Expanding the Northern Reaches: Skald Fellowships
by Marc SaindonWhile Bards weren't part of Mystara originally, they can easily be retconned. Rather then just rebranding them as Skalds when integrating them in the Northern Reaches, maybe one can use the 5e Colleges (called Fellowships in the North) to better flesh them out.
The more ancient Ostland has the 'Fellowship of the Mead' (College of Valor), in hommage to Odin - their patron immortal - and to the legendary mead of poetry which they claim to spread. They are the more 'vanilla' Skalds, joining raids to report on the great deeds of warriors.
The more modern Fellowship of the Mimisbrunnr ('Well of Mimir', College of Lore) honors the severed head of Mimir, an Aesir known for his wisdom. They are more numerous in Vestland, a nation that seeks to modernize itself, and this Fellowship is more committed to the written word than their more traditionnal brethren.
A third faction, popular in Soderfjord, is the Fellowship of the Golden Apple (College of Eloquence), in hommage to Idunn, the wife of their patron Immortal Bragi. They specialize in wooing and flattery and are developing early concepts of courtly love in a paradoxically more war-like nation.
A fourth (unofficial) faction is the Jest of Loki (College of Whispers), or 'Scops' as they are known in the Isle of Dawn's colonies. They specialize in flyting and sarcasm. Their patron is Loki, although this Loki might be retconned as having ties to the Sphere of Thought rather than Entropy, and his association with Chaos might link him to Luck (and gambling). They might associate with pirates.
Finally, there are the Unaffiliated, which are either independent, foreigners, or minor factions that lack the numbers to be a full Fellowship (so Freyr might be the patron of a small College of Glamour interested in the Fey).
The Fellowships would organize festivals in their respective nations. In a cycle of years (maybe every 5 years?), there is a Great Skald festival in Ostland where all the Skalds duke it out with song and poetry to see who's the best.
