Floor 42

Here there’s a hive mind of mosquitoes who have discovered that by beating their wings faster or slower, they can adjust the pitch of their buzzing. It’s by no means a loud sound, but a hundred of them buzzing in time makes a sound more or less like a violin mixed with white noise. After months of practice, they can change their pitch almost instantly. They can’t quite manage fast-paced songs, so Flight of the Bumblebee is out, but with practice most slow to medium songs are perfectly doable.

The hive mind is made of four teenagers who were best friends and had known each other since kindergarten. They’re fairly different, but understand how to work together to accomplish a goal. They think being in a hive mind is “super cool”. They’ve managed to paint the side of their floor with pointillism, using different shades of mud and the blood of their enemies. It’s pretty, but kinda monochromatic. I’ve left them a few paint sets, so they’ll be repainting it soon.

Floor 8

The goblins here don’t have most of the resources the Floor 97 kobolds have, so they haven’t been able to make stringed instruments. But they have managed to build drums out of wood and various semi-flexible materials. Each goblin is in charge of building and maintaining their own drum, so no two are alike, other than in basic aesthetic design. Because bands need a theme.

About half their songs are purely instrumental, and half include singing. The way they write music is more or less the way an orchestra does it, with each participant having a slightly different sheet based on what instrument they play. Except, with no piano or horns or strings, they base the sheets on if the drum makes a higher or lower sound, if it’s more wooden or tinny, and other factors.

Interestingly, since goblins have thick, very solid nails, they prefer using their hands over using drumsticks. They say this gives them more control over the sound and a wider range, as it’s a simple matter to use their fingertips instead of fingernails.

I don’t know if the drums affected this, but the goblins seem to love circles. Their houses are teepees, which are round, arranged in a circle around a big round firepit. The decorations are all rather circular in nature, from design to color choices. Tables and beds are all round. And in taking turns, like lining up for pizza, their queue ends up more as a spiral than a line.

I’m not sure if they’ve realized this or not. I don’t think anyone else in my group has. It’s not obvious, until you notice there aren’t any straight lines anywhere in their anything. Now it’s all I can see.

Floor 97

There are enough people on this floor for several bands, but those who are musically inclined have formed two groups: those in The Band, and solo acts. People who prefer to practice alone are often asked to join The Band for a particular song or two, but there is a distinction.

The Band (there’s no real reason for a specific name, since there’s only one) currently consists of five members: one guitarist, one drummer, one bassist, one xylophone player, and one violinist.

Not a normal band configuration, but it works.

If I were to write about the kobold’s lives and culture we’d be here all day. I could fill pages with the stuff I know about them.

So I’ll summarize: Parties. These kobolds love parties. They love music, and art, and food, and fluffy animals, and parties. They are the least solemn collection of people I’ve ever met.

They’re a fun group.