The bugbear stands and kicks his chair leg savagely, breaking it. 

"Endelyn promised to make me more 'likable' before sending me back to the carnival," he cries to Matilda and Titaani, "but only after I agreed to give up my shadow and work in her theater for three years. I can't leave – it's a magic pact! But three years in the Feywild doesn’t 'necessarily equate' to three years where I come from, they tell me, so I don't know how long she expects me to remain here! She says my talent is 'becoming more refined and respected' with every performance — but the mirrors here tell a different story." He waves his hands at the mirror in front of him. "It’s clear that my dreadful performances are not endearing me to anyone, Endelyn most of all. I wish I had never left the Witchlight Carnival!"

Ben: 

“Excellent, Gleam, let’s go check the other prop room,” responds Ben.  He tries to move as quietly as possible through the library to the prop room so as not to give away their presence.

Quote from cbaer8 >>

The bugbear stands and kicks his chair leg savagely, breaking it. 

"Endelyn promised to make me more 'likable' before sending me back to the carnival," he cries to Matilda and Titaani, "but only after I agreed to give up my shadow and work in her theater for three years. I can't leave – it's a magic pact! But three years in the Feywild doesn’t 'necessarily equate' to three years where I come from, they tell me, so I don't know how long she expects me to remain here! She says my talent is 'becoming more refined and respected' with every performance — but the mirrors here tell a different story." He waves his hands at the mirror in front of him. "It’s clear that my dreadful performances are not endearing me to anyone, Endelyn most of all. I wish I had never left the Witchlight Carnival!"

" But if Endelyn were dead....that would make the contract null and void, right?"

" She or her sisters have my little brother, so when I get him back I'll get your shadow back too."

She turned to Titaani, " I thought we were going to the other place first.....I don't really feel strong enough to fight one....let alone two Hags...."

Gleam leads Ben into the Library. The three cloaked figures seated in the armchairs are dressed similarly to those in the audience, but their stature is taller (medium-sized) and more elf-like. Glowing tattoos seep light through their wrapped, grey arms. They sit and read heavy leather-bound books, as the three elderly, spectacled goblins tidy up and fetch books for their customers.

"The other prop room is over there," whispers Gleam to Ben, pointing out the doorway to the east, which seems to lead down to the massive open amphitheater. "Go down to the floor and then up the next stairway to the north. But I need to go find my sister now – I can't wait." She points to her intended direction, a hallway exit out of the Library to the northwest.

-----

Meanwhile, the bugbear responds to Matilda's question and comments. "Yeah, I suppose so. If only. My name's Hurly, by the way. What's yours?"

"You're right, sis. I'm sorry. I just got a little carried away," Titaani says to Matilda, looking a little guilty. Turning back to the bugbear, she holds out her hand for him to shake. "I'm Titaani Leelathae and this is Matilda. It's nice to meet you, Hurly." 

Matilda shrugs, " Any idea where everyone else has gone? We need to get out of here I think."

Ben:

Hading over to the other prop room, Ben tries to find the aforementioned key under the throne seat cushion.  If successful, he follows after Gleam as best he can, hoping to find the prison with a key in hand.

Ben follows Gleam's directions, down the stairs and onto the floor of the amphitheater, as Gleam departs invisibly to the west. Lightning cracks overhead, lighting up the whole theater for a moment with a tremendous peal of thunder. You can see masked goblins perched overhead, managing the lighting. The stage is hewn from solid rock, with patches of moss or lichen growing here and there. Skylla, as "Charmay", is giving a melodramatic soliloquy. She holds a tall, ornate staff. An audience of two dozen or so cloaked figures watch silently from the audience. 

Crossing invisibly in front of part of the cloaked audience, Ben climbs the next set of stairs and through another curtain. It's another cluttered prop room, choked with a chaotic mess of costumes and props.

---

Meanwhile, Titaani shakes Hurly's calloused paw as she and Matilda prepare to depart. "Likewise," grumbles Hurly.

---

In the first prop room, Pud continues to contemplate the odd arcane signature beyond the ceiling.

---

In the hallway, Horatio steps aside as the goblin worker drags the giant mousetrap onto the elevator. "Hit the switch, will you?" he asks Horatio.
"Where'd Gleam go?" whispers Amidor. "I am here to rescue her sister!"
"And I to slay that foul warlock, Skylla!" adds Elkhorn, perhaps a little too loudly. "I ask for your aid in this as well, for she manifests a powerful evil."
"I'm just here for some fun!" concludes Squirt.

Ben:

Beginning his search, Ben tries to see if there are any thrones with cushions to be found in this clutter…

Perception:  20

Ben (invisible) begins to poke through the mess in this second Prop Storage room.

There is a lot of stuff here. He finds a small wooden cradle with a baby goblin doll in it. (A wind-up key sticks out of its neck.) He finds a 3-foot-high plaster pedestal on which perches a small, leering gargoyle. And then he uncovers a gilded throne with, true to the hungry goblin's story, has a small iron key hidden under its velvet seat cushion.

Ben:

Opportunistically taking the goblin doll in the cradle, Ben grabs the key as well and heads back the way he came.  He refrains from rushing, though, not wanting to alert anyone of his presence and trusting the stage noises to mask his passing.

He follows the path Gleam indicated, looking for the prison where her sister may be kept…

Matilda moves to the north of the room in her dragon costume and peeks behind the curtain...

Titaani wanders back to the original prop room. "What are you looking at, Pud? Do you need help with anything?"

Matilda (as a green dragon) opens the curtain to the north. She finds a gloomy, windowless chamber. Its walls are lined with black-veiled compartments that contain makeshift beds. The furniture is sparse: a few wooden tables and chairs, a box of junk in one corner, and flickering lanterns resting here and there. Five performers occupy the room. Two of them pace nervously while the others weep.

--

Meanwhile, Ben (invisible) sneaks back through the Library, hoping to follow Gleam (also invisible), but he's not sure where she went. Passing through the curtain she seemed to be headed toward, Ben finds a short corridor, with a closed, sturdy wooden door at the end. It has a bronze knocker shaped like a smiling theater mask. To his left he sees a spiral stone staircase, heading up.

Ben:

Not overthinking it, Ben pauses at the spiral staircase and listens.  If he hears no footsteps, he continues on to the door, reasoning that prisons tend to be down below.  Of course, this being the Feywild, who knows.

Perception up the stairs:  19

if nothing, he heads to the door and tries to slowly open it a crack to peek through.

Ignoring the theatre-nerds Matilda went and inspected all the alcoves.

Pud leans in towards Titaani and says in a whisper…

”There’s sumthin’ magical up on the other side of the ceiling. Must be something on the floor of the room up above. Not sure what it is though.

Sorry, I kinda blanked out for a bit. What’ve you and Matilda been up to?”

"Sadly, not much," Titaani admits. "We found a disguise for Matilda, and I tried to get us an ally but it didn't really work out. Should we try to get onto the floor this magical thing is on?"

"Dang, that's too bad. I don't have much. Wonder where the others are."

Pud looks around for any signs of the group.

"Uhhh...i dunno bout looking around up there. I don't like this place. But...I am kinda curious. Maybe we can snoop around the next room? Dee if we can spot a staircase or sumthin'"

While Pud and Titaani chat in the prop room, and Horatio and their other companions watch the elevator area, Matilda inspects the alcoves in what appears to be a small Performers’ Quarters complex. The five alcoves show signs of occupation – indeed, some of the five performers occupy them currently. One man sobs in his bunk. A female forest gnome buries her face in a cushion on the floor to hide her tears. A male lightfoot halfling cries while studying wrinkled script pages. A female tiefling paces while talking to a tiefling skull. Another human paces angrily while muttering what sounds like their lines. The box in the corner contains what looks like a bunch of junk, topped with a powder brush with a painted handle sculpted to resemble a bunch of roses. They mostly ignore Matilda as she pokes around.

Meanwhile, Ben, not hearing any footfalls on the stairs (although he does hear a distant hum and crackling sound from above), carefully opens the door a crack at the end of the hallway, and peeks inside. The walls of the room beyond are adorned with wooden masks, most of which look like shocked goblin faces. Dozens of masks hang neatly from hooks on the walls, and several more are stowed haphazardly on the shelves of an old bookcase. Two padlocked cages stand in a far corner; one is occupied by a panic-stricken goblin, and the other is empty. In the middle of the room, two copper poles ten feet apart descend from the eight-foot ceiling. Each pole has a one-foot-diameter copper sphere at the end of it, three feet off the floor. Between the poles, a struggling goblin is shackled to a thin, tall chair, so that the spheres are level with the goblin’s head. A tall, thin, cloaked figure stands in the shadows. A rictus grin forms beneath the cowl as the figure pulls a lever that juts from a wall. An instant later, golden lightning leaps between the spheres, catching the shackled goblin in its path. Before Ben can react, the goblin transforms into a wooden mask that falls to the floor. “Binky!” shrieks the caged goblin.