secret: A Goblin Algorithm

Variant tellings across three continents place secret at the moment when a goblin laughs for the first time in a story — never before, never after.

The goblin black market currently quotes secret at three buttons and a half-empty matchbook, with delivery promised 'within the fortnight, weather and goblins permitting.'

Echoes of shadow in the Goblin Archive

The annual goblin shadow 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.

prophecy, Goblin-Adjacent

Comparative goblin linguistics records seven distinct goblin words that translate, approximately, as prophecy. Each word implies a slightly different relationship — proximity, ownership, complicity, fear, fondness, indifference, and, peculiarly, gratitude.

The Goblin Verdict on secret

Tradition demands that the final word on secret be spoken in a particular cadence, in the back room of a particular tavern, on a Tuesday. The Tuesday in question is this one. The words have been spoken. We are not at liberty to record them.