudkill spell or a green dragon’s breath weapon.
• Any cure wounds spell cast by a spiral horn has enhanced healing abilities. When cast, they cure an additional point of damage, plus an additional point for every three levels the caster has attained (+2 at 3rd, +3 at 6th, etc.). Further, when rolling dice for these healing spells, any 1s are considered 2s.
• At 2nd level, spiral horns can cast protection from evil or purify food and drink (as the 1st-level priest spells) once per day.
• At 4th level, spiral horns can cast iron vigil or know alignment (as the 2nd-level priest spells) once per day.
• At 6th level, spiral horns can cast cure disease (as the 3rd-level priest spell) or neutralize poison (as the 4th-level priest spell) once per day.
• At 9th level, spiral horns begin any conflict protected by the 1st-level priest spell sanctuary. This protection lasts until the spiral horn takes an aggressive action against a foe, or the danger has abated. It takes no act of will on the part of the priest to manifest this protection; it is automatic the instant another creature makes an attack. For example, the protection would be gained the instant a group of bandits sprang from an ambush, or the moment a concealed archer attempted to loose an arrow at the priest. The saving throw made by an attacker is penalized by −2, and the sanctuary can only manifest once per hour at most.
• At 12th level, spiral horns can dispel evil (as the 5th-level priest spell) with a simple touch once per week. While his power can be used normally, it can also be invoked after a successful attack roll has been made.

Eachthighernan Spells

In addition to the spells listed below, priests of the Unicorn Lord can cast the 2nd-level priest spell alicorn lance and the 3rd-level priest spell favor of Yathagera (known as favor of Eachthighern to the faithful), both detailed in Powers and Pantheons in the entry for Lurue.

1st Level
Wind of the Wings (Pr 1; Alteration)
Sphere:                    Animal
Range:                     0
Components:           V, M
Duration:                 1 rd.
Casting Time:          6
Area of Effect:         15 ft. wide x 10 ft. long/level
Saving Throw:        Neg.

With this spell, the caster creates a pair of large spectral wings that beat the air before them. Any creatures of Large size or smaller must make a saving throw versus paralyzation or be knocked prone for one round for every three levels the caster has achieved. Large creatures make their saving throws with a +2 bonus, and are prone for two fewer rounds (to a minimum of one round), while Small and Tiny creatures suffer a −4 penalty to their saving throws. Creatures larger than Large size keep their feet, but are unable to advance towards the caster for the duration of the spell. In all other respects, this spell functions as a gust of wind spell.

The material components for this spell are the priest’s holy symbol and a large white feather.

3rd Level
Touch of the Alicorn (Pr 3; Necromancy)
Sphere:                    Healing
Range:                     Touch
Components:           V, S
Duration:                 Instantaneous
Casting Time:          6
Area of Effect:         1 creature
Saving Throw:        None

When this spell is cast, a ghostly alicorn (the horn of a unicorn) sprouts from the priest’s forehead. This horn is imbued with healing power, and the caster may touch a single creature to cure them of any poisons in their system and heal them for 2d6+4 hit points of damage. The curing is instantaneous, but drains significant stamina from the priest, requiring them to rest for two hours. During this time, the caster may make no strenuous travel; even riding a horse or a cart is too great to restore a priest’s stamina. Casting spells is also impossible, but eating, reading, or talking with others are all possible. If forced into a combat situation, their AC, saving throws, damage, and attack rolls are all penalized by two points.

If this spell is cast by a creature with a natural horn or antlers on their head, their recovery time is halved.

4th Level
Guardian Unicorn (Pr 4; Illusion/Phantasm)
Sphere:                    Guardian
Range:                     0
Components:           V, S, M
Duration:                 1 rd./level
Casting Time:          7
Area of Effect:         Special
Saving Throw:        None

This spell causes a ghostly unicorn to appear and fight for the caster until banished (instantly, by the silent will of the caster), “slain,” or the spell expires (in all three cases, the unicorn speedily and silently fades away). This monster first appears out of the caster as it materializes, bounding away from his breast toward an opponent of his choosing.

The guardian unicorn can attack only one opponent per round, but has the usual unicorn abilities: THAC0 15, 4+4 HD, initial round attack is a charge with the horn inflicting 3d12 points of damage on a single opponent; then 3 attacks/round (striking with forehooves for 1d6 damage each and a horn strike for 1d12 damage), MV 24. It has an equine body with cloven hooves and a long spiral horn projecting from the forehead, but it is translucent and obviously an unnatural creature. Unlike a real unicorn, it is absolutely silent, has a morale of 20, and is absolutely loyal to the caster. It cannot be charmed or magically controlled in any way, except through the caster’s will. It has a real, tangible presence and can be ridden by the caster as a mount. If not directed, it will act to protect the caster as best it can.

The material component for this spell is a single hair from the mane or tail of a unicorn.

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