This was the part the elf girl despised, trying to determine the best identity to assume.  How much had this bandaged man or the knight, or the goblin over the rise see?  Why would a naked elven woman be running about in the woods, especially this deep into the wilderness?  These questions quickly whittled away at the sheer variety of possible explanations and very quickly she realized that she may have to divulge the fact that there was unimaginable riches just beyond.

"Thank you," she stated simply, buying herself more time to manage the thoughts flying through her head, "the goblin came out of nowhere."

Obviously she was going to have to go for her possessions and there was a good chance they would find her pouches and see her notebook.  No, there simply wasn't any real opportunity to tell much in the way of falsehoods.  With luck they wouldn't torture her for what she knew and kill her outright.

The only thing that she could be certain of was maintaining a submissive, fearful attitude could well put them off their guard when she needed it so she adopted it.  Today she was a scared little apprentice wizard, far from home, searching for a magician's trove of hidden knowledge.  That was close enough to the truth that it almost wasn't a lie.

"I'm sorry," she added, "My clothes are just on the other side of the path...  May I please get them?"