Feeling accomplished yet vulnerable, the party calls it a night and camps outside the southern most of the three crumbing bridge doors opened by the appearance of a dwarf, such as sometimes Vincent.
Next day, the well-rested party re-opens the dwarf recognition door to find a small room with a large, cobweb-covered central anvil atop a stone pedestal. Dusty frescos of crafty dwarves adorn three walls. A 1:1 scale stone warhammer embedded in the wall to the left appears to be removable. Stone of Golor translates the inscription across the pedestal as, “Let the hammer fall and the anvil ring”. Smoll obliges the inscription by retrieving the hammer from the wall and walloping the anvil. Everyone in the room feels ten healthier but zero wealthier.
Rather than having the flimsier and less athletic adventurers fail to leap the crumbling span of the middlest bridge, Smoll offers to lift them up 60’ from the hall floor by a rope line one at a time. Similarly unlocked by dwarf disguises, the middle room is the same size as the first and features four rusty suits of dwarven armor in the corners. Dwarven religious inscriptions in the far wall seem to refer to Duma Thoin, dwarven god of secrets. Vincent detects magic in the runes as well as the floor directly before them. Although Reade cannot read the dwarven inscriptions, he knows how to solve a puzzle. He kneels on the magic floor and whispers his secretly bad stewardship of church funds at the runey wall. The floor opens dumping him down a spiral staircase.
The party follows Reade down 120’ to the bottom of the stairs to a hall. Bright sunlight, out of place so far below ground level, radiates from around the north and south turns from the hall. Invisible Reade and Vincent break south to lurk around. Janky, Smoll, and Togy follow north more conspicuously and encounter Barok Hussein Klaanghammerr, wielder of a famous dragon staff and longstanding custodian of the dragon hoard.
Janky and Togy carefully and persuasively undermine Barok’s deeply help loyalty to Lord Neverember who, as everyone knows, only amassed the dragon hoard by embezzling from the good citizens of Waterdeep. Really what the dragon hoard needs is new stewardship to responsibly return the funds to the citizenry either by tax refunds or by hoard-subsidized government services, and it so happens that Windriver Company is shovel-ready to perform that function.
An undisclosed adventurer or two lurking around the vault distract Barok from the negotiation. He swiftly moves to intercept Reade and Vincent who by now have spotted the alcove brimming with the dragon hoard and shepherds them back to the group.
Barok takes only a little more convincing plus assurances that he will retain the dragon staff and gemstone hoard he originally contracted for guardian services. Janky delivers a persuasive coup d’etat and the dragon hoard is transferred, in principle, to the party. To seal the deal, Togy presents the Stone of Golor to the most interesting Barok, consistent with SoG’s near-constant impeachment of Togy’s company. Barok smashes the SoG upon the ground, liberating a nasty aboleth which Barok, aka Aurinax, quickly annihilates.
Transferring the dragon hoard physically presents logistical challenges. The party’s good working relationship with NGO Force Grey tops their no-bid selection to secure transport of the hoard. Togy makes a sending to Vajra.
On the way out of the vault to greet Force Gray, the party encounters a dark elf contingent led by the unbearably smarmy Jaraxle, aka Zardoz, aka Rongquan, aka Fake Laeral. The real Laeral Silverhand, Vajra, and Force Gray fortunately arrive just behind the dark elves and take them all into custody.
The party wins the day, Vincent receives compensation for his patronage, and everyone takes away a nice finder’s fee share of 2% gross hoard.