Spelldancer

Spelldancers, valantra, or spellsingers, were a unique kind of mage in the Realms who relied on a form of magic based on song and dance.
==Description==
Spelldancers were known to outsiders in Waterdeep and the Dalelands as spellsingers, but that name had fallen out of favor by . They called themselves "valantra". Often people of wild and vibrant feelings, female spellsingers outnumbered men ten to one or more.
==Skills==
The spellsinger practice required great vigor, insight, and brainpower, and thus, all valantra were equally exceptional in those aspects, and inescapably, they had practice in both song and dance. None of them was familiar with the use of armor or any kind of shield.
To cast spells, valantra began a frenzied dance while entering a trance state, in which they opened their mind to phenomenal cosmic energies; this obviated any need for material components, but made their practice more difficult when casting spells lacking other kinds of components. Any spell that a wizard could cast was accessible to the valantra. After a time directly proportional to the spell's exclusiveness and power requirements, they had a chance, based on the quality of their dance, of achieving the desired result; depending on the power they attempted to tap, they also required about that many minutes of dance. Though success was far from assured for any spell, valantra had a significant chance to summon up spells of power that equivalent wizards, or even far greater ones, had not a chance of accessing on their own power. However, later sources explained that valantra were not capable of casting powerful spells alone. Other sources spoke of valantra preparing a spell through a long song and dance, releasing it later through an instant's playing on an instrument.
A valantra could dance longer to mitigate the difficulty of greater spells, but this dance was so extenuating that it couldn't be danced for long, with a limit of about eighteen minutes for even the heartiest of valantra. After the dance was done, a valantra needed about as long to rest. Valantra of some progress had the ability to instead use their dance for evasive purposes, but the lack of a magical trance halved the duration of their dance. Valantra of greater power could also seek to enthrall all viewers with their song and dance; such performances involved a song, which if sung in a language the targets understood, became far more likely to succeed- albeit it was far weaker against targets that misliked the valantra.
Ever more advanced valantra became ever more evasive in a focused dance, and their period of enthrallment grew even longer. At the pinnacle of the valantra spellsinger's art, they could use their dance to make onlookers fall asleep for at least an hour and forty minutes, perhaps twice that for those who honed their abilities to the extreme. Weaker onlookers were affected first, while those of superior prowess became targets only as the dance progressed.
Valantra could dance together in groups of three to eight in order to improve their odds of achieving their desired goals through the dance, but such circles were about as effective as the least of the dancing valantra. Thus, spellsingers only ever used such dances in groups of about level skill. When a valantra's song and dance fell short of the goal, the results could range from no effect to absolute disaster; the true nature of the disaster was unpredictable, but it was believed to be related to the effect sought, perhaps inverting targets, and perhaps taking other forms.
However, the exclusive dedication that the path of the valantra required of its practitioners meant that no valantra could ever learn different paths to power. Furthermore, it was incompatible with the creation of magical items, and valantra could neither use nor devise even spell scrolls. Valantra dance was an inborn talent, though it required refining.
Another known ability of spellsingers was spellsinger's luck, which was bestowed upon a few individuals in history. Spellsingers were also known to have emoployed a number of greater abilities singly such as the aforemetnioned luck, but they had been recorded to pay for such power with their lives. Another such power that had been manifested by a spelldancer was a spell that created wild magic throughout a large area, again, at the cost of the user's life.
By , they were instead referred to as spelldancers, both because the dance was at the heart of their power, and because it was too easy to mix them up with spellslingers, a term referring to about any mage. Furthermore, the spelldancers best known by that tiy had also me period used the dance to augment spells which they cast through more traditional means instead, only using their dance to apply metamagic to their spells. They also employed a sorcerous dance that undid the wits of their audience, acting akin to confusion, learned only after the dance of sleep. While their defensive dance was ineffective against most blows, it was recognized as being capable of avoiding all damage from many area spells.
==History==
In , Olothontor was fought off by three spellsingers after sinking a ship.While there is no indication it might be one kind of spellsinger over the other made explicit in the text, FOR9, Wizards and Rogues of the Realms claims that valantra spellsingers are a long-running mystery of the Realms and were included at the behest of Ed Greenwood. Taking such an assertion at face value, it would follow that older mentions of spellsingers by Ed Greenwood would refer to such spellsingers, rather than elven spellsingers such as the ones apparently first introduced in Elfsong. Thus, a number of such spellsinger mentions are explicitly rejected as valantra. Andarra's mention, being a part of Greenwood's opus, is assumed to refer to a valantra, while Alyniria's is concluded to be one, given it predates both Elfsong and any eponymous kits as well as being a part of Greenwood's opus. Olothonthor, due to the explicit mention of powers combining, is also assumed to have faced valantra spellsingers; the mention in the hill of lost souls, too, predates all other interpretations and is thus believed to be valantra.
During the Time of Troubles, Belkram Hardeth related that the spellsinger Andarra had spent the last of her lifeforce rendering magic wild in a battle against the Zhentarim in Greycloak Hills at some point in the past.
Mintiper Moonsilver received a dying brand from Alyniria, who used the last of her life to weave a lasting protection on him, and taught him the ancient Runetongue.
The Hill of Lost Souls was used as a secret meeting place by spellsingers as of the mid-1360's DR. As of , spellsingers were known to comprise part of the clergy of Finder Wyvernspur who counted two such as part of his clergy in and Shiallia. The Harpers passed down stories of such spellcasters, but by the late mid-14 century, no Harper had any such ability.
==Notable Valantra==
*The Dancing Witch of the Vilhon Reach
*"Mad Athla" of Tashluta
*The Singing Witch of the North
*Andarra
*Alyniria
==Trivia==
While the word "Valantra" referred actually to a nomadic group of the Heartlands, practitioners of this kind of spellsingers always called themselves "Valantra".
Spellsingers of Eilistraee were not the same as Valantra spellsingers.
==Appendix==
===Notes===
===References===
FR:Danseur de sorts
Category:Classes
Category:Wizards
Category:Wizards (2e)
Category:Specialist wizard classes