The Bardic Gift is closely related to Empathy, giving the Bard the ability to directly influence the emotions of their audience. Learning when to use the Gift, and what constitutes misuse, are important parts of Bardic education.
Use of the Gift is authorized when on the Monarch's business, but it is okay to use in a milder form to help the audience enjoy an event or performance.
The Gift can also be used when speaking. It generally takes a strong Gift and a great deal of practice to be able to use it without music.
Unethical use[]
A young person new to their Bardic Gift may be tempted to use it for personal gain or as a prank, and must be quickly scolded. If they do it a second time, a qualified Herald, Healer or Bard will burn out their Gift so that they can never misuse it again. Medren once influenced Vanyel to feel sorry for him.[1] And Vanyel worried that Stefen might have influenced buyers at a merchant's party, but fortunately he did not.[2]
Other bard gifts[]
To attend the Bardic Collegium, a candidate must have two of the three bardic gifts. The Bardic Gift described above is a form of Mindmagic. The other two qualifying gifts are musicianship (talented performance), and creativity (the ability to compose original music).