Artifact Unique

Resonance Harp of Still Waters

A tall, arching harp carved from a single piece of petrified driftwood recovered from a millennia-dry riverbed, its strings spun from purified Aqua-Essence crystallized into impossibly fine, translucent filaments that hum even in the absence of wind. When played, the strings do not merely vibrate, they undulate like the surface of a calm lake, and the sound produced seems to originate from everywhere water is present within earshot.

Artifact Details

Type
Relic
Rarity
Unique
Origin
Forged jointly by a master of the Guild of Resonance Artists and an Echo Sage during a rare alignment of the three great inland lakes, the Harp was conceived as a diplomatic instrument, a tool for resolving inter-state disputes through Aqua-Resonance rather than force. Its Aqua-Essence strings were drawn from the confluence point of three rivers, encoding the memory of unity into the instrument's fundamental tone.
Tags
Aqua-ResonanceResonance ArtistsDiplomacyMusic

Overview

Resonance Harp of Still Waters is a unique relic in Landorya. Its known origin is Forged jointly by a master of the Guild of Resonance Artists and an Echo Sage during a rare alignment of the three great inland lakes, the Harp was conceived as a diplomatic instrument, a tool for resolving inter-state disputes through Aqua-Resonance rather than force. Its Aqua-Essence strings were drawn from the confluence point of three rivers, encoding the memory of unity into the instrument's fundamental tone.. Its most cited abilities include Aqua-Resonance projection: induces calm, emotional healing, or focused grief in all listeners near water, Communication across the Ripple Net by encoding messages into harmonic frequencies, and Influence over aquatic fauna, compelling them to approach, disperse, or act as directed. Accounts also warn of a drawback: Playing the Harp to deliberately incite grief or despair, inverting its intended purpose, causes the Aqua-Essence strings to absorb the player's own emotional…

History

The Harp was first played at the signing of the Silverstream Accords, where its calming resonance is credited with preventing a trade war between two rival lake-cities over Flow-Well extraction rights. It was later carried by a Resonance Artist emissary to a summit with land-based civilizations threatening to dam the upper Silverstream, where three days of continuous playing allegedly softened diplomatic positions enough to reach a peaceful resolution. Its current keeper is the Prime Resonant of the Guild of Resonance Artists, who brings it to each annual gathering of the River-Weave Market.

Powers & Abilities

  • Aqua-Resonance projection: induces calm, emotional healing, or focused grief in all listeners near water
  • Communication across the Ripple Net by encoding messages into harmonic frequencies
  • Influence over aquatic fauna, compelling them to approach, disperse, or act as directed
  • Suppression of Stagnation Magic within a wide radius while music is sustained

Curse or Drawback

Playing the Harp to deliberately incite grief or despair, inverting its intended purpose, causes the Aqua-Essence strings to absorb the player's own emotional memory, slowly erasing their capacity for joy until the instrument is ritually cleansed by an Aqua-Healer.

See also