HARPERS

The Harpers are a semi-secret society. They are primarily a good-aligned group that is allied with a number of good churches, and recieving support from powerful neutral individuals, including druidic circles. Thier aim is to keep dangers both of and to civilisation at bay. They believe in the power of individuals, the balance between the wild and the civilised, and the good of humankind and its allied sentient races. They also believe in preserving the tales of the past, so that one may learn from those tales in the future. The harpers attract a wide variety of adventurers, but the society is most attractive to elves, rangers and bards.

Harpers are spread throughout the North and the Heartlands, often operating in secret. They are by nature meddlers and often operate alone or in small groups to achieve their ends.

The code of the Harpers explains what it is to be a harper.

What a Harper is in the words of Mirt the Moneylender of Waterdeep, explaining to Shandril:

"Right, then, good Lady Shandril, I shall try to tell thee something of what it is to be a Harper." ... "A Harper holds peaceful sharing of the lands above all other goals." ... "By sharing, we mean all the races living in and under the land, where each prefers to live, trading together where desire and need stir them to, and respecting each other's holds and ways -- without the daily bloodletting that all too often holds sway in the Realms today." ... "True, we must fight, it seems often enough to keep our swords and our tempers both sharp enough. Yet, know ye; all of us fight when we must, or die. Moroever, ye only hear of blades drawn and death and spells hurled, and never know of the many, many times that a quiet word or a skilfull deal has turned enemies aside from each other, forced a way clear where none was before, or distracted foes from the eager task of tearing each other's throats out. That is the true Harper way: subtle and quiet, behind the shouting. Trust and wisdom, and outfoxing othes is what we deal in."

Taken from the Harper novel, Crown of Fire by Ed Greenwood.

For information of the Harpers the following texts have information:

• Running the Realms by Ed Greenwood and Jeff Grubb - Part of the Forgotten Realms Boxed Set.
• A series of TSR novels called the Harpers. Each is a stand alone novel. There are currently about 18 novels in this open-ended series.