Return Rakath's Gold

Rakath is desperate for the return of the Counting House's gold.

Return Rakath's Gold is a quest in Act Three of Baldur's Gate 3. It can be started by speaking with  Rakath Glitterbeard in the Counting House.

Objectives

Investigate the heist crime scene.

• "We witnessed a heist in the Counting House. Head Banker Rakath asked us to recover the stolen gold - we need to look for clues."

Search the sewers for the stolen gold.

• "We found a trail of muddy footprints in the vault. They reek of the sewer - that must be where the cultists fled with the stolen gold."
• "We found a note on one of the cultists. It explains that their hideout is in the sewers. Heading there might bring us one step closer to the stolen gold."
• "A dead cultist revealed that the Stone Lord has made his hideout beneath the city somewhere. That can only mean the sewers - we will find the stolen gold there."

Search the sewers for the stolen gold.

• "We've entered the sewers. Now we need to track down the stolen gold."

Retrieve the stolen gold from the Zhent leader.

• "A Zhentarim agent named Roah/Friol has taken off with the gold. Unlikely she'll part with it willingly. We've got to find her."
• "We dealt with Roah/Friol, the Zhentarim agent, and can now retrieve the stolen gold."

Return the stolen gold to Rakath.

• "We retrieved the stolen gold. We should return it to Rakath."
• "We drove a hard bargain with Rakath, convincing him to let us keep some of his stolen gold."

Quest Complete

• "The stolen gold is gone without hope of recovery. We could still pay Rakath out of our own pocket to compensate the bank for its loss."
• "Rakath is gone."
• "Delighted to have his gold back, Rakath rewarded us handsomely."
• "We paid Rakath out of our own pocket to make up the bank's loss. Pleased, he rewarded us handsomely."

Walkthrough

Once the Counting House has been entered as part of ⁠Aid the Underduke and ⁠The High Harper, a cutscene triggers, showing  Minsc and a false  'Jaheira' robbing the bank. The duo leaves, while a group of Bhaalist cultists attack the party and the cashguards in the vault.

Once the fight is over, the party must speak with  Rakath Glitterbeard to start the quest. He explains that he was working with the Guild to lure in Minsc and defeat him using a mimic. Since that failed, nearly all the gold in the vaults is stolen, which means many innocent Baldurians will wake up poor the next day.

The party must search for clues on where Minsc went. Approach the large vault at the end of the room at X: -691 Y: 873, which was completely smashed by Minsc, and a successful perception check shows mud from the sewers.

Into the Sewers

There are two possible ways to find Minsc: belowground and aboveground.

The valves that will open the sluice gate

Belowground, Minsc can be found in the Abandoned Cistern. The party must jump the pipes above the caustic water at X: -186 Y: 883 and defeat the Bhaalists guarding the area. Going north, there is an area with a Sluice Valve, which is stuck. It can be unstuck with a successful athletic check and open up the door. Otherwise, it is necessary to interact with the temperature valve and the water level valve, timing it properly to open the door. The party must hit the water level valve first, then wait five seconds before hitting the temperature valve and it should successfully open the door. The party can then walk through the sluice tunnel to find Minsc.

Pressure plates in the "Keep Out" room.

Aboveground, there is a garden area north (directly west of The Lodge) of the Steel Watch Foundry with a door that simply says "Keep Out." After the party enter, they can find two pressure plates on the east and west walls of the room, which must be stepped at the same time to enter a secret area. In this area is an ornate hatch which leads to the area Minsc is.

Facing Minsc

Once a party members gets close to Minsc, a cutscene plays, showing Minsc and a Jaheira doppelganger giving gold to a Zhentarim agent - either  Roah Moonglow or  Friol, if Roah is dead. After finding Minsc again, he does not see reason, as his tadpole is controlling him. He immediately attacks the party, along with a number of doppelgangers and cultists. Meanwhile, Roah or Friol immediately flees to take on the Guildhall. To save Minsc he must be knocked out by using non-lethal attacks. Once all enemies are defeated, Minsc rises up and panics at the loss of a doppelganger, who had transformed into Jaheira to control him.

 The Emperor initially refuses to bring Minsc under his protection, stating that he is too unpredictable to help. However, the Emperor can be convinced to bring him under his protection, particularly with  Jaheira in the active party. If Jaheira is not in the party, then Minsc can still be shown images of Jaheira alive and well, allowing him to be recruited. If Jaheira is dead, Minsc cannot be recruited.

If Minsc is successfully recruited, then he runs off to find his friend  Boo by smashing into several walls.

Returning to the Guildhall

Returning to the Guildhall results in Roah or Friol approaching the party, if they survived the previous battle. If Roah or Friol died in the previous battle with Minsc, then the Zhentarim are automatically hostile and attack the party and the members of the Guild. Otherwise, they propose an alliance - the Zhentarim are prepared to take down the Guild and reign as the new underlords of the city. If siding with the Guild or betraying the Zhentarim after siding with them during the fight, then the party can loot a pouch of stolen gold from Roah or Friol's corpse after the battle.

Repaying Rakath

Rakath asks if the party have found the gold as soon as they return to the Counting House vaults.

The party can attempt to convince Rakath to have some of the Guild cover part of the costs, as it was their fault the money was lost in the first place. This can be done by selecting "You lost innocent people's money. The Guild ought to swallow some of that cost."

• [INTIMIDATION] Minsc has no use for such large numbers. As with my hamster, smaller would be better. (DC 15) (speaking as Minsc)
• [INTIMIDATION] I'd listen to him. Before his hamster has to give him a head rub. (DC 15) (if Minsc is in the party)
• [INTIMIDATION] You're not going to have much of a head for numbers if I crack it open. (DC 20)
• [HISTORY] The heist on Manycoins bank in Neverwinter. Ring a bell? (DC 20)
• [PERSUASION] A lot of people will suffer. You can be the one who did that to them, or you can be the one who helped. (DC 20)

All the checks are DC 20. If Minsc is in the party, then the checks are reduced to DC 15. If one of the checks is passed, Rakath cuts the required gold in half, to 5,000. Otherwise, he expects 10,000 gold.

Rewards

• 400 experience
• 2635  Gold for returning the stolen gold to Rakath
• The key to High Security Vault nº9, which is inside the giant vault and contains  Elegant Studded Leather

Notes

• This quest can be completed at any time the party has sufficient gold (10,000 or 5,000); the gold does not actually have to be retrieved.
• It is possible to lockpick Vault nº9 and keep Rakath's gold, increasing the payout at the cost of giving up the 400 XP for quest completion.