On the Uses of Unicorns

From the field notes of Salan Kir'ith:

"It is well-known by many, scholars and laymen both, that the Unicorn-Horn or Alicorn is proof positive against the power of most any noxious venom or corruption; be it applied in whole or in shaved fragments to afflicted limb or imbibed in tincture. So it is that this magnificent beast be hunted by many for the treasure which sits upon its brow. A better-kept secret, in truth, be kept within the brow of the unicorn -- and, in truth, even to his heels -- and these secrets I now place upon these pages.

"The first and least of these being the Astragali, the Talus-Bones found each one within the slender limbs of the unicorn; and, far from being crude dice fit for peasantry, these Astragali prove their worth greater than mere chance. For each Astragalus is akin to the densest of ivories, and coloured of a deep cinnabar hue to the very quick; morealso, each is heavy, of a like more resembling lead than bone. As the Alicorn brings proof from poison, so does the Astragalus bring proof against hexes and ill-fortune, and great men give dearly for them.

"Those of an unscrupulous nature ofttimes peddle the Talus of the cartazon as the true Astragalus Monoceros; the deception is of the crudest nature, the Bones of the cartazon being of darkest black and never cinnabar.

"Exceeding in Astragalus and Alicorn likewise in virtue and exquisite price is the Carbuncle, that blood-ember Stone found at rest within the snowy brow. Of a ruddy hue like that of heart's-blood set afire, this smooth and lustrous gem sits against the ivory skull-plate of the unicorn; veiled with the thinnest of membranes beneath the Alicorn's root, it is -- and a pity -- unseen and unguessed-at by the crude procurers of the unicorn's swift lance.

"This Carbuncle, administered in a draft of pure wine or spring-water, is a soveriegn remedy against with no wound, nor venom, nor disease may stand; indeed, such is the effectiveness of the Brow-Stone that merely tincturing an elixir with its presence for some hours increases the power of the dose tenfold."