Revival of the Runelords (Inactive)

Game Master Cellion

Guiness waits for the next person to move up a flight of stairs before putting his heavy frame on the wooden structure.

@Colvyn: Since the next potential entrance to the tower is up at the top, I've assumed you simply entered at a different clock position (since the 4th floor has 4 entrances). Then moved you up to the 5th floor.
@EveryoneElse: I've moved tokens to reflect your RP.
----

Colvyn rushes ahead of the rest of the group. He can tell that the stairs are old, weak and creaky, but they don't appear to have been intentionally trapped. Or at least there's no evidence he can spot that they are.

Kargas and Flo follow after Colvyn, keeping a significant space between them in order to not overstrain the rickety stairs. Once there's enough space, Guiness climbs on in and feels the stairs beneath him sag and creak fiercely. Shortly after he enters, you all hear a single booming ~CLAAAANG~ from up above. You look up and notice one of the four bells swinging fiercely. It swings once, twice and then...

starts getting larger! The bell tumbles down, bouncing off the sides of the interior of the tower thanks to its momentum after ringing. It crashes near Colvyn, smashing through a segment of stairs, then bounces to the other side and directly impacts Flo! (28 bludgeoning damage from being struck by an enormous bronze bell.) The bell sweeps straight through the stairs underneath her as well, threatening to knock her all the way down to the ground 80 ft below. (Flo, give me a DC15 Reflex save to grab a hold of the stairs or fall all the way down to the ground floor)

Potential Fall damage: 8d6 ⇒ (4, 2, 1, 4, 4, 5, 1, 6) = 27

The bell falls all the way to the ground floor, taking out other segments of the stairs as it goes, until it crashes with a deafening, echoing bang next to the guardian creature.

Flo scrambles to move out of the way, but despite all her speed, for the first time in her life she is simply too slow. As the heavy metal bell collides with her body, her vision blurs dangerously. Feeling the stairs give way, she frantically reaches for what remains in front of her, but her fingertips barely graze the fragile wood.

Tumbling through the air, the only thing she can feel is the sinking of her stomach into a pit of despair and the sharp, sour taste of fear on her tongue. Pulling the cold iron holy symbol fluttering around her neck into her chest, she closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. One final dream, then.

She smashes against the bell and bounces into the floor in a limp heap, disturbed dust settling around her. Wings bent and battered, the beautiful metal butterfly lands just beyond her reach.
________
Reflex, DC 15: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (6) + 5 = 11
Stabilize, DC 14: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 1 = 8

I am pretty sure Kellek has Featherfall, so he may be able to interrupt Flo's deadly plunge. In case he doesn't, I'll put Brother Guiness' action in a spoiler.

Colvyn ducks as the bell smashes near him. He smiles as he notices that the large metal thing missed him, but the smile is short live when he sees that it hit Floredana instead. He almost screams when she fall all the way to the main floor. Noticing the still flying wizard, Colvyn calls out to him. "Kellek, get me down there!" Not waiting for him, Colvyn start heading down the stairs and jumps over the gap.

Acrobatic (jump): 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (15) + 5 = 20

I am pretty sure Kellek has Featherfall, so he may be able to interrupt Flo's deadly plunge. In case he doesn't, I'll put Brother Guiness' action in a spoiler.

Kellek does have feather fall. His target(s) depends upon whether or not the bell is bigger than medium-size, and whether he can act before it strikes Flo, and the timing of when everyone else acts. Could Flo move out of the way of the bell (since Kellek might notice it as it falls)? Kellek could slow it (if he sees it, and it is small enough) just before it strikes. If so, would the bell still have enough momentum to damage the stair enough to break through? Could Kellek judge such a thing in time? He also could for instance (again timing) target a couple of PCs within 20 of each other who could jump off the stair to follow after (it is the fastest/safest way down--even hasted stairs are difficult terrain, and there are a lot of them) if Flo falls thereby allowing us to efficiently split the party. (Kellek only has one casting available today). ;)

Being there, and smart enough to judge the variables better than I at home, looking at a 2D map could, Kellek will make the most pragmatic call in the split-second of time allotted. Loosing the party cleric is tactically problematic.... Something I hope the players in another game where I am playing the role of paralyzed cleric, with 10 hp left staring down a pair of monsters armed with paralytic poison, attacks that dish out 25-30 points of damage a round, and deal CON damage on the side, realize.

@EveryoneElse: I've moved tokens to reflect your RP.

Assuming that yellow arrows = down, and red = up, Kellek would be on (read '1 cm above') the stair somewhere in the middle of the party. As he doesn't add weight, this could be anywhere. He would want to keep within feather fall of range (40') of everyone for this very situation, and near the middle because he is squishy.

The bells are huge sized, and since the way they fall is very erratic (bouncing randomly off the internal walls) there's little way to anticipate who might be struck before its a fraction of a second before it hits (this is why there's no save to dodge the bell, only one to catch yourself on the stairs after it hits you).
You can of course featherfall Flo after she's struck. She would fall at 60ft per round, giving everyone a full round of actions before she hits the ground. If you have a second featherfall prepped, you could also then featherfall the rest of the party on the subsequent round in order to allow everyone to jump down after Flo.

Time seems to slow down as Flo is struck by the bell and knocked clear of the stairs... but Kellek's featherfall magic catches her falling body. She begins drifting safely but rapidly towards the ground.

We'll go into rounds for this...

|||| INIT ||||
Flo (28 dmg, @70ft elevation and falling 60ft this round)
Kargas
Kellek
Guiness
Colvyn

GM: if Flor drifts down there and the corpse-monster is menacing her, what would the rule be for leaping off the stairs down onto the monster to attack it?

"So much for surprise...." Kellek mutters before continuing upward. "Come on. They'll know we are here now."

GM: if Flor drifts down there and the corpse-monster is menacing her, what would the rule be for leaping off the stairs down onto the monster to attack it?

"Don't even think about turning yourself into a splash weapon!" Kellek says coldly from beneath the brim of his stylish black hat at Kargas. "We have only one chance at this now. If anyone of us turns back that means we all go, because to go on with our ranks so depleted would be suicide, but going back we squander everything we've done to get here. This isn't some game you know. We all knew the risks. I've used my magic so she'll survive the fall--assuming she even survived the hit. If she's alive she can heal herself, and either escape, or try to rejoin us later, but right now, RIGHT NOW we have to move."

Guiness waits for the next person to move up a flight of stairs before putting his heavy frame on the wooden structure.

Having just placed his feet on the creaking stairs, Guiness sees the bell fall and strike Floredana and she starts tumbling towards the bottom floor! His heart dropping as suddenly as Floredana's plummet, Guiness breathes anew as Kellek's magic slows her fall! Thinking quickly, Guiness tries to come up with a way to get down there quickly and defend her from the monster below.

Still holding the knotted rope in his hands, Guiness loops a leg around the lower portion as he throws himself off the steps into the void, attempting to climb down the rope inside the building as fast as he can, using his legs and weight to pull the rope in through the opening as he descends!

Climb to descend rapidly move action 1: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (6) + 3 = 9
Climb to descend rapidly move action 2: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (5) + 3 = 8

Knotted Rope is still DC 5, right? Speed may be faster going down, but Guiness is in a rush, so not sure what the total effect will be.

Kellek looks very much tempted to use magic to burn the rope to a crisp at this point.

Accelerated climbing from a starting DC of 5 (doesn't really matter if it's knotted because of the wall) would normally be DC 10. If that's so, then basically once Guiness hits the rope he doesn't move, having tangled himself. Failure by 5 or more would normally mean a very rapid descent.

Kellek waits to see what everyone does. Must learn mass suggestion... Must learn mass suggestion....

Readied action: cast haste on everyone, but only if they are all going up.

"Kargas! Guiness! Go up with Kellek before they drop something else on us. I'll make sure that Floredana survive this. Colvyn pulls out his bow and bless it with green flames. He also uses his magic to increase his agility. Not sure if that thing will be affect by the flames, but we have to go all out on this.

pull out weapon: move action.
Holy weapon: standard action.
Cat's grace with fervor: free action.

Sorry guys, Debt of honor and all that, there is no way Guiness is going to leave Floredana alone down there to deal with the nasty monster. Just hopeful he gets the rope working well to get there in a reasonable amount of time.

{Looks at wrist sundial, and taps foot in air impatiently.}

@Kargas: Leaping down to attack something while falling is really tricky, especially from a large height. Let's say you need an acrobatics check DC15, to aim yourself correctly and handle the timing and collide with the creature below. The collision will deal 3d6 bludgeoning damage since you're a falling object (It'll get a reflex save for half) and you'll take 7d6 damage from the intentional fall. You can make an attack with a -2 penalty at it before you go prone from the fall. If you fail the acrobatics check, you fall near it and take 8d6 damage, ending up prone, and with a standard action remaining.

Guiness goes for the rope, but in his panic to move quickly he finds himself getting tangled and almost losing his grip. He doesn't move more than 10ft down towards the ground. Colvyn prepares himself to fire, invoking his divine magic.

|||| INIT ||||
Flo (28 dmg, @70ft elevation and falling 60ft this round)
Kargas
Kellek
Guiness (@70ft elevation, on the rope)
Colvyn

Bold are up

His flaring with blue light, Kargas slashes his falchion through the air in a gesture of denial. "Damn you for a coward, Kellek! Floredana has fought at our side since the festival, and I won't abandon her to that thing! We'll conquer this cult with her, or not all!"

It's too ~extra~ to pass up, Kargas will take the leap! Rage, Arcane Strike and Assassin's Creed dive into a Power Attack!
Acrobatics: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (20) + 8 = 28
Attack: 1d20 + 13 - 2 - 2 ⇒ (16) + 13 - 2 - 2 = 25 Damage: 2d4 + 18 ⇒ (2, 1) + 18 = 21 Impact Damage: 3d6 ⇒ (6, 4, 6) = 16

Falling Damgge: 7d6 ⇒ (5, 1, 3, 6, 2, 1, 1) = 19
Wow! The only thing that would have made that better is a critical hit :)

Kargas' death-defying leap takes him precisely atop the monster, falchion first! The blade cuts a deep gash across its back, empowered by Kargas' falling weight. It bellows in surprise and staggers around for a moment in search of the cause of the pain before it spots Kargas.

Unfortunately for Kargas, striking the creature doesn't do too much to break his fall. He collides hard with the ground after the attack and ends up prone.

|||| INIT ||||
Flo (28 dmg, @70ft elevation and falling 60ft this round)
Kargas (19 dmg, prone)
Kellek
Guiness (@70ft elevation, on the rope)
Colvyn

Eyes closed, holy symbol held close, Flo can't help but notice that... something isn't right. Nervously, she takes a peak. Wasn't I falling? This feels more like flying to the ground... Taking in her surroundings, she notices her decent has slowed, but any further deductions are struck from her mind as Kargas goes hurtling past her with a mighty battlecry.

As his falchion cuts into the ground floor guardian, she takes a moment to ease the ringing in her head. Desna, I am truly blessed to have such friends! Guide us this day so that we may be victorious in our endeavors!
________
CLW (Wand) vs Flo: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 1 = 7
Honestly, idk what else a 19 year old orcish bloodrager would have done in this situation! Did we ever ID this thing?

No IDs yet. It'd be KN Arcana. Make sure to give me your requested categories of information in order of importance.

"Guiness," says Kellek turning to the dwarf as if he were standing on a lazy-susan, "If and when you get down there, tell them this: 'bombs away.' You best hurry."

Then the wizard vanishes before flying upward.

Casts and moves.

Up above, Kellek has little difficulty flying up to the elevation of the bells. Three immense bronze bells hang from timbers here, affixed by rusting lengths of chain and thick ropes. Above the bells are massive gears and clockworks, although they seem both rusted and scavenged — many of the smaller components are missing entirely. The rickety wooden stairs wind up and around them but don’t quite reach the ceiling above, coming to an end at an opening in the wall to the northwest. Here, the stairs continue up the exterior of the tower to a room that must lie just beyond the ceiling directly above the bells.

Two cloaked humanoids stand atop the timbers here, each one holding a longsword in one hand. One has her gaze firmly fixed upon the tiny scene taking place 100 ft below. The other's eyes rove around the bells as if searching for something. Neither appears to have noticed Kellek.

OK, proper initiative has been rolled. Colvyn, Kargas and Kellek are up first.

|||| INIT ||||
Colvyn
Kargas (19 dmg, prone)
Kellek (Vanished)
Stitches the Hulk (35 dmg)
Cultist? Pink
Cultist? Blue
Guiness (@70ft elevation, on the rope)
Flo (21 dmg, @10ft elevation and featherfalling)

Bold are up

Who do I see from where I am?

Kellek tries to identify the cloaked figures at the first opportunity (takes 10, yadda yadda yadda)

Kellek does some quick calculations in his head involving: distance, rope climb speeds, and dwarven terminal velocity.

Hm. 20 seconds ought to do.

He maneuvers a bit in the air to a place he can land with some cover, and then readies a spell to cast at the first false move of either cultist.

Colvyn, you can see everyone on the ground. Up above, the figures are hiding pretty well (they have cover from below, but once Kellek flew up he could see them without issue) so you don't see them unless Kellek has a way of pointing them out to you or a fight starts up top.

Kellek, I shouldn't have been so coy in my earlier description :). They look like humans.

Colvyn stares at his party members as chaos once again seem to be the tactic here. Since the only threat he can see is the big ugly downstairs, he sends two arrows that way.

Longbow, deadly shot, rapid shot: 1d20 + 12 + 2 - 2 - 2 ⇒ (13) + 12 + 2 - 2 - 2 = 23
Longbow, deadly shot, rapid shot: 1d20 + 12 + 2 - 2 - 2 ⇒ (7) + 12 + 2 - 2 - 2 = 17
Damage: 1d6 + 2 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 2 + 4 = 8 if evil add Holy: 1d6 ⇒ 3
Damage: 1d6 + 2 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 2 + 4 = 12 if evil add Holy: 1d6 ⇒ 4

Buff: Cat's grace, Holy Strike

The shock of impact sends pain lancing through Kargas' body, rattling his bones and making his vision swim. With a groan the half-orc pushes up onto his elbows, shaking his head to clear his view. Taking advantage of the monster's apparent distraction, Kargas rolls to his feet and eyes it warily. "Just what in the Hells are you?"

Knowledge (Arcana): 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6

"Heh, guess it doesn't matter now," Kargas grins and rolls his shoulders, willing the pain away. With a sudden shout the bloodrager lunges forward!
Rage, Power Attack, Arcane Strike
Power Attack: 1d20 + 13 - 2 ⇒ (17) + 13 - 2 = 28 Damage: 2d4 + 18 ⇒ (4, 3) + 18 = 25

The terrible wound isn't enough to stop the hulk. Even with a ribcage dangling outside its chest, it swings in with its scythe. The weapon's blade shears into the bloodrager's body. (Dealing 27 damage) Mercifully, the follow-up strike is a little too overeager and therefore telegraphed enough that Kargas is able to duck away.

Up at the bell-loft level, the two cultists watch the proceedings with interest, but don't appear to be ready to go down to assist the hulk.

|||| INIT ||||
Guiness (@70ft elevation, on the rope)
Flo (21 dmg, @10ft elevation and featherfalling)
Colvyn
Kargas (46 dmg)
Kellek (Vanished)
Stitches the Hulk (71 dmg)
Cultist? Pink
Cultist? Blue

Bold are up

Colvyn sends two more arrows at the creature. S%$$, you better survive this Kargas.

Longbow, deadly shot, rapid shot: 1d20 + 12 + 2 - 2 - 2 ⇒ (10) + 12 + 2 - 2 - 2 = 20
Longbow, deadly shot, rapid shot: 1d20 + 12 + 2 - 2 - 2 ⇒ (12) + 12 + 2 - 2 - 2 = 22
Damage: 1d6 + 2 + 4 + 1d6 ⇒ (2) + 2 + 4 + (6) = 14
Damage: 1d6 + 2 + 4 + 1d6 ⇒ (6) + 2 + 4 + (6) = 18

Buff: Cat's grace, Holy Strike

Kellek continues the same course of action as before.

Seven Magnimar, eight Magnimar, nine Magnimar, ten Magnimar, eleven Magnimar....

Guiness moves frantically down the rope, trying to get to the battle. Instead of trying to climb hand over hand, he just clamps on with his armored gloves and tries to slide down the rope, rapelling-style, willing to trade an overly hard landing for speed.

Rappel down the rope move action: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 = 6
Rappel down the rope move action: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (13) + 3 = 16

Guiness moves frantically down the rope, trying to get to the battle. Instead of trying to climb hand over hand, he just clamps on with his armored gloves and tries to slide down the rope, rapelling-style, willing to trade an overly hard landing for speed.

Wait! I thought you put knots in the rope. Don't try to slide down with your legs wrapped around it!

I certainly hope the dwarf has gotten a good start on his way down, otherwise....

Brother_Guiness wrote:

Guiness moves frantically down the rope, trying to get to the battle. Instead of trying to climb hand over hand, he just clamps on with his armored gloves and tries to slide down the rope, rapelling-style, willing to trade an overly hard landing for speed.

Wait! I thought you put knots in the rope. Don't try to slide down with your legs wrapped around it!

I certainly hope the dwarf has gotten a good start on his way down, otherwise....

I thought we didn’t need to knot the rope since we had a wall to brace against. I suppose we dwarves are very dangerous over short distances, maybe not so much trying to climb or acrobatics....

I thought we didn’t need to knot the rope since we had a wall to brace against. I suppose we dwarves are very dangerous over short distances, maybe not so much trying to climb or acrobatics....

Well, Guiness's helmet is a weapon, so maybe if he aimed just right....

Yeah, by the rules all knotting would accomplish would be to make the rope easier to climb up without a wall to brace against (like say up to an airborne helicopter), and to make the rope shorter. I just kept seeing everyone note that it was knotted in their posts, and then imagined someone trying to rappel down it. It'd be like a car with bad suspension going over a pockmarked dirt road. ;)

*GM blinks in disbelief at an 18 damage arrow at this level*

Two arrows cleanly skewer the hulk's head from above, each one exploding into a blaze of holy fire. The fire races across the stitched hides of the creature's body and very rapidly the whole thing is little more than a bonfire. It thrashes about for a few moments before stumbling and collapsing to the ground with a resounding thud. The holy fire vanishes as quickly as it came, leaving the monster a blackened pile of bodies.

Up top, the two cultist watchers visibly stiffen as the hulk drops. They stay in their hiding spots and seem to be waiting for something.

Flo settles to the ground shortly after the hulk falls. Guiness on the other hand struggles in his haste to descend. (First action you make no progress, the second you succeed)

Combat Over?
We can stay in combat rounds for Kellek's sake up top, but we can also resolve his solo actions without strict round order. Outside of rounds, Guiness can slowly make his way down or the others can slowly make their way up by climbing.

"KARGAS!" Flo shouts, running over to the wounded Half-Orc, her hands glow with positive energy. "What were you thinking?! Do you know how high that is?" she scolds, sputtering a little and pointing back up at the ceiling. "You could have died!" she finally lets out, giving him a hug.

"You would have died for me."

The positive energy from her hands closes some of his wounds and any remaining injuries disappear completely as they are surrounded by the faint image of a glowing meadow buzzing with life and riddled with wildflowers.
________
Cure Serious Wounds vs Kargas: 3d8 + 6 ⇒ (1, 6, 5) + 6 = 18
Channel Positive Energy (Heal Living): 4d6 ⇒ (2, 3, 2, 3) = 10
Channel Positive Energy (Heal Living): 4d6 ⇒ (6, 6, 5, 6) = 23
Spontaneous cast CSW in exchange for Communal Resist Energy, Channel twice. If we stay in rounds, that'll be three for her with three rounds of individual move actions "leftover."

Guiness, finally finding the right grip to quickly descend, arrives just as the battle finishes. Without wasting any time, he says to the others on the ground floor, "Quickly, move to the side. I think Kellek is planning to drop a bell on the beast."

Cursing his own clumsiness when it comes to aerial acrobatics, Guiness says to Floredana, "I apologize for my tardiness, Lady of the River. Where Kargas is a pouncing lion, I am more like a lumbering turtle. I am glad you are safe."

Casting a quick glance around for any immediately useful items on the beast or in the room, Guiness will grab them and say, "Let's head upstairs to join the others as you heal yourselves--we can do a proper search this area when the threat up top is dealt with."

Perception: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (8) + 10 = 18

"What were you thinking?! Do you know how high that is?" she scolds, sputtering a little and pointing back up at the ceiling.

Kargas' gaze follows Flo's point upwards, then back down to the cleric. "...no?" he says, a little sheepishly.

"You could have died!"[/b] she finally lets out, giving him a hug. "You would have died for me."

Wincing just a little from his still-tender injuries, the half-orc grins down at Flo and hugs her back. "There's worse things, 'an besides you're worth it."

At Guiness' warning he nods. "Sounds like we should get out of the way then."

With the creature dead and Kargas and Floredana, Colvyn turns his attention back toward the top of the tower.

Would it be possible for Colvyn to climb from where he is to the seventh floor? There seem to be a hole in the wall on the top left corner.

Climb: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (9) + 10 = 19

Let's see what Kellek's immediate actions are before his vanish runs out, before we move too far ahead with everyone else's actions.

Colvyn, you're right that there's a hole in the wall in the top left corner. The scaffolding here wraps around the building and up to a higher floor. The scaffolding is the only way up to the 8th floor. From your position, if you had another rope of at least 70ft length and a way to get it up to the scaffolding on the seventh floor, you could definitely climb up. You can also try to scale the outer wall unaided (difficult Climb check). You can also try climbing up the stairs in the interior of the tower, though there are a couple of 10ft gaps now to jump over.

Hope that's clear enough. These 3D maps are tricky to explain.

Twelve Magnimar, thirteen Magnimar, fourteen Magnimar, fifteen Magnimar, sixteen Magnimar--close enough.

Kellek floats down a bit (see map), and casts minor image covering the area on the map 10' x 40' x 20' centered on the cross spar holding the bells up he increases the DC to disbelieve to 18. He has three more 10' cubes of area he can fill directly below that with illusory empty space. The whole image looks exactly the same as the area does now except the cross spar in the illusion is a distance equal to its real width to the north of where it really is. That and Kellek himself seems to be standing on the crossbar where indicated. The map is updated to this point.

Long long work week, will try and update character page this weekend.

Colvyn will then double move up the stairs and jump over the first gap during the first round of healing from Floredana.

Jump: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (17) + 6 = 23

Colvyn nimbly ascends the stairs while some initial healing and recovery is going on on the bottom floor. Up in the belfry, Kellek's spellcasting immediately attracts the attention of the two cultists, who turn their attention down toward where the vocal incantations are coming from. As the spell completes, one of them looks back up and spots the illusory Kellek standing atop the crossbar. She turns toward him (or the illusory him at least) and speaks quietly but earnestly "Abandoned the others, have you? Join us in serving the mistress. Cut the ropes on that bell, and maybe she'll forgive your past indiscretions."

"Abandoned the others, have you? Join us in serving the mistress. Cut the ropes on that bell, and maybe she'll forgive your past indiscretions."

The image mimes cracking its knuckles, and preparing to cast an all-encompassing spell.

Looking at the gaps in the stairs with dismay, Guiness decides to go back up the way he came--on the rope. However far down he made it, he reverses his way and climbs up until he can reach a flight of stairs that is above the ones with gaps.

Climb Check: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (12) + 3 = 15
Climb Check: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (13) + 3 = 16

I'm assuming Kargas and Flor have moved out from the middle of the room by this point, for the purpose of any bell-related dangers

Colvyn keeps climbing the stairs while he keeps an eye out on the bells. The higher I go, the more dangerous those get.

Colvyn keeps climbing until he sees someone.

Guiness with those two successful climb checks you can certainly climb back up to the fourth floor if you'd like. Your current rope ends there though. There are holes in the stairs on the fourth, fifth and sixth floors, and the next possible entrance from the exterior of the tower is on the seventh floor where Kellek is right now.

Up in the belfry, the cultist that spoke shrugs "Suit yourself then." She draws a hand crossbow from her cloak and aims it at Kellek's illusory duplicate. She's now standing on the wooden beam with a hand crossbow in one hand and a longsword in the other. Her finger sits lightly on the crossbow's trigger. "You've made a mistake coming here alone."

I'll give you a chance to respond before she fires at your illusion.

As Colvyn gains elevation, he spots the action up top - Kellek standing on a wooden crossbar above the bells with two other cloaked figures doing the same. One of the cloaked figures has a crossbow pointed at him.

Having climbed back up the rope, Guiness sets his feet under him on the steps, but is disappointed when he sees the gaps in the stairs above him. Turning back to call to Kargas and Floredana as they come up the stairs, he states, ”Those gaps are too far for me to jump; I’ll have to climb unless someone has some magic to get me up there.” Guiness holds out the rope as they pass, hoping to get a good anchor point above the missing sections of stairs, then cautiously moves towards the first break in the stairs.

"Are you saying I'll have to toss you?" Kargas calls from further down the stairs, not trusting them to hold his and Guiness' combined weight.