1d20+?=12
Search 1d20-2(bleary eyed)= 15
Thinking to yourself that there may be something else at work here you set yourself to looking through the room.
First double-checking the chest you poke around the broken glass and gore, and carefully grabbing the edges of the cotton sheet you pull the contents out entire and lay them on the ground next to the chest, nudging aside a thumbscrew with your foot to make room. Amidst the glass is a ring you hadn't noticed before, made of hematite and studded with a single piece of chrysoprase. You make mental note of it but leave it where it is.
On the bottom of the chest underneath where the cotton sheet was there are three more planks of the strange purple wood, and wedged in between them steel chisels and measuring tools, on one end of the chest is a small leather bag.
Leaving the chest behind for now you go to examine the bookshelves. The collection doesn't seem at all diverse or extensive, but you notice a few rare tomes scattered in the collection. Many are in the local tongues of which you do not speak, but some are from other planes of reality, and so are written in languages you've encountered while trading among the varied people's of the multiverse. Some are books on the nature of demons and other dark creatures, some almost certainly books of ritual calling and summoning. You spy one extremely famous and rare tome,"To Hold Grace" a tale of one demon's success in summoning and imprisoning an angelic creature. The precise details of how it was done are missing in nearly all copies of the book, but even those altered copies are few and far between.
If you learned the languages of these books this could prove quite an interesting collection to properly peruse.
Observation 1d20-2= 9
The corpse is clearly human, and a male you think. Except for damage to his hands there doesn't seem an immediately clear reason as to why he died. The book in his hands is clasped in brass, and the language printed on the cover one unfamiliar to you. His robes are tattered, torn and thoroughly rotten. A silver medallion that seems to have slipped from his neck depicts a four legged shelled creature. Instinctually you know it is better that you don't deal too closely with silver, your memories seem to reflect that you refused to ever trade in the metal.
Done with your searching for the moment you turn your attention to the lever of your choosing. Taking care to prepare yourself for trouble, you pull it. It takes a great deal of effort to actually pull the lever, but when you do you are rewarded with the sound of stone grinding on stone, and metal grinding on metal. Turning to the sound you see a section of wall between the chest and the corpse has slid away. You cant see very far up the stairs, but you do believe you vaguely see an alcove not far from here.