Continuing onwards, Zheng finds himself in the room, bookshelves towering over him while a desk sits in a corner. He tracks the strand of magic to the desk, looping and weaving into a cabinet. Inside sits a metal lever, connected to nothing but radiating energy anyhow.

Zheng will yell to Xi.

"I think I have found the way to release you from the magic. If you tie the rope to the ceiling or Lan can pull you closer to the ground I will try to end the magic.”

As soon as Zheng thinks Xi is prepared he will activate the lever. When that is finished Zheng will take a moment to ask his God for guidance before looking for any evidence of someone being in the room recently.

Survival Roll: 22

Lan winces as Zheng shoots ceiling-ward and thumps down beyond the threshold. “Apologies, friend—my eyes were on Xi and I missed your step,” he calls, voice low in the hollow stair. He resets Stone-whorl across the passage, wraps the rope twice around its dragon-spine, and braces his boots.

“Xi—toss me your line. I’ll keep it taut so you can hand-over-hand your way to my right-side down. Slow and steady; I’ll take the weight.” He settles into the belay, breath counting heartbeats, ready to pay out or haul in at her word.

Xi throws the rope to  Lan and walks to a point halfway between Lan & the brick.

"Ok, I'm ready"

(Do I need to rollanything?)

(OOC: No.)

Zheng flicks the lever, and almost immediately, Xi feels the ground disappear under her feet. She shoots towards the ceiling/floor, clutching on to her rope. Suddenly -- a reversal, and she's shooting away from the ceiling, the floor approaching below her. And she lands, two feet on the ground, next to Lan. 

Zheng, in the room, feels a release of magic as the trap vanishes. Now, looking around the room more carefully, he sees a magnificent room that most likely is a study. Several bookshelves, bursting to the seams with books and papers, are illuminated by a large chandelier hanging from the ceiling. On the vaulted ceiling, he sees paintings of people casting spells, presumably telling a story of some sort. A single window, covered by iron bars, shows the view outside -- stars glimmer in the dusk, a picturesque scene. Fifty feet below you, the canopy lies, dark leaves reaching out in all directions. It's a beautiful scene, and you're envious of those who must reside here -- the view is perfect.

"WOAH!"

Xi says as she regains her feet. 

"That was kinda fun...but not enough to make a habit of it.  Thank you."

Lan brushes off Xi’s thanks with a small tilt of the staff and slips after Zheng, Stone-whorl tapping the threshold before he crosses, "What have you found? Do we know who's place this is?" The chandelier’s glow and the barred window’s spill of dusk draw his gaze; for a breath he simply stands, letting the cold air and the height quiet his pulse.

He paces the room’s edge first—shelves, desk, window—eyes lingering on dust patterns, soot smudges, and the way books lean or splay as if pulled from and returned to in haste as much as which books are shelved. Fingers hover over the desktop without touching, mapping ink rings, knife nicks, and the faint, recent polish of a forearm’s rest. At the window he studies the bars and sill for fresh scrapes, then turns a slow circle, lantern shards clicking in his sash as he weighs the signs: what this study says of its master’s habits—and what the silences suggest about why that master is not here? (Investigation: 13)

What you discover is not entirely out of the ordinary -- a thick layer of dust coats most of what you see, showing that the tower's been in disuse for some time. Inspecting the room, hoping to find something -- some clue -- about why who you seek is not here, you find nothing -- you think. But as you look back through the bookshelves, scanning each title for a hint, a scrap of paper catches your eye: set inside a large, leather-bound tome (looking as if it had come straight out of a storybook of its own) like a bookmark. Although you would have passed on without a second thought, the book thrums with an invisible energy, drawing you back towards it. 

Lan’s step falters before the leather-spined tome, head tilting as if to catch a tone too low for mortal ears. He brushes dust from the cover with the back of his knuckles and reads the title aloud in a slow baritone, tasting each syllable like a draught from an old cask. Stone-whorl settles into the crook of his elbow while he studies the pull thrumming in his chest—subtle as a tide tug, familiar as ley-line hum—testing it against memories of haunted relics and living grimoires. (Arcana: 8 critical fail)

“This one… calls,” he murmurs, eyes narrowing on the slip of paper tucked within. “Not the common itch of curiosity—deeper. It wants a hand to open it.” He steps half a pace back, palm lifted for patience and with guidance for whoever will have a closer look next. “My art listens to stone and root, not bindings and curses. If either of you can taste whether this working is kindly or crooked, I’d value the word before we wake whatever sleeps between its leaves.”

"All I  can do is an Arcana check, or insight if you think it's alive.  I'm not sure if my accessing sorcery would do anything.    And I can switch initiative  if you think that would help.  I think I'd need to take the book to check it out.". 

 (she has Heroic Inspiration if that helps. I think it's advantage on a roll.  She has Initiative Swap if that helps.  She has Innate Sorcery  to "unleash the simmering magic within you " if that would do anything.

Arcana 15

Insight 5

Let me know what else she can try.

Zheng lets out a long sigh as the situation is resolved. Noticing that this tower seems long empty leaves a look of melancholy on Zheng's face. His contemplation is broken by Lan’s comments. 

“The book calls to you? This has to be the first time I have heard of a book having a will of its own. What could be written in such an interesting tome.”

Zheng looks at the tome hoping for some of his knowledge of ancient times to return to him.

(History Check: 7)

Both Zheng and Lan fail to understand the nature of the book, contemplating it -- even with their extensive knowledge of the arcane, they struggle to determine whether the book is friend or foe. Even as they strain, trying to know what it's telling them, attempting to discern whether it is safe to take from the shelf. All the while, the small piece of paper flutters in some wind, seemingly ready to tell you something. You feel as if you're overthinking it, but you've seen the traps of these wizards -- and you don't want Xi to end up on the much higher ceiling in this room. 

However, Xi, considering the book, feels an inviting feeling, as if it wants you to open it.

"This sounds strange. But it feels like the book wants me to open it.  Does anyone have a Detect Evil to check it out?"

(OOC: Apologies for the delay, I had been on a deadline for work and couldn't manage to do anything else at all, barely finding time to sleep.)

Lan’s jaw works a moment, uneasy heat coiling in his gut. He keeps a respectful arm’s length from the tome. “Wizards hide teeth in pretty bindings,” he murmurs, eyeing the fluttering slip. “Better we mark its shelf and learn whose hands turned these pages before ours. If this tower is truly abandoned, its master’s name will be carved somewhere higher.” He lifts Stone-whorl, chin tilting toward the stair. “Let’s climb—find the occupant first, then decide what we dare wake.”

(OOC: Completely fine! Thanks for letting me know - I'm going to let you all RP here since I'll be on-and-off for the rest of the week)