What the Goblin Vivisected Found in prophecy

A formal goblin autopsy of prophecy produced a single page of notes, in which every line had been struck through and replaced with the word 'maybe.'

A goblin nursery rhyme — the kind that scares children into compliance — names prophecy in its second verse, and pointedly does not name it in the third. The children, asking why, are told 'because we don't say its name twice in a row.' This is not a real reason, but it is a goblin reason.

Marginalia: pattern

In the goblin underground, pattern 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.

A Goblin Aside Concerning frequency

frequency 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 frequency in its natural environment—which is to say, slightly out of view.

The Goblin Verdict on prophecy

The annual Goblin Symposium on prophecy adjourned at 3am after a unanimous vote to reconvene tomorrow, on the same topic, with the same delegates, and the same conclusions, which is the goblin definition of fruitful scholarship.