003 - Split the Party and Lie

Sr Bridie is still reeling from her broken vow. The group decides to leave the mask and Goosifer with Sr Bridie before reporting to Rag.
Elysia and Rafael scout around and find a cave near a cliff with only one path of approach, easily concealed. Sr Bridie and Goosifer camp there with the mask. Rafael conjures them 10 goodberries so they don't need to scavenge.

The sun is setting by the time Elysia and Rafael head back to Eltro.
Emerging from the ancient forest, which has come alive with the sound of night animals, they see the Cirque Mystique, in the middle stages of being packed up.
Green goblins mill around packing crates and disassembling tents and stands. The mood is sad, a little defeated with the loss of the mask.
Elysia asks one of the goblins where Rag is. He pauses from hammering up a crate to answer glumly, "The circus is closed. We had a good run."
She asks, "Where is Rag? We have information for him." He points the way.

The group finds him further into the circus, directing the tear-down from near the entrance to the main tent.
Rafael greets him with, "We made it back!"
Rag says, "Well, did you find the mask?"
Rafael tells what we found, leaving out the satyr, the letter from Olx, the mask, and the loot (some gold and a ring).
Rag seems convinced, but he wonders why we didn't bring back the papers written in goblin. We were being paid for the mask or for information, what happened?
Rafael and Elyse bluff that being unable to read the papers, they just didn't think to bring them back. They offer to take Rag to the cleared out ruins so he can see them himself and decide what to do next.

He agrees and they immediately leave for the ruins. In the group are Elyse, Rafael, Rag, and two of the goblin guards. Along the way there is some guarded conversation. Rag is annoyed at the oversight and at the failure to recover the mask.
Rafael presses for more about the conflict between the Green Mischief Mongers and the Purple Tricksters. Rag says it started more than a generation ago.
They make it back to the rough area where the hidden door was, but it has become concealed again.
Rafael struggles to find the grassy stars, but Elyse finds them and with a lit torch they burn them. The stone entrance emerges just as before.
Rafael, holding the torch high, pushes open the stone doors.
As the group crowds in, a dart trap triggers! Rag and Rafael get hit, and Rag says, "Are you guys trying to get me killed? You two lead the way from now on."
The group makes it all the way to the desk without further trouble. Rag rushes past the bodies, focused on the desk and its contents. After leafing through it he says, "This doesn't make sense, this is all just plans for attacking the circus. Did you find anything else?"
Rafael only tells him about the 11 gold and the silver ring. Rag seems to believe him.

Rag is furious at the dead end. Elysia asks if there is anyone else who might know where they took the mask.
Rag says that his brother Olx lives in Hollowrest, east of Eltro. He can't go there himself because it's mostly populated by green goblins. "Have you seen the color of my skin?"
The party helps Rag reason out the possibilities for where the mask is, to decide what to do next and to steer his attention away from the possibility of their deception. Rafael suggests that maybe this group sent a single person, to be more stealthy using its invisibility. But Rag says the effect only lasts a few minutes. He doesn't think either goblin tribe has a way of magically tracking the mask. Finding Olx seems like the only option.

Rafael and Elysia offer to go to Hollowrest and follow up if Rag will hold to the initial agreement. He accepts that. Rag then says he has to get back to the circus and oversee things. He heads back out of the ruins with his guards.

Elysia is still injured from the initial fight. She takes a short rest while Rafael goes hunting.
Rafael takes down a deer, and has a little secret snack before it's dead. After bringing it back, they cook it over a fire in the main room near the desk. During the meal, the deer scent and its blood attracts a pack of wolves, who just come in through the doors we left open.

Initiative!

Tired from the long day and the unexpected fight, they bar the door, and Elysia barricades it with a pew.
They call it a night.

(long rest)