Horn of Drusahl

The Horn of Drusahl.

The Horn of Drusahl^{[76.2, 42.2]} is a colossal centaur war horn located atop the hill Drusahl^[1] in the eastern Ohn'ahran Plains. It is the Maruuk centaur's most sacred relic^[2]^[3] and a symbol of the ancient pact between the centaur matriarch Teera and the green dragon Merithra.^[1]^[4] It can only be blown with Ohn'ahra's blessing.^[2]^[5]^[6] The Horn is guarded by a small Teerai village at the base of the hill, now overrun by Clan Nokhud and the Primalists.^[2]^[3]

History

Origin

The village surrounding Drusahl.

View of the Horn from the north side.

When the Maruuk settled in the Ohn'ahran Plains during the War of the Ancients, they faced hostility from the green dragonflight, until the centaur's matriarch Teera and the green dragons' leader Merithra allied with each other to destroy hostile proto-dragons that threatened both of their peoples. Teera and Merithra then met upon the hill named Drusahl and made a pact of respect: the green flight and the Maruuk promised to stay out of each other's way but come to the aid of the other when their livelihoods were threatened.^[1]^[7] The Horn of Drusahl was created to serve as a symbol of the friendship between the Maruuk and the dragons^[2] and a physical manifestation of their oath.^[1]^[4] The spirit of the famous hornsmith Deritetsin claims that it was he who built the Horn using wood the dragons provided from the Emerald Gardens,^[8] while others claim that it was Teera herself who built it.^[2]

Before the green dragons left the Dragon Isles, a ceremony was held at Drusahl. The dragons entrusted the Maruuk with the protection of the Ohn'ahran Plains and told them: "In times of great strife, blow the Horn, and we will answer." The Wild God Ohn'ahra then blessed the Horn, summoning great winds to blow through it. For over ten thousand years, this remained the one and only time the Horn had ever sounded.^[2] Over the following millennia, the Horn was protected by Clan Teerai, who built a small village next to the hill.^[3]

Dragonflight

Balakar preparing to blow the Horn, with the captive Ohn'ahra in the background.

After the awakening of the Dragon Isles, the green dragons beseeched Khanam Matra Sarest to honor her ancestors' pact and aid them against the Primalists. Sarest agreed to blow the Horn of Drusahl and answer the dragons' call for an alliance, if Ohn'ahra willed it.^[9] This became more urgent after Balakar Khan and Clan Nokhud allied with the Primalists and declared war on the other clans. Knowing that she could not win the war without the dragons' aid,^[2] the Khanam Matra ordered Clan Ohn'ir to find Ohn'ahra and ask for her blessing so that she could blow the Horn^[5]^[6] and summon the dragons.^[2]

However, Ohn'ahra was instead captured by the Primalist leader Koroleth.^[10] Shortly after, Balakar led a Nokhud warband to attack the Horn and sack the village at the base of the hill. Sarest assumed that Balakar intended to destroy the Horn to prevent her from summoning the dragons, and went with the khansguard and an adventurer to confront him.^[2] They retook the village from the Nokhud and rescued the surviving Teerai,^[3] but Balakar and Koroleth then enacted their plan: Koroleth forced Ohn'ahra to bless Balakar, allowing him to blow the Horn and lure the dragons Merithra, Gerithus, and Solethus from the Emerald Gardens into a trap. The Nokhud tried to kill Merithra with one of their dragonkiller ballistae, but Solethus absorbed the bolt meant for her and plummeted to the Watering Hole. Koroleth then forced Ohn'ahra to teleport her and Balakar away, while Sarest and the adventurer went to help the dragons.^[11]^[12]