Harpe

* Harpe
* Lake Knight
* Child
* Emote

"*Mother! When I grow up I wanna be a knight!*"
—Harpe[src]
**Harpe** is a knight serving the monster queen of Lake Tang. She is the daughter of Xiphos and Kopis, and was formerly in a relationship with Smith. Harpe grew up in the Badlands with the Barbarians. She grew up and left, and started living with Smith. After finding Smith in bed with one of his own swords, Harpe left and went off to find a new life. She got herself knighted by the Lake Queen and after a few side quests she was given a set of magic armor. She then entered in the Swor'nament, but lost her fight when her magic armor dissolved. She went back to Lake Tang only to learn that someone had stolen the Queen's sword. Harpe then went off to chase the sword thief.

## Biography

### Childhood

Harpe was born to the Barbarian King Xiphos and his wife, Kopis. She grew up in the Badlands, but always seemed to have a desire to visit other places. At a young age she expressed a desire to be a knight, which her parents supported. She seems to have had good relationships with both of her parents while growing up.

Sometime later in her life, Harpe met Smith and eventually started living with him in a house near Hiltshire. It's not clear if they were married, and they didn't have any kids. Smith had an obsession with swords and making them, which caused Harpe to slowly get more and more frustrated with him. Eventually Harpe left after she found Smith in bed with one of his swords.

## Knighthood

"*Do you know how hard it is to slay a sword hydra? With your BARE HANDS!?*"
—Harpe[src]Harpe traveled West, to Lake Tang. She stopped to take a break by the water, and a green hand emerged holding a sword. The unseen creature told Harpe that if she took the sword, she would become king. Instead of taking the sword, Harpe told the hand that she was instead looking for a knight hood. The creature holding the sword—the Lake Queen—then knighted Harpe.
When Harpe asked for a sword in order to enter the Swor'nament, the Lake Queen sent her on various quests.

Harpe's first quest was to pick 100 hiltberries. She found this to be easy enough, and her next quest was even easier: gathering a bag of steel wool from sword sheep.

The next quest was not as simple. The Lake Queen ordered Harpe to kill the sword hydra to the West of Lake Tang. Harpe didn't have a sword or any armor, and had to kill the giant monster with her bare hands. This is very impressive considering the huge size and strength of sword hydras, and the fact that Harpe basically punched it to death. Harpe did receive some cuts and scratches, but survived the encounter without major injury. Harpe was presumably sent on several more quests afterwards, but these aren't seen in the comics.

## The Swor'nament

The Lake Queen was satisfied, and rewarded Harpe for her efforts. She told Harpe that the sword she was holding is special and old, and then woke up the soul in it. The sword's soul emerged in the form of a watery, snake-like creature. This soul then wrapped around Harpe before transforming into a set of green armor.

Harpe then went off to enter into the Swor'nament. The tourney boy told her she couldn't enter because she had no sword. She demonstrated her fighting skill by chopping her hand down the boy's face, just grazing him enough that she didn't break the skin but causing so much friction that she removed a line of his hair and left a burn on the skin. After that she was allowed to enter the tournament.

While waiting for her match, saw Smith's defeat at the hands of Glaive. She told him about how King Hilton had stolen his sword. Just then, her father Xiphos walked in. Harpe recognized him, and took off her helmet to say hi. This greatly surprised both Xiphos and Smith, who didn't expect to see her there.

Harpe was matched against Joyeuse in the last match of the day. They seemed well matched, to Harpe's surprise and indignation, her magic armor suddenly dissolved. Joyeuse easily won the fight after that.

Harpe was disappointed about losing the fight, and confused about what had happened to her armor. She didn't know how that had happened, and was worried about the Lake Queen, since it was the Lake Queen's ancient sword that had provided her armor. She decided to go check on the queen and make sure that she was okay. As Harpe was leaving the Swor'nament arena, she met Joyeuse, who said she wanted to join Harpe in her short quest. Joy didn't have to return to the second round of the Swor'nament until the next day, and said she wasn't worried about not getting back in time.

## The Thief

Harpe and Joyeuse traveled West to Lake Tang. They reached it only to find the queen, lying dead on the bank of the lake with her arm chopped off. Harpe approached, yelling in shock at the sight of the dead queen. Suddenly, the dead queen rose out of the water, revealing that what looked like her entire body was only the end of her huge tail. Her actual body had been submerged the whole time.

The Queen then told Joy and Harpe about how a mysterious traveler chopped off her arm and stole her sword. The details of this fight aren't included in the comic, but the discussion continues until the next morning. Joyeuse needs to head back to the Swor'nament for round 2, but Harpe decides to go after the thief.

The Lake Queen pulls an enormous sword out of her mouth, and gives it to Harpe for her to use on her quest. The sword is so huge that Harpe has to drag it behind her, bur she takes it anyways and heads off after the mysterious thief.

## Personality

Harpe is very trusting, even of people or creatures that she barely knows. She is also very determined, and once she has a goal she will keep pushing for it no matter the difficulty.

She may have also been somewhat secretive, since Smith didn't know she was daughter of a barbarian king.

### Motivations

Harpe seems to have a hunger for adventure. Her lifelong goal has been to be a knight, and she is ready and willing to go on various quests.

## Powers and Abilities

* **Combat Skills**: Harpe has tremendous skill at hand-to-hand combat. She was able to beat a sword hydra to death, and could easily fight enemies that had swords while she only had some armor on. She probably learned how to fight so well from her barbarian upbringing, and improved from the various quests she was sent on. It's not known how good she is with a sword, but based on her desire to enter the Swor'nament with a sword, it's reasonable to assume that she is at least proficient.

## Gear

* **Lake Armor**: The soul of the Blue Godsword in the form of green armor. It is a complete set with that covers Harpe from head to toe. The armor has spikes in various places, as well as a curved crest on top of the helmet that holds a tiny sword. Harpe used this armor to fight on the first round of the Swor'nament. The armor is seemingly still linked to the Godsword, as it dissolved when the sword was stolen.
* **The Big Sword**: An enormous blade eaten by the Lake Monster. This sword was once wielded by the Overgnome the biggest of the gnomes but he was eaten by the lake monster when he was offered Greg's Vane. This was later given to Harpe for use while she tracked down the sword thief. It's so huge that she can only drag it, and may not be very useful when she does catch up to the thief.

## Relationships

### Family

* Parents
	+ Xiphos
	+ Kopis

### Allies

* Joyeuse
* The Lake Monster
* Smith

### Enemies

* Joyeuse(Temporary Opponent)
* Silvertongue
* The Demon Knight
* Tourney Boy

## Trivia

* Like many other characters, Harpe is named after a type of sword. A harpe is an ancient Greek or Roman sword, which are curved similar to scythes or have a scythe-like protrusion somewhere along the blade.

## References

1. ↑ https://swordscomic.com/swords/VIII/
2. ↑ https://swordscomic.com/swords/CLXXXVII/
3. ↑ https://swordscomic.com/swords/XX/
4. ↑ https://swordscomic.com/swords/XXVII/
5. ↑ https://swordscomic.com/swords/XXXIX/
6. ↑ https://swordscomic.com/swords/XLIX/
7. ↑ https://swordscomic.com/swords/LVIII/
8. ↑ https://swordscomic.com/swords/XCV/
9. ↑ https://swordscomic.com/swords/LXI/
10. ↑ https://swordscomic.com/swords/LXXXII/
11. ↑ https://swordscomic.com/swords/C/
12. ↑ https://swordscomic.com/swords/CXIX/
13. ↑ https://swordscomic.com/swords/CXLI/