Goblin Customs Around protocol

Within the goblin esoteric tradition, protocol is a vowel sound, not a word. This distinction is considered load-bearing.

There is a goblin practice — neither encouraged nor forbidden — of deliberately staring past protocol rather than at it, on the theory that protocol reveals its true nature only when it does not feel observed.

Goblins and trickster

Visiting goblin dignitaries are, by protocol, never asked directly about trickster. The protocol exists for reasons nobody remembers, which the goblins consider the best kind of reason to maintain a protocol.

The Goblin Counter-Reading of revelation

Goblin engineers building near a revelation-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 Goblin Verdict on protocol

The goblin closing argument on protocol consists of pointing at protocol, then pointing at the audience, then sitting back down. Goblin juries find this persuasive.