Jericho The Bard A VRMMORPG Story 33 The Baa Hoof'n Hoedown

Ken, who was familiar with Pren, led the group north towards the satyrs.
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Jericho played a different lullaby on his flute. He had calmed down a lot after performing.

"Jericho, teach me how to play as good as you." Lillith impolitely requested.

The bard lowered his flute. "You already know how to play the flute though and you are quite talented."

The young elf gripped the instrument tightly. "But I am not good enough. You are so skilled and know how to play so many beautiful things. I want to play like you too."

Jericho gave a light smile. "Then, what you want is to learn how to play more songs." He pulled up his bag and paused. "Dang, how am I supposed to write sheet music without anything to write on or with."

Princess smiled and walked over. "I have an answer for you." She pulled out a few items and pa.s.sed them over. "I bought the ones you will find useful for your concern and you will really like the ones I made for next time you choose to rock out."

Jericho looked over the items his sister had handed him.

[Dyed wolf fur mullet wig- A head item to make it look like your hair is in the artistic style of a mullet. Other uses unknown. This item has a slight odor to it.]

[Punk leather jacket- A leather jacket made for to give off a specific type of appearance rather than provide good defense. It looks a bit fierce and may give people a bad vibe about you or may make them see you as really cool. Varies from person to person.]

[Parchment *100- Essentially a cheaper paper. Has many uses including folding and throwing for entertainment.]

[Pen with 5 interchangeable ink cartages- A tool used for writing.]

Jericho gave a light cough at the ancient hairstyle and clothing type. He put them away knowing he would probably have to wear them in the future. "Everyone wait for a minute." He called out.

The party stopped.

The bard equipped the pen with the cartage and started gently drawing stanzas and a treble clef. He waited for the ink to dry before drawing the notes on the paper.

[You have gained the Drawing skill. Adept 2/10] [You have learned a new drawing type: Sheet music.] [You have written down two musical compositions.] [You have written a simplified guide on how to read music.] [You have gained the 2D Art skill line at Tier 2. You have gained +5 Dexterity.]

Jericho gave a light nod as he finalized the two pieces he was writing. "Hold onto these for now. These will help you learn two calming flute songs with the type of flute you are currently using."

Lillith took the papers and looked at them with a confused look. "What do all these lines and dots mean?"

Jericho smiled and pa.s.sed her a piece of paper filled with explanations about what each type of note, symbol, and word meant. "Music is written in its own language. There are thirteen notes until the cycle repeats. But it is written with eight notes with special symbols to make the other five. See this note here?" He pointed to the sheet. "That one is called A. It is played like this." He held the flute and tooted A."

"But my flute doesn't go down as low as yours. Yours is bigger and the sound is deeper." Lillith retorted.

"Right, with my flute A would actually be written down here." He pointed to a lower spot on the paper. "But you also have A on your flute." He showed her the hand position.

A high A rang out of her flute. "Oh. I can hear it. It is higher but it sounds the same."

Jericho gave a light nod at the novice musician. "Every note has a name and each marking will tell you their name and how long to play it for." He pointed to a Full note. "This one, you play four times longer than this one." He pointed to a quarter note. "Practice reading the music while we travel. Learn their names." He lifted his flute and played a slow increase of the thirteen notes. He paused to specify each note individually to avoid confusion. "That is ♪A, ♪A♯ or B♭, ♪B, ♪C, ♪C♯ or D♭, ♪D, ♪D♯ or E♭, ♪E, ♪F, ♪F♯ or G♭, ♪G, ♪G♯ or A♭, and then it starts over."

Lillith copied Jericho's playing trying to soak everything in.

"Now that you know their names, use the charts I drew for you to get familiar with how their names are written. In the future, you will be able to read those two pieces and play them. The first is called The Coyote's Truth and the other is Sounds of the Canyons. They are both songs I created myself. When you get good enough, you will be able to write pieces of your own."

Lillith gave a determined nod and opened up her bag. She pulled out three other wooden flutes of varying appearances. "Here, these three flutes are for you." She pa.s.sed them over.

Jericho gave a nod. "Thank you Lillith." He replied as he stared at the twin flute, the smaller flute and a larger flute. He put them in his inventory.

The party resumed moving as Jericho continued to demonstrate how to play various tunes.

Lillith copied and raised her own musical proficiency with the flute.

Lux's ears twitched. (Brother Ken, I hear something that sounds like Jericho up ahead.)

Ken nodded. "Everyone, be quite for now. We are getting close."

The music and casual talking stopped.

"Follow quietly for now. You should be able to hear what Lux is hearing in a bit. We are near the satyr's territory so keep your guard up. They like to employ ambush tactics."

The group quietly continued forward listening for what Ken had told them to listen to.

♫… to Baa Hoof'n Hoedown…♫

Princess's eyes lit up. "The words are a bit different, but isn't that…?" She started to say.

Jericho pulled out his guitar and started strumming and humming in perfect sync with the song. Princess starting to dance a familiar old line dance as they walked.

Ken and Lux heard whispering sounds as they drew closer to the encampment. The pre-teen watched the movements closely to see if he could pick up the pattern.

Soon the sight of a large number of satyrs dancing, playing instruments and singing came into view.

Princess, seeing the familiar movements unabashedly jumped into the line and started dancing right next to these normally hostile monsters.

Ken joined in, albeit a bit more awkwardly than his friend.

The song came to a close. Princess, Jericho and Kenneth received a notification. [You have joined in the ritual of the Baa, Hoof'n Hoedown. The satyr G.o.d Arglwydd y Ddawns is pleased. You have received his blessing.]

[Blessing of Arglwydd y Ddawns: You are recognized by one of the satyr G.o.ds as a mortal of culture. The satyrs that worship him won't attack you or your allies without provocation.]

The satyrs paused and stared awkwardly at the group like they were looking at something impossible in their minds to exist. "A human, an elf, and a beast with culture? Am I really seeing this right? Pinch me. I want to make sure I'm not dreaming. Ouch! I didn't mean literally."

"They are blessed by The Great Arglwydd y Ddawns. They knew our ritual. None of the others were like this."

One of the elderly satyrs who had been playing some panpipes came forward. "Greetings strangers." The old goat gave a light bow.

Jericho returned the bow. "Greetings. My name is Jericho the Bard. That is Dancing Princess and Huntsman Ken. The three behind me are Purai, Lillith, and Lux." He pointed to each of them as he said their names.

"It is nice to meet fellow cultured people. I am Carn. What brings you to our woods?" The old satyr inquired.

Jericho pointed to Purai and Lillith. "We came to help lead these two out of the forest northward. However, there aren't many routes that lead in the direction they need to go."

The satyr frowned. "They are ignorant creatures. Why should we allow them pa.s.sage through our sacred grounds?"

Purai and Lillith frowned as they were insulted.

Jericho held out his hand to stop them from doing something they would regret. "Purai is a healer and Lillith is her friend. That cultured lynx over there? He was heavily cursed and she was able to break those curses. Maybe an exchange then? Your tribe can escort them past your sacred grounds in exchange for helping out your people?"

The old goat baa'ed in laughter. "Gafr, Cyrn, you heard our friend. Take these two and see what they can do to help our sick comrades."

Two younger satyrs appeared. "Follow us." They lead Purai and Lillith away to task them with things.

Carn coughed. "Now then, from what I have seen, you are a musician, the elf a dancer, and the beast, a creature that has recently learned about dancing. So excluding the two beasts you and the dancer must prove yourself on The Alter of Arglwydd y Ddawns." He swung his arm dramatically to reveal a large stone stage. "Do you dare take the challenge? Our G.o.d will judge your music compared to our own and her dancing compared to ours."

Princess walked over. "I'm being challenged to a dance off? I accept!"

Jericho gave a light nod. "I would love to, however wouldn't it be best if I used the same instruments you use?"

The old goat raised both his eyebrows. "You know how to play our sacred instruments as well?"

Jericho nodded. "The instrument you are holding is called the panpipes and I am sure you have a variety of them. That instrument she's holding," he pointed to another satyr, "is called a fiddle is it not? And that over there should be one of the many styles of a drum. I'm familiar enough with them. Do you have others as well?"

"We do, we shall bring you out a full set."

"Can you bring out a pair of each instrument instead of just one?" Jericho asked splitting himself into two. "I can play two instruments at the same time."

Excited balaughter was heard. "Wonderful! This will be a great showdown! Now we can fight on even terms instead of odd ones!"

[You have accepted the quest: Arglwydd y Ddawns's Battle of the Bards]