Blade singer
"Sing of the magic, and make the song magical..."
An old blade-singer proverb.
Blade-singers are an ancient elven warrior-mage tradition, almost lost in the modern day. Not only do blade-singers have a profound sense of personal responsibility and duty to maintain peace, the path they walk is very difficult. Their art demands high ability with both sword and spell, and neither can be neglected to walk the true path.
This scribe has been fortunate enough to make the acquaintance of a older elven blade-singer in the employ of the guild name Torques Torq Dweomerdawn , who requested the informal variant "torq". A minor noble long ago, he was trained by blade-singers in the heyday of myth drannor. He is an old and fairly grizzled being (for an elf) and told me the only reason that he was talking to me is that he believes that his art should never be truly forgotten, as he is not dissatisfied that there are so few practitioners of blade-song.
A blade-singer is an individual, almost always elven or half-elven, though rare exceptions do exist, that uniquely combines sword-play and magical incantations in a smooth process to form a truly versatile adversary that has advantages or both warrior and wizard, but having the limitations of neither.
I asked him what set blade-singers apart from the long-standing traditions of similar professions, such as war mages or spellswords. He scoffed rather dryly and stated that those traditions were founded long after blade-singers were established. He told me that while he could see certain advantages to those trainings, it seemed to him that they were always trying to mimic what "real" blade-mages could do. He stated that for a long time, blade-singers had an open challenge to any other spell-sword in the world, that if another could best a blade-singer in one versus one combat, the blade-singer would not only give the victor his sword in service for life, he would give the champion access to the libraries of myth drannor as his honored guest. None ever claimed the prize.
Torq discussed the lack of blade-singers currently, apparently while the willing trainers are few in number, very few of today's youth have the patience to truly learn the art. Also it seems that the few remaining blade-singers are very particular about who they will train. Torq would not reveal the names of any remaining blade-singers nor their whereabouts. I asked if he was willing to train anyone, and he stated that not only is his age something that would make it impossible, he took an oath to his teacher and to the goddess of magic, mystral, to never again train a student without blessing from her and from the timeless elven guardians of myth drannor. He then stated that as the guardians were all dead, they were unlikely to be able to give blessing.
Blade-singers are an ancient elven warrior-mage tradition, almost lost in the modern day. Not only do blade-singers have a profound sense of personal responsibility and duty to maintain peace, the path they walk is very difficult. Their art demands high ability with both sword and spell, and neither can be neglected to walk the true path.
This scribe has been fortunate enough to make the acquaintance of a older elven blade-singer in the employ of the guild name Torques Torq Dweomerdawn , who requested the informal variant "torq". A minor noble long ago, he was trained by blade-singers in the heyday of myth drannor. He is an old and fairly grizzled being (for an elf) and told me the only reason that he was talking to me is that he believes that his art should never be truly forgotten, as he is not dissatisfied that there are so few practitioners of blade-song.
A blade-singer is an individual, almost always elven or half-elven, though rare exceptions do exist, that uniquely combines sword-play and magical incantations in a smooth process to form a truly versatile adversary that has advantages or both warrior and wizard, but having the limitations of neither.
I asked him what set blade-singers apart from the long-standing traditions of similar professions, such as war mages or spellswords. He scoffed rather dryly and stated that those traditions were founded long after blade-singers were established. He told me that while he could see certain advantages to those trainings, it seemed to him that they were always trying to mimic what "real" blade-mages could do. He stated that for a long time, blade-singers had an open challenge to any other spell-sword in the world, that if another could best a blade-singer in one versus one combat, the blade-singer would not only give the victor his sword in service for life, he would give the champion access to the libraries of myth drannor as his honored guest. None ever claimed the prize.
Torq discussed the lack of blade-singers currently, apparently while the willing trainers are few in number, very few of today's youth have the patience to truly learn the art. Also it seems that the few remaining blade-singers are very particular about who they will train. Torq would not reveal the names of any remaining blade-singers nor their whereabouts. I asked if he was willing to train anyone, and he stated that not only is his age something that would make it impossible, he took an oath to his teacher and to the goddess of magic, mystral, to never again train a student without blessing from her and from the timeless elven guardians of myth drannor. He then stated that as the guardians were all dead, they were unlikely to be able to give blessing.
Career
Qualifications
Trained by another bladesinger, although there are very few left in the world. Their tendency to live by the sword means that they tend not to quietly retire at an august age.
Perception
Social Status
In ages past, when blade-singers were far more common, they enjoyed a high status in elven or fey societies. In any other society, they tend to be treated the same as any other sell-sword or magician for hire.
Operations
Tools
Their longsword, rapier, or elven blades for traditionalists, and whatever supplies they need for their incantations.
Provided Services
In the past, a blade-singer would spearhead an elite group of elven warriors, certainly as de facto leader and usually as the moral compass of the group. After the fall of myth drannor and the rise of humans and other shorter lived races, blade-singers wandered as sell-swords/mages for hire, always taking jobs that could benefit the elven race as a whole, or right a wrong or correct an injustice.
Dangers & Hazards
Blade-singers tend to be very "live in the now, don't give the future more thought then necessary.". This coupled with their inability to look the other way in the face of evil, and their penchant for unwillingness to wait, gives them tragically short lifespans, even compared to other adventurers.
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