Instrument of the Bards

Wondrous Item

Bards wielding an Instrument of the Bards had their charming abilities greatly amplified by their magic.

All Instruments of the Bards had the capability of storing spells. Besides the specific spells that each individual instrument could hold, a bard playing any one such instrument could invoke the spells Fly, Invisibility, Levitate, and Protection from Evil and Good, once a day, until the next dawn.

The Instruments of the Bards were magical masterwork musical instruments that were extremely effective in the hands of bards.

They were in every way superior to their ordinary counterparts. Their powers could only be effectively used by bards, and in fact any non-bard that attempted to use one of these instruments ran the risk of injury.

History

The first of the Instruments of the Bards were created by a legendary bard in the Moonshae Isles named Falataer. He used the instruments to test and reward the students of each of the seven levels of his bardic college, which came to be regarded individually as legendary bard colleges in their own right.

These seven elder bardic colleges were all attended by an aspiring bard who wished to achieve the rank of master bard, traditionally in the following order: Fochlucan, Mac-Fuirmidh, Doss, Canaith, Cli, Anstruth, and Ollamh. This tradition was abandoned once these bardic colleges declined. However, starting from 1366 DR, some bards were attempting to restore this ancient tradition and the Colleges of Fochlucan and a revived New Olamn had been established and resumed their activities.

Over time, other bards copied the original designs, while retaining the original names in Falataer's honor.