THE BARDS OF IMPERIAN

Born from the people's love of music, the first bards travelled far and
wide, carrying tales of history and heroes, news and knowledge,
entertaining and informing all with their songs, sketches and
performances. They varied from the Court Bard who sang of kings, to the
travelling Troubadour who often sang for her supper.

After the Awakening, the Bards slowly found themselves discovering
fragments of a lost song, each hearing a word or note, carrying
exquisite harmony itself, yet incomplete. Pursuing these, they banded
slowly together and discovered that they were hearing the Song of the
World, sung at the time of the world's creation in the Ancient Tongue,
which speaks directly to the very soul that somehow had been Awakened
itself. Over time, these individuals noticed that properly combining
words and fragments of the Language could alter reality itself, allowing
them to weave mighty powers with their arts. Embracing the arts of
Voice, Thespia, and Artistry, they sought to maintain their traditions 
of spreading tales and songs, seeking out both new fragments, and new tales.

Their old welcoming by many allowed their developing powers to be
considered merely an extension of their music, and thus Bards are still
welcome in countless places, as of old. However, there is an ancient
saying, to anger a bard is to anger the world. Before the Awakening, it
meant more that the bard would spread his anger in his tales, slowly
turning others against the one who angered him. Nowadays, perhaps that
saying has a more literal and mysterious meaning. Certainly few truly
wish to plumb the depths of their power through having it focused upon
them. Bound tightly together by love of their arts and histories, they
are almost family-like, welcomed and welcoming, yet their power in its
height could perhaps change the very world.