Behind the Scenes: The History of Sparkles The Unicorn

Sparkles, everyone's favorite unicorn from Base Raiders will soon be out as a PDF supplement. This history describes his back story. This is a rough draft, so if you see any typos or errors, let me know.

Sparkles The Unicorn

The Circle and the Spring of Immortality

Before recorded history began, gods, spirits, and all kinds of magical beings lived amongst humanity. Some demanded worship from humans, while others tried to guide and protect humans from malevolent beings. At first, these beings left each other alone, as they were few and humans were plenty. The discovery of a holy site, the Spring of Immortality, drew these beings together. . Selfish creatures craved its power and fought each other to lay claim over it. Many wise and benevolent creatures banded together as the Circle to drive out the evil beings and protect the Spring. The Circle did not use the Spring, believing its power could corrupt them. Evil spirits and gods fought relentlessly to conquer the Spring, slaying many members of the Circle over the years. Eventually the Circle dwindled down to a handful of human acolytes and a small herd of twelve unicorns. At that time, unicorns were magically empowered beings but still mortal. The acolytes begged the unicorns to use the Spring so they could protect it from evil for all of time. Reluctantly, the herd did so.

For the rest of the age, the Circle kept the Spring of Immortality out of evil hands. Then, on the other side of the world, a foolish mortal unleashed the full power of the Masks of Chaos and brought about a cataclysm that destroyed almost every magical being and human. Every member of the Circle died, but they awoke in the safety of the Spring. They realized bathing in the Spring granted true immortality, even resurrecting a slain creature should its body be destroyed. They did not realize they would still feel the agony of death. In the new era, the Circle worked in secret, recruiting a small group of humans to act as their agents while they fought evil and helped humanity rebuild. The location of the Spring was kept secret, but the Circle had to fight to keep it that way.

Over the centuries, the Circle gradually pulled away from humanity, becoming more and more secretive. Fewer sought the Spring because most believed it was a mere legend. The unicorns became more jaded and cynical, seeing empires rise and fall, humans repeating the same tragedies. Many in the Circle died several times, each time traumatizing them. Eventually, by the Middle Ages, they had withdrawn entirely from humanity, deciding that living in the safety of the secret garden around the Spring was enough. The Circle retired, except for one unicorn.

The Youngest

One unicorn refused to give up on humanity. His original name has been forgotten by all, but by the Middle Ages, he was only known as the Youngest, because he had been the youngest member of the herd when they were mortal. He had already died more times than any other member of the Circle, yet did not believe in retreating from the world. He tried to rally the others, but the ages had worn them down. Undeterred, the Youngest set out on his own, questing to fight evil wherever he found it and giving aid to innocent humans when possible.

His first death came only a week into his quest, betrayed and slain by an avaricious knight who sought his horn. The Youngest awoke in the Spring, surrounded by the Circle who looked at him, silently wishing he would stay. He did not.

It took a year for his second death. The Youngest rescued children from a city as it was being pillaged by a bloodthirsty army. He died in a burning building. When he awoke, the Circle begged him to stay, that he screamed as the Spring reformed his body, that it pained them to see him torture himself for mere humans. The Youngest smiled sadly and left. And so it went. With each death, the Youngest changed. Sometimes it took years or even decades between deaths. Other times, he died, rushed out, and died days or even hours later. He never told the Circle what happened beyond the Spring, only that they should rediscover the world for themselves. The Circle noticed that each death, the Youngest became more erratic, more unstable. He forgot the names of the other members of the Circle. They worried, but did nothing else.

Enter Sparkles

By the 19th century, the Youngest was no more. He had developed amnesia when he awoke in the Spring. When a member of the Circle asked him if he remembered his name, the unicorn gazed at the glimmering water lapping at his hooves and said “Look at the water! It is sparkling so. I came from it so I shall be named by it. I am Sparkles!” The unicorn trotted out of the Spring without another word. The rest of the Circle was too stunned to stop him. The newly christened Sparkles became a fixture in the occult underground, no longer a heroic being, but an agent of chaos. Sparkles granted mystical knowledge to foolish alchemists, tricked secret societies into fighting each other, and terrified brutish humans. He indulged in arcane narcotics and other esoteric pleasures, not caring if he overdosed. He was hunted by various occultists and monsters, but they could not predict his next move. He died several more times, but seemed unaffected by his resurrections now. The Circle tried to keep him near the Spring but were unwilling to use magic to bind him there.

The Nazi Threat

The new status quo remained until 1941 when a group of Nazi occultists finally discovered the location of the Spring. They launched a sneak attack and managed to capture every member of the Circle. The leader of the occultists attempted to drink from the Spring but was slain by mystical wards placed by the Circle over the centuries. The occultists realized it would take years to remove the wards unless the Circle voluntarily removed them. They tortured the Circle for months, careful not to slay them. They learned of Sparkles’ existence by interrogating the captured beasts. The sorcerers also discovered how to ward themselves, rendering them immune to any spell cast by an unicorn.

Finally, Sparkles appeared in the Spring, reborn after another death. He was safe inside the Spring, but was surrounded by Nazis. They demanded he lowered the wards or his friends would die. Sparkles laughed. Furious, the lead sorcerer lost control and shot a member of the Circle in the head . She quickly joined Sparkles in the Spring. Sparkles laughed for hours.

The Nazis tried a new plan. They brought two human children, a brother and sister, in front of the Spring, so that Sparkles could see them die. The unicorn said nothing, but chuckled. He stepped out of of the safety of the Spring and faced the sorcerers.

“This is your last chance.” Sparkles said, giggling and wide eyed, “If you keep trying to get in, you’ll die screaming.”

“You foolish creature. We are protected from your kind. You cannot possibly defeat us.”

“Oh, I won’t fight you. I’ll give you what you want. But you’ll still die.”

Undeterred, the Nazis smugly waited for Sparkles to undo the wards. As Sparkles began to chant, the Spring’s wards began to disappear. All eyes were focused on the Spring, so no one noticed that the children’s eyes had begun to glow. Just as the last ward was removed in a flash of bright light, the children made their move. The boy tore the nearest guard apart with his bare hands while the girl vaporized an occultist with a bolt of lightning emitting from her eyes. Sparkles impaled the leader with his horn, giggling like a maniac. Within seconds, the three had slaughtered the entire party.

The rest of the Circle was horrified. Sparkles had imbued innocent children with dangerous powers and had gleefully used them as pawns to take down the Nazis. Yet, he had saved the Spring from evil. No one knew whether to punish or praise him. Before they could decide, Sparkles spoke. “You might want to renew those wards. Next time there won’t be any kids to save our asses.”

And with that, he left. Ever since then, Sparkles has wandered the world, occasionally resurrecting in the Spring. He never spoke of his travels but the Circle heard word of some of his activities. He was unstable, alternating between heroics and madness. He saved children from genocide and set fire to museums, laughing. Sparkles fought demons and imbued madmen with superhuman powers, just to see what they would do. No one could predict what Sparkles would do next, but it seemed that he mostly stayed on the side of light.

The Circle received a prophecy from the Spring itself warning of Ragnarok and temporarily took sheltered in an alternate dimension to avoid it. The prophecy also stated that if they tried to warn other heroes it would only bring doom upon them. Unfortunately Sparkles was unreachable and the Circle mourned his loss. Soon after Ragnarok, Sparkles was reborn in the Spring. He was traumatized but would not speak of what happened. Some in the Circle speculated that Sparkles had been taken, but had died shortly after, perhaps by suicide, in order to escape by resurrecting himself in the Spring.

Since Ragnarok, Sparkles has spent most of his time in New York City, hanging out in the Underground. He has taken an interest in base raiding, both by aiding certain raiders and by going on missions with whoever will take him into their group. A mercurial ally and a nightmarish foe, Sparkles is both loved and hated by the Underground. No one knows what his goals are or if he even has any. One thing is certain when it comes to Sparkles: Expect the unexpected.