[h2][center][b][color=ed1c24]Novak[/color][/b][/center][/h2]
The line of light leading to the unexplored path was definitely worth investigating, but the pedestal room was of far more interest to Novak.  There were figures of light, figures that had not been visible without the mask, whispering indiscernibly.  A chill ran down his spine as the realization dawned upon him- whether these were spirits, phantoms, or vestiges, he and Leannah were not alone down here.  A small part of him wondered if it had been a mistake to use the mask, before the rest of him banished the notion- the truth may be scary, but with knowledge came power.

Novak picked up the glowing crystal and slowly approached the pedestal room and the invisible beings within.  As he entered the room, however, the figures dispersed.  Had they fled from his presence?  Was there a consciousness within them?  Or was it merely magic taking the form of humanoid figures?  The phantoms were not the only thing to respond to his arrival; several images lit up upon the pedestal.  These appeared to be a crown, sphere, trident, eye, and...a chain link.

[color=ed1c24][i]Curious.[/i][/color]  Novak wasn't sure what it meant, not yet.  Still holding the mask to his face, he looked around the room, hoping to find clues.  Upon the walls there were several strange markings carved.  Each was a set of what looked like tally marks, or an equivalent simple numbering system, ranging from one through five.  It wasn't clear, however, what they were referencing or alluding to.

Novak removed the mask, curious as to what was visible without it, and what he saw was quite curious.  Under the light of the glowing crystal, the tally marks were gone, but next to where they had been, he could now see previously unseen carvings identical to those on the pedestal.  Where the "1" tally had been, there was now a carving of the eye.  The sphere was with 2, the crown with 3, the trident with 4, and the chain link with 5.

[color=ed1c24][i]If it's assigning them an order, it's "eye, sphere, crown, trident, chain link",[/i][/color] he observed.  It was fortunate he had taken the mask, because even if he had opted to explore the pedestal room without it, he would have not been able to discern the tally marks.  Now the challenge would be how to correctly apply this knowledge.  [color=ed1c24][i]Perhaps if I were to select the glowing pedestal images in order...[/i][/color]

Novak carefully touched the luminous images on the pedestal in the order corresponding to the tally marks.  First was the eye, then the sphere, then the crown, next the trident, and finally the chain link.  He hoped that this world work, and that if it didn't, that it at least wouldn't make things worse.

[@Rune_Alchemist]