story identification - Fantasy novel with amnesiac witch, impotent soldier and cursed animals

The story is set in a vaguely medieval world in which a young woman has been cursed by the evil witch who has enslaved her and caused her to lose her memory. With the aid of her talking animal friends who have also been cursed (toad has a huge stone under his tongue meaning he can't feed and a crow with a gem embedded in its wing and there's a little grey kitten too who never grows up) she sets out on a journey to break the curse for herself and her friends. Along the way she meets an injured unicorn and a horny-but-moral soldier rendered impotent by a curse after refusing the disguised witch's sexual advances.

After adventures there's a 'happy ever after' for all of the heroes and the witch meets a sticky end.

In the UK the book had a deep red cover with an illustration. I read it in either the 1990's or the early 2000's. Cracking book, definitely for adults given some of the situations, language and humour.

Comments

Did the gatekeeper and the keymaster get intimate in Ghostbusters?

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Why didn't The Doctor or Clara recognize Missy right away?

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story identification - Animation: floating island, flying pests

At least 20 years ago I watched a short animated film which stuck in my mind. The whole thing was wordless, possibly European, and I'm pretty sure I didn't imagine it... It featured a flying island which was inhabited by some creatures who (in my memory) reminded me of the Moomins. The island was frequently bothered by large winged animals who swooped around, although I don't think they did any actual damage. At the end one of the moomin creatures suddenly gets a weird feeling, feels forced to climb to the top of the island and then plunges down a shaft right through the centre - only to emerge at the bottom as one of the flyers. Answer Skywhales from 1983. The story begins with a man warning the tribe of approaching skywhales. The drummers then warn everybody of the hunt as everyone get prepared to set "sail". Except one man is found in his home sleeping as the noise wake him up. He then gets ready and is about to take his weapon as he hesitates then decides ...

warhammer40k - What evidence supposedly supports Tau as related to the Necrontyr?

I've heard of rumours saying that the Tau from Warhammer 40K are in fact the Necrontyr. Is there anything that supports this statement, in WH40K canon? I just found this, on 1d4 chan 1 : Helping Necrons? Or are they Necrontyr descendants? An often overlooked issue is that Tau have no warp signatures, just like Necrons, hate Warpspawns and Warp in general, just like Necrons, have the exact same skull shape,stature and short lives, and the overwhelming need for Technology and beam weapons, JUST LIKE NECRONS. GW may have planned a race that simply prepares a pacified, multiracial galaxy for Necrons to feast upon, supported by Ethereals that have a C'tan phase blade. Then there is a reference of "dark seed in east" by the Deceiver, so the tricky C'tan might give Tzeentch the finger in the JUST AS PLANNED competition. Or maybe GW just has so little creativity that they simply made a new civ conforming to an Old One's standards without knowing it. Is this the connec...

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