| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Christopher_Rowe |
Posted - 01 Oct 2008 : 18:32:31
Alae, scribes.
The lore tantalizes and teases with hints and seeming self-contradictions where scribes might prefer bold statements and clarity. This is as it has ever been, and so our project of understanding and enjoying the Realms through our research continues.
One particular project is to understand the status of the Harpers in these new, dangerous times. Here is what I have found in fourth edition materials concerning Those Who Harp. I have presented the material as an annotated bibliography, and I have almost certainly missed more than one important reference. I seek your input in the form of additions, corrections, refinements, and comments.
- Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide by Bruce R. Cordell, Ed Greenwood, and Chris Sims, 2008.
The FRCG mentions the Harpers at pages 111 and 146.
p. 111: The entry on the Dancing Place mentions the refounding of the Harpers at Twilight (as, simply, "the Harpers") and describes the organization as "now-defunct." This, as we'll see, is a signpost marking the way to an easy assumption that the Harpers are no more, an assumption that the Harpers themselves seek to foster. For just as the Harpers at Twilight, who were founded over a millennium ago in the Year of Freedom's Friends, became the Harpers in 720 (and again in 1022 after being driven underground by attacks from Thay), and were reorganized as the "Harpers of Twilight Hall" in 1321, the Harpers have transformed again. They are now the Harpers of Luruar.
p. 146: In 1357, the Harpers were described as a mysterious organization with unknown aims. Ten years later, in the Year of the Shield, they were merely "semi-secret," and their "meddling" operatives were said to often, and thus not always, operate in secret. By 1372, the existence and nature of the organization was widely enough known that the common folk of the Heartlands and the Sword Coast knew to consider them heroes.
In the Year of the Ageless One, the Harpers are once more deep in the shadows, and secrecy is their watchword. The entry on the Harpers of Luruar describes an organization that sprang up after the previous group bearing the name disbanded "nearly a century ago." Eaerlraun Shadowlynsince assassinated by the Shadovar"reformed" the group and centered them on Moongleam Tower in Everlund. They are described as a much smaller and much more clandestine group than the Harpers of the 13th century. Likewise, the goals given here are much narrower, being focused on the Shadovar, that great threat that likewise occupies the attention of the governments of Luruar, Cormyr, refounded Myth Drannor, and the Dalelands, all hotbeds of past Harper activity. But this narrow focus, as we shall see, is not an exclusive focus.
- Forgotten Realms Player's Guide by Rob Heinsoo, Logan Bonner, and Robert J. Schwalb, 2008.
The FRPG entry for Luruar yields Harper lore at page 109.
p. 109: The FRPG tucks much interesting information into the "Adventurers" sections of the individual area entries. Here, we find the suggestion that a player character might consider becoming a Harper of Luruar, which means that such a character would be a "protector by nature" who longs "to see Netheril's Shadovar driven back and the lands of Luruar tamed and civilized." Players who follow this path are advised that they should be confident in their abilities, but secretive about their backgrounds.
Although not explicitly tied to the organization, the set of character motivations labeled "World's Safety" immediately adjacent on page 109 will surely draw any would-be Harper's eye. It describes a "world grown increasingly dangerous" and lists threats as diverse as the giants in the nearby Evermoors, to, yes, the Shades, to the Abolethic Sovereignty that floats over the Sea of Fallen Stars, thousands of miles away. A goodly list of goals for an ambitious Harper!
- "Epic Faerūn" by Richard Baker. Dragon 367 (September 2008): 17-22.
This piece describes the "Harper of Legend" epic destiny, and is, thus far, the most richly loaded vein of 14th century Harper lore.
The background information for the epic destiny recounts one version of the legend of the 720 founding. It fines down the date of Earlraun Shadowlyn's refounding to "sixty years ago," some three decades after the murder of Mystra, and reveals that the previous iteration of the Harpers were "overwhelmed" in the Wailing Years following that terrible event and the Spellplague it unleashed.
The article goes on to give gaming form to the powers and abilities gifted to a Harper of Legend, those individuals who might have been called "High Harpers" in the previous century. The goddesses Mielikki and Tymora each grant the most powerful Harpers special abilities, and the education well-traveled Harpers receive in the hard school of Faerūn's roads is reflected in the powers as well.
Finally, part of the article is given over to "Harper Membership," which greatly expands upon the information offered in the FRPG. This section describes how player characters might come to join the organization after they've begun their adventuring careers, and the types of missions that might be carried out in a Harper campaign, making special mention of Netheril to be sure, but more generally concerning the endless fight against "oppression in any form."
This, then, is the fourth edition Harper lore thus far.
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| 2 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Christopher_Rowe |
Posted - 02 Oct 2008 : 15:02:56
Thank you, Master Scererar. I'm still trying to figure out the best way for me to contribute here in terms of research and theory. One reason I jumped back into the Realms (and into the game) when I did was because with the reboot it seemed "knowable." So on the one hand, I'm most interested in 4E. On the other hand, I don't want to be the "He Studies Fourth Edition so You Don't Have To!" guy, not only because I think there is excellent work being done by the writers and designers--seriously, it just keeps getting better and better on both the fiction and gaming sides in my opinion--but also because I'm finding out that my Realms research style seems to be kind of a "drill down" approach. A topic interests me--usually geography related--and then I just start at 4E and work my way backwards and forwards through all the sources I have, building a picture in my head.
This is actually the most fun with the places that have the least description in the 4E lore thus far. I take what it is there, and then take all the old lore, and test it against the "Ten Important Facts" in the Introduction of the FRCG, building up an idea of what the place is now with those as guideposts on a road built on all that's come before.
None of which answers your question! No, I hadn't considered it, but it certainly seems like a good idea. Very daunting, though, given how much of the lore is dozens of novels that I either have read in fifteen years or haven't read at all! |
| scererar |
Posted - 02 Oct 2008 : 03:06:28
excellent start CR. Have you concidered documenting all edition sources for The Harpers? Really, other than the 2E code of the Harpers, and the novels, the little bit of lore that does exist, is spread throughout several source books.
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