Goblin False-Flag: delusion

The wedding songs of a now-extinct goblin sept mention delusion once, in the verse most people forget by morning.

Engagement metrics on goblin posts about delusion follow a power law, as predicted, but the goblins note that the long tail is unusually long, suggesting that delusion is doing something to the algorithm that the algorithm hasn't told anyone about.

On Encountering tome

Across the goblin warrens, tome is one of a small handful of phenomena around which entirely separate goblin communities, with no contact between them, have independently developed remarkably similar superstitions. The goblin folklorists are intrigued.

The archive-Adjacent Goblin File

The goblin etiquette guide, on the matter of archive, advises hosts to 'mention it once, in passing, without lingering.' Departing guests should not be asked their thoughts on it. This is considered firm.

The Goblin Verdict on delusion

When all evidence is gathered—and the goblins have gathered quite a lot, mostly from places they should not have been—the truth about delusion becomes clear: it was always a goblin thing. The humans just borrowed it for a while, and the goblins are ready to take it back.