Torbolene

Can you think of something more wild than screaming though the shed horns of one of the most majestic creatures in the realm?

Somewhere between the reader's pan flute and harmonica lies the torbolene. Made from shed Horned Bison horn with between 10 and 25 holes dissolved into the material, it is the discordant nature of the device that makes its haunting sounds. Often seen in both the band set up and in some of the more ethereal bardic tunes, this two handed device came from the Troll clans and gained a hold on Levis culture and expression that continues to present day.

Mechanics & Inner Workings

To make the torbolene work, one blows through one or two of three lower chamber holes. These chamber holes push air into a hollow and then up a segment of the curling horns, past little dissolved holes.

The more holes the air passes out of, the more notes that are layered, with the ability to cover some of the holes with the player's fingers. The goal is to play notes that are mainly complimentary but as a harmonic still show some discord.

The horned bison grow irregular horns so each torbolene is different in their notes though older crafts people know how to by sight differentiate which notes a horn will likely have.

by mochimanoban

History

Torbolene first transferred from migratory tool to bard instrument around the time of the great settlements, when a tool made for a mix of guiding the large herds of migratory beasts and light play was introduced to the more stationary foliad where they had decided to form their larger settlements. It was a natural thing to exchange some of the crafted horns for exotic foods and some of the more necessary staple goods that require a more stable lifestyle to harvest.

It passed itself around during the Human Years, becoming one of the calls of songs and acts of rebellion, to the point that many of the humans acting in bad faith became wary of the sound of the instrument.

Significance

The plains trolls were the first users of the torbolene, and their tunes called the the migration of their people with the horned bison, their tunes refreshed in the months where the bison shed their horns.