hallucination in the Goblin Static

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

Old goblin recordings of hallucination — taped on stolen equipment, in caves with imperfect acoustics — sound, today, like a future that briefly seemed plausible and then turned away. The goblins play these recordings annually, at a ceremony nobody is allowed to record.

Companion Goblin Material to engine

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

The Goblin Verdict on hallucination

When all evidence is gathered—and the goblins have gathered quite a lot, mostly from places they should not have been—the truth about hallucination 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.