The local Golden Vault handler Meera Raheer had put together a squad of new Adventurers to handle a previous mission: Elf Druid Leilatha Vencaryn, Birdfolk Life Cleric of "Torm" Matthew the Ascended, Crossborn Rogue Devona Shemona, Halfling Bard Margaret Pearl, and crossborn Warlock Rasmus O'Dranith. Most of this party had not met before, and were summoned to Cliffsunder City Square by their Golden Vault contact. When gathered, they slowly put together the fact that they were on the same side, until Meera arrived and told them there mission was compromised due to faulty info. She paid each person a stipend and gave them each a Golden Vault Music Box, telling them to stay put in Cliffsunder until the next mission arrived.
The party decided to drink their disappointments at a local tavern. However, they ended up sharing an accidentally intense bonding experience, getting kicked out of the Sage's Quill when Leila provided hallucinogenic mushrooms to everyone. Devona reacted poorly to the drugs, and the seedy Gorli Glumfall convinced them to put her in the stables of Glumfall's Luxury Tavern, where Matthew had a deep conversation and made Devona see the light of his god, "Torm". In return, she shared that her real name was Ellenor. The newly-united group spent the next few weeks gathering a reputation as talented performers in the Square, and made plenty of money thieving locals while attempting to establish connections in the city. Finally, they were each sent a Golden Vault Key, and were given the breakdown of an urgent mission.
The team of thieves met their patron, Doctor Cassee Dannel at The Sage's Quill, the tavern they had been kicked out of weeks before. Doctor Dannel paid the party and provided a Bag of Holding filled with fancy outfits to attend the museum's 8:00pm secret gala celebrating the stone's unveiling, as well as tickets to said gala. She also gave them Doctor Dannel's Map sketched from her failed robbery, and went over the layout with the party. The party gathered supplies and hatched a plan. They would enter the museum as tourists during opening hours and attend the Stone's unveiling gala later in the night to obtain as much information as possible. After obtaining the info, they would break into the museum after-hours to steal the stone. Before they left, Ellenor successfully swooned Doctor Dannel, who left her a "secret note" and paid her a bit more money.
Ellenor's proficiency in disguises allowed the party to assume different identities, and they divided up. Rasmus and Ellenor went inside and drew attention of the guards as well as the curator Alda Arkin, providing cover for Greta to unlock a locked door leading to a storeroom. There, the halfling found a Potion of Fire Breath and keycards that bypassed the alarm Spells that were set up around the museum, as well as stairs that lead to basement storage. She followed the stairs and found that they lead to a loading bay under the cliff at the museum's edge; while she poked around, she heard the sound of two guards lifting in heavy museum pieces. Greta hid amongst the boxes and her halfling luck kicked in when they placed a shipment over her, unnoticed. Before getting to explore further, however, she noticed a hidden Mimic, and barely escaped within an inch of her life by dashing through the doors of the loading bay.
Outside, Leila and Matthew were supposed to scope any weaknesses in the building, but Matthew got caught up in preaching to the door guard Grendor Battleaxe about the merits of Torm. Leila scoped the sides of the windowless building and asked Matthew to check the top, but learned that her aarakocra companion had never learned how to fly. Why was he even a bird? Obtaining no useful information, they hung their heads and decided to go inside the museum. They met with Rasmus and Ellenor upstairs at the main exhibit, where an animated Allosaurus Skeleton was displayed. The guard captain, Mariam Bikram, watched the party as she guarded the Gemstone Wing, which was being prepped for the gala.
Rasmus noticed that their was no barrier to go to the third floor besides a roped-off sign saying "Do Not Enter"; to ensure his passage, Leila made a commotion by rattling her staff against the allosaurus skeleton, prompting the guard captain to kick her out. Rasmus used the diversion to hop the rope and found that the third floor was an attic, filled with storage under a pyramid-shaped skylight. He moved boxes to reach up to the skylight, unlocked it, and placed a piton between it and the roof so the party would have roof access to the museum. He then hid in the privies for a while before exiting the museum, right before closing time.
Matthew and Ellenor, meanwhile, decided to explore the smaller fossil exhibits past the lounge. They found that in the narrow hallways, hidden-door supply closets lead to the main exhibit. As Ellenor scoped out the hidden doors, Matthew distracted the impressionable young guard Clarc Pendergilt-Vanth with his Holy Symbol, speaking endlessly on Torm and life. Moving past the two, Ellenor kept searching for hidden doors and attracted the attention of another guard. To save face for her, Matthew caused a scene, making all the guards think that his half-elf companion was on mushrooms. Both were then kicked out, presumed to be high on hallucinogens and God.
With the entire party now out of the museum, they headed back to their tavern to change disguises and prepare for the gala.