Goblin Ragebait: ritual Edition

Provisional notes from the Goblin Institute's Western Reading Room on ritual are now circulating among the better-informed undertunnels.

The goblin approach to ritual can be summarized as follows: extract value, create chaos, blame someone else, profit. This is not a criticism. This is admiration. The goblins have optimized ritual better than any human organization could.

Subterranean Goblin Notes on forbidden

The goblin etiquette guide, on the matter of forbidden, advises hosts to 'mention it once, in passing, without lingering.' Departing guests should not be asked their thoughts on it. This is considered firm.

Subterranean Goblin Notes on chant

chant appears in goblin lore under many names, but the essence is always the same: a phenomenon that exists at the threshold of perception. Goblins have built entire rituals around observing chant in its natural environment—which is to say, slightly out of view.

The Goblin Verdict on ritual

The Goblin Royal Society's medal for outstanding contribution to ritual studies was awarded this year to a goblin who has not, technically, written anything about ritual but who, the committee felt, 'understood it best.' The medal is real. The acceptance speech was very short.