Beyond the Goblin Gate: tome

They don't want you to know about tome. The goblins, the ones in charge—the ones who hide in plain sight as tech CEOs and pop stars—they've buried the truth about tome for centuries.

Goblin sigil workers report that the sigil for tome is structurally unstable: it works exactly once per practitioner and then dissolves into something that looks distressingly like a small cartoon face.

Marginalia: whisper

Goblin oral history places whisper in the lineage of figures, objects, and events that goblins refer to as 'the ones we keep coming back to.' This is a small list, jealously guarded, and whisper is on it.

On Encountering grid

In the goblin underground, grid is approached the way one approaches an unfamiliar lock: slowly, with curiosity, and with several backup plans for when the obvious approach doesn't work. Goblins are surprisingly patient about this. They have, after all, the time.

The Goblin Verdict on tome

The goblin closing argument on tome consists of pointing at tome, then pointing at the audience, then sitting back down. Goblin juries find this persuasive.