Halambar Lutes & Harps
This shop, found on the east side of the Street of the Sword and a good walk up from Waterdeep Way sells all sorts of stringed musical instruments, from the lyre of Amn to the twostring of Mintarn. It is famous up and down the Sword Coast for the distinctive mellow sound of its lutes, but even Inner Sea folk have heard of the shop's prize attraction: the Harp that Sings by Itself.
This small, dark traveling harp sits on its own velvet-covered plinth, safely above the reach of inquisitive (or acquisitive!) visitors, and softly plays old airs, ballads, and lays of the North. It is said by some to have belonged to the famous bard Mintiper Moonsilver, but most dispute this. It is older than he, and was known to have been in Silverymoon when he was wandering the North. Its full powers arent known to any alive in the Realms today and it is a unique magic item, truly beyond price. Halambar wont let the patrons touch it and won't sell it. (I have discovered that the plinth it sits upon is actually a covered stone golem, placed there by Khelben "Blackstaff" Arunsun to protect the harp.)
Halambar's instruments typically cost 1,000 sp each or more. He has smaller, plainer pieces made by his apprentices or secondhand pieces that go for mere hundreds of silver pieces. A place to visit, even if you are not musical.
Here's a special gift idea, for the wealthy: For only 600 sp, you can buy a jewel case or snuff box enchanted to play a short melody when opened. Exquisite, but somehow I feel you'd grow tired of the same tune quickly.
Proprietor: Kriios Halambar, guildmaster of the Council of Musicians, Instrument-Makers, and Choristers owns and runs this shop. He is an inscrutable, heavy-lidded man of long black hair, large black-pupiled eyes, and a strong streak of snobbery.
