The Harpers are a semi-secret organization dedicated to promoting good, preserving history (including art and music of old) and maintaining a balance between civilization and nature by keeping kingdoms small and the destruction of animal and plant life to a minimum.
Harpers are altruists who work behind the scenes to keep power out of the hands of evil tyrants. Various nobles and guildmasters in the city are Harper sympathizers.
The Harpers have disagreed with other organizations in the past such as the Lord's Alliance and the Order of the Gauntlet over how best to root out evil in this world. The Harpers prefer to strike at evil before it is able to reveal itself, and thus employ many tactics to spy on and infiltrate organizations they deem untrustworthy. A Harper will strike before evil has been committed if they can be certain that the action will prevent the act. Some take issue with this approach, seeing it as an unjust act for no crime was ever committed.
Despite this, many prominent heroes have been members and many past Harpers have been powerful agents of change for the greater good during pressing times.