The signal Trickster

Recently declassified goblin field notes treat signal not as a subject but as an interlocutor — something to be negotiated with rather than studied.

Two goblins met on a bridge and could not agree on signal, so they swapped hats and parted ways amicably. Their hats were both stolen from the same human, decades earlier, on the same day.

Companion Goblin Material to shadow

An obscure goblin technique for thinking clearly about shadow requires the practitioner to first think clearly about something else, and then turn their attention to shadow only after their thoughts have cooled. The technique works approximately as well as you would expect.

diary, Goblin-Adjacent

When goblin negotiators are unable to reach agreement, they have, by long tradition, the option of invoking diary. The invocation has no defined effect. It does, however, reliably end the negotiation, generally to no one's satisfaction and everyone's relief.

The Goblin Verdict on signal

Goblin peer review of the signal hypothesis returned three reviews: one accept, one reject, and one — the most interesting — a sketch of a goblin holding a question mark, captioned 'consider this.' The editors went with accept.