Silver Horn
This article is about the artifact from Ultima IV. For the Gargish instrument for summoning silver serpents, see Gargish Silver Horn.
The Silver Horn is an artifact with the power to banish the hordes of daemons which once guarded the Shrine of Humility. It appears in Ultima IV.
Description[edit]
The Silver Horn has been described as being marked with strange and elaborate runes and patterns and set with precious stones. It was said to have been wrapped in velvet when the Stranger first uncovered it on its resting place upon a rocky small island of the Valarian Islands south of Spiritwood at K'N", C'N".[1] At the time, the lands surrounding the Shrine of Humility were guarded by unending armies of daemons, and these beasts could only be kept at bay by the sound of the Horn. The hero was able, with this instrument, to reach the sanctuary and meditate there - as was necessary to eventually claim the title of Avatarhood.
In later years, during the time of Blackthorn's reign, a signpost was erected to memorialize the site at which the Silver Horn was discovered. Still later, during the last days of the Avatar's questing in the realm, the horn made its way to the Royal Museum of Britain, and was displayed there as an historic artifact.
Trivia[edit]
- In Ultima IV, retrieving the Silver Horn grants (only) the player's character 400 XP.
- In Ultima IX, the horn is much smaller and not even a solid object. It is rendered as a 2-dimensional shape.
- The NES port of Ultima III, which lacked keyboard support and thus the Yell command, granted the player a Silver Horn for praying at the Circle of Light with a function similar to that of the word evocare in the original version. When blown, the horn would frighten away the Great Earth Serpent, allowing the party to proceed to the Castle of Fire.
- In the NES port of Ultima IV, the Silver Horn is found on the Isle of Fire instead.
- In Seiji Tanaka's manga re-interpretation of Ultima III, the Silver Horn is the manifestation of the bard, Lennon's "seal" - a power which was bestowed upon him in Ambrosia. By sounding the horn, Lennon is able to shatter the "Devil's Gate" and lay open the pathway to the final confrontation with Exodus[2]
Gallery[edit]
The island home of the silver horn in Ultima IV
Signpost in Ultima V marking the horn's former resting place
The horn in the manga
References[edit]
- ↑ DeMaria, Rusel et al. "Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar". Ultima: The Avatar Adventures (Ultima IV). Origin Systems, Inc.: 1992. Page 64.
- ↑ Tanaka, Seiji. Exodus (Ultima III). JICC: August 15, 1988. Page 198.