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[Celtic Minstrel]

[Outside]

A mostly unremarkable shop front, except for the sign above the door:

_{The Musical Chair}
The place for all your music needs.

In the window is a sign with the text, "Assistant(s) needed. Apply within."

[Main room]

On the right hand side of the door there is a counter with a prominent sign saying "Pay Here". Behind the counter is a comfortable armchair, in which a man with shoulder-length golden-red hair sits and plays various tunes on his small harp, mostly from folk music, classical music, and the Beatles. He wears a light brown shirt, green pants, and a brown belt with a gold buckle. His green cloak is draped over the back of the chair.

Also on the right-hand side, towards the back, is a section of shelves containing musical scores. Apart from the counter, this takes up the majority of the right side of the store. However, right at the back there is a shelf containing old vinyl records and audio tape cassettes, most with a small "USED" label (all the vinyl records have the label but not all the tapes).

Comprising the entire left side of the store is the shelves of CDs. Almost any imaginable music CD can be found there, from the latest pop star to recordings of obscure classical and contemporary works. In the back left corner is a small listening station with room for two people.

At the back of the room, there is a door leading to the Instrument Room. Another door behind the counter leads to the Back Room. A sign on this door says "Employees Only". Beside this door, the wall is covered in various musical accessories including strings, metronomes, and guitar picks.

[Instrument Room]

This room is smaller than the Main Room. In the back left corner sits a pair of upright pianos; the back right corner boasts a selection of violins and a few violas. Between these, from left to right, there are a couple of cellos and double basses, a drumkit, and a few concert harps.

Most of the left wall is devoted to guitars, including electric, acoustic, and classical models. There are a couple of bass guitars, banjos, and mandolins mixed in with the guitars, as well as a lone ukelele and a 7-course lute.

Directly to the left of the door, the wall is covered with an assortment of wind instruments including flutes, clarinets, oboes, saxophones, bassoons, and recorders.

The right wall is devoted to brass instruments, primarily trumpets and trombones, but with a couple of tubas and french horns as well.

Directly to the right of the door, there is a shelf containing small instruments such as harmonicas and pennywhistles. On top of the shelf sits an accordion.

In the center of the room, several large percussion instruments are set up, including a marimba and a vibraphone.
[Back Room]
((Note: most people should not go into this room.))

Back here it is something of a mess. A big table in the middle has musical scores, vinyl records, and open CD cases strewn across it. A smaller table holds a couple of instruments in various states of repair. Several wooden chairs sit around the table. The rest of the room is packed with instruments that did not fit in the Instrument Room, these ones in their cases. Some of the cases are empty; these belong to the instruments on display in the Instrument Room. A few papers are strewn on the floor, most of them either musical scores or related to shop administration. In one corner are stacked cases for smaller instruments, not all of which are empty.

[The_Kirby]

*Kirby walks in as he carries a group of musically inclined crystals.*

[Celtic Minstrel]

Stefan looks up as Kirby enters, but doesn't stop playing.

"Hello, may I help you?" he inquires curiously.

[The_Kirby]

I was wondering if these crystal are musically inclinded or just broke.

*The Crystals jump out of his hands and start dinging to a tune. The tune is very close to the Hyrule overworld theme from Legend of Zelda.*

[Celtic Minstrel]

Stefan stops playing and shrugs. "Well, I think you may already have your answer. That's a clear tune they're playing, so perhaps they are musically inclined."

[The_Kirby]

I know that, but it seems that the crystals only react near musical objects. They have a limited range of works to play.

[Celtic Minstrel]

Stefan sighs. "Well, if you already know all that, what is it that you want from me?"

[The_Kirby]

They dragged me here, so will you take them?

[Author]

A man dressed flamboyantly in the garb of a French noble from the Middle Ages walks through the door, playing a soft tune every now and then on a silver flute. Strapped to his side was a beautiful rose with a stem free of thorns and extending to a point. The Rose Baron Demi Redric and his weapon, Rosencroix.

He promptly headed to the wind instruments and started examining another flute.

[Celtic Minstrel]

Stefan looks at Kirby. "Well, I have no use for them, but if you want to leave them here, that's perfectly fine with me."

[The_Kirby]

Alright.

*Kirby leaves the store.*

[Celtic Minstrel]

Stefan picks up one of the crystals and looks at it curiously for a minute or two, then shrugs and heads toward the Instrument Room where Demi Redric is examining the flutes.

"May I help you with something?" he inquires politely of the Baron.

[Author]

"I am looking for a silver flute that is indestructable by any physical means."

The Rose Baron brought the flute down from his lips and promptly broke it in half with his hands. He looked sadly at the pieces before putting them in his pocket. "The reason I ask this is because I am under a geas, a contract. Every time I play an instrument I must attempt to destroy it with my own hands. As someone who has gone through 2,345 identical flutes, it's tiresome to constantly seek out a new instrument when I cannot resist the urge to play."

[Celtic Minstrel]

"Hmm, that's an interesting request..."

Stefan pulls out a pair of glasses and puts them on. He then takes out his pipe from his belt and plays the notes a half diminished seventh chord followed by a minor seventh chord rooted a perfect fourth above the root of the first chord. He continuously repeats this motive while scanning the flutes. Having done this, he then puts the glasses and the pipe away.

"Well, none of my flutes are enchanted in any way. Enchantments are not really my speciality, but since it is a musical instrument I could probably do it. My own harp is indestructible as long as it is producing a sound... but you'll probably want a flute that's indestructible while silent, right? That may be a little harder... Still, if you select a flute I could give it a try."

[Author]

Demi nodded. "Very well. I just hope that my flower will react, otherwise the flute will just be pretty instrument and nothing more." He took the thornless rose from its place at his side and held it up to the flutes in turn. Upon closer inspection the bud was closed tightly and looked to be made of ruby.

"It's very picky, some places it just doesn't react at all, others it only responds slightly, and it's very rare for it to...do that." As he had held it up to a silver flute with various words written on it in the language of Fae, the closed bud had fully bloomed and light radiated from it. Demi picked up the flute and inspected it.

"One more test remains, though I must say, I wouldn't have expected a store here to be carrying faerie instruments if I hadn't been informed by that child. You may want to stand back." The Rose Baron inverted the flute and dropped the rose into the instrument stem first. A simple flash of swirling light and he held a magnificent rapier, the guard emerald with sharp thorns of diamond adorning the outside. The blade was a soft pink quartz, though with the enchantment upon it Demi knew that it had the edge to cut even diamond with ease. And at the pommel was the open rose blossom, glowing serenely

"It looks wonderful. I guess he was right." The Rose Baron reached down and gently pushed the petals of the rose closed. The moment it sealed the sword vanished and he extracted a thornless closed rose from the flute. "I hope your enchantment works. It would be a shame for an instrument of that caliber to be destroyed under any circumstances, much less a geas."

[Celtic Minstrel]

Stefan takes the flute from Demi and returns to the Main Room where his harp sits on the counter. Setting the flute down beside the harp, he sits down in the armchair and stares at it for five whole minutes, lost in thought. Then he picks up his harp and begins to tentatively pluck out some notes, beginning with a minor seventh arpeggio. After discarding that and a several other chords, he settles on a quartal chord formed from four consecutive notes in the Circle of 4ths condensed into the span of an octave.

Having chosen his noteset, he lets his harp sit in his lap and picks up the flute. He plays the notes of the same quartal chord, this time on the flute – starting from Middle C and working up into the highest range of the flute. Then he does it again, this time infusing his power into the music.

To see if it had worked at all, he repeats the procedure with the pipe and eyeglasses, this time examining the flute closely. In the enchanted vision he can see that it glows ever so slightly.

He picks up the flute and repeats the ascending sequence, then begins to improvise a tune from that limited pitch set. He plays for almost fifteen minutes before stopping to check once more. This time the enchanted sight shows him a bright glow.

Just to be on the safe side, he repeats this procedure once more, after which the flute in the enchanted sight is almost bright enough to be blinding. (Just to be clear, the enchanted sight is a function of his glasses, so no-one else will see it unless they have the same enchantment.)

Setting the harp and the flute on the table, he goes into the Back Room, coming back with a hammer (the ordinary kind for hammering in nails) and a small handsaw. Moving the harp to the armchair, he taps the flute lightly with the hammer. When upon examining it he sees no dent, he taps significantly harder – still without denting it.

Then he raises the hammer above his head and brings it down with as much force as he can muster. It bounces from the force, but there is still no dent.

Finally, he tests it with the saw's sharp teeth. No matter how much he tries, he is unable to scratch the flute.

"It seems pretty indestructible so far... I wonder if I should test it with some other means of destruction...?" He looks up to see if Demi had been watching.

[Celtic Minstrel]

Once Demi has left (sadly, the spell ultimately failed), Stefan returns to his chair and begins to play music on his harp once more.

[Speed]

Speed strolls into the store, glancing around, but ultimately heading straight to the counter.

"Hello. I was wondering if you happen to have a harmonica, and the sheet music for "All Small Beasts Should Have Bows In Their Tails." I know I had both at one point, but I can't seem to find either anywhere."

[Celtic Minstrel]

Stefan stops playing and puts the harp on the counter.

"Yes, I have harmonicas. In the other room –" he points to the doorway at the back of the room "– they are on the shelf to the right of the door. As for the sheet music you want, I'll go check."

He walks over to the shelves of sheet music on his right.

[Frith Ra]

A bedraggled stranger porting a big battered beechwood box & followed by hundreds of fights his way through the door, crosses over to the counter & drops the box upon it. Things clatter all over the store.

Here! he thinks out loud, The last of my stock from the old music shop, Beethoven's on Fifth. He pushes a few from the counter & asks if the time machine in the old metronome is still working.

And do you know of any means by which to get rid of a plague of ? I tried to get an orc to eat them, but he merely said something about garlic butter & went away.

Am I still thinking aloud?

*Music stores seem kinda quiet around here*

Hello? Is there anybody in here?

Edited by Frith Ra, 28 May 2008 - 01:13 PM.