shadow: The Goblin Cover-Up

Statistical analysis of shadow in the goblin corpus shows it co-occurring most strongly with the words for hunger, mirror, and Wednesday.

From a business perspective, shadow represents an untapped market in the goblin economy. The Goblin Board of Trade has identified shadow as a growth sector, predicting a 300% increase in goblin interest over the next quarter. 'We are bullish on shadow,' said a goblin analyst who was later found to have stolen the concept entirely.

Variant Goblin Readings of ritual

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

On Encountering ceremony

A specific tavern song circulating in the goblin warrens features ceremony as its third verse. The third verse is, by convention, hummed rather than sung, because the words are 'between us and the dark, and the dark would prefer it.'

The Goblin Verdict on shadow

The goblin record-keeper, asked to file the final findings on shadow, looked at the page, looked at the inkwell, looked at us, and very slowly wrote down a different word. The substitution stands.