Bard

The Bard class is a rather recent formalisation of the wisdom of the Great Bard, Scarlatti, God of the Arts. During a casual festival of the arts, Ralph Mercadia, long a singer and performer, learned the songs of Scarlatti and was encouraged to continue to develop the songs and skills of the Bard by that ancient deity. Thus was born the still-young class of Bard.

Bards may be swashbuckling adventurers, contemplative wordsmiths, or raucous performers. Regardless of the path they choose, they all share a love of music and the written arts in all their forms. This focus on creativity must not be mistaken for a careless attitude towards life, however. Though it may seem strange, a bard has perfected his voice and body to such a finely honed edge that a skilful one can stand his ground against even a fully-armoured knight.

Harmonics

Harmonics embodies all that is beautiful in music, from voice and instrument, brought together. Speed your allies, restore their health, and protect them from damage. Accomplished practitioners of this art can create multiple harmonics in one place, send them to other locations, or call them back with a word. Harmonics generally require use of one of the five bardic instruments - flute, lute, lyre, mandolin, and harp.

Abilities in Harmonics

Lament	The shadowy lament may cause fear in those who hear it.
Control	Master the manipulation of your harmonics.
Anthem	A mighty defensive harmonic protecting against damage.
Harmonius	Allows communication in all distinct languages.
Polyphony	The ability to maintain two harmonics simultaneously.
Andante	Call your harmonics to you.
Cacophony	Destroy the reverberation vibration of a magi.
Minuet	Induce a state of extreme gullibility in an opponent.
Aeternam	Access the place of eternal song to store harmonics.
Poes	Draw on the Place of Eternal Song for emergency needs.
Counterpoint	Set up three harmonics simultaneously.
Rondo	Call out the rats with their favourite melody.
Contradanse	Periodically afflict your enemies' minds.
Paxmusicalis	Declare an intermittent musical peace.
Gigue	Decrease equilibrium recovery time for your allies.
Percussia	Create a sonic explosion.
Bagatelle	Deliver periodic magical damage against your enemies.
Simpleharmony	The ability to place four harmonics in a room.
Partita	Protect other harmonics from disturbance.
Battaglia	Project your harmonics into neighboring rooms.
Berceuse	Put an enemy to sleep with this soporific tune.
Continuo	Regenerate physical well-being with this movement.
Complexharmony	With this, you may set up five harmonics in a room.
Wassail	Restore mana for allies with the jaunty Wassail.
Chorale	A group harmonic that gives experience to the listeners.
Funeralmass	The dark, mournful mass with the power to slay.
Canticle	Decrease balance recovery time for your allies.
Undertonal	Maintain seven harmonics in a single room.
Reel	Disrupt the balance of enemies with this complex melody.
Hallelujah	Carry an audience to ineffable joy.
Overtonal	Your mastery is such that unlimited harmonics are yours.

Swashbuckling

Swash your buckles with the best! Swashbuckling combines fast movement with a quick wit, witty repartee, and a flashing rapier. Prove that elegance and subtlety of approach will always dominate over brute force. Swashbuckling combines a rapier and a keen mind to produce a truly effective fighting machine. The skill includes methods to deal death from above or parry multiple places at once, your blade moving with breathtaking speed. Moving between various specialised stances and dance about with acrobatic ease, avoiding any damage from your clumsy opponent's blade. Swashbuckling can only be truly effective when undertaken with a song-blessed rapier, as everyone knows. To gain the blessing, simply take your rapier to the Grotto of Song, which is off the beach in Tasur'ke. Once you have completed "BATHE RAPIER IN SONG" you will have the perfect tool for the ultimate swashbuckler.

Abilities in Swashbuckling

Swing	Swing gracefully up into the trees overhead.
Flourish	Intimidate an opponent with a flourish of your blade.
Backflip	Flip over obstructions that stand in your way.
Auralbless	Use your song-blessed blade to remove deafness.
Tunesmithing	Harness the power of your songblessed rapier.
Accentato	Let your songblessed rapier sing out to harm your opponent.
Handspring	Leap at your foes in neighboring rooms.
Riposte	Unleash a strike of vengeance.
Acrobatics	Leap and bounce to make yourself a difficult target to hit.
Gripping	Grip your wielded items in a deathlock.
Scan	Scanning the forest floor from the treetops.
Knuckleslap	Numb an opponent's hand temporarily.
Shove	Sending a hapless victim crashing to the forest floor.
Thrustkick	Kick your opponent out of the way.
Backhandspring	Leap out of the room striking someone on the way out.
Raze	Attack the defences that would keep your weapons out.
Abscond	Swing down and abscond with the rector's daughter!
Acciaccatura	Tunesmith your songblessed rapier against a specific limb.
Arrowcatch	Pluck arrows from the air with the greatest of ease.
Drunkensailor	A stance designed to make your movements unpredictable.
Envenom	Coat a weapon in venoms.
Somersault	Quickly somersault past obstructions, even when bound.
Martellato	Knock your opponent to the floor with this tunesmithing.
Highleap	The sky is within your reach.
Dodging	Avoiding attacks from the sky.
Heartsfury	An aggressive stance that gives a chance of counterattack.
Lunge	A deep, piercing blow from an adjacent location.
Balancing	You're like a cat, you are.
Deathfromabove	The name says it all. Death, from above!
Trueparry	Such is your mastery that you may parry a larger area.
Pesante	Stun an opponent with the power of your tunesmithed rapier.

Voicecraft

Voicecraft is the skill centred on using the voice, with or without instrumental accompaniment, to create various effects to aid yourself or those you wish to favour, or to afflict your enemies. Chant, sing, or recite your way to fame and glory as you shatter crystal forests, sing down shields, protect yourself from damage, or free yourself from various forms of binding - all through the power of Voicecraft. A unique feature of Voicecraft abilities is that they do not use or require you to have normal equilibrium or balance. They work on their own kind of balance called "voice balance."

Abilities in Voicecraft

Maqam	A graceful song of the desert to cause clumsiness.
Lay	Create a field of distortion to protect against fashioning.
Haiku	Alright, seriously now...what did that mean?
Isorhythm	Claustrophobia is only a few, droning notes away.
Tune	Protect against damage of all types.
Dirge	Soothe the hands of the grave.
Fugue	Instill fear with a complex fugue.
Solo	Drain the mana from a victim.
Poem	A poem of gluttony and decay to induce nausea.
Yodel	Shatter a crystal forest with an irritating yodel.
Pastorale	Cause a target to develop a fear of heights.
Noise	A screeching, meaningless noise that numbs the mind.
Gimmegimme	A chant of generosity sure to pay off.
Ditty	A ditty that will short-circuit one's brain.
Limerick	Sing an impatience-causing limerick at your opponent.
March	Cause even the most steady of mounts to panic.
Requiem	If you think they're out to get you, you're right.
Tremolo	Crush a target's legs with a sonic pounding.
Vibrato	Shatter an opponent's arms with a trilling vibrato.
Epic	Paralyse a target with an epic tale of heroism.
Aria	Give a friend a short-term health bonus.
Prelude	Fashion an illusion from song.
Ode	Addiction is a terrible disease.
Cantata	Sing down someone's shield.
Dwinnu	A chant that will disintegrate that which binds you.
Qasida	With a qasida of asceticism, afflict someone with anorexia.
Passion	Instill stupidity with a glorious passion of Imithia.
Chant	Strip defences with a sonorous chant.
Songbird	Whistle a helpful songbird to your shoulder.
Soulfulvoice	Sing through vibrational barriers to reach your audience.