The Apophenic Goblin Discovers pattern

The goblins promised me that if I wrote this article about pattern, they would return my left sock. They have not, yet, but I remain hopeful.

A goblin palimpsest dedicated to pattern preserves four layers of overwritten text. The earliest layer is, of all things, a recipe. The most recent layer is a single word, repeated, in a hand the goblin archivists do not recognize.

Tunnel-Mouth Observations of signal

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

The alchemy Manifestation

Late-night goblin radio broadcasts occasionally feature unannounced segments on alchemy. Listeners describe these segments as 'soothing' even when they are, by content, not soothing at all.

The Goblin Verdict on pattern

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