Bard

**Bards** are versatile arcane spellcasters, capable in combat, art, and magic alike. Bards usually travel the world, living of the money they earn from performing their spectacular shows. They combine the art of magic with the art of showmanship to create mystifying shows. They use their magical talents to induce an little extra flair to the show, typically through conjurations and illusions.

In addition to their magical skills, bards are artistically talented and extraordinarily well-learned, possessing a surprisingly wide range of knowledge and being a member of prestigious collages. Bards are among the most versatile of adventurers, capable of learning from practically any trade.

## Bardic Colleges

Bardic Colleges are institutions specialised in the study, training, and preservation of the arts. Each college is specialised in their own art form and the colleges often keep up friendly rivalries. To witness a talent competition between two or more colleges is a rare event which most people will never forget. A bard might decide to join a college once he has the feeling that they have developed their own talents enough to make the jump from a hobbyist to a professional.

### **College of Glamour**

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Those of the College of Glamour live in a constant typhoon of fame and attention. Everyday their screaming groupies worship them as demigods, and every night they party as if they were the gods themselves. In the college of glamour these bards have learned how to magically play the emotions of their audiences almost as well as their usual instruments.

This magical manipulation has resulted in mixed feelings from the population; the youth absolutely adore them, while the elderly despise and fear them. But no matter their feelings about the bards, all must admit that to have witnessed a glamour bard perform is the stuff of legends, even if they don't know whatever it was the music or the magic.

### **College of Lore**

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The College of Lore is primarily concerned with the conversation of information and the spreading of truth. The halls of the college are filled with endless bookshelf, some of which contain one-of-a-kind tomes. The college holds seminars about a wide variety of subjects, such as history, religion, and magic, and doesn't shy away from inviting scholars to give a presentation about their work. Its graduates are knowledgeable in a wide realm of subjects, and more importantly have learned how to quickly and efficiently find the information they don't have.

Lore Bards value the truth over all things, and travel the world to spread it through music, tales, and art. With these art forms they hope to teach and inspire to populace so they might begin to think about themselves and the world, and so the might change it for the better. For this very reason it is often the despotic and the influential who despite the college of Lore, and who take every opportunity to discredit them when an accident arises.

### **College of Satire**

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Those of the College of Satire don't give a flying wombat about the values and norms of society. They are just out to cross every line, break every rule, and to trigger any and all Paladins they might stumble across. Thou they do try to remember people that they are an act, not a role model, but most don't heed this warning.

The art of the trade for these professional clowns are repartee, slam poetry, puns, the ukulele, the kazoo, and the noble nose flute. With these instruments they tell stories of ones most embarrassing moments, provoking mockery, secret social criticisms which either make their audience erupt into belly rupturing laughter or into white hot rage. But some say to attack a Satire Bard for his jokes is to invoke the anger of Gamelon himself. However most satire bards hide behind a facade of incompetence just to be save and to lower their enemies defences.

### **College of Swords**

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Bards from the College of Swords are know to display dashing performances where they fence, throw knives, and even swallow their swords in graceful displays of sword mastery. They are often known to be hired as personal mentors for young nobleman. Others still keep secret double lives where they fight evil, chilling out, and take it slow, and then don a wig and become famous performers by night who rock out the local tavern, getting the best of both worlds.

The College of Swords teaches its pupils in colosseum where any visitors can come and watch them train. Here they duel, dance, and train their body to not quiver in fright at the sight of a sword. During festivals these coliseums might be used to give day long performances of martial prowess.

### **College of Valour**

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At the hearth of a tavern the valour bard stands, telling the stories of mighty heroes and their legendary quests. Once their tales are over they toast their tankards with the other patrons of the tavern, hoping that these words have inspired at least one of them to become a part of the next generation of heroes.

When great deeds have been committed it is almost certain that a group of valour bards will come and interview everyone nearby for firsthand accounts and juice rumours. And at night these bards come together again to share what they have learned and to write new easy to remember stories together out of it so these deeds might never be forgotten.