Lore: In the long ago days of glory of
Myth Drannor, many magical harps
were devised by elven, half-elven, and
human craftsmen of skill; a few of these
instruments still exist and retain their
powers. Elminster the Sage has located
descriptions of nine of these instruments.
These harps resemble Irish harps in
appearance, with a roughly triangular
shape formed by carefully crafted pieces
of wood: a robust “body” arm which
leans against the player’s shoulder and
is covered by a tapering sound board,
down the center of which the harpstrings
harpstrings
are set, knotted to pegs which fit
into holes in the sound-board; an
upward-curling “neck” of wood which
holds the tuning pins at the top ends of
the strings, and stretches from the top
of the “body” outwards to form the top
of the harp, and join the outwardcurving,
prow-like “fore-pillar,” which
curves down to the base of the “body”
and completes the harp. Most Myth
Drannan harps are small; two to three
feet in overall height, and have copper,
brass, and electrum strings, of twenty
to thirty-six in number. They require
great skill to play pleasantly, for the
strings are closely placed and very resonant;
half the skill of playing lies in
damping the sound of already-plucked
strings, but not others. Nevertheless,
the magical properties of Myth Drannan
harps do not require the hand of a
bard or even a trained musician to be
unleashed—and for this reason they are
sought after by bards and non-bards
alike. Myth Drannan harps retain their
powers when restrung; the magic does
not lie in the strings. All were initially of
finely-wrought appearance, with ivory
and gilt inlays on black and dark red
glossy-polished wood; all radiate a faint
good dweomer. They may be used without
harm or penalty by all creatures
able to stir their strings (regardless of
race or alignment), and have powers
and properties as described below.
Bards who employ Myth Drannan
harps increase their chances of charming
by a base chance bonus of 9% plus
1% per bardic level.
Elminster believes that a score or
more of each of these nine types of
harps may still exist, with powers
intact; others that have lost their
powers are known to be in the private
collections of mages and kings. A harp
loses its powers by having the wood
frame smashed (even if it is repaired,
the dweomer is gone). If anyone does
find an intact harp of one of the types
described, or even one not so described
but that is obviously of Myth Drannan
make, Elminster is interested in acquiring
it.

Azlaer’s Harp: When struck, the tones
of this harp soothe rage of all sorts, and
drive away fear, hopelessness, and
despair of natural or magical origin
within one round of being heard; maximum
range about 8", more if played in
caverns, in a breeze—downwind only,
or a quiet place. While it is played, all
charms and mental controls of any sort
are blocked (not removed or ended, but
held in abeyance) in all creatures hearing
the harp’s tones—and no new
charms or suggestions can be successfully
laid on those listening to the harp,
even by a bard using the harp for this
purpose. The strings of the harp glow
with bluelight (as in the magic-user cantrip)
while they are being played.
Experience Point Value: 3,000
Gold Piece Sale Value: 12,000

Dove’s Harp: This harp has gained its
current name because the Ranger Dove, a member of the Harpers, possesses
one. Such is her fame that the
previous name for the harp has been
lost.
The playing of this harp causes a gentle
soothing in the minds of all within 2"
who hear it; this soothing temporarily
(only while the harp is playing) quells
insanity and instantly (and permanently)
calms listeners, dispelling fear,
despair, discord, rage, and hopelessness
of any sort, and lightens black moods or
grief.
The music of Dove’s harp also cures
light wounds once in any listener within
2" who hears the harp’s song for at
least two full rounds in succession,
such curing being effective in that creature
only once every 9 days. The harp
cannot otherwise combat the effects of
poison. While the music of Dove’s harp
is aiding a being as described above, the
harp and harpist (not the being aided,
unless the harpist is that being) radiate
a faint white faerie fire or nimbus.
Experience Point Value: 500
Gold Piece Sale Value: 2,500
 

Esheen’s Harp: The tones of this harp
cause all glass and metal within 3" to
ring and resonate, “singing along with”
the playing of the harp: an eerie and
attention-getting effect. When the
harp-player plucks the lowest string on
the harp, any glass or metal objects up
to 3" distant that the end of the body of
the harp is pointing at must save versus
“crushing blow” or shatter instantly
into tiny shards. This path of effect is
approximately 1' wide.
Magical armor, bracers, weapons,
and other magical items (a metal or
glass vial that contains a magical oil,
ointment, or potion is not itself magical)
gain a bonus on their saving throws of
+1 or whatever their magical “plus”
may be, whichever is greater, to avoid
being affected by the harp. The harp
can shatter items that have saved successfully
against it on earlier rounds,
but the harp-player cannot choose to
affect some items in the harp’s path of
effect and not to affect others. The harp
can be so used once per round.
Experience Point Value: 5,000
Gold Piece Sale Value: 25,000
 

Janthra’s Harp: At the end of a round of
harping the harp-player and any other
creatures touching him or her, up to a
limit of four creatures, are concealed.
They are invisible even to animals and
infravision (cannot be scented or tracked),
can pass without trace (as in the 1st
level druid spell), and move and speak
cloaked in silence, even though their
speech and movement are clearly audible
to one another. This protection lasts
for as long as the harp is played (its own
music can be clearly heard, but always
sounds far-off and as though coming
from all directions). Any creature losing
even momentary contact with the harpist
instantly becomes audible and visible,
and cannot regain this protection
even if it touches the harpist or other
protected creature again, until the harp
has been stilled. When it is so stilled,
and the playing begins anew, a full
round of playing must always occur
before the concealment is resumed.
Spellcasting is possible when under the
harp’s concealment, but at the instant
of the spell’s taking effect, the caster
appears even if contact with the harpist
hasn’t been lost. A creature cannot play
the harp and cast spells or cantrips of
any sort simultaneously, nor activate
and control magical items.
Experience Point Value: 5,000
Gold Piece Sale Value: 25,000

Methild’s Harp:

The music of this harp
parts all webs, opens all locks, breaks
all bonds, and unties all knots within 1"
of the harp. Magical locks and knots
gain a saving throw versus “breath” to
avoid being affected; anything thus saving
against such a harp is forever
immune to that particular Methild’s
harp. All webs, bonds, locks, and knots
affected by the harp are outlined with
an orange faerie fire from the moment
of their being affected (within 1 round
of being within effective range of the
harp’s playing) for 1 turn. Magical barriers
such as protective symbols and
pentagrams, shields, walls of force,
force cages and the like without a
designed opening are not affected by
the harp. A rope of constriction, rope of
entanglement or rug of smothering
within 1" of the harp when it is played
temporarily (for 1-4 rounds) ceases to
function and releases any creatures it
has entrapped; a creature actually
entrapped by such an item could not
play the harp itself.
Experience Point Value: 4,000
Gold Piece Sale Value: 20,000

Nithanalor’s Harp: The music of this
harp affects only its player, and all
things held or carried by the player.
The player is instantly protected (and
this protection lasts for as long as the
harp is played) as though by a stoneskin
spell (see the fourth level magic-user
spell), and the harp and all things worn
or carried, no matter how fragile, are
similarly protected; they are almost
immune to physical attack. No other
creatures or items can be protected by
the harp-music, even it they touch the
harpist.
In addition, a moving field of protection
exists about the harp and the player’s
arms, so that it is extremely difficult
to physically prevent or restrain the
harpist’s playing. Magical attacks are
unaffected, and the harp’s protection
can be ended by a silence 15’ radius or a
hold person cast upon the harpist.
Experience Point Value: 2,500
Gold Piece Sale Value: 12,500

Rhingalade’s Harp: The tones of this
harp cause the harpist to blink (as in the
third level magic-user spell) for as long
as desired, and the harp is played. In
addition, 1-4 mirror images (as in the
second level magic-user spell) of the
harpist are instantly created, and these
blink in the same manner as the harpist
himself, and at slightly different times,
so that the harpist (or rather, at least
one image of the harpist) is always in
view. Such images vanish forever when
struck by a weapon, but otherwise
remain in existence until the harp is
stilled. The harpist cannot cast other
spells or make attacks during this
time—for when the harping ends, so do
these effects, and they cannot be reevoked
until the harp has rested for at
least 3 rounds of silence.
Experience Point Value: 2,000
Gold Piece Sale Value: 12,000
 

Valarde’s Harp: The character playing
this harp can at will cause either of two
effects to occur, each taking effect at
the end of one complete round of play:
a gust of wind (as in the third level
magic-user spell), moving outwards
from the end of the body piece of the
harp, or a wind wall (as in the third
level magic-user spell) of 2" square, lasting
for 3 rounds, although the harper
can end it sooner if desired. Tiny points
of radiance appear, flicker, dance, and
wink out on the strings of this harp, and
about the brow or head of the being
playing it, while its strings are in
motion.
Experience Point Value: 1,000
Gold Piece Sale Value: 6,000
 

Zunzalor’s Harp: The tones of this
instrument create a 3" radius globe of
pearly-white continual light centered
upon the harp; this radiance lasts as
long as the harp’s strings sound, and
within this radiance the following
effects are present: dispel illusion (as in
the fourth-level magic-user spell), dispel
invisibility (all sorts except psionic), and
reveal glyph or symbol (such magical
things—and all magical or illusionary
runes, marks, or inscriptions, including
wizard mark, illusionary script,
unreadable magic- protected writings,
glyph of warding, symbol, and the like,
are revealed in outline; they glow a
luminous blue, and can be precisely
located or even, if a spell book, scroll, or
expert knowledge can be consulted,
tentatively identified or drawn for later
study, for the harp’s music does not “set
such things off” and cause them to visit
their effects upon persons studying
them. (The harp does not prevent the
normal operation of such magical
things if they are set off by being touched
or in some other prescribed manner.)
Shadows, tweens, and other
hard-to-see creatures are clearly visible,
outlined in blue radiance, if they
are even momentarily within the harp’s
globe of radiance. A mage employing
duo-dimension appears as a thin vertical
line of blue radiance in mid-air while
within the sphere of Zunzalor’s Harp.
Experience Point Value: 4,000
Gold Piece Sale Value: 25,000