"Maybe," Kit said. "Or maybe a plant stem would work better?" She considered it for a moment, then shrugged. "I'll find something."

Kit nodded to the woman's request, pulling her flupe out of one of her belt pouches. "I can put people into a trance when I play my flupe," Kit said. "Animals too. I can put animals to sleep with it too, but I dunno if that works on people; I've never tried. Either way, it only lasts as long as I'm playing. They wake up a few seconds after I stop, and don't remember anything happened."

"It doesn't hurt them or control them or anything," Kit assured her. "They just kind of... sway to the music and maybe look kind of silly. It's not too useful on its own, but it makes a really good distraction."