Nublette Requires Assistance with Scripting and Puzzles

[CarnivorousJelly]

Okay, what I'm gathering is that the riddle is:
- slightly self-contradictory
- difficult for other reasons as well

For better context, it will be one of 5 riddles in a room. All are "elemental" the answers are: mountains (earth), fire, time, wind, and river (water). Each riddle corresponds with a box in the wall (from mansion_base\walls\secret) which is lit based on theme (ie water is blue) and has some form of the answer in it (time has the desk clock, fire is lit on fire). At the back wall of these boxes are levers which need to be pulled in the correct order (the riddles explain the order).

Riddles:

1. Mouthless it consumes
Lungless, breathes
Provider and destroyer
Lifeless, the water drowns it

2. This thing all things devours;
Birds, beasts, trees, flowers;
Gnaws iron, bites steel;
Grinds hard stones to meal;
Slays kings, ruins town,
and beats high mountains down

3. Voiceless it cries
Wingless flutters
Toothless bites
Mouthless mutters

4. What always runs and never walks,
Often murmurs, never talks
Has a bed but never sleeps
Has a mouth and never eats

5. What has roots as nobody sees,
Is taller than trees
Up, up it goes
And yet, never grows

Answers:

Spoiler below!

1. Fire
2. Time
3. Wind
4. A river
5. Mountains

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Three of those were "borrowed" from The Hobbit (2, 3, and 5) and 4 was from the Internet. I know they're hard x.x I might put in extra hints if the player takes too long to start solving them (mementos) or I'll try to make an easier set. All I can think of currently is that the player could ignore the riddles and use process of elimination or guessing to solve them.

Edit: I could see someone getting stuck on time and fire; the first lines are rather similar :/

Edit #2: I'm considering making the riddles an obvious but optional solution to the dilemma (an uncrossable bridge); the other option being to jump over the railing or create a bridge. In other words, solving the riddle puzzle will put a bridge over the gap, but you could cover the gap with a long plank, jump across by making a pile of chairs, or short-cut to the bottom by jumping into the gap. Although, admittedly, I don't really want the player to completely by-pass the riddles (but that's just because I'm super-proud of what I did with the hints)

Edit #3: I have no idea if edits bump the post or not, I'm trying not to bump it unless I have a really pressing question.

I'm making the riddles immediately before the pivotal point in the plot, meaning the game's coming to an end only a few maps after the riddles have been solved. I think I might be justified in making the riddle the most obvious solution with one alternative that would be harder to come by, but easier to execute. The player will most likely not explore the maps related to the riddles without reason, so I'll probably just throw in hints (otherwise, they miss parts of the story line and will become confused).