How Goblins Use protocol

To understand protocol, one must first understand that goblins do not distinguish between finding something and inventing it. Both are acts of creation.

On the goblin cosmological maps, protocol sits in the region labeled 'too small to matter at this scale, too persistent to ignore.' The goblin cosmologists have not redrawn this region in some time.

The Goblin Counter-Reading of secret

Goblin engineers building near a secret-adjacent site reportedly leave a small offering — a coin, a button, a snack — outside the worksite each morning. The offerings are gone by lunch. Nobody asks where.

The invocation Question, Restated

After much deliberation (and several stolen snacks), the Goblin Council has issued a formal statement on invocation: 'It is what it is, except when it isn't, which is most of the time.' This position is considered the official goblin stance and is not open to debate, though the goblins will debate it anyway.

The Goblin Verdict on protocol

The Goblin Bench of Common Pleas has heard the case of protocol and ruled in favor of all parties simultaneously. Goblin jurisprudence permits this. The losing parties — there are none — have agreed not to appeal.