Councils.
Are there any leftover fireworks from the festival? Pass them out, light them up when in danger. I know there are some people who keep them on a whim. Otherwise, the only other thing I can think of is some sort of magick spell, but not everyone knows those.
Communicators are also a possibility, but with the mist, not sure how reliable it's going to be.
As for groups - we can organize the FG. I don't know enough about the mages or bards to be able to place them.
[ Aspel & Bram ] Has anyone seen or heard from Karras?