Marikel calls to Alicia, "There's still the other tower," and climbs down the ladder.
Alicia stalks down the walk atop the wall, keeping her eyes peeled for Katrezra. Despite the distance to the ground on the Lower Quarter side, there's no doubt that the half-orc down there isn't him; Katrezra's deformed face is unmistakable.
The wall terminates at the door to another tower, nestled against the cliff down from the Upper Quarter.
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Despite his less-than-ideal stature for operating machinery sized for humans, Vhailor handily spins the wheel and locks the apparatus into place. From outside the gatehouse, Dorn sees the inner portcullis raise. The outer bars is still in place; undoubtedly the mechanism that operates them must be in the other gatehouse.
Ali quietly hustles to the door of the other tower (the one nestled against the cliff) and quietly attempts to open it. If her attempt meets with any resistance (such as if it is locked), she stops and doubles back to join the others.
The door opens. The interior of the tower is dark and unlit, save by the daylight coming through the open door. Like the upper floor of the tower she just left, there are weapon racks and crates, which presumably hold extra supplies in case of need. Some of the crates are stacked atop the trapdoor which leads to the bottom floor of the tower.
Alicia cautiously advances inside, making a special point to check behind the door before inspecting the crates and tentatively checking how heavy they seem to be.
Marikel makes his way outside towards the door of the other gatehouse, sword and shield at the ready.
Once he's sure the mechanism is suitably secured, Vhailor smiles to Dorn and looks to follow after the dwarf back towards the others.
Alicia carefully enters the dimly-lit tower room, sliding her feet almost noiselessly over the floorboards. After ascertaining that she is alone, she inspects the crates, seeing if she can lift the top one a fraction of an inch and set it down again noiselessly. She determines that she could lift each box separately but the stack as a whole atop would make it almost impossible to lift the trapdoor from below, particularly if it, like the one in the other tower, must be reached by a ladder and pushed from a similarly precarious perch.
Outside, Marikel approaches the other tower.
Ali attempts to quietly remove each crate individually.
Marikel examines the door, looking to see how strong it is and if it may have any damage or weakness. He narrows his eyes, sheaths his sword and, shield at the ready, tries to open the door.
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Vhailor approaches with the others... gingerly, and tries to use the relative massiveness of Dorn as an inconspicuous arrow deterrent.
Vhailor limps after the other two men, favoring his pierced hip. Marikel tries the door. It is locked.
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Alone upstairs in the other tower, Alicia unstacks the crates carefully and quietly, until the trapdoor is uncovered.
Having uncovered the trapdoor, Ali cautiously opens it a crack. Peering inside, she opens it wider if she cannot see anything.
Noticing the limp from his smaller friend, "Looks like you could use a bit of a pick me up, lad." Reaching in his pack he takes out a vial and offers it to the gnome. "Here, drink this. It'll fix ya right up."
Vhailor smiles wanly at Dorn, taking the offered vial and unstoppering it. He gives the contents a speculative sniff before shrugging his shoulders and downing it in a single gulp...
CLW:
... exclaiming "Yeeowzephat, eeyoribubblestanchion..." as his flesh magically knits itself back together, forcing the shaft of the arrow out of his hip to clatter noisily unto the ground. He blinks his eyes and shakes his head "Odd... feeling..."
Grinning victoriously, "Well alright! That seem ta do the trick. Good. Now, let's get this door open." Looking to Marikel, "So, Padre, somethin' wrong with the door?" he asks, wondering why he hasn't opened it yet.
Marikel cautiously tries the door to the gatehouse and finds it is locked.
Stymied by the locked door, the three men are still standing and waiting rather blankly when Alicia rejoins them from the other tower.
As Marikel seems to be lost in thought, "Okay, I guess I'll be openin' it." Finding the door locked, he prepares an attempt to bust through it but not before he catches sight of Alicia. "Lass! Good to see ya. Don't suppose you can unlock this door for us, can ya? I was gonna bust through it but I figure if you can get it open, it'll hurt a lot less."
The blond rogue returns with a characteristically sour expression on her face. "The missing guards are in the ground floor of the other tower," she says, hiking a thumb over her shoulder. "Marikel should see if he can heal them while I deal with the lock here."
As she goes to work on the lock, she adds, "You'll need a rope to climb down there. And a torch."
"Where were you? Be careful wandering off like that. Anything could have happened. I was wo... wanting your assistance with this door."
He frowns at the news.
"Isn't there another door into the base of that tower? I'm not sure there's much we can do for them now. We need to secure this area and deal with Katreza before our troops fall back."
As Alicia continues to work the lock, she spares Marikel a glance over her shoulder. "If they're still alive, we could use their help. Not to mention that they could be dying as we speak."
"The troops falling back need this area secured now. If the only way out of that tower is by a rope, I doubt any survivors have the strength to get out, let alone help us."
Alicia's first attempts at unlocking the door are unsuccessful, but nothing pops out onto the wall to shoot at them so she has the time to keep trying until the latch springs. During those tense and drawn-out moments of waiting, the sounds of warfare drifting up from below leave no doubt that the Twisted Nail have reached the palisade and are locked in battle with Trunau's defenders, while there is all too much time to wonder what the half-orcs inside the tower may be preparing as a welcome.
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"Brantos would save them," Alicia mutters, clearly audible as she picks the lock.
Marikel grits his teeth, sword and shield at the ready for when the door opens.
"I have four curatives with me. Say the word and you can take them to the other tower and help any survivors. This next fight will be deadly. You don't have to come in with me."
Marikel looks to the others.
"That goes for the both of you too. You've done more than your fair share."
Marikel mutters two quick prayers.
"Iomedae will protect me and bless those who aid me. When Miss Alicia opens the door, I'll fill the tower with a burst of sound. It will only hurt them a bit, but may stun them and give us a moment to act. Vhailor, get to the lever and raise that second gate. Mister Dorn and I will cover you. Be ready on Miss Alicia's mark."
"Oh I'm goin' in, lad, you can bet your grandmother's best pair of knittin' needles on it. No way I'm lettin' you have all the fun," he says with a wink as he readies his shield and hammer.
Alicia opens the door to reveal a ground floor of the tower that is a mirror image of the one on the other side of the gate. A ladder leads up to a closed trapdoor in the ceiling. No one is visible. The mechanism to open the portcullis on this side has been smashed, the wheel lying bent and battered on the stone floor beneath its broken shaft.
"Those ankheg-lickers," Alicia snarls quietly, advancing toward swiftly to the closed trap door.
Vhailor nods and gulps, taking position as requested. Carbonel however lingers somewhat closer to the action.
Marikel snarls and heads in.
"Can we fix it? Or would it be easier to improvise a see-saw to lift the gate?"
None of the party is trained in engineering; Sara Morninghawk might be able to fix the broken mechanism, but it seems unlikely that anyone now present is able quickly to counter the work of the saboteurs.
Alicia climbs the ladder and gives the trapdoor an angry push. It opens to reveal three half-orcs standing in readiness around the opening in the floor. Two are armed with falchions; the third is Katrezra.
Watching the rogue as she works to open the trap door, his eyes go wide as he sees half-orcs standing right there. "Aw blast it all it's a trap! Close it, lass! Close it!"
Ignoring Dorn's warning, Alicia shoots her loaded hand crossbow at Katrezra's ugly mug. She then grabs ahold of the edge of the trapdoor opening and backflips up into the second floor, dropping her crossbow and drawing her rapier as she does so.
Shaking his head, "Gotta give it to her, the lass has got guts. 'Course, may not be long before we may be lookin' at 'em spilled all over the floor but she's got guts." Shrugging, he sheathes his weapon and quickly proceeds up the stairs.
Alicia fires her hand crossbow, but the tiny bolt whizzes harmlessly past its target. She scrambles past the half-orcs onto the second floor and draws her rapier, as her hand crossbow clatters to the floor at the foot of the ladder.
Dorn takes advantage of the half-orcs' surprise at Alicia's aggressive gambit by scrambling up after her.
The nearest half-orc takes a belated swing at the dwarf with his falchion and nearly topples through the open trap door.
The other half-orc fares little better slashing at Alicia.
"Surrender now and the Council will be lenient."
Marikel moves to where he can see Katreza up the ladder, prays to Iomedae and points above and behind the half-orc, where a burst of sound erupts.
Peering through the gaps as he can, Vhailor focuses his muddling mind upon the half-orc within his purview.
Vhailor experiences a moment of satisfaction as his cantrip takes hold.
Marikel solicits surrender before attempting to deafen those whom he is addressing. One of the half-orcs drops his falchion from numb fingers.
Katrezra points down the ladder at Marikel in return. "U sal sterf met u swak en vroulike god," the hideously-deformed half-orc snarls, as a bolt of raw dark magic passes easily through the priest's armor to wrack his body. He then kicks the trapdoor closed.
Alicia dives past the two half-orcs to interject herself near Katrezra. Taking advantage of the distraction Dorn is providing, she attempts to stab one of the other two half-orcs in the back with her rapier.
Alicia tumbles acrobatically past the half-orcs. The one who is still armed and alert reacts too slowly to stop her, but her attack at the end of the roll goes awry.
Dorn swings his hammer at the closest enemy in an attempt to cave in his skull.