A Harper's Companion

A Harper's Companion was a series of songbooks written circa 1200 DR by the Cormyrian bard Cressaed Wood. It comprised three volumes, each containing a number of songs, which carried magical effects, similar to spells.

Volume I
There were twelve known finished copies of volume I, which contained cantrips. At least one copy was housed at Candlekeep, and the remaining copies were mostly found in private libraries.

Volume II
There were five known finished copies of volume II, and these contained songs that, when performed, would act like spells. Candlekeep possessed one copy, a Master Harper possessed another, and the other known copy was in the hands of a private collector in Waterdeep, although the whereabouts of two copies remained unknown.

Volume III
There were only two known finished copies of the third volume, which contained songs with spell effects more powerful than those from the previous volumes. Although one copy was kept as a family heirloom by the Ironclaw bard family of Suzail, the other was lost, disappearing with its owner shortly after it was presented.

The copy was discovered by Halarim Threesilver and his companions, a mercenary company who were scouting in Cormyr and western Sembia after the war with the Devil Dragon and the ghazneths. He wrote a letter home, telling of his discovery, which was dated 21 Eleint, 1371 DR, but he and his companions were never heard from after that, and presumed dead.

The third volume was worth around 5000 gp, but due to its significance in Cormyr, scholars there might have paid up to 6000 gp. Since Candlekeep already possessed the other two volumes, it would have paid 10,000 gp, or take it as the library's entrance fee.

The third volume contained the following songs:
 * Arveene the Suspicious Wife (invisibility)
 * Ballad of the Mad King (rage)
 * The Doom of Steddman Dunn (nightmare lullaby)
 * Hastel's Drinking Song (delay poison)
 * O, Were that I a Bird (animal messenger)
 * Rand the Auspicious Beggar (tongues)
 * Take My Hand, My Love (cure moderate wounds)