The Bards' Guild of Erdreja | A Very Brief Imperial History of the Bards' Guild

Note -
Please forgive me that the following is in note form rather than set out as a coherent history - as you may have gathered if you have had previous exposure to my writings that I have a tendancy to ramble when left to my own devices and as such would probably end up burying most, if not all, of the pertinent information in irrelevant details and observations. These are merely the bare bones of my research. If you would wish to discuss this in more detail with me, please contact me here.
L McA.

A Very Brief Imperial History of the Bards' Guild
Researched by Lio'Ara McAywlyn

The Order of the Golden Harp
- The Order of the Golden Harp (hereafter O.G.H.) were initially part of the Emperor's forces, responsible for the spreading and gathering of information.
- The Empire used them as eyes and ears in villages and cities (their skills as musicians, storytellers, and scholars allowed them access everywhere as wandering troupes).
- Also used them as a way to control the disemination of information to the masses.
- Used their skills to inform as well as to find out, censor and manipulate what information and knowledge was available to the masses.
- They spread the information that the Emperor wanted out there and downplayed and surpressed that which he did not.
- The O.G.H. slowly evolved into the Enforcers.
- Not only did they control information flows but the things people thought about as effective "thought police".
- Gathered information about those who spoke out against the Empire and the Emperor and dealt with the problems.
- The Harpers were a short-lived group of fanatically anti-Imperial bards who spread their message using the same skill segts as the orginal O.G.H. used.

After the Empire
-The Guild (such as it was) fell into a disorganised period and much knowledge was lost.
- Not until recent times (late 11th Century - 1090s) did Tremain of Mercia cause the guild to be reformed in an organised way. The leader following him was Childris, who was possessed by Olethia and a lot of lost knowledge and skills came to be known again. Note - I found little information about these people - further investigation is warranted, especially regarding Olethia.
- Many of the skills of the O.G.H. are used and taught in the Guild today.
Note - it seems to me that Enforcers were ritually conditioned and altered in order to be able to learn and use the skills that made them so feared. The Guild therefore does not and most likely CANNOT teach those skills or even learn them.

Index of Scholarly Works

Alphabetical Index

(OC Author - Gillian Smart)