Gloriana

Wondrous Item (instrument, unique), legendary, soul-bound, attuned only to Tallis Thorne

Gloriana is a radiant twelve-string lyre-harp of rare craftsmanship, her frame forged from golden wood that hums faintly when no one listens. Her strings glisten with a soft light that shifts in colour and intensity based on the emotional truth behind the music. When Tallis sings praises of himself, she glows in theatrical delight; when he performs in grief or sincerity, her tone deepens, revealing echoes far older than the bard himself.

Though most see her as a finely enchanted instrument, Gloriana is much more.

Properties

• Echo of Ego
  Enhances performances involving themes of self-celebration or dramatic flair. When Tallis sings of his own deeds, Gloriana adds layered harmonies, minor illusions, and a gentle glow that amplifies the spectacle.

• Harmonic Deflection (1/day)
  With a sharp strum and a clever remark, Tallis may deflect a single spell or projectile. This ability resets at dawn.

• Resonant Truth
  If Tallis performs with genuine emotion—grief, vulnerability, or unmasked affection—Gloriana’s music takes on a haunting quality that subtly compels nearby listeners to silence and reflection (DC 15 WIS save to ignore).

• Emotion-Tuned Strings
  The colour of each string shifts in tone with Tallis’s emotional state. A sharp green for mischief. Pale gold for melancholy. Deep violet for hidden longing. Only Gloriana knows the full key.

• Singularly Bound
  Gloriana cannot be played by anyone else. In other hands, she behaves as a mundane instrument—finely made, but lifeless. Her enchantments remain dormant.

Hidden Lore

What Tallis does not know—and what no magic can currently reveal—is that Gloriana once belonged to a dear friend now lost. Not to death, but to something worse: erasure. She was cast into isolation so profound that even her existence has been removed from history, from memory, from song. Only Tallis’s unspoken love for her remains, unknowingly preserved in his bond with Gloriana.

Though he believes he found or inherited the harp, the truth is more tragic: Gloriana is the last remnant of a connection he cannot name. She remembers her true owner. She remembers Tallis. And she waits.

When he plays the unnamed melody—the song he doesn’t know—Gloriana glows with a sorrowful blue light, almost as if she is trying to answer a call no one else can hear.

It is said that if the right verse is sung on the right night, beneath the right stars, the harp may open a path back to the one who was lost. But no one knows the song yet. Not even Tallis.