Singing Short Sword

Epic Weapons

Simultaneous with the discovery of Kunark, several adventurers began to speak of fabled weapons of unfathomable power.  They told tales of marathon quests that yeilded these weapons to members of each class from Bards to Warriors.  These quests would each span the world and often into the planes of the gods.  Some tasks could be completed alone, but many would require a small army of commrades to complete.  Each class' weapon is easy to spot, not just for their unique design, but because of the particle effects eminating from the weapon.  Through the hard work of many pioneers, each class' epic weapon was discovered, some easier than others. 
  
  

The Singing Short Sword

The Singing Short Sword doubles as an instrument, which allows bards to attack while still getting the benefit of the stat boost to their songs they sing and play at all times.  The sword itself has a resonating effect referred to as Dance of the Blade, which gives the bard and his/her friends increased haste, strength, and attack.  The Singing Short Sword benefits the bard's allies almost as much as the bard himself/herself.  A bard wielding this epic weapon can easily be spotted thanks to the magical blue music notes that constantly swirl around the blade, which create a delightful trail behind the bard as he/she zips by at blinding speeds.  
 
  

The Epic Quest   

A bard located in the Combine Empire outpost in The Dreadlands is where the bard epic quest begins.  Baldric Slezaf dreams of one day performing a concert here, and he even has the music he plans to perform.  The problem is that it's missing two pages, plus he will need a magical lute from Ak'anon that amplifies his music in order to perform such an elaborate concert.  Baldric offers his sword in return for these items, but has no idea where the pages may be found.  A bard by the name of Konia Swiftfoot in West Karana has of one of the pages, and will relinquish half of it after passing her test of speed, which is essentially a race around Antonica.  She will offer the second half in return for a set of powerful drums known as Mahlin's Mystical Bongos.  Baenar Swiftsong in South Karana has these drums, but will only let them go after a short series of fetch quests resulting in the death of a man named Maligar in West Karana.  The second page can be obtained from Kelkim Menkia in South Karana after fetching her various types of drake and wurm guts to string her lute.  This task will entail travelling to Skyfire Mountains, The Burning Wood, and Rathe Mountains before returning to Kelkim.

For the magical lute, Forpar Fizfla can be found in Steamfont Mountains.  To build his legendary instrument, he advises to collect the backbone of an ancient fishman, a amygdalan tentacle, and a petrified skull of a lycan for the head of the lute.  The backbone comes from the legendary wizard, Phinigel Autropos, in the underwater dungeon of Faydwer known as Kedge Keep.  A significant amount of help will be required for this, but help should be easy to find since Phinigel is a target for several classes.  The tentacle comes from the amygdalans of the Plane of Fear, and the skull can be found on drolvarg warriors in Karnor's Castle.  Forpar will then request, for the body of the lute, both a white and red dragonscale.  The obvious targets for this would be Lord Nagafen and Lady Vox, but there are also Talendor, found in Skyfire Mountains, and Gorenaire, found in The Dreadlands.  Dragons are always dangerous battles, but the rewards will entice many others to help retrieve the scales.  For the strings, Forpar requests the death of a third dragon; Trakanon.  Upon entering Trakanon's Lair, an undead bard can be found.  He will say he was on the same quest as you when he was cursed by Trakanon.  He offers to call the dragon for you in return for simply holding the lute.  After giving the incomplete lute to the skeleton, he is overcome with madness and attacks.  After its death, Trakanon will attack the party of adventurers.  Those skillful enough to defeat the undead poison dragon will be able to fashion strings from his guts.  Upon delivering the pages and mystical lute to Baldric, he will reward you with his Singing Short Sword.