The Sunstring Harp is one of the great relics associated with Lady Corinette, goddess of love, music, beauty, and inspiration. Though less infamous than darker artifacts such as Ossavel, the Harp is believed to be a relic of comparable divine significance: not merely a magical instrument, but a vessel of sacred harmony capable of shaping the hearts of mortals and calming the violent will of the world around it.

The Harp is most often described as a tall, elegant high harp of radiant goldwood and polished auric fittings, strung with luminous strings that seem to shimmer faintly even in darkness. Its music is said to carry further than it should, lingering in the air like remembered sunlight. Those who hear it played by a worthy hand often describe the sound as beautiful, mournful, and strangely forgiving.

Though it may possess powers beyond mortal understanding, its best-known use is as a naval warding relic, capable of shielding an entire ship and crew beneath a broad divine protection.

The Sunstring Harp is a masterwork instrument of striking beauty. Its frame appears to be carved from pale-gold wood or some divine material resembling it, reinforced with delicate bands of gold and white enamel. The pillar is often depicted with subtle floral and wave motifs, while the crown of the harp bears a stylized sunburst and dove-like wings associated with Lady Corinette.

Its strings are impossibly fine, shining like threads of gold, silver, and morning light. When played at sea, the strings sometimes hum in sympathy with the wind, the waves, and the voices of those aboard the ship.

Despite its elegance, the Harp is no fragile ornament. It has survived years at sea, the darkness of the Revenant Tide, and the grim burdens carried by Alice Summerville herself.

For many years, the Sunstring Harp was held by the Bardic College of Freeport, where it was revered as one of the college’s greatest treasures. It was not merely a teaching instrument, but a holy relic and symbol of the sacred bond between art, mercy, courage, and civilization.

Many bards believed that the Harp was not meant to be locked away forever, though few agreed on what that meant. Some maintained that it should only ever be played in ceremony. Others believed that relics of Corinette must go where sorrow is deepest and beauty most needed.

At some point, the Harp left Freeport in the possession of Alice Summerville. Whether Alice stole the relic, borrowed it, rescued it, or was quietly permitted to take it remains a matter of debate. The Bardic College’s official position is likely more complicated than its public one.

Alice brought the Harp aboard the Revenant Tide, where it remained for years.

Though feared across the Corsair Seas as Black Alice, Alice was also a dedicated follower of Lady Corinette. In her darker moments, she would play the Harp to soothe her own mind, steady her crew, and hold back the despair and violence that clung to her cursed existence. Some among the Revenant Tide’s crew claimed that the ship seemed less haunted when the Harp was played, as if the music reminded even the dead of who they had once been.

To Alice, the Harp was not simply a weapon, tool, or prize. It was a lifeline.

In time, Alice lent the Harp to Captain Bonzu of the Emerald Wake. Her only stated condition was that the relic should eventually find its way home to Freeport.

Whether this was an act of trust, penance, strategy, or faith is unknown. Those who know Alice best suspect it may have been all four.

The Harp’s most famous and reliable power is the ability to shield a naval craft beneath a broad divine protection, often compared to a ship-wide form of Protection from Evil.

When properly played and invoked, the Harp creates a golden mantle over the vessel and all souls aboard it. This ward does not usually appear as a solid barrier. Instead, witnesses describe faint golden motes in the air, a soft radiance along the rails and sails, and a feeling of warmth even in cold wind or dead fog.

The protection lasts for eight hours, provided the protected ship does not break the peace of the ward.

The Sunstring Harp functions best as a ship upgrade rather than a conventional carried magic item.

Once per appropriate interval, usually once per day or at the DM’s discretion, a worthy performer may invoke the Harp aboard a ship.

For the next 8 hours, the ship and crew are protected by a broad divine ward against evil, corruption, possession, undeath, fiends, aberrant influence, and similar supernatural threats. The exact mechanical benefit may vary by campaign, but suggested effects include:

• The crew gains advantage on saving throws against fear, charm, possession, corruption, and domination from evil supernatural sources.
• Evil creatures, undead, fiends, aberrations, and similar hostile forces have difficulty boarding, haunting, or magically influencing the vessel.
• The ship is resistant to curses, necromantic influence, Far Realm corruption, and hostile divine or profane auras.
• Crew morale cannot be reduced by supernatural fear while the ward remains active.
• The ship itself may count as consecrated or sanctified while the protection endures.

The ward immediately ends if the protected ship attacks.

For purposes of the relic, an attack generally means the ship or its crew initiates hostile violence from the safety of the ward. Defensive maneuvers, retreat, rescue, medical aid, and attempts to escape do not normally break the protection. However, firing weapons, launching boarding actions, ramming an enemy, or using the ward to safely close for battle ends the effect.

The Harp protects those who seek shelter, not those who seek slaughter.

The full powers of the Sunstring Harp are unknown. Like many divine relics, it may reveal different aspects of itself depending on the bearer, the need, and the will of Lady Corinette.

Rumored or theorized powers include:

• Calming madness, grief, rage, or despair in those who hear it played.
• Weakening curses tied to hatred, obsession, undeath, or corrupted love.
• Allowing the dead or lost to remember beauty, mercy, or unfinished vows.
• Revealing the true emotional state of a listener through changes in melody.
• Soothing cursed crews, haunted ships, or vessels tainted by bloodshed.
• Calling favorable winds when the ship’s purpose is merciful or protective.
• Inspiring acts of courage, confession, forgiveness, or sacrifice.
• Repelling creatures that feed on fear, sorrow, or spiritual corruption.

Some bards believe the Harp’s greatest powers cannot be commanded at all. They emerge only when the music is sincere.

To the faithful of Lady Corinette, the Harp represents the power of beauty to endure in places of cruelty. It is not a relic of conquest, but of preservation. Its magic does not favor aggression, ambition, or vengeance. Instead, it shields the frightened, steadies the broken, and reminds the monstrous that they were not always monsters.

This has made the Harp an unusually beloved relic among sailors, healers, bards, grieving widows, former soldiers, and those who have survived horrors at sea.

Its time aboard the Revenant Tide remains controversial. Some consider Alice Summerville’s possession of the Harp to be a scandal or sacrilege. Others argue that there may have been no soul in the Corsair Seas who needed Corinette’s music more than Alice.

Representatives of the Bardic College of Freeport ask the party to recover the Sunstring Harp and return it home. The difficulty is that it was not stolen by villains, but passed between complicated allies with sincere reasons for keeping it at sea.

The Harp stops making sound. Priests of Corinette fear that the relic has either been spiritually wounded or is refusing to serve its current bearer. The party must uncover what act, secret, or unresolved grief has silenced it.

While protecting a ship from supernatural evil, the Golden Ward fails before its eight hours are complete. Something aboard the vessel may have already committed an act of spiritual violence, or someone hidden among the crew may not be what they appear.

Alice Summerville’s request that the Harp “eventually find its way home to Freeport” becomes urgent. Perhaps the Bardic College is in danger, perhaps Corinette’s faithful need the relic for a holy rite, or perhaps Alice knew something would come for it.

While played over deep water, the Harp answers with a second melody from below the waves. Something ancient recognizes the instrument and calls to it.