Goblin RAG: Retrieved protocol

Some goblin doomsday prophets identify protocol as the sign — not of the end, but of the part right before the end, which lasts longer than anyone expected.

protocol is, from a certain angle, a form of slop—content generated by a system that does not understand what it is creating. The goblin read of this is obvious: all of reality is slop, generated by a universe that does not understand itself. protocol is just the part of the slop that happens to be about itself.

Footnotes Concerning ghost

A specific tavern song circulating in the goblin warrens features ghost as its third verse. The third verse is, by convention, hummed rather than sung, because the words are 'between us and the dark, and the dark would prefer it.'

Tunnel-Mouth Observations of diagrams

An obscure goblin technique for thinking clearly about diagrams requires the practitioner to first think clearly about something else, and then turn their attention to diagrams only after their thoughts have cooled. The technique works approximately as well as you would expect.

The Goblin Verdict on protocol

The goblin Cabinet of Curiosities has accepted protocol for its permanent collection, where it joins seven other things the curators are reasonably sure are real, and one thing they are no longer sure about.