The Bard

History
Bards are perhaps the youngest of all the guilds. Their formation was pretty much a drifting together rather than someone's vision shaping people into their ideal. As a result bards do tend to be pretty laid back and relaxed. They are not driven by the same ambitions as are many of the other guilds.

The start of the guild can be traced back to large fairs, minstrels would meet and swap songs and stories. They would also gossip quite a lot and keep each other up to date on current affairs. As time passed people knew that minstrels were the people to ask about the world at large.

Their ability to see a persons coming luck was a new ability and turned out to be a mixed blessing. On warning of impending bad luck they would quite often be blamed for it when it turned up. Even though it really was nothing to do with them. After several lynchings they decided that the safest thing was to band together and take safety in numbers.

It took many years but finally they were able to show that they could only reveal, not influence another's luck. Also they developed their skills with music to the point where they were able to heal or charm by song. The former especially made them desirable members to adventurous parties as their healing song would heal all in the group.

The formation of the guild allowed them to build guild centres and thus created places where they could store and show music and learning. Many mages are seen at their guild centres perusing their extensive libraries. With these more permanent bases though they became targets of unscrupulous monarchs who wanted them to sing of their greatness. The bards knew that everything they had gained would be lost if they left the truth behind and refused. This has cost them dearly over the years but all know that a bard can and will sing or talk of the truth and nothing else, no matter the cost.

Attributes
The Bard is perhaps a jack of all trades and a master of none. They can cast spells fairly well and use armour and weapons reasonable well too. They are not really weak in any area. Their strength is best shown when they are members of a party of adventures. Their healing song affects each member of the party in earshot and has on many occasions been the difference between life and death. Their ability to charm a foe is perhaps very underrated. A charmed foe cannot offer them any harm, no matter how strong. They can also focus, through special objects, to see the luck of an individual present. This also has saved people when they realise that they are possibly close to death or out of favour with their gods.