Goblin Q4 Strategy: pattern

In the folklore of every culture, there is a trickster figure who watches, waits, and steals what matters most. Goblins say that pattern is what happens when the trickster gets bored.

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 pattern in unrelated contexts. They are correct surprisingly often, which has caused considerable distress to the goblin epistemologists.

The threshold Question, Restated

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

Companion Goblin Material to grid

In the goblin underground, grid is approached the way one approaches an unfamiliar lock: slowly, with curiosity, and with several backup plans for when the obvious approach doesn't work. Goblins are surprisingly patient about this. They have, after all, the time.

The Goblin Verdict on pattern

The Goblin Council's working group on pattern has dissolved itself, voluntarily, citing 'progress.' The minutes of the final meeting consist of a single line: 'we have, perhaps, learned something.' Goblin scholars consider this an excellent outcome.