"Fascinating...draconic origins, but not dragonborn..." Cassra remarks, lost in Briny's story as Hex and Uragum speak up. "Oh, uh...yes, I don't see why not. My lantern should last a while yet," she answers.

Finding some seating in a small, long-unused office space, you pause your search to allow Uragum to redress his wounds. All remains quiet within the Archives, and after an hour, you are ready to resume your search.

OOC: Characters have gained the benefits of a short rest. If you would like to roll any hit die, please do so in your next post. If there is any change desired to who is leading the search, let me know, otherwise we'll continue with Hex leading the way.

Hit Dice: 2

(Since the roll is investigation, maybe someone else could take lead? Hex will happily provide help for advantage. If not, Hex will keep leading haha)

Uragum will try 2 hit dice to start

9

As for arcane recovery please restore 2 1st level slots

Well with a 9 total for the first above rolls, let's add that third die.

4

OOC: Uragum's rolls had a +3 bonus, but they should have a +4 bonus for his CON, so added 3 more total to his recovered HP from those hit dice.

Hex Investigation: 3

Another hour of exploration uncovers nothing of substance. While you've covered a lot of ground, the Archives seem to be endless.

"I just hope we can find our way back upstairs," Cassra jokes.

"Hmm, well, most libraries have some kind of organizational system. Even if that changes over time maybe we could use it as a clue to find the right section or area to search, Do we know what this fellow came down here to do before he disappeared? I could try and puzzle out which section ...or... direction to try looking in next."

((wondering if my researcher feature might come into play in any way to help here, if not I'll still take a chance on doing the investigation for a bit.))

Sylyra's wariness of being caught in another trap wanes as the hours pass. His impatience grows and grows, first turning into anger and then into boredom. His mind wanders, and he's having a lovely daydream about one of his favorite haunts in Waterdeep when the party suddenly stops and starts taking a rest. After a sigh (more out of habit than actual frustration), he lounges against something and actually falls asleep, waking when the others begin to gather themselves to continue. After another hour of wandering aimlessly through the archive, the elf grunts, his anger having returned. "Why are we ... ?" He hurries forward. "Are we sure Ellison is even down here?" he asks Cassra.

Briny Investigation: 13
Hex Investigation: 1

Cassra shakes her head. "If you ask me, Ellison shouldn't even have been scheduled to be in here. Master Openrael was right to find that strange. You can see for yourselves how intimidating this place is. I don't even come down here without good reason."

As yet another hour of fruitless searching goes by, Cassra shrugs in answer to Sylyra. "I don't know if we can be positive, but something certainly seems fishy about the whole thing. If he's not here, we should at least be able to find some sign that he was - anything out of sorts, books or shelves out of place, anything like that."

Briny Investigation: 18
Hex Investigation: 15

Cassra moves along dutifully with you, impatience and frustration slowly mounting as your footsteps echo in the growing silence.

Your search has led you to a small room tucked away in a distant corner of the vast Archives. Despite the room's size, it is no less cramped than the rest of the Archives, packed tightly with shelves that are near to bursting with books, scrolls, and other works.

Rounding a shelf on the far side of the room, Briny sees a small reading table, the dark shape of a body slumped over it.

Cassra waves Sylyra and Uragum over to it once she catches up to Briny and Hex, ensuring their attention is drawn to the figure. As she draws closer, her complexion pales in the light of her lantern. "Gods save us!" Cassra gasps as she runs into a corner. She begins retching violently.

The body is that of a middle-aged male human wearing a plain set of grey, homespun robes. His left hand loosely holds a quill, the tip stained with bright blue ink. Thin rivulets of dark blood run from his ears, standing in stark contrast to the pale flesh of his lifeless face.

Books are scattered everywhere.

Briny stands and looks around indecisively, then starts to turn green when Cassra runs to the corner. She pulls the edge of her cloak hood over her nose and breathes shallowly for a bit then steps toward the desk, casting Mage Hand as she does. She tries to use it to lift the bloody head just enough that she can slide any papers out from underneath it without ripping them. "I suppose we should take a look at what he was working on. Can any of you do anything about the... blood." She makes an arcane motion with one hand that suggests something like a spell being cast.

(God why were all my rolls so bad xD)

Hex seems unaffected by all the blood and Cassra's reaction. She gives Cassra a gentle pat on the back and shrugs at Briny as she approaches the body. "Sorry, all I can do is this." With a flick of her hand, her right eye briefly changes colour to purple. As it fades back into its usual red, she searches and examines the dead body, trying to find anything of interest and how and when he may have died.

Sylyra doesn't appear at all upset by the sight of the bloody body, but when Cassra begins retching, he moves away from her as quickly as possible, clearly offended. "Please tell me this is Ellison."

Hex Medicine: 16

Cassra shakes her head, still trying to steady her breathing. "Garda..." she manages to respond to Sylyra.

Briny:

Three books remain on the desk near Garda's head; two small books bound in red leather and a larger white book. The white tome and one of the two red books lay open on the table beside his body.

A large, gilded scroll of parchment is also on the floor near Garda.

Hex:

Garda died from a single blow to his head. From the looks of things, he was killed less than approximately two hours ago.

Further examining him, you see that a leather thong on his belt has been cut. Cassra has a similar device on her belt that carries a ring of keys.

"Hm.. Looks like he only died recently, about 2 hours ago. Cassra, do you know what doors the keys Garda had would unlock?"

With the revelation that murder had happened so recently, Uragum snapped to attention.  His eyes darted around for threats.  When immediate surrounds looked safe, he inspects for a potential trail.

Investigation 12

Briny started to examine the red book that was open, planning on looking at the open pages of the white book next and then the closed red book, but sensing that the time might be short she opts to scoop up the books to take with her instead, having the mage hand pick up the scroll. She is careful to look for a page number on the open books first or any quickly recognizable features on the pages and repeats that information several times to herself to commit them to memory.

"Only two hours?" Sylyra repeats. "You mean, while we were wandering around down here?" he looks disgruntled and then rolls his eyes. "Let me see if I can catch a scent." His Elven form shimmers and shifts, shrinking and compacting into the shape of a mastiff. He begins marching around the room, nose going like mad.