First ever post on these forums, though I have been following, enjoying and taking inspiration from them for several years. I use Athas in an unconventional, definitely non-canon setting (a futuristic magic / psionic / superhero setting, for which I apologise in advance…). The players are about to return to Athas, aiming in at least two cases to go disguised as Minstrels / Bards. And I realised that I had not given any thought to Athasian musical instruments… harp / lyre, drums, lute / guitar / mandolin, flute / pipes / whistle all seem reasonable and likely… but are there any examples of specifically Athasian instruments?
Also, considering how many of Athas bards are assassins, maybe try and give the instrument some weapon-like function such as a flute that doubles as a blow gun
They chose minstrels as one already plays the mandolin / sings and the other plays the guitar…Mandolin I thought would be acceptable and I thought Lute for guitar. It just got me thinking and there were no posts on musical instruments on the forum… And now there are…
Personally I like the idea of a desert giant blowing into the husk of jeral’s decapitated protothorx like a flute, using his fingers to cover the breathing holes to change notes.
The second player, proficient in guitar, went for a lute, which while sensible was a bit traditional. They did go though a merchant they had done business with before to get one that fires a small dart from the neck. I doubt they will ever use it, but you never know. The dart is too small to kill, being designed to ‘imitate’ an insect bite, so you need to load it up with a poison or paralytic that requires small doses to be effective…
I had always though of music on Athas as being either singular - solo minstrels - or of the martial type - horns and drums to announce the progress of Dragon Kings (and their armies). But I was tickled by the idea of a band of Giants (or indeed anything else) playing in a group / ensemble mode. Something to consider for adding a bit of background colour to the trip…
