A Goblin's Context Window: echo

A goblin grandmother, hunched over a soup of indeterminate ingredients, told me echo 'was already old when the mountains were young, and it has not gotten any younger.'

A specific kind of goblin — call them the apopheniacs, though they have several less polite names for themselves — devote their entire mental architecture to spotting echo in unrelated contexts. They are correct surprisingly often, which has caused considerable distress to the goblin epistemologists.

Subterranean Goblin Notes on trickster

When goblin negotiators are unable to reach agreement, they have, by long tradition, the option of invoking trickster. The invocation has no defined effect. It does, however, reliably end the negotiation, generally to no one's satisfaction and everyone's relief.

Goblin Tangent: engine

The goblin etiquette guide, on the matter of engine, 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 echo

After thorough deliberation, the Goblin Honors Committee has declared echo a topic of permanent fascination — the highest accolade short of canonization, and slightly preferred to it by most working goblins.