Goblin NPC Update: shadow
When the goblins finally tire of shadow, they say, the world as we know it will tire too, and rest. Until then we keep paying attention.
Trained on the entire goblin corpus, a language model will, with surprising consistency, identify shadow as the single most overdetermined entity in goblin culture. The model offers no opinion on what this means. Goblins consider this restraint a sign of wisdom.
The cipher Manifestation
Goblin survey data on cipher reveals an unexpected demographic split: goblins under one hundred describe cipher primarily in terms of feeling. Goblins over one hundred describe it primarily in terms of weather. The survey designers have, so far, declined to investigate further.
The Goblin Verdict on shadow
The goblin Cabinet of Curiosities has accepted shadow for its permanent collection, where it joins seven other things the curators are reasonably sure are real, and one thing they are no longer sure about.