ObsidianPortal

“Many years ago, a young couple – fleeing assassins – fled to a small town in the mountains where they could hide. The wife, Kaari, was heavy with child and needed a place where she could give birth to her son in safety. A young guard in the town militia with no children of his own, and – having married a women whom he loved but who no fault of her own was unable to bear children – took pity on the couple and gave them safe refuge in his home. He considered it fate that the young mother’s name was so much like his own wife’s.”

“After Kaari gave birth, the father, Aulis told them a story. You see, Aulis was born in the far northern land of Damara. There, due to the evil plots of a wicked lord named Yarin, he was forced to flee his homeland. He and his new wife fled south, keeping only a few steps in front of Yarin’s hired assassins for 10 months – when Kaari, his wife – now pregnant – could no longer keep up the flight. Tymora brought them to a town where they hoped they would be safe. And safe they were for a time. However, it became clear that the assassins would soon find them so they decided to take a course that was personally devastating but had the best chance of ensuring their son’s survival. They left their son in good hands – praying to Tyrmora and whoever would listen for protection – hoping that someday they might be able to return when it was safe.”

“So they fled. And as far as I know – made it as far as Berdusk where; unfortunately, the assassins caught them and murdered them. Story has it that their preserved heads were carried back to the tyrant Yarin in baskets.”

“If you hadn’t figured out by now, the town in the story is Winterhaven, the baby is me, and the guard and his wife my parents, Joral and Kera. They raised me as their own. But apparently I have a fate far beyond the walls of Winterhaven. Aulis’ full name was Aulis Dragonsbane the First, King of Damara of the line of the Dragonsbane Kings of Bloodstone. Yarin is an usurper that took the throne through marriage and political infighting. Aulis was but a boy of 17 when his father was murdered as part of Yarin’s plot. Too young, too inexperienced, and without friends or allies with power – he could stay with his new bride to die or flee. He was advised to flee by a relative and it was sound advice then. When he was in Winterhaven it was still sound advice – Joral encouraged them to flee again. He wanted to keep the child for his wife’s sake, but also realized it was the wisest thing to do.”

“Many of Aulis’s family royal symbols were with his father and thus taken by Yaris; “Crusader” – Gareth’s sword, the Dragonsbane crown of Bloodstone, the signet ring – all of them are with Yaris now. But what many do not know, was that the horn of Gareth Dragonsbane the First, progenitor of the dynasty, had been left with the teenage boy Aulis who loved to hunt. The horn has been called by many names since Gareth’s time, “The Silver Horn of Warrior’s Rest” and “The Horn of the North” are the most common. That horn will recognize the bearer as the blood of Gareth Dragonsbane. A diamond on the mouthpiece releases its illusion and becomes a bloodstone if someone of Gareth’s blood wields the horn.”

“Some number of years passed and threats of invasion from Sembia threatened. The town guard worried about the boy, his family, and the tragic tale of the Dragonsbane family. Fearing that the Horn would be lost, he took it to a powerful noble and recounted the story. The noble took the horn for safekeeping with the understanding that when the boy became a man, he could come, prove himself worthy of it, and take up the horn again. If the boy failed, then he would see about finding another Dragonsbane descendant. Count Eron Huntcrown has the horn… my horn. The last Joral heard, Lord Huntcrown maintains a manor none too far from Hillmarch and spends time in Arabel, but he had heard nothing in a long time.”