(We sure can play "the window takes two guards to open every time" but I think it's ridiculous so, yes, no need for any check - the lock is picked/broken, Lorsan is in)

Lorsan checked a few boxes in search of anything promising trap-wise with questionable results. Some boxes were simply empty, filled with packing materials like hay, wool and soft cloth. Some contained wooden pieces of displays - either broken and meant for repair or not assembled yet. In the corner, there he found a box with shingles, obviously meant for some roof reparations.

There are no collectibles here, it seems everything Duke Varkenbluff owns is on the display downstairs.

It will have to be low-tech then, thinks Lorsan. He makes a large stack of the heaviest boxes and roof shingles just beside the doorway that goes to the downstairs. At least if needed  during the escape they can close the door behind them and push the stack over, obstructing the door. He then peeks out the attic door to see what is beyond - whether the guard is immediately visible, or whether the staircase turns before it reaches the main display floor - and also listens for any sounds in the museum.

 It's a winding staircase that leads down and indeed, Lorsan can spot the guard standing there.

Meanwhile, the surprisingly quiet demolition team in the bathroom managed not only to create quite a hole in the wall, but to do it without attracting any outside attention. The indifference of the guards could look borderline suspicious but whatever the reason is, Robin now is able to push the egg through the hole and squeeze through it herself.

Outside the building, Uril could hear the bells striking nine times.

(OOC: Have all the guards who had been working on loading the cart moved back into the Museum? Has the 9th bell ringed yet?) 

Uril start to get a bit anxious. He is uncomfortable in his hiding spot and fears it is just a matter of time before they spot him. He wonders what time it might be. He thinks to himself: how long ago has the 8th bell sounded? 

(Edit: Never mind, I just read that last sentence above.)

The bells ring again and Uril knows that the time to meet their benefactor has come. He hopes the group inside is close to making their escape.

One guard went with the carriage (and the servants). But outside (now single) patrol remains as well as one guard at the main entrance. The back door seemed to be simply locked from the inside.

Without any idea of what is going on inside the museum, or what has become of Robin and Early, the elf illusionist decides he needs to take action to find out. He has no hope or desire of overpowering the guard with force, and has exhausted his prepared spells. But he needs to get the guard out of the way, so he contrives a series of simple magic tricks to lure him from his post.

1) Lorsan removes his cloak and slips is through the window to place it outside on the roof. This is for a contingency plan that may or may not be needed.
2) Next, he searches the pieces of soft cloth from a box to find one about two feet square.
3) He then casts Mage Hand, extends the middle finger vertically, and drapes the piece of cloth over the hand to look like a child's ghost puppet.
4) Using Prestidigitation he creates two black circles next to each other on the cloth to represent eyes.
5) With two more uses of Prestidigitation, Lorsan creates a puff of wind that blows down the stairwell, and a faint noise that sounds like weeping.
6) Keeping himself back in the darkness of the attic, he then floats the cloth-covered Mage Hand down the stairwell toward the guard.

The intent is to float the makeshift ghost past the guard and along the toilet corridor, toward the main floor of the museum, and see if the guard follows or chases it. If it looks like the guard will catch it too early (i.e. outside the toilets) or will instead move up the stairwell toward the approaching ghost, then Lorsan will end the Mage Hand spell, letting the cloth fall to the floor, and switch plans.

(OOC: Can Uril deduce which way the carriage is going and/or what might be its destination? Perhaps a mixture of directional awareness, info shared by our benefactors, and info learnt while at the museum? I am not sure what kind of roll this would be, so I'll roll a raw d20 with guidance and name a few modifiers that might do the trick.)

-> Raw d20 + d4: 7 + 3 (+ modifier: Survival is +4, Investigation is +5, and insight is +6, Perception is +6, History is +7.)   

Robin pushes the egg through the hole first before crawling through herself. Her ears twitch at the sound of the bell chimes and counts them. Then glances at the egg. That was 9 right? Wasn't that the magical number that they had to have the egg to the Doctor? Were they that slow? It felt like things moved slower on the inside while the world outside could be running circles around them. But here they were, in a privy. The show must go on.

Banks rests her ear against the door to listen for any signs of sound or movement outside the room before considering opening it to take a peek. They should get moving towards the skylight before 'she' goes into 'labour' and they fail their job. And the world.

(OOC: The ninth bell was when the researcher would be ready with the containment case. I think we had until midnight before baby hatches)

Early helps the egg, and then Robin through the new gap in the bathroom wall.  He waits for her to take a peek through the door.  Hmmmmm.  He wasn't things were going well, or poorly, or what letter to assign to this plan, but he figured that it was better with their hands on the egg than not.  He took a careful look at the egg to make sure it hadn't been swapped for a fake, before getting ready to follow Robin out of the toilet and towards the nearest and most convenient exit.  You know....maybe they could use the skylight they'd been talking about earlier!  Brainwave....man...he was good at this stuff.  He whisper to Robin, "We should use the skylight to escape..."

 In the growing darkness of the late evening, Uril watched the carriage leave the back door, pretty sure the thing was returning to the Duke's Varkenbluff house. He also remembered this is the hour when Dr. Dannell was supposed to get to the back alley with the case to hold the egg. He did not go too far, though, as a voice from behind called out to him. "Tsk, tsk. Sneakin' 'round another player's turf, huh? What's your damn hustle, street rat?" The one talking looked like a young man with narrowed eyes but a wide grin (revealing a missing tooth). The man had a knife in his hand which he carried with the confidence and ease of someone who knows how to use it.

--------------------------------

Meanwhile, in the museum, two parties were acting simultaneously. Lorsan's distracting plan had probably just one flaw: the "ghost" would not be able to float too far, and 30ft would barely make the guard move one step from his post. However, the general idea worked. As the makeshift ghost puppet floated eerily down the stairs, the man jerked and made a step back, clearly startled by the unexpected sight. For a while, it was a stalemate of a weeping doll and a guard with the man getting progressively paler, but eventually, the man drew the sword and tried to attack the "ghost" with a rough and somewhat meek but audible "Who is there?!"

That was the first sound Robin and Early heard once the elf cracked open the door of the bathroom. The sound clearly came from the attic direction. There was something else that both realized: the light inside the egg began to slowly pulsate. Just a little yet, somehow it felt quite unnerving.

Robin and Early, please, DC 10 Wisdom saving throw.

Light pulsates almost on cue. Robin’s heard of the legendary ‘pregnant glow’, however this didn’t feel as serene as they make it out to be. “We goin’ into labour?” She looks up from the egg to Early wondering if their ‘water’s about to break’. “Prolly should rush teh the Doc eh?” Bank’s was ready to rush the hallway, plenty ready to knock out anyone who stands in their path.

Wis: 22 

Uril had no intention of getting mixed up in some street beef. "Oh, I wasn't aware this turf had been claimed, my good youth. There is no need to show me a deed or any other proof. Please, carry on. Toodeloo." Uril begins to walk away from the youngster and toward the back alley where they were supposed to meet the Professor. He is careful to move when the patrol would not come across his chosen path, keeping in mind his memorized patrol schedule/route.

Uril was hoping the show of deescalation would be enough to dissuade the alleyway robber. However, should the street rat follow him, Uril will stop moving and try to use the patrol to his advantage. He points to the patrol at a distance and says: "Now, now, we don't want to get them involved, do we?"  

Lorsan pauses the Mage Hand, allowing the ghost to float stationary in the stairwell. He then casts Minor Illusion to create the sound of a deep sepulchral voice speaking the word "FLEE!" with a long, drawn-out breathy whisper, coming from the stop of the stairs, after which he ends the Mage Hand spell, allowing the sheet to drift/fall to the floor.

Well can be, the young thief also understood the danger of starting combat in such close proximity to the guarded place. Or maybe he was satisfied with the admission of his authority and the retreat of a potential threat. But one way or another, he did not follow Uril, just watched him walking away.

Uril reached the back alley without problems to find Dr. Dannell already in place. She was carelessly sitting right in the middle of it, on the dusty cobblestones, tinkering with a big box - opened and slightly glowing inside. It seems the good Dr. is alone here and most of the houses along the road are dark with a couple of upper windows lit.

Performance: 26

Uril was satisfied with the civilized resolution of his encounter with the street dweller.

A few moments later, seeing the Doctor tinkering in the alleyway, Uril approaches: "Are you sure you want to be doing this out here in the open? I might be the least experienced one in the retrieval team, but even I would advise some discretion here."  

 "Aaaaaa!" The command from the weeping little ghost was that last straw that broke the proverbial backbone of the guard. The man turned around and ran along the corridor, past the bathrooms, not looking left or right, and not daring to look back either.

The alarming cry echoed under the tall ceilings of the museum's rooms. It could mask any noise the group could make but at the same time definitely attracted the attention of other guards, some of which for sure were stationed close by. In fact, Robin could already hear the yells "what happened?" from the direction of the main stairs.

Guessing that was their cue, and figuring they were running low on time, Robin secures the pulsing egg on the end of her broomstick. Glancing over her shoulder to Early, she nods. Banks assumed he’d cover their rear while she goes on ahead. With that, she sneaks out the bathroom and heads for the attic.