Plowhorn

The Plowhorn is an acquisition machine that plows the soil before sowing fertilizer and seeds in North America. It leaves a trail of fast-growing plants and a cloud of dust that can be used for stealth.

Utility

The Plowhorns' primary function is soil maintenance and seed dispersal. Plowhorns are relatively passive, being generally oblivious to their surroundings while they till the earth. Because of this, they are far more likely to respond to sound than sight, even more so than other grazing machines. The machine's horns and tail provide great plowing capabilities, immediately sprouting up flowers as it goes behind. Despite this, it can use these horns to charge and eject adhesion substances, or launch seed bombs to hide itself.

Complexity

Plowhorns resemble ceratopsids such as Triceratops, bearing a large cranial frill and four large horns, with a smaller fifth horn atop its "nose". A single eye is found in the "mouth" of the machine. The frill is more akin to a Torosaurus (or a Pentaceratops, due to the machine having five horns) and is equipped with a fertilizer sac on the back of the frill. It has two massive sacs in its back, the front one with adhesive substance and one with Purgewater. On the sides of the adhesive sac are two seed dispensers, which bring out small seed bombs that, when detonated, release small fertilizer clouds that can be used for stealth. Its long tail splits in two, plowing the land behind it as it moves. Two orange clamps keep the tail as one when not plowing, and a storage capsule can be found inside the tail when open. It is covered head to tail in white armored plating, except for the sacs. The Plowhorn's horns can be shot off, leaving it unable to charge. The adhesion sacs can be exploded, leaving it sluggish, and destroying the fertilizer sac on the frill will cover it in vines. It cannot do its tail attacks if the tail is open.

Discovery

While absent in the lands east of Barren Light, Plowhorns have been in operation for generations. Their primary function is to maintain soil and disperse seeds. For this reason, a collection of eight Plowhorns were foundational to the Utaru, providing the tribe with a sizable tract of arable land that became Plainsong. These Plowhorns were dubbed "Land-gods" by the Utaru, named after the notes on the tonal scale. Their routine travels to the nearby Repair-Bay TAU for maintenance were celebrated in festivals by the tribe.
During the Derangement, the once peaceful Land-god Plowhorns became hostile upon approach. In recent seasons, they began over-fertilizing the soil around Plainsong, making it incredibly susceptible to the Red Blight. In addition, they stopped visiting the Repair-Bay, leading to their slow wearing and eventual breakdown.
Fa, one of the eight Land-Gods, was the last to travel to the Repair-Bay. There, HEPHAESTUS instigated modifications to it, leading to the creation of the Grimhorn machine.