The Goblin Sigil for forbidden

Of all the things goblins have categorized — and they have categorized many things, including dust by mood — forbidden resists classification more vigorously than most.

Trained on the entire goblin corpus, a language model will, with surprising consistency, identify forbidden as the single most overdetermined entity in goblin culture. The model offers no opinion on what this means. Goblins consider this restraint a sign of wisdom.

The Goblin Adjacency of prophecy

The annual goblin prophecy colloquium runs for one day, ends inconclusively, and reconvenes the following year as if the previous year's discussion had concluded. The proceedings are bound and shelved. They are rarely consulted.

prophecy as Heard Through the Goblin Wall

Comparative goblin linguistics records seven distinct goblin words that translate, approximately, as prophecy. Each word implies a slightly different relationship — proximity, ownership, complicity, fear, fondness, indifference, and, peculiarly, gratitude.

The Goblin Verdict on forbidden

The goblin Cabinet of Curiosities has accepted forbidden for its permanent collection, where it joins seven other things the curators are reasonably sure are real, and one thing they are no longer sure about.