Darras-ola-Ras

The Drúedain, the original inhabitants of the Eryn Vorn, had been the first to discover and make use of the extensive grottos that cutted through the Bein Com (D."Bare Hills") above the ancient and abandoned Drûghu villages in the meandering Wild Moats (W."Fian Fos"). The Drugs improved and expanded the caves with their stone-working skills and used them as a place of refuge and storage. However, their primary use of the site was as an astronomical observatory connected with the nearby ceremonial center for the training of Healers. Despite its religious significance, they were forced to abandon the place when the Tree Horrors were roused in the middle of the Second Age. The grottos remained unused for almost two thousand years before they were restored. The Drûughu of the outer cape, who arrived only a little before the Beffraen, were never particularly successful. Nonetheless, when they reached the peak of their limited prosperity in the first millennia of the Third Age, the Drûghu fell out among themselves and split into two bitterly opposed factions. After decades of feuding, the weaker faction led by the evil matriarch Khûn-buri-Khîn was driven out. The old, serpentine grottos offered the best prospect of a new home, and Khûn- buri-Khîn led her followers there. She renamed the place Darras-ola-Ras the name indicated on an old map. The meaning of that strange title was unknown, for Khûn-buri-Khîn was one of the last of the Drûs in Minhiriath who could read, and even she had lost any comprehension of the speech of her Daen ancestors. Khûn-buri-Khîn's defeated followers were "concerned" and thus suffered one of the most brutal Drûg sanctions. No Drû willingly lived in caves, so her little band soon lapsed into complete degeneracy. Although they did make quite a few alterations in their new abode, they never adjusted to life outside their fogus. The massacre of a Beffraen party related in a local tale was a last act of frustrated malice on Khûn-buri-Khîns part ere she died. Her followers would not have lasted much longer, but the Beffraen's revenge greatly hastened their demise. A recent series of disasters threatened the Drûs of Rast Vorn with extinction. ln the course of searching for answers to their dilemma, and a refuge for his people, one of the Drûgh Chieftains recalled the legend of Khûn-buri-Khîn's settlement. Her legend resurrected, Khûn-buri-Khîn is the most hated and reviled personage in the Drúadan tales, exceeding even the Orcs of Beleriand and the Northman Drug-hunters. Her abode in the accursed Lost Grottos of the Bare Hills, however, offered a sanctuary, and Khûn- buri-Khîn's vile reputation failed to deter the Drûs from exploring the ancient ceremonial center. The Drûs assigned to delve into the secrets of Bein Com arrived shortly before the troubles at Carn Gasadaer began. Predictably, they had accomplished very little up to this point. Attempting to keep a low profile, they had left the other inhabitants of the region undisturbed, but they would have put up a pretty stiff fight for the grottos if given the opportunity. They knew that their folk needed the halls as a sanctuary, and the treasures left by their exiled ancestors remained hallowed Drû property.