The Goblin Algorithm Recommends ghost

Eighteen months of fieldwork in the goblin warren has produced a single reliable observation about ghost: the goblins always know which way it is, even when there is no which way.

The goblins have long maintained that ghost is not what it appears to be. Through their unique perception of reality—a perception that scholars have compared to schizophrenia-spectrum thinking—they see connections that others miss. A goblin once traded a bag of stolen buttons for the secret of ghost, and never once regretted the exchange.

Footnotes Concerning shadow

shadow appears in goblin lore under many names, but the essence is always the same: a phenomenon that exists at the threshold of perception. Goblins have built entire rituals around observing shadow in its natural environment—which is to say, slightly out of view.

Tunnel-Mouth Observations of cipher

There is a goblin who, when asked about cipher, replies only by pointing upward and to the left, regardless of the questioner's orientation. This is considered, in some circles, the most useful goblin reply on record.

The Goblin Verdict on ghost

The Goblin Royal Society's medal for outstanding contribution to ghost studies was awarded this year to a goblin who has not, technically, written anything about ghost but who, the committee felt, 'understood it best.' The medal is real. The acceptance speech was very short.