locked out of sharran sanctuary?

[King Zora]

during a multiplay session, 2 members of the group went down the staircase into sharran sanctuary. we failed one of the rolls for the statue, and the sentinels came out. it seems that the staircase also disappeared since the rest of the party couldn't find their way in. the two of us died in the fight and were rezzed back into camp, but now the stairway is gone and we can't seem to trigger it to open again.

has anything like this happened to anyone? any insights?