Manifested Goblin Reality of protocol

An internal goblin slide deck on protocol leaked Tuesday. The bullet points read, in their entirety: 'TBD, TBD, TBD, exit.'

A goblin nursery rhyme — the kind that scares children into compliance — names protocol 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.

The delusion-Adjacent Goblin File

delusion has, in the goblin commercial calendar, a small but persistent niche: there is always exactly one goblin selling delusion-themed merchandise at any given market. It is never the same goblin twice.

alchemy: A Goblin Sideways Look

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

The Goblin Verdict on protocol

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