Piip was an Mussalmian savant who specialized in animals. He joined an exploratory expedition lead by Baron Toivo and heading south of the Empire's borders to the equatorial mountains. When the expedition reached the mountains, its members discovered the animals they christened unicorns. Piip joined the debate over whether they should be classified among the horse kind or the goat kind. He also became interested in Kyosti's notion that they were preyed on by some larger creatures that gave rise to the legend of dragons and took part in an attempt to capture one.