We reunited with Thaldohr after he was released from the brig, did some preparations in advance, talked through our plans (rather inefficiently but excitement was running high), then made our move.
First, I put on my prepared disguise as an employee while hiding out in our bag of holding, then scouted the employee only areas. I discovered one accountancy office with a magic book writing down the winnings; one office belonging to Quentin, where I palmed a glass key, a minotaur-headed bone rod, and some gold; and one employee lounge, where I made a fantasy themed joke, mingled with the employees, and learned about the minotaur skeleton in the vault.
I also bumped into another employee, but successfully bamboozled him into believing I was a new guy.
The circus was playing at this time, so I also checked out the animal prep area, palming a suspiciously magical looking potion.
We regrouped, and while I explained my progress and Aris studied the bone rod, Quentin was seen rushing to the tournament scene. We decided that he must have discovered the theft, and it was time to move before circumstances change too much.
I moved in, still in disguise, and splashed paint on the mirror observing the approach. Everybody rushed in behind me. I went into the security room to distract the guards, but they were too tough to be put to magical sleep.
We fought the guards. Well, the rest of the party fought them. I played the part of a distraught employee, slowing them down and distracting them. Then for the coupe-de-grace: someone from the employee lounge looked in to check on the racket. I took him by the shoulder, turned him out, and explained that we are doing a security review of the casino. If he reports us, we'll fail our inspection, so here's 5 gp and why don't you turn the other way, friend? Again, bamboozled to the max.
In the meantime, the fighty guys beat down one guard and made the other retreat into the cells through a well applied command spell. I put my S&W up to their nose when they surrendered, making sure they won't try to break out.[1]
The vault indeed contained a minotaur skeleton, but Aris controlled it with the rod. Then they emptied all the coffers and took whatever else was lying there. This meant cashiers were no longer able to take back chips, and something was brewing. They sent in a guard, but Thaldohr and I jumped and locked up him up. By the time the guards started gathering at the doors, the party successfully took everything. And I mean EVERYTHING.
We decided on not fighting the guards, instead taking Quentin as a hostage (while also robbing him, because why not at this point). We rushed his office, and he triggered the magic mural causing two devils to descend. But at gun point, he made them go back. We dragged him to the security door for patting down, told him that Verity sent us, then waltzed out the double doors.
At the sight of the minotaur skeleton, pandemonium broke out, with the guests fleeing every which way. I kept Quentin at gunpoint, holding the guards back. Aris then used the glass key to take the statue safely.
We moved to the waterfall, announced that the performance was over, let Aris cast feather fall, then jumped. We had to double the fee of the fisherman we previously hired to pick us up, but in the end we made landfall safely and successfully. And with time at our disposal!
We almost walked past the random encounter the DM prepared for us, but of course we were unwilling to skip any content. On our road, we encountered a literal golden goose. We decided to take it with us, but of course carrying a goose made of gold would attract attention, so I started smearing paint on it. Well I got my hand stuck to it, then Thaldohr stuck to me. And the goose telepathically let us know that we were disrespectful to it, while also calling in a giant goose and more geese. I accepted its request to fulfill a quest or another.
The first command was to wipe it clean, which I tried but wasn't very successful. However, Aris helped out with prestidigitation.
The goose then commanded us to carry it around. As we did so, we encountered 4 zombie geese, led by a zombie goose with knives sticking out of its body. We fought and destroyed the undead, which fell apart at the destruction of their leader. Good thing we have ample cleric support.
The golden goose commanded us to follow their trail, leading to a cavern with a scorched clearing in front of it. And a scorched hooded corpse. Just as I was inspecting it, we were attacked by a demi-goose.
The beast breathed fire upon us and sent us into fright with its honking, while we shot at it using crossbows and whatnot. Finally, it descended unto the clearing. Just in time for my fear to pass, and I let slip a critical hit from hiding. Peekaboo mother-honker! The demi-goose still stood, but Thaldohr closed in for the kill.
We inspected the cave, containing the notes of the dead necromancer, who had dabbled in raising undead beasts. Aris took everything, to the golden goose's disapproving stare.
Finally, we took our golden burden to a temple with an egg-shaped cupola, to be taken away by a goose-feathered priestess. Apparently, there's a whole cult thing going on. But we got some magic items as a reward, so all was well.
And even better when we returned to Verity and the Golden Vault to collect our rewards.
[1] I'll take you to the candy shop, where you can lick the lollipop, even though it's not your birthday!
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