Does anyone have any ideas as to whether to try one of the other passages? The one I tried ended in an apparently blank wall.

He turned from studying the archway and noticed the new person conferring with one of those already there. He walked over towards him and bowed slightly:
My name is Henleber and right now I would like to finish defeating this trap and then return to the surface. I was trapped here when I came here previously but now hope to succeed where I had previously failed.

Thibor Cruxholder

"And I am supposed to believe this fairy tale, demon. We are the only ones at this island. We came by ship, the only possible way to arrive here. We searched the island and no one else was here, no other ships either. The path to this tomb was burrowed in sand."

"Now tell the truth or die." Thibor says raising his warhammer, murmuring a payer for his god and preparing for a fight. He really doesn't understand how the others fell so easily.

With such as this, no wonder you were in a hurry to penetrate the tomb. He turns to Graydon with a crooked smile.

What year is it now? I know that I have been entrapped for many seasons which might explain even to your great wisdom why my ship was no longer present, but what is the current year? I have been trapped here for multiple oh eloquently respectful cultist.

HE realized he probably shouldn't be so bitter, but for someone to casually accuse him of lying and threaten him as if he were a drow was insufferable. Not to mention, he was still realizing all of his companions were dead.

Graydon the Bold scowls at the elderly dwarf, and steps between Thibor and Henleber. "We don't have time for this. This tomb is a strange and magical place, your cynicism alone isn't enough to justify attacking someone who claims to have been trapped here. We should be offering aid and understanding before brandishing weapons and making demands. Surely you can find a better way to verify his story than beating him to death."

Jiardem stood his ground one hand raised as if asking to cease the current aggresions. "I suppose we can test things if we must, but must you be so quick to resort to violence Thibor? You are aware both your race and ours can likely outlive a ship, especially with one such sea monster lurking the oceans as we saw on our way here and yet still lives despite our battles. Also there is more than one way to sustain life, sometimes as simple as a magic spoon, for years to come," Jiardem paused for breath and continued. "Plus wasn't there tale of something coming here that drew you here as well? Allow your mind to work that question, and if not satisfied on that alone, continue your tests,"

Thibor Cruxholder

"Dwarfish or Elfish calendar? I personally use my own clan calendar. We are at year 1015... But you are tricking me. That's not the point. It is you that must prove you are who you are." At this moment both his companions interrupt him.

Thibor doesn't acknowledge Graydon's ramblings as they are as always without any sense to him. How can he be so naive and blind to the truth?

Jiardem, on the other hand, seems more reasonable, despite being a fairy, and Thibor doesn't particularly believes fairies are reasonable. But he needs to find hope where he gets it. "You made a very good point. And, in his benefit, I cannot sense any demonic possession here and my guts tells me that he thinks he is telling the truth. Which can be troublesome, he is either an extremely clever enemy or a mad fairy."

He lowers his weapon and addresses Henleber again.

"I will buy your story for now, but I will have my eyes upon you." He says finally. "So anyone knows where are Agamemnon and Quinn?"

"No sign of them yet," Jiardem said shaking his head gently. "I wonder if the portal we went through has different destinations if the puzzle is solved or unsolved,"

Henleber sat while muttering to himself for a minute then looked up:

I believe based on my memories of when most dwarvish clans started I have been in here somewhere between 20 and 200 years. Does that satisfy your concerns about my companions? Also, do we want to try and solve this puzzle here? It is possible that the stones here were the ones referred to in the riddle earlier.

Thibor Cruxholder

Thibor acknowledges Jiardem's answer. The silence that followed his question would have answered the same way.

Fine. Let's proceed then. And look for our friends. Thibor never forgets a friend, never, even the bad ones. They are alive until I say they aren't.

I don't want to enter another portal again. Chances are this second one will be a trap. Let's search for other passage.

So far I only checked one of several hidden passageways. It is possible that I missed something but I was planning on checking one of the other two in that case.

He waits a few minutes to hear any responses and then heads over to the red sphere and peers inside it.

"The path behind the red orb illusion there hasn't been fully explored yet, but that isn't the only option we have to take in this room," Jiardem said. "Just stay on your toes checking these doors, one of them had an arcane trap behind it. Got a cut, but nothing that will kill me," Jiardem said pointing the still open hidden door.

Henleber turned around:

I am going to check this one out as well. If I am not back in 15 minutes, schedule a funeral.

He then climbed into it and crawled along carefully keeping an eye out for pits, traps or hidden doors especially.

Perception: 24

"I'll be following along," Jiardem called out to Henleber. Before he did so he first turned to the cleric and said, "Thibor, as long as you can hear my staff tapping, I'm alright. I promise not to duck into any mysterious portals without first consolating you. Honestly earlier I thought the portal from the entranceway was disabled when before I passed through,"

Even if Thibor didn't trust him, he could still keep an eye on his fellow fey-born. Plus splitting up things further served little purpose at this point.

Thibor Cruxholder

"Alright I will just wait here." Thibor says approaching the entrance of the hole where Henleber vanished.

Henleber and Jiardem travel down the tunnel, which winds to the right, for about 40 feet before coming to a dead end.

"Looks like a dead end," Jiardem said still tapping the tip of his staff like a blind man.

Henleber slowly crawled down the tunnel checking everything as he went and trying to see if there was any sort of illusion or hidden door as he expected.

Perception: 20