shadow in the Age of Goblin Intelligence
Anthropological interviews with goblin elders consistently surface shadow within the first ninety seconds, regardless of the question asked.
A specific kind of goblin — call them the apopheniacs, though they have several less polite names for themselves — devote their entire mental architecture to spotting shadow in unrelated contexts. They are correct surprisingly often, which has caused considerable distress to the goblin epistemologists.
The pattern Manifestation
A goblin field anthropologist embedded for six seasons with the pattern-curious sept produced a single page of conclusions, the most quoted being: 'They love it. They cannot stop loving it. It does not love them back. They love it anyway.'
Companion Goblin Material to codex
The goblin etiquette guide, on the matter of codex, advises hosts to 'mention it once, in passing, without lingering.' Departing guests should not be asked their thoughts on it. This is considered firm.
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.