So close!

NervousFae(19), Elyse(19), Doremor(12),Belzo(5),Flameskull3(5)(2),Hadrian(4),Kasimir(4),Ismark(4),Gertrude(2)

Belzo fires a Chaos Bolt!

Attack: 20 Damage: 12

It explodes in a thunderous blast! Combat is over. You are free to explore the room, or move on to the next chamber. There is still the blue and white staff that is in here.

Hadrian will suggest a short rest to try and study the staff and see what it can do. 

"Some rest to recover energy would definitely be a positive." Kasimir says, looking fairly exhausted.

(Should the you all take a rest, I will reveal the properties of the staff)

Doremor opts to take a short rest, during which he will look around the room for anything of note, things either salvageable from the corpse or hidden, with Gertrude's help.

Investigation: 22

The only item that is of salvageable value is the staff, which you determine to be a Staff of Frost. 

“I suspect that Belzo would be able to make good use of this,” says Hadrian, holding up the icy staff.

Short rest healing: 10

Hit dice: 18

Fae spends the rest checking on a strange, dark red egg she takes from her bag before carefully rewrapping it in blankets and nestling it into her bag, after which she fidgets while waiting for the others to finish.

Doremor peers closely at the egg before sliding over to Fae, "Hey, whatcha got there?"

Fae spins around, giving Doremor a grin. "A phoenix egg!"

Doremor opens his eyes in shock, only partly feigned, "And where did you get something like that? What are you gonna do with it?"

Fae shrugs. "I found it. In the woods. And I'm going to keep it safe until it hatches." She frowns faintly. "Eni was supposed to help."

"What is a Phoenix like?" Ismark inquires, innocently. "We do not have those sort of creatures here."

"Phoenixes are giant birds made out of fire," Fae explains. "One of them had a nest in a crystal volcano near our home village. She's probably where this came from, but I rescued it from a zombie, which means she didn't go retrieve it, since there was still, you know, a zombie to rescue it from, and not just little flaming bits of flesh. Which means I take care of it now!"

“The gods must favor you,” says Hadrian. “A Phoenix is a great boon, a powerful ally.”

With that, he rises and checks his equipment. “The day isn’t getting any younger. Who wants to use this staff? My powers won’t work with it, but presumably one of us could make good use of it.”

Short Rest(3): 22.

After getting so severely scorched by the skulls, the normally taciturn sorcerer had been even moreso about speaking for a time. Hadrian does at least get nod in appreciation for the offer, and takes up the staff to study. Though anyone with a shred of insight could the effort to be more something to distract from the pain, then the usual scholarly interest. By rests end he holds it closely to his side, seeming to draw some relief in the ambient cold wafting from it since acquiring it.

"It.. is... Good... now... But, should... should be move on... not sure... where at moment." The aged scholar manages to convey prior to fatigue winning some silent debate.

You are currently in Room X17.

Belzo

Doremor repeats his listening at the door and careful peek in with room x19.

Perception: 21

Investigation: 18

Doremor, you hear nothing on the other side of the door and when you open it you see stone blocks resembling tables stand in the center of this room covered in dust. Carved into the stone walls are niches filled with hundreds of dusty bottles. Cobwebs hang from wooden ladders that lean against the walls.

Against his better judgement, Belzo investigates the next door over(X18), and possible what lies beyond it if it opens up to his grip. Now he gripped frost staff firmly at his side, and anyone getting too close to either him or it."These dark powers mentioned before...They would be deeper down, yes? Trapped, perhaps? Or could one merely speak aloud to garner their attention while here?" He asks th eothers idly.

Investigation: 18(for the door)

Perception:3. (room beyond.)