The Hearth Horn

The Hearth Horn hangs in Kharduun Hall, darkened by smoke and polished where generations of hands have touched it before crisis. Its note is deep, harsh, and impossible to mistake for music. When the Ember Moot declares a ride no hall may refuse, the horn turns hospitality into obligation: horses saddled, gates opened, quarrels postponed, stores counted, scouts fed, surgeons woken. Misusing it is remembered as theft from every honest rider who answered. In Keldrun, a horn call can be mercy, command, accusation, and funeral bell in the same breath.