For the past few days, the liveliness in the bars of Lanthanor had died down for the most part due to the disappearance of most of the bards in the Kingdom.
As many drunkards nursed bottles of wines in their hands while missing a song or a tale to regale them in their intoxication, an interview was going on in a secret room in the underground labyrinth of the Lanthanor Kingdom.
One by one, men and women dressed in colorful clothes strode forward to take a parchment which held the lines they had to recite.
Frequently, they would look to the side and sigh, seeing that the most influential man in all of Angaria was actually the one taking their "interviews".
A few days back, banners and posters had gone up all over the signboards of Lanthanor, advertising a job in the palace for a bard. All interested candidates were supposed to report to the palace in 2 days.
What made almost everyone seeing the poster go green with envy was the salary advertised.
50 Gold Lans per month!
This was a figure which small-sized merchants earned after toiling away to obtain and sell as many goods as they could. If someone could earn this much in a month, they would be able to live a life of decent luxury without having to think about anything.
Although this was what attracted the attention of common folk, the people who were actually the target of the advertis.e.m.e.nt were drawn to the statement after the one proclaiming the salary.
"Selected bards will have the opportunity to have their name etched in history."
In Lanthanor, and for the most part in the whole continent, being a bard wasn"t an occupation which paid very handsomely. Many times, they would have to sleep on the streets due to not finding a bar which would pay them with food and shelter for telling their stories and singing their songs. The next best option was finding a household which would give them the chance to do the same in order to entertain their kids, but this was also not a very reliable option.
Yet, even though they knew that they might mostly be penniless on their journey, many individuals still chose this path which was fraught with poverty.
This was simply because of their love and pa.s.sion in stories and songs.
Some had become enthralled at a young age by a pa.s.sing bard, with the pa.s.sion only growing year after year until they finally decided to take the plunge.
Others could have been influenced later in their lives, choosing to give up everything to take on this life of no commitments.
Either way, the love for history, stories, and myths was the one thing that united them all.
Seeing that it was possible that they themselves could be part of such stories, a fire lit up in their eyes, urging them to rush to the given location well ahead of the appointed time.
Daneel had been quite pleased with the response. It had been his idea to add the last line, and Kellor had even been unconvinced regarding its need. His stance had been that the handsome salary would draw them all in.
Coming from a world which celebrated arts to a very high degree, Daneel knew the importance of pa.s.sion in artists. Thus, he had asked Kellor to just wait and see.
Indeed, Kellor had become quite ashen-faced when he saw that not even one asked about the salary. On entering the palace, most of their chatter and queries had all been about the latter statement.
Thus, he was now simply standing to the side, wondering about how Daneel had managed to guess the motivations of these frivolous individuals.
The King of Lanthanor, on the other hand, was cursing at himself for not paying more attention to matters like these when he was back on Earth.
After all, he had only been a regular student who only had minimal knowledge about anything not related to his studies.
Most of the information he had about the news industry was gleaned from some articles that he had read on newspapers.
It was one statement that he remembered from Earth which had kickstarted this whole plan: "If you wish to take over a country, take over its media first. Control the thoughts of a nation, and it will bow before you to do at your bidding."
There was no proper news network in Angaria, mainly due to the high cost of communication trinkets and the prevalence of notice boards. All important news was posted on the latter, so the main need for a forum to spread information in was already addressed.
However, not many people were even interested in the happenings in a Kingdom. Unless something concerned them personally, they wouldn"t care to bother.
Of course, this was not the case in Eldinor, where a few primitive alternatives existed. Yet, a void still existed which Daneel aimed to fill.
He had high ambitions for this plan, which led him to decide to stage the demo in Lanthanor, where everything could be controlled.
Communication trinkets had been made, and even a broadcasting station had been made by Daneel and Ripley working together.
Now, the last thing to tackle was the people who would act as the voice of the whole operation.
In their first iteration, the communication trinkets could only transmit sound. Thus, what Daneel was making was actually the first radio channel in the continent of Angaria.
For this purpose, he had decided to give a simple test:
""Elves are in debt to Lanthanor, but they refused to pay. So, the King personally lead an expedition to threaten them, at which time they attacked. After killing them all, the money was taken back which will be used to uplift the poor in Lanthanor". Convey this message in a way that will interest people, in any style you choose. Only your voice can be heard by the people."
What he needed were fluent and creative people who could tell the news and other things in a manner that could enthrall those who were listening.
Yet, what he got was:
"Hear one, hear all! A tale of eeeevil elves and MIGHTY KINGS! It all started on the day of....."
"(singing)Cunning elves, so vile are they
Yet do not worry, Lanthanor shall slay
To take the debt they were loath to pay
And pave the way to a golden day!"
The sad truth was that almost all bards were quite used to being as verbose as possible in order to entertain for as long as possible. Of course, this was useless in this situation. News needed to be told both succinctly and creatively, as the usual sights and expressions of the bards would be absent; typically, these served to hold the attention of the people.
Still, Daneel had been holding a hope that he might be able to find someone who could fit his bill. Even after giving the instruction to be as short as possible, he was still treated to a bevy of animated statements and quirky songs.
Finally, he got up with exasperation and called for a break. After 2 hours of effort, he had only managed to pick 2 women who hadn"t been as verbose, but even they required quite a lot of polis.h.i.+ng before they could go on the air.
Walking back to his chamber, he kept thinking about how he could make this plan succeed. It was impossible for him to handle everything personally like he was now; alas, there was no one he trusted who could take over the responsibility.
Suddenly, his quick strides were halted as he heard a sweet voice drifting towards him from a turning in the pa.s.sageway he was walking in.
"Did you know that in all of Angaria, Lanthanor is the Kingdom with the tallest walls? It is said that giants helped in their construction, and that we are even derived from giants. My mother even told me about a door in the Palace which is the size of a 10 foot giant! 50 of you sweeties would have to stand on top of each other to reach that high!"
"Wow! Sister, please tell us more!"
Hearing the first voice, he was reminded of the woman who had almost removed her clothes in front of him simply to implore him to do the right thing.
Indeed, turning the corner, he saw Eloise chuckling while she led a stream of young girls who had awe on their faces.
Although she jumped back seeing him, startled, Daneel smiled wide knowing that he had probably found the perfect candidate to head his Network of Angaria(NOA) plan.
After all, who was more qualified than someone who had received official etiquette and people skills training since youth, but was also kind in her actions and cared for the general populace?
All he needed was someone he could trust who also had experience with handling people.
And now, that person was standing in front of him with a terrified expression on her face making Daneel wonder whether he was that scary in person.