A white unicorn just asked to join my company?!

[Berserker]

Is there anything to this or is he just another companion/pet? I was under the impression you only met up with the white unicorn after accepting a quest. I am thinking that the quest unicorn is specific and named, while this is just a regular one. Please advise/assist.

OMG, now a female white unicorn just joined my company!

I am rocking out, walking around with 2, count it 2, white unicorns! My guy's like the pied piper of unicorns apparently!!!!!!!!!

[Berserker]

hhmmmmm.... they keep dissappearing and reappearing when I go to the wilderness squares. It seems I left them behind. Very strange.

Ok, I am thinking this must be common, because they keep asking me to let them join me. I've played this game forever and never seen one. Sorry if this is a newb statement/question.

[JellySlayer]

At high levels, you will occasionally encounter both white and black unicorns in the wilderness. For lawful PCs, white unicorns are non-hostile and will follow you around.

The quest unicorn is a Greater White Unicorn.

[Berserker]

Thank you scourge of Jelly's everywhere, for clearing that up for me!

[nathrakh]

And the disappearing is teleporting (duh)! All unicorns do it.

[psy_wombats]

I was under the impression that these were in fact companions that were abandoned in the ID. The PC enters an ID level with a unicorn, leaves, and the game makes it a random encounter, like companions abandoned in the wilderness. Did you recently do some large ID dive?

[Elone]

To give an explanation that is far more likely, Berserker, you had a deep ID dive recently. When friendly or neutral creatures get left behind in temporary levels (wilderness and ID), they will randomly offer to rejoin you later, in the wilderness. In this way, you dont permanently lose friendly creatures and stuff. If you were lawful, unicorns will be generated in ID as neutral, and even if you dont actually see them, if you resurface later, they may try to join you because they were left behind.

[Sadface]

I'm pretty sure this works on Filk too, since he's generated as neutral*,
which is a lifesaver if you forget which floor he was on right as you
descend past it.

*This has always been the case for me, not sure if it's every time or not.

[Elone]

I have found that once lost, Filk can never be found again. Even if he was found on level 5 of ID, and then I dived to 6, and went back to 5, Filk would not be generated again no matter what (i've used a wand of monster detection). And would certainly not seek me again in the wilderness. Note however that this was LONG time ago, possibly before 1.1.1, because once I lost Filk like this a few times, I started to really make sure not to lose him in any way. It would waste a good Ultra for no good reason. If he WILL later reappear in wilderness, that would be cool! Confirm please? Additionally, I'd like to know what happens when you take him to Mad Minstrel! If it's possible to take Filk to Mad Minstrel... why has no one reported an attempt yet? That's the first thing that I would try!

Edit: I'd like to bring up an early barbarian character who sought Filk. I totally forgot what my first kill was, BUT I've checked my kill list, seeing that I've killed about 400 rats as my most frequent kill, I decided to just head down and wait for a special message which would inform me that Filk has been generated on the level. However that message never appears, and since I rushed from stairs to stairs, who knows where I missed the guy along the way. I think that ADOM was 0.9.9. I started figuring that something is fishy at about level 500-510.

[Sadface]

I'm working on a potential one right now - if I do get to Filk, I'll make
a copy before killing him and see what happens if you bring them
together. I'll also test to see if Filk will seek you in the wilderness; I
thought I read somewhere that he would, but it might have been a
question rather than an answer...