Quote Originally Posted by kyoryu View Post
The assumption at this point is they'll find it eventually - the only question is how long it takes. Is there a time pressure involved? Wandering monsters? Someone chasing them? Supply pressure? If so I might roll to see if anything bad happens... otherwise, they just find it.
Right. Since there's no trap or other threat the real issue is how much time it takes and whether a wandering monster or something might show up before they've found it.

This is where understanding the actual intent (bullying the statue? Tricking it?) comes into play. You don't need to speak the words, but let me know the angle you're going for.
I would have read "I command it to open the way" as basically a bullying attempt.