College of Harpers
Harpers are accomplished minstrels, bards or
skalds. The guild has a monopoly on the
production and sale of musical instruments.
Apprentices are taught the arts of making their own
instruments, most commonly the drum, flute, harp,
horn, and lute. Some masters specialize in the
crafting of fine musical instruments, and truly
great harpers can make instruments of seemingly
awesome enchantment.
The college sponsors a select number of Harpers Halls throughout western Lythia.
Admission to a hall is by audition. If accepted, an apprentice can look forward to 4-8
years of intensive study and training, followed by a dozen or more years as a
wandering bard, before he will acquire the elite status of Master harper.
Harpers play an important role in the conveyance of news, tales, legends, and oral
histories. In especially great demand are minstrels who have come from afar
bringing hardly credible songs and tales of strange folk and places. The skalds of
Ivinia are especially noted for their epic tales of heroes and villains, and the Sindarin,
while they rarely play for outsiders, are beloved for their beautiful and often
unfathomable songs.