The Harpers
The Harpers, or Those Who Harp, are a semi-secret organization dedicated to preserving historical lore, maintaining the balance between nature and civilization, and defending the innocent from the forces of evil across the Realms. The Harpers involve themselves in many world-changing events that help shape the course of Faerûn's destiny. Their power and influence has waxed and waned over the years, as their order has undergone a series of collapses and reformations. Their reputation amongst the people of the Realms varies just as wildly. They are often seen as wild-eyed idealists, but also just as often seen as insufferable meddlers who could not keep their business to themselves.
Structure
The Harpers as an organization is actually anything but organized. Rather, it is a confederation of individuals from contrasting cultures and backgrounds who bond over the shared goals of maintaining peace, preserving knowledge, and protecting the downtrodden. Some Harper agents work in small groups—often alongside friends and close allies—while others operate as lone operatives, who keep only informal ties with the group at large. Throughout the many years it has endured, the Harpers have disbanded and fallen apart several times, only to reform later in some new iteration.
The Harpers' informality and lack of formal structure lends to its continuance as true secret society. Some members take on specific roles, such as 'spymasters', 'handlers', and 'agents', but maintain no hierarchy or ranking over their fellows. It is said that nothing could be truly "official" within the Harpers; the group is poorly defined, with contradictory operational standards, no formal roster, and a public face that is inconsistent from one locale to the next.
There does remain one consistent representation of the Harpers across the Realms, however: their symbol. The Harpers' symbol comprised a silver harp and crescent moon, set upon a field of black or royal blue.
Branches
Two roads taken to the same gate; one seen more often, the other never late. — The bard Alither of Telflamm, regarding the two branches of the Harpers.For much of its history, the Harpers have been separated into two branches, each of which operates on either half of Faerûn's Heartlands. The western branch of the Harpers―the Order of the Silver Moon and Harp, headquarters in Berdusk ―maintains a formal hierarchy, and orchestrates far-reaching plots many months in advance of their execution. The eastern branch―known as the Senior Harpers or Harpers in the Shadows, based out of Shadowdale―prefers instead to sponsor parties of young adventurers, wielding subtle influence rather than taking direct action. Both branches strive to achieve the same goals, and regularly share intelligence with their comrades across the Realms. Beyond their operational differences, the collective members of the two branches each hold contrasting attitudes and world-views. For a few decades, there existed an offshoot branch of the Harpers, known as the Moonstars. This splinter sect acted separately from the two branches of the Harpers, operating in the sprawling metropolis of Waterdeep, and at times undermining the efforts of true Waterdhavian Harpers. High Harpers The only true leadership of the Harpers is a small governing council known as the High Harpers. They are responsible for setting and planning most of the group's long-term plans and goals. Members are elected through the means of secret ballots among the other High Harpers, with the criteria of long-term service and extreme discretion in the execution of their plans. Master Harpers While the Harpers hold no formal hierarchy, some members do enjoy the distinction of being named Master Harpers. These select few are blessed by the goddess Mystra and bestowed with divine boons associated with the Goddess of Magic and other deities that were present at the First Reformation. This term is sometimes confused with the unofficial name of the Harpers' eastern branch, the so-called Master Harpers, though usage in this manner is generally discouraged. If a Master Harper is slain or otherwise dies with an unfinished quest or charge, they return to the Realms as a spectral harpist. These incorporeal, undead Harpers retain the powers they held in life, serving the order as immortal guardians over the aptly named 'Harper haunts'. Among the Masters Harpers are four of Mystra's immortal daughters, Endué Alustriel, Ambara Dove, Anamanué Laeral, and Esheena "Storm" Silverhand, as well as two of the goddess's favored chosen, Elminster and Khelben Arunsun. Other known Master Harpers include: Belhuar Thantarth, an accomplished bard and the lord of Twilight Hall. Cylyria Dragonbreast, High Lady of Berdusk and one-time ruler of the city. Obslin Minstrelwish, devoted servant of Lady Dragonbreast and seneschal of Twilight Hall.
Culture
It is said that the secretiveness of the Harpers extends beyond the organization as a whole, trickling down to its individual members and their personal lives. While often boisterous and lighthearted in public, Harpers tend not to share genuine sentiments with others–save for occasions when they are alone with their comrades.
Overall, the Harpers are one of the most tolerant factions of the Realms. They accepted people from all walks of life, even those with unsavory pasts, so long as they swear the Harper Code and do not violate its tenets.
The Code of the Harpers, or the Harper Code, is as follows:
- "Harpers work against villainy and wickedness wherever they find it—but they work ever mindful of the consequences of what they do."
- "All beings should walk free of fear, with the right to live their lives as they wish."
- "The rule of law aids peace and fosters freedom, so long as the laws are just and those who enforce them lenient and understanding."
- "No extreme is good. For freedom to flourish, all must be in balance: the powers of realms, the reaches of the cities and the wilderlands into each other, and the influence of one being over another."
- "Whatever it takes, a Harper will do. Pride never rules the deeds of a true Harper."
- "Harpers can spare themselves less freedom than those they work to protect must have—but even a Harper must be free."
- "Harpers police their own. A Harper who hears the call of personal power can no longer hear the sweet song of the harp. A Harper who seizes power, and holds it above all else, is a traitor to the harp. Traitors must die, for freedom to live."
- "Without a past, no being can appreciate what they have, and where they may be going."
Public Agenda
Lore preservation, maintenance of balance between civilizations and nature and the defence of the inocent.
History
Tis more important that the Shadowmasters have no benefit from what I've left undone than that the Harpers or Shandril―or Toril itself―gain strength by what we do. — Elminster the Sage.Over the past few centuries the Harpes have been disbanded and reformed multiple times. The First Reform On the 27th of July in the Year fi\o the Dawn Rose, 720 DR a large congregation of dryads arrived at the Dancing Place druid grove in High Dale. Their arrival occurred at a time when dusk fell earlier than it should have and a bright moon shone when no moon should have been visible. The dryads bid the druids welcome the priests of many different gods who started to arrive before finally Elminster appeared to explain why they had all been called. The elves had called for the support of the priests assembled to help fight back against the faithful of Bane, Bhaal, Loviatar, Malar, and Myrkul, who were coming from the south and attacking the elves and performing abhorrent deeds. The priests argued but their deities—Corellon, Mielikki, Mystra, Oghma, Selûne, Silvanus, and Tymora—directly possessed them and spoke through them, voicing their support in person and extending their blessings to this effort. This night thus became known as the Gathering of the Gods. Second Reformation After many years of fighting, the Harper's enemys had grown too large and powerful. One such fight pited the Harpers against the church of Myrkul. liches sought out the Harpers to distroy them, when that tactic did not bear the results the church expected, they raised armies to hunt the Harpers down. The Harper were finally forced underground in the Year of the Howling Axe 1021 DR. Elminster and Khelben decided that the ranks of the Harpers needed to be revitalized and began recruiting, but this time they looked at adventurers. It took some time, but eventually Elminster found the Wanderers of Espar a band of a dozen bards, druids, and rangers led by Finder Wyvernspur and Ulzund Hawkshield in Cormyr. Later the Harpers saw themselves in another conflict which came to be known as the Harpstar Wars. When 40 of all the Harpers who joined Elminster in the Harpstar Wars returned home they realized that the organization had strayed in a completely different direction. A Harper bard named Rundorl Moonsklan has convinced himself that Elminster and Khelben and all the Harpers they'd taken with them, had gotten themselves killed. He reshaped the organization to his own ends. He desired the power behind every throne in the North. At some point during this time he met a Red Wizard of Thay named Szass Tam. This "friendship" saw Harpers entering Thay to eliminate enemies of Szass, however, overtime it was obvious that more Harpers where dying than Thayians. After 40 years, when the Elminster return with the 40 surviving members of the Harpstar Wars, they sought to correct the corruption within the ranks of the Harpers which ended with the assasination of the "Harper King Rundorl Moonsklan". Third Reformation As the Harpers licked their wounds from arradicating all those corrupted by the self-proclaimed Harper King Rundorl. Grimly, Storm and Doce set about replacing their massive losses. Elminster pulled strings among the Wychlaran and Rahsemen to keep the Thayans busy. In the Year of the Long Watch 1230 DR, the Harpers helped defend the great city of Silverymoon, when it was threatened by a rampaging hoard of orcs. In 1268 the Harpers would become aware of an emerging threat on the north, the Zhentarim, a campaing that took about a century. Meanwhile helping still with many other events throughout Faerûn. Finally, the Harpers were overwhelmed as a whole during the Wailing Years, a series of disasters that followed the Spellplague that wracked the Realms in the Year of Blue Fire, 1385 DR. Many Harpers died while others vanished. Those who survived were cut off from one another, so they focused solely on the perils that menaced their homes and neighbors. While the original organization was divided and its members scattered across the continent, the hope of returning the Harpers to their former glory didn't die. Fourth Reformation
Yet I very much doubt it will surprise any of you to learn that the Harpers did not, in fact, cease to exist. An extremely secretive, underground fellowship of some two dozen Harpers continued―as they do to this very day. — Oskrul Meddanthyr, 1479 DR.One bastion of Harper strength remained, however: Moongleam Tower. As of the Year of the Empty Necropolis, 1419 DR, Eaerlraun Shadowlyn re-founded the group as the "Harpers of Luruar" to secretly counter the forces of returned Netheril, hoping to keep the Harper ideals alive. Following their example, other Harper cells formed throughout the Realms. Some of these groups were collectives that adopted the Harpers' name and traditional ideology, while others comprised former Harpers that had survived the collapse and had gone underground before returning to action. At some point the Harpers acquired or stole the Horn of Beckoning Death that had been used by Szass Tam to turn much of the population of Thay into undead servants years before. In the time of Mystra's Return, in the Year of the Ageless One, 1479 DR, Storm Silverhand began to revitalize the Harper organization in Cormyr. She sought out people from all walks of life: smiths, merchants, leather workers, and even those who worked in brothels. Her revitalizing actions were known and tolerated by the War Wizards of Cormyr. The Harpers prevented the assassination of King's Lord Lothan Durncaskyn who was sheltering Mirt's lady, Rensharra Ironstave. Since then, the Harpers became an active organization across the Realms again. In the years following the Second Sundering—which occurred over the course of the 1480s DR―the Harpers bolstered their numbers, recovered their resources, and once again embarked upon secret missions to better the Realms. The network of spies and adventurers held no leadership as before, but remained scattered across the breadth of Faerûn. They focused their efforts on their long-standing mission to oppose tyrants and other purveyors of injustice.
Founding Date
324 DR
Alternative Names
Harpers at Twilight, The Harpers in the Shadows, The Order of the Silver Moon and Harp, Those Who Harp, Harpers to the North
Demonym
Harpers, Those Who Harp
Notable Members
Related Plots
Works in progress
The Great Law of Humanity
Progress
Time Left
