You are the Bard of a people who were nearly erased. In an age called the Time of Legends, your ancestors worshipped the World-Eater Qu'tall as a god of conquest. Under his banner they subjugated continents. Then, with nothing left to take, Qu'tall turned on them and consumed them entirely. Your people alone survived, protected by their patron deity Itotia, goddess of arts. The tradition that came out of that catastrophe: once every generation, a Bard is sent to face the World-Eater.
You wield the Instrument. Its sacred songs are powerful enough to shatter stone and beautiful enough to put gods to sleep. The World-Eater is awakening again in his temple city, and the entire structure — its statues, its floors, everything — will work against you. Every Bard who came before you walked this path. It is called the Way.