Horses and Unicorns: a few questions. (Possible spoilers.)

unregisturd · Post by **unregisturd** » Fri Jan 04, 2008 1:52 pm

Ok, wow.. I haven't been on this site in, like, 5 or 6 years. Anyway...

**Note: I'm playing this for the x360, so PC mods and such won't help me. Oh, and I do have the Shivering Isles expansion, if that means anything.

I have a few questions.
First off: I found the unicorn and I rode it away from all the minotaurs and such, and I was all excited. Then I got off it to look at it, and it started walking back to its grove. Is there any way I can keep the unicorn and make it mine?

Tip: I did a little search to see if I could find out anything about the unicorn, and I noticed a lot of people were having trouble getting around the minotaurs to get to the unicorn. It's very very easy if you just bring along a potion of Invisibility. I just walked right up to the unicorn, got on, and took off.

Just a little side note: I think it's hilarious how the unicorn kicks the crap out of Snak gra-Bura (the Orc female at Chestnut Handy Stables) and she goes flying backwards unconscious... Any particular reason why Snak seems to have a personal vendetta against the unicorn? Nobody else seems to care that it's there, and it won't attack anyone else...

Secondly: Is there any way to keep a wild horse? I found that herd of wild horses outside the Imperial City. I chased 'em all over the countryside with calm, charm, frenzy, and rally spells. I even burdened them a lot so I could walk beside them to see if I could get on them, but nothing worked. Is there any way to keep one?

Belthan · Post by **Belthan** » Fri Jan 04, 2008 5:12 pm

Is there any way I can keep the unicorn and make it mine?

I don't think so. Spoiler:

Spoiler

it's part of the Hircine daedric quest, so it always returns to the grove so you can find it there if you do the quest.

Any particular reason why Snak seems to have a personal vendetta against the unicorn?

There's some amusing dialog with the various stable hands that might sort of explain it... Spoiler:

Spoiler

they imply she likes to eat horses, so maybe she's hungry

Is there any way to keep a wild horse?

Unfortunately, no way I know of on 360 (there are mods for PC). Bummer, cause it would be a lot cheaper than buying horses that inevitably end up as wolf food (at least for me).

unregisturd · Post by **unregisturd** » Fri Jan 04, 2008 5:36 pm

Spoiler: I know about Snak eating the horses.... and... I totally just got the correlation between her name and her "hobby". Chestnut Handy Stables was the first stable I went to in the game when I first played. I remember being so mad at her for eating them and not selling them. I stole a couple and then reloaded.

But yeah, like I said, I knew about that.. I just thought it was interesting that the unicorn somehow knew it, too.

Spoiler: Yeah, I was doing the Hircine quest (I wasn't actually going to kill it [the unicorn], I just wanted to find it to see if I could keep it) when I found it. I swear, that horse is the stupidest animal in the game. I rode it around for a little while, then it got boring, so I fast travelled back to the grove, then fast travelled to Anvil where I knew my white horse had wandered to, and wouldn't you know it? That stupid unicorn travelled with me. So I got on My White Horse and travelled around so the unicorn would eventually wander back to the grove, but the stupid thing kept getting stuck in the mountains around Kvatch. I had to go save the stupid thing, ride it back to the grove, then run ALL the way back to Anvil (I couldn't travel because they unicorn would come with me). Incidentally, that's when I found Toutius Sextius lying dead on the road near Skingrad.

Loki[D.d.G] · Post by **Loki[D.d.G]** » Sun Jan 06, 2008 11:06 pm

Incidentally, the unicorn is probably the fastest and strongest mount you will encounter in Oblivion. SPOILER

Spoiler

The only better one is Shadow, and that is because he is invulnerable.

unregisturd · Post by **unregisturd** » Sun Jan 06, 2008 11:31 pm

Loki[D.d.G] wrote:Incidentally, the unicorn is probably the fastest and strongest mount you will encounter in Oblivion. SPOILER
Spoiler
The only better one is Shadow, and that is because he is invulnerable.

Sorry to burst your bubble, but the unicorn is definitely NOT the fastest.

He's strong and everything, but he goes the same speed as the regular white horse. Black horses are faster.

Spoiler: Yeah, I know about Shadowmere. He's an evil horse, though.

I don't want him.

Loki[D.d.G] · Post by **Loki[D.d.G]** » Mon Jan 07, 2008 12:25 am

Good point, forgot about black horses, as I have never bought or stolen one as far as I can remember. Use Shadow all the way. One drawback for black horses though is that they are pretty weak when it comes to facing your foes...

unregisturd · Post by **unregisturd** » Mon Jan 07, 2008 12:12 pm

Loki[D.d.G] wrote:Good point, forgot about black horses, as I have never bought or stolen one as far as I can remember. Use Shadow all the way. One drawback for black horses though is that they are pretty weak when it comes to facing your foes...

This is true. I don't use my horse for fighting, though. (I like to get all the XP on my own

), so it doesn't much matter for me. I always keep a Heal Other scroll or spell handy, just in case we take a fall that's a little too big for him.

So you don't use horses? That surprises me. Is it common for people to not use them? I personally couldn't live without them. I don't even really care that much what speed or strength they are, either; I usually buy the color horse that I think matches my character best. Although, black horses are nice in finishing quests where you have to travel to somewhere "you haven't discovered yet".

So how many people DON'T use horses? And how many do? This interests me.

Also, when I went around to all the stables to buy a horse, they all say something like "Our white horses are the hardiest in all Cyrodiil, and only the black horses of Cheydinhal are faster!" The guy in Anvil said that, so I thought white horses were the second fastest. But then when I went to buy a chestnut horse, the guy said something about it not being the hardiest of all the horses, but it was the second fastest. And indeed when I rode it, it was faster than the white. Does anyone know what order the horses go in in speed and strength?

Mz_Trixter · Post by **Mz_Trixter** » Mon Jan 07, 2008 3:31 pm

So you don't use horses? That surprises me. Is it common for people to not use them? I personally couldn't live without them. I don't even really care that much what speed or strength they are, either; I usually buy the color horse that I think matches my character best. Although, black horses are nice in finishing quests where you have to travel to somewhere "you haven't discovered yet".

So how many people DON'T use horses? And how many do? This interests me.

I for one don't use horses on a regular basis, only cuz one of my major skills is Atheletics. And you'll usually end up running ALOT more in the long run throughout the game. Plus you have more fights just by running around which leads to more exp.

The only time I use a horse is if Im CRAZY bored & feel like screwing around w/ some of the Npcs :laugh: Otherwise, the only horse in the game im really interested in is Shadowmere. It's also my reason i've downloaded that horse armor

One 'lil thing, you can't really get sneak attacks by traveling by horse.

...but yeah that's me.

Loki[D.d.G] · Post by **Loki[D.d.G]** » Tue Jan 08, 2008 10:21 pm

unregisturd wrote:So you don't use horses? That surprises me. Is it common for people to not use them? I personally couldn't live without them. I don't even really care that much what speed or strength they are, either; I usually buy the color horse that I think matches my character best. Although, black horses are nice in finishing quests where you have to travel to somewhere "you haven't discovered yet".

I didn't say I don't use horses. Shadow is a horse right? And he is also the best, in my opinion. What I implied was I never spent the money on horses, as I knew about the Botherhood quest which the reward was Shadow. Though I did steal a couple from time to time to make getaways from crazed guards...

Belthan · Post by **Belthan** » Tue Jan 08, 2008 10:55 pm

I usually take athletics as a minor and then run everyplace. That way I almost always get a hefty speed bonus when I level up. I mainly ride horses if I'm trying to reach a location I can't fast travel to yet and there's a hill that's too steep for me to climb on foot. Keep switching back and forth on a horse and I can usually get to the top. Apparently hooves are better for mountain climbing than opposable thumbs.

unregisturd · Post by **unregisturd** » Thu Jan 10, 2008 5:43 pm

Loki[D.d.G] wrote:I didn't say I don't use horses. Shadow is a horse right? And he is also the best, in my opinion. What I implied was I never spent the money on horses, as I knew about the Botherhood quest which the reward was Shadow. Though I did steal a couple from time to time to make getaways from crazed guards...

Oh, yeah, I knew you used Shadow. I just meant like, buying the regular horses. You still had to go places on the Dark Brotherhood quests (before Shadowmere). So yeah.. I just felt like I was the only one who bought a horse.

They need to have a horse as a reward for the GOOD characters. Like, it's no secret that the Dark Brotherhood is evil, and it's not hard to imagine that Shadowmere looks like an evil horse. You should be able to do GOOD quests and get a GOOD horse for a reward. Even if they made the unicorn fast and stay with you, that'd be good enough. But alas.. the unicorn is dumb. -_-

unregisturd · Post by **unregisturd** » Thu Jan 10, 2008 5:45 pm

Belthan wrote:I usually take athletics as a minor and then run everyplace. That way I almost always get a hefty speed bonus when I level up. I mainly ride horses if I'm trying to reach a location I can't fast travel to yet and there's a hill that's too steep for me to climb on foot. Keep switching back and forth on a horse and I can usually get to the top. Apparently hooves are better for mountain climbing than opposable thumbs.

Haha, I personally LOVE riding my horse to the very peak of a mountain and looking down at whatever town I'm near (usually it's the Imperial City with the white tower in the middle being the main thing visible). The graphics are simply amazing. The Jerall mountains up near Bruma are amazing looking from the top, too.

Uriel · Post by **Uriel** » Fri Feb 01, 2008 8:32 pm

unregisturd wrote:Haha, I personally LOVE riding my horse to the very peak of a mountain and looking down at whatever town I'm near (usually it's the Imperial City with the white tower in the middle being the main thing visible). The graphics are simply amazing. The Jerall mountains up near Bruma are amazing looking from the top, too.

Aren't they awseome! I think my guy looks great with full Daedric. I killed my unicorn cuz it was worthless. So now i use my Shadow. The Shadow looks great with my dark elf. Oh yah,where do you download horse armor?

Japhira · Post by **Japhira** » Tue Mar 18, 2008 5:26 pm

Handy Chesnut Stables problem

I am a newbie to this type of game so mostly what I do is roam around alot, killing mud crabs & wolves. In my roaming I have noticed that something is wrong at this stable. The lady on the porch worries because her horses are disappearing. One of the orcs hints that another of the orcs 'loves stew more than riding.' One night I heard terrible screams coming from the stables but got distracted by a wolf before I could investigate. Is finding out what is going on at the stables a miscellaneous quest?
- Japhira ... 'Life is a banquet...'

DaveTurd · Post by **DaveTurd** » Wed Mar 19, 2008 10:10 am

Horses are a pain in the neck for me. A lot of times, when I dismount to explore a ruin or fort, and try to squirrel my horse away some place safe, I'll return to find the thing dead. I hate having to babysit the thing and wonder whether I'll find it alive or dead when I return.

Anyway, being a level 44 Redguard Archer, my speed was up to 100 long ago (higher, with gear), so I can run as fast on foot without the darned beast (feels like it anyway...feels faster, actually).

I'll still buy them from time to time, just to feel more normal, I guess. I prefer not to fast travel if I can avoid it, so riding up to a stable somewhere and lodging the horse for the night kind of helps the immersion a bit.

sinbad71 · Post by **sinbad71** » Wed Mar 19, 2008 10:49 am

only ever had the one horse, went to jump in fort to do a bit monster bashing, came back out with the loot and the bleeding thing had done a bunk!!!!!!! No sign of the beast anywhere,and it had the elven armour mod as well!!!!!!!

Shankies pony all the way from then on in! lol