The Unicorns Of Duaiune Part 2: The Banners

The Unicorns of Duaiune Part 2: The Banners

Unicorn herds organize themselves into eighteen Banners. Member herds of a given banner plan their nomadic routes together and communicate as they travel across the continent independently. Each banner’s home land always has at least one member herd present.

Even though the unicorns are constantly moving. Members of a given banner can always be found at a fixed point. While the banner territory is usually very large, it features at least one known meeting place at which anyone wishing to address the banner as a whole may expect to do so. This is for diplomatic reasons, as the banners function much like governments when dealing with humans.

Generally, herds do not stray too distantly from these starting points. Over the course of a year, one heard may travel several thousand miles in circuit, but this is often not enough to traverse the entirety of the continent. All eighteen banners are considered diplomatically neutral and, through treaty, have freedom of travel through any and all territories among other benefits.

The banners themselves often mimic the colors of nearby human nations, or flaunt aspects of regional culture. They are a courtesy to non unicorns in marking meeting places and identifying the loyalties of herds as they pass through a given area.

There is no formal education within the banners beyond mage apprenticeships. Roughly two thirds of unicorns are at least partially illiterate. In herds with little contact with humans, this figure is more significant. The majority speak both Lodo and Cauhai. In the west Hcodai / West Isle Common is spoken as well.

On top of this, a simple writing system unique to The Banners is used for marking way posts, time keeping, and signatures.