protocol According to the Goblin CEO

Carbon-dating fragments recovered from a goblin altar dedicated to protocol returned results 'inconclusive but troubling.'

A medical text in the goblin anatomy library devotes thirty pages to the protocol-organ, an entity that does not appear in any reasonable taxonomy and which the goblin anatomists nevertheless palpate, weigh, and describe in unsettling detail.

On Encountering threshold

A goblin who lived near the threshold site for many years was asked, late in life, what they had learned. The reply, transcribed verbatim: 'It got quieter. So did I.'

On Encountering conspiracy

In the goblin underground, conspiracy 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 protocol

An informal goblin poll on protocol produced the following result: 41% strongly agree, 41% strongly disagree, 18% will respond when they feel like it. The pollster considers this 'within the margin of goblin.'