"Well," the Shaman said, standing, "I suppose it's time to let you all enjoy the festivities."

"Wait, I do have a quick question about the Denizens," Levi said.

"Yes?"

"If the Denizens were all once spirit bonded, and are all still people, even if corrupted and monstrous, isn't kind of messed up if we go around killing them to grow stronger? I mean, clearly, that is something the system, what you call the Law-shaper, intended with the existence of the portal?"

"I suppose it could be seen that way. However, there are many more monsters than the Denizens within the Realms. And I assure you, there is little harm in killing Denizens. Most are locked in madness. I have tried helping more than those of my own people, and I have never been successful. Not to say they have no hope... I just could not give it to them.

But if you adventure in the Realms, there are many other monsters to slay. There are hidden treasures for Spirit-bonded to discover. There is no need to hunt and slay Denizens. If that is something you find reprehensible, there is no need for you to do so. However, if they should attack you, do not hesitate to slay them. They will be reborn, but you will not."

Levi nodded. "Understood."

Outside the door of the Shaman's apatcha, a goblin they didn't recognize was waiting instead of Nosmiles. He looked to barely be an adult, not much older than Nosmiles' own son.

His hair was cut into a mohawk and he was covered in tattoos and peircings.

He gave a small bow to the Shaman.

"Nosmiles send." He pointed to his chest with a thumb. "Am Ko-Boco. Say Ko-bo."

The Shaman grabbed his ear and twisted it. "You have still not been practicing your English."

The young goblin let out a squawk of pain and pulled back. He quickly said something in goblin and rubbed at his ear.

"No excuses. You need to practice," the Shaman insisted. "Now, go. take the Spirit-bonded to the celebrations. I'll be along soon. But my old body doesn't move as fast as it used to be."

----

The celebrations were held around a bonfire. There was little organization to it, other than that those dancing seemed to all be around the central bonfire and that a group playing music were grouped together.

The goblin musicians had a few simple drums, a string instrument that sat in a goblin's lap, a strange flute that looked like three tubes bound together in a triangle formation with holes for different notes, and a large horn instrument carved from the horn of some beast that had a bass sound.

Levi didn't know much about instruments, but he thought the flute was interesting. Depending on the angle the goblin held and blew over the tops of the flutes, the musician could make sounds from two of the tubes at the same time. It was fascinating to watch.

As they walked into the celebration, Nosmiles did greet them, his son behind him. His mood seemed to have improved. "Ah, Spirit-bonded. I hope your talks with Shaman were good. I would like to introduce you to my son again, properly this time. This is Ischta-Jiun, my son."

Ishcta-Jiun stepped around his father and bowed deeply. "I apologize for my rudeness, Spirit-bonded. I was upset about something from today and behaved rudely and without honor toward you. I hope you accept this sincere apology."

"It's okay, we understood something was bothering you," Levi said.

"Yeah, no worries, it is nice to meet you," David added.

Everyone else gave quick reassurances, and only after they'd finished did Ishcta-Jiun straighten.

"I am grateful for your understanding," he said.

"See, he is smart. Good English, no?" Nosmiles said enthusiastically.

Before anyone could answer, one of the goblin musicians called out.

"Taju! Taju! Taju!" He waved his flute over his head. As the musician called out, his chant of Taju was picked up by many of the goblins in the celebration.

It wasn't until they heard Ishcta-Jiun ask his father for permission that the adventures understood that the 'Taju' that the goblins called for was Nosmiles son.

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"Aba, please may I join them, now?" Ishcta-Jiun's eyes looked bright as he pleaded with his father.

Nosmiles glared at the group of musicians. "I do not like this name they call you, Taju. Sounds much like Tajui. You are no lost boy," Nosmiles grumbled.

Still, the chants of 'Taju' only grew in intensity.

"It is only their way to shorten my name, Aba. They do not mean I am a lost boy. Please, Aba, let me play."

Nosmiles finally waved his hand dismissively. "I know you love it. You apologized. Go. We will talk much later, yes?" The way Nosmiles glared suggested talking later was not an option.

"Yes, Aba." Ischta-Jiun's--or Taju's--face spread into a smile. And he sprinted towards the musicians waiting for him. As he pulled his own odd Tobblerone shaped flute from its pouch, goblins cheered.

Taju's flute was different than his musical companions. Not all of the tubes were the same length, and the circumferences varied far more than the other flute. Though none of the adventurers were familiar with the instruments, it was easy to tell the holes to make different notes were different also, based on the way Taju held it has he brought it to his lips.

He quickly played a short round of notes, then bowed to everyone. Except unlike his normal, stiff bow, this one was casual and showy, with his arms spread wide.

Taju turned to the goblin with the primitive drums. He lifted his foot and stomped. The drummer gave a nod, and Taju began stomping in a steady rhythm, which the drummer matched on one of his drums. Once the drummer matched the tempo, Taju began smacking his thigh, adding to the beat, and the drummer matched that, too. Then Taju began tapping his knuckles against his flute building on the beat further and the goblin drummer matched that, too, adding in taps on the side of his drums to match Taju.

Taju turned to the goblin playing the bass horn instrument. He played a few notes on his own flute and the bass player started playing. Taju adjusted the music, and the bass player slowly altered his own notes. Once the bass player seemed to have close to what Taju wanted, Taju gave hand gestures that the bass player understood, fine tuning what he wanted the bass player to do.

Taju then looked to the goblin playing the string intrument. Instead of playing notes, he raised his fingers, seemingly giving numbers to the string player. It looked like 3, 5, 3, 5, 3, 7, 5, 3, 1, 7. The string player began playing, and Taju only had to fine tune a few more things with more hand gestures to the string musician.

He then turned to his fellow flutist and only gave a nod. The flustist gave a huge smile and brought his flute to his lips in response. He didn't begin playing, and just waited for Taju.

Then Taju turned and stood in front of the band, eyes closed, tapping his foot and slightly bobbing his head for a moment. He brought his flute up. He held it there for a moment, just listening to the music.

Then, Taju tilted his head back and let out a loud, musical cry in the goblin language. It sounded an odd war cry in a way and felt mournful, angry, disappointed, or some mix of them all. Immediately after his cry, he brought his flute to his lips and played.

He put the other flutist to shame. He was in a different class. His head tilted back and forth as he blew over the top holes of his flute, and his fingers danced artfully with a speed that the other flutist had never shown. He looked possessed with the pure poetry of the sounds he created.

As he played, the other flutist played with him, backing him up and enriching his song with something far more simple.

And then, Taju took his lips away from his flute and he began to sing in the goblin language. As he did, the other flutist's playing shifted, taking a more dominant role, and the rest of the goblin band adjusted to the shift, complimenting and allowing space for Taju's voice perfectly.

Then Taju was back to playing his flute like a madman.

The adventurers couldn't understand the words, but the overall tone seemed sad and frustrated, with the lyrics Taju sang being full of rage. When Taju played his flute, the song built up frustration and sadness, and then when Taju sang, he released all of that tension and energy he'd built up into rage filled vocals.

"Holy shit, he's good," Maddy commented. "He's a straight-up panty dropper."

"Hey!" David said defensively.

Maddy shrugged, "You get to talk about short little goblin women, I get to talk about goblin rockstars."

Nosmiles grumbled. "Is useless. Does not keep people safe. Does not provide food. Does not contribute." Still Nosmiles watched his son intently with more than disappointment in his eyes. He was enjoying his son's talent.

"Are you kidding?" Levi asked. When Nosmiles only gave him a bitter look, he continued. "You know how much our people, our world, valued music? Musicians were some of the wealthiest people in the world. Trust me, his talent has a lot of value."

"You must joke, is useless," Nosmiles said gesturing toward the band.

"Look how happy it is making people." Levi waved toward the crowd of goblins who were either dancing, cheering, or rapt in attention. "I mean I get it, from what the Shaman said the Realms are tough. It probably doesn't seem valuable here. But in our world, in a safer world, this has a lot of value. And we just had all our recorded music removed from the world, so a talent like his... that's priceless."

Nosmiles straightened, turning from his son to look at Levi. "You are serious."

It was Maddy who answered, "You're damned right he is. The hardest part about the new world for me has been a lack of music. And your son is a genius." She was smiling and bobbing her head to the music. "I bet he gets a lot of attention from girls."

Levi gave Nosmiles a nod.

Joe placed a hand on Nosmiles shoulder. "They're right. I don't listen to music much myself, but our people would love to hear this. It really is important."

"Dude... we have to introduce Taju to Kenny. I bet they could do some awesome stuff together." David suddenly said, having been entirely zoned out of the conversation and just listening to music for a moment.

Paige wordlessly danced to the song, eyes closed.

Nosmiles looked from one adventurer to another, mouth hanging open. Tears slowly formed in his eyes and a smile spread across his face. Then he turned to his son and started cheering louder than anyone.

After a moment, Nosmiles yelled out, "You will have any Spirit-bonded wife you want! Wooo. I am proud, my son!"