| “ | Look at you, Avad -- the wriggling runt of a maniac king. You robbed me of my right to kill your father... | „ |
| ~ Dervahl to Avad. |
| “ | Dervahl: Go ahead. I’m not afraid - except that knowing you, Erend, you’ll screw it up. Erend: I know what you are afraid of - going back to Mainspring in chains. Every Clan in the Claim wants you dead - and they know how to make it hurt. They’ll even bid for the privilege. Dervahl: It’s just like you to get someone else to do your killing. Erend: Shut up. You’re at the Sun-King’s mercy now. |
„ |
| ~ Dervahl gloating at Erend. |
Dervahl is a major antagonist in the video game Horizon Zero Dawn. He is a former leader of an Oseram faction who rebelled against the tyrannical Carja Sun-King Jiran, during the latter's Red Raids-era ruling.
However, Dervahl later loses all sense of justice, after his wife and his daughter were publicly executed in the Meridian Sun-Ring during the Red Raids by Jiran, effectively becoming a terrorist. He begins to take revenge against the Carja tribe and later the Oseram tribe, by plotting to destroy Meridian, but his efforts would soon be foiled by Aloy. He later serves as the archenemy of Erend.
He was voiced by Anthony Howell, who portrayed Bahavas in the same game, Gaspard de Chalons in Dragon Age Inquisition and Ardal aep Dahy in The Witcher.
Personality[]
Before and during the events of the Red Raids, Dervahl was known to be loving towards his family, including his wife and his daughter. He was a respectable leader within the Oseram army. But events catalyzed by Jiran by executing his family in the Sun-Ring turned him into a genocidal, callous terrorist, going so far in betraying his own tribe to take revenge against the Carja.
Biography[]
Red Raids[]
During Jiran's Red Raids-era reign, Dervahl would create his unit of freebooters, comprising of an assemblage of Oseram, to fight off against the Carja and overthrow the monarch. However, in response to this, Jiran would later retaliate in response by executing his own family in the Meridian Sun-Ring, gradually devolving him from a respectable leader into a callous, genocidal terrorist, now wanting to take revenge against the Carja.
Dervahl's anger would later embroil further, when Ersa, a member of his former unit, would reject his romantic advances and would later form a relationship with Avad instead, going so far in betraying his own tribe. His actions of attempting to terrorize the Carja and the Oseram would later culminate into him being sentenced to death by the ealdormen of the Oseram.
Revenge[]
Dervahl ultimately devised a strategy for carrying out his revenge on his three main perceived targets—Ersa, Avad, and the Carja tribe—after spending two years plotting and eluding capture. Ersa and her vanguard unit were kidnapped in the ancient ruin known as Dimmed Bones after he enlisted a number of like-minded Oseram to help him. He prepared and carried out an elaborate scheme to attain this.
He used the non-lethal sonic weapons he had devised to stun his targets. He was readily able to capture them because no Carja, Shadow Carja, or Oseram outside of his squad knew anything about such weapons. He then set up the situation to blame the Shadow Carja for her ambush and murder while leaving no evidence of his involvement. Erend and Avad finally believed that the Shadow Carja had kidnapped and killed Ersa at a different place, as was the plan's planned outcome. He brought her to his camp in the interim and tormented her there.
Regarding Avad and Meridian, he used contacts there to put together a sizeable supply of Blaze at a warehouse in a particular area of the city. If the Blaze explodes, it was calculated that this region will result in severe damage and fatalities. The store was further rigged with an explosive booby trap in case it was found and altered with after he sneaked into the city. He then intended to sneak into the palace with his men, use sonic weapons to capture and disable Avad and his guard, and then, while Avad was forced to watch, detonate the device remotely.
Unravelled[]
He carried out his strategy to seize Ersa with success. However, Aloy was able to thwart both his plans to kidnap and kill her and subsequently carry out a terrorist strike on Meridian by framing the Shadow Carja. Erend asked Aloy to investigate, so she travelled to the alleged ambush location. Aloy found the site was fake and followed the trail to the real location at Dimmed Bones using her Focus-enhanced vision and tracking abilities and her innate knack for Holmesian deductive reasoning. Here, she discovered proof of Dervahl's usage of sonic weaponry.
Aloy possessed the scientific expertise to comprehend what she was witnessing, unlike any other known individual, excluding Sylens. She informed Avad upon her return to Meridian. Dervahl's trail was followed to the Oseram freehold Pitchcliff by Avad's spymaster Marad. Aloy and Erend found where Dervahl's camp was located.
They discovered Ersa after murdering Dervahl's henchmen who were manning the camp. She told them of Dervahl's genocidal intentions on Meridian, and Aloy discovered proof of his impending terrorist assault on the city, albeit it was too late to stop her from dying from the wounds she got from Dervahl's torture.
Defeat and Capture[]
Dervahl had once more sneaked into the city during this time. Once more, he was of the opinion that his shrewdness and technological advantages would ensure his success. Aloy's powers and skills, as with his scheme to blame the Shadow Carja for Ersa's murder, ultimately led to his defeat and, this time, his capture.
He prepared his device with the help of his soldiers, and they also designated a guard-free entrance to the palace that led all the way to the throne room. Aloy and Erend, however, went back and told Avad all they had discovered, including proof of Dervahl's plot against Meridian. Unbeknownst to Dervahl, who had already penetrated the palace with his men, Marad provided them with a lead via which they were able to locate the device and defuse it. They struck after Aloy and Erend had departed, using sonic weaponry to render Avad, Erend, and Marad helpless.
Dervahl venomously informed him of his retribution-driven intention to ruin Meridian and then murder him while Avad lay convulsing in agony. When he attempted to ignite the bomb and found that it had already been neutralised, he lost his cool. He and his men moved to a different part of Avad's court to get a better view at the spot where the bomb ought to have detonated, clearing the way for Aloy. She had found and traced their trail into the castle using her tracking talent. She located Avad, Marad, and Erend and turned off the sonic weapon that had rendered them helpless.
Then Aloy challenged Dervahl. He confronted her, attempting to render her helpless with a portable version of his sonic weapon while demeaning her and pledging to murder Avad after killing her. Aloy used her martial prowess to murder the men that were with him before incapacitating him. He did have one last fallback strategy, though: a mechanical lure. He summoned a group of Glinthawks using it to attack her. They had little chance against a huntress with Aloy's unmatched talent, and she murdered them all.
Dervahl was defeated but refused to give up until Erend knocked him unconscious. He was taken into custody and held in one of the former Sun-old Ring's cells that had been used to house intended victims before being sent in chains to the Oseram capital Mainspring. Aloy was warned by Avad and Erend that his impending execution would not be pleasant. Dervahl continued to project an air of confidence, although he knew this to be false.
Skills and Abilities[]
- Talented Inventor - Dervahl is known to be a skilled inventor, who invented several technologies including the Sonic Device and the phonograph, an Old Ones voice-recording technology. He is also able to craft a Blaze Bomb that would be enough to destroy the entire city of Meridian without even knowing, had it not for Aloy and Erend's interference.
- Ingenuity - He is known to be cunning, going so far in tricking Avad and Erend into thinking the Shadow Carja being responsible for Ersa's supposed death.
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 Villains
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Artificial Intelligences Organisations Carja Shadow Carja Banuk Oseram Tenakth Londra's Devotees Far Zenith | ||