Chapter 2: Rotten Halls

"Throgin, you did it! I'm out! I'll fly back and get things to jam the pressure plate. You might as well stay there a minute, because I think we'll have to do this twice more.

I fly back to the rest of the party to get (swords?) to jam the plate.

Great. Take a look at that floating rod thing will you, some kind of magic is affecting it

As Tinkara fly back to the party the perceptive Zean notice something wrong the the dagger on Tinkara's belt.
The dagger looks just as rusty as the box fairy just got out of.

"Tinks! Good to see you back! And in one pice." - Zean noticed Tink's dagger - "But... is everything ok? Look at your dagger. Do you have any other metal items?"

"Whew! I'm glad to be back, Zean! Yeah, I have two daggers, some darts, and some ball bearings and caltrops. I wonder if they're all rusty now?"

I quickly check my inventory to see the status of my metal items.

"Anyway, I came over to get a couple of swords to wedge the pressure plates. Do you have them handy?"

"Yes, yes, here you are. Please, take them." - Zean hands Tinks a sword, one by one, so it will be enough to block the plate on other side - "Say - when, and I will block it on my side. After that we should be able to enter this tunnel at last, but I recommend to go there one by one, we never know how much weight those swords could support."

I fly back and place the swords in coordination with Zean.

Tinkara blade of both of her daggers corroded into worthless piles of rust. Darts partly made of metal are ruined as their metal components decay. Ball bearings and caltrops are also gone.

You manage to block the plate of the floor nevertheless, even if it take some time and some failed attempts.
Although it costs you a few attempts where Zean start moving and have to return, wait minute for propeller to stop and then repeat, but eventually you manage to block it properly. Zean make his way through the tunnel and jump over the pit to the other side. I will not be able to jump as you just did and I don't like the idea to tie rope to a propeller, but probably that's the only way Vatoris suggest an option for how he and Ixion could reach tomb.

"Well, hate to say it guys, but that was my 'take one for the team' climbing into these chests to turn the keys. If anyone has an extra dagger, a lady would like to have a little something to defend herself.

Throgin, can you move the lid of the sarcophagus? If not, I suspect we'll probably have to work each of the keys to get it open. I would imagine the right hand chest probably does cold damage, and the left one... I wonder if the former occupant of those robes got sent to some void or something."

I go to the steel bar and press the button again. Can I move it after the button is pressed?

Not immediately, but a moment after button is pressed the rod indeed falls into your hand

That's interesting. I'll slip the rod into my (now mostly empty) pouch if it will fit, or my pack if it will not.

After Zean gets to the chamber:
"Oh... interesting chests I can see here... So what was happening when you were inside one of those chest? Did I got it right - from what I have heard and see being distanced from you - there are keys inside each of the chest, but you can turn them only from inside? Could we weight them somehow with something... I don't know... with something heavy tided to the key by a string... so they would turn themself after closing a lid? Or maybe this rod... position it in the way it will make them turn when lid will be closed? Or... would Vatoris magic hand work being inside?" - Zean - as usual - had many ideas... but if anyone of those could be even somehow useful?

"Zean my friend, those are all interesting ideas. I can assure you of only one thing: I won't get in one to turn the key again. Perhaps we should examine the contents of the onyx chest to see if they might help us. I do think we will have to turn each of the keys to make the buttons appear on the sarcophagus and enable it to open."

So glad we are all good up there...do I stay down here still or try and come up?

"Hang on a bit while we figure this out, Throgin. I think we'll probably need you to press two more buttons when they appear."

I can try the mage hand thing - it costs nothing Vatoris moves to the edge of the pit but stay on the other side of it. He creates mage hand in one of the boxes trying to estimate location of the key when the lid will close, but no matter haw you try nothing happens. After some time of investigations Tinkara remember she did hear the clumps snap open when was inside the chest closing the lid. That sound does not come when you close the chest with no creature inside...

Vatoris moves back at the entrance to the tunnel and suggest Ixion to step forward as he may have more ideas.

I sigh heavily.

"Looks like they want a living being inside the chest to turn the key. Anybody have a familiar? Trained monkey?"

"Unfortunately... I have left my elep... uhhh... ouch... - Zean tried to joke about leaving his elephant guarding their ship at the port... but strangely the words got stuck mid sentence in his mouth and his face showed some signs of inner pain.

"What the...!? I can't even joke right now? Because of you?" - Zean asked 'in the air' as referring to someone invisible above or next to him. What probably surprised his companions.

"Tinks... you also have an annoying stowaway with you... since you took the ring from the previous sarcophagus?" - Zean asked supporting himself by his hands on his knees and apparently recollecting after experiencing a sudden and strong pain.
"I think we have to know how the chest detect if someone is inside? Probably Magic. So we will have to help Vatoris here. Besides... do you think Plants also counts as 'living being'?" - Zean looked around if there is any overgrowing plants in this chamber(roots?).

"Or maybe we will be forced to 'lend' one of those insects from the stone skull room... it also acted as it would detect life passing through it? Anyone have a proper sack for it? Or something like this?" - Zean threw another hypothesis.

"Uh, yeah. I was rather roundly chastised for getting in the trunk, so you can understand why I'm not performing that particular service again."