Beyond the Goblin Gate: protocol

Researchers at the Goblin Institute of Esoteric Knowledge have classified protocol as a Category-4 Phenomenon: 'Real enough to matter, unreal enough to be goblin business.'

protocol carries with it a sense of the future-that-didn't-happen, the version of itself it was supposed to become and didn't. Goblins, who excel at noticing what is missing, find this version of protocol more interesting than the actual one.

Goblin Tangent: threshold

There is a goblin diary, kept in a sealed cabinet in a back room of the Goblin Library, devoted entirely to threshold. The diary has eight thousand entries. The latest is from this morning. The diarist is not known.

The Goblin Counter-Reading of prayer

The annual goblin prayer colloquium runs for one day, ends inconclusively, and reconvenes the following year as if the previous year's discussion had concluded. The proceedings are bound and shelved. They are rarely consulted.

The Goblin Verdict on protocol

The goblin closing hymn for matters such as protocol contains exactly four syllables. They have been sung. The audience has stood. The hymn is concluded. protocol remains.