Instant Music

[Brian]

There's servants running around the main dining hall here, which is the first area you encounter after descending from Lord Kevin's chamber.  You see Lammermore in the distance, talking to some of the guards, who nod attentively before running off to attend some errand or another.

The servants seem to be the only civilians you've seen in the area.

[Huitzil]

Paul grabs one of the servants by the shoulder as he passes by. "Hey. It's getting to be about time to bring everybody who isn't fighting into the great hall. Could you help me out? We need to get the servants, the women and children, and everyone else not fighting in the keep and indoors so nobody gets killed by a stray arrow or something like that. Can you give me a hand?"

[Brian]

"Well, they should be safe behind the keep," he says.  "That's what it's here for."

[Huitzil]

"I think it would be better if we brought them inside. If an arrow goes too far over, or a rock gets overthrown, people could die. And what use is defending the keep if we would let the innocents die in the process out of negligence?"

[Brian]

"Eh ... I don't think a bow shot could be fired the entire length of the keep," he says somewhat sceptically.

[Huitzil]

"My mother always said, better safe than sorry. And it would be better to have everyone in one place anyway, so we can keep an eye on them, keep them close, and reassure them so that they don't panic."

[Brian]

He looks doubtful, but agrees to follow you behind the keep to gather up anyone who looks like they might be in harm's way, though anything headed towards them will need to go through the keep before it reaches them.

[Huitzil]

Paul ignores the servant's bitching; after all, half the point of this is so that the people won't panic, and keeping them occupied and keeping them in a place that simply feels safe will help to do that.

The other half of the point is to keep an eye on everyone to make sure we don't have any fifth columnists dealing any damage. Paul follows the servant out to the back to see the encampment.

[Brian]

Torches and firepits have been set up through the encampment behind the keep, allowing you to see how far back the soldiers extend.  There's quite a few of them, all told.  The women seem content to remain where they are, watching over whichever tent they're sharing, and the children are mostly kept in place -- a few are still running around, and you can see most of the men checking over their weapons and armor, making sure everything is ready.

[Huitzil]

Paul looks around for a microphone and stage lighting. Failing that, a podium or high place where he can be heard around the encampment from.

[Brian]

That's not going to happen, unfortunately, given the size of the encampment.  You can yell, but any speech you make is going to have to be repeated kilometers down the line.

[Huitzil]

Paul sits down on the nearest rock, then, and starts to play. Not a tune he knows from his own world, but one he learned from the book; something both popular and soothing, hopefully.

If the servant looks as if he's going to speak or leave, Paul holds out his hand and gestures him to keep still. Rather than yell for attention, he'll just play the tune as best he can and let people come to him.

[Brian]

Code Select Expand

<Huitzil> roll 3d6
<Chibi-Suu> Them bones was tossed for Huitzil ... : 3d6 --> {15}
The music, while you're playing it, doesn't strike you as your best work -- probably should have stretched your fingers, first.  But the truth of the matter is that these people probably don't get much of anyone who can play an instrument at all, honestly, so by the time you finish the song, you've garnered an appreciable crowd.  Not everyone, you think, but quite a few people.

Good thing you don't have stage fright.

[Huitzil]

Paul looks up at the crowd, and wordlessly begins to play another song. Partially, he's waiting for a bigger group; partially, to appear more enigmatic and thus interesting.

[Brian]

The ploy works, though takes time.  As you play, more and more people come over to listen.  With a liveried keep servant standing next to you, they reason, you must be doing something important.

Somewhere behind you, keeping time with the music, you can hear someone start to work metal in a forge.