[h2][center][b][color=ed1c24]Novak[/color][/b][/center][/h2]
[color=ed1c24][i]She's evading the question, I'm sure of it.  Something strange is going on with her,[/i][/color] Novak noted as he listed to Lazhira give her reply to Leanna's query about her ability to safely navigate these woods.  None of what she said added up to a reasonable explanation as to how a seemingly normal village girl could travel to and from this place with such dangerous, aggressive beasts around.  Novak was convinced that Lazhira was withholding something from the group.  He did not mind people having secrets, it was rather concerning that their guide, whose expertise was the only reason they were even able to get through the fog, was not being entirely forthcoming with them.  It was understandable that she might not want to reveal everything to outsiders whom she had only known for two day, but Novak wasn't entirely comfortable with being left in the dark while sticking his neck out.  They had already faced dangers while undertaking this expedition, and who knows what else they might run into out here?

Novak considered Lazhira's words carefully as he looked over the murals.  [color=ed1c24][i]So this Illuminator gives knowledge, but also takes it back.  I wonder, what were these people like before he relinquished his gifts of knowledge?[/i][/color]  Lazhira had mentioned paper-making and stone-working as knowledge that had been lost to them, suggesting that they were once much more than a quaint town of hunters and fishermen.  Could there be other past works somewhere in the region?  Were there other stone structures that they might have left behind?

Novak shifted his gaze to the old shelves.  Narkissa and Leannah had already begun to look through the books lying about, and Lazhira had assured them that they could take whatever they could find.  With that in mind, he decided to get a closer look at some of the objects himself.  He grabbed a discarded rope and gave it a good tug in his hands to see if it had any strength left.  Assuming that the rope did not disintegrate in his hands, Novak would gather it into a bundle around one arm.  They hadn't exactly made a lot of preparations for this journey to the temple, and a serviceable rope could make for a useful tool.  With his other hand, Novak picked up one of the masks, and carefully examined the front and back of the trinket as he slowly made his way back to the center of the temple.

[color=ed1c24][i]According to Lazhira, the old man and the old woman are both forms that the Illuminator takes to interact with mortals.  I suppose that means these murals are depicting the Illuminator granting gifts of knowledge to his followers,[/i][/color] he thought to himself as he looked at the murals.  [color=ed1c24][i]I wonder if there's any meaning to his two different forms.[/i][/color]  Because all three of the group's sources of illumination had currently congregated to where the books were, he was unable to make out the details as well as he previously could.  Perceiving what he could with the sub-optimal lighting, Novak's eyes followed the processions to where they converged at the idol.

[i][color=ed1c24]Lazhira said that she could feel faint magic on this idol,[/color][/i] he recalled, looking closely at both the embedded stone in the statue and the empty socket in the wall.  [i][color=ed1c24]She also thinks that this temple is bigger than just this room.  Could that be the receptacle for a key of some sort?[/color][/i]

It was only at this point, when he turned to the others to ask for their opinion, that realized what was going on with the others- Leannah was injured, and Lazhira was offering to patch her up.  Novak hoped that Lazhira had a very good reason for not telling them how she was able to get around here safely, because Leannah had gotten herself hurt trying to save the girl's life.  If it turned out that somehow Lazhira had never actually been in any danger, and Leannah had gotten herself wounded for nothing, it might sour Novak's view of her.  On the other hand, she was at least trying to help, and that should count for something.

[color=ed1c24]"It almost looks like something is supposed to be placed in that socket in the wall,"[/color] Novak asked, shifting his attention back to the matter of the statue.  [color=ed1c24]"Do any of you see something that could fit into it?  Do you think this stone on the idol would fit into it?"[/color]  Novak didn't dare touch the stone, however.  Perhaps it was some vestigial instinct from his previous life, perhaps it was simply Lazhira's observation that it was magical, but he felt that that messing with it might incur some risk.

[color=ed1c24][i]Hmm, I wonder...[/i][/color]

Novak held the mask up to his face, curious to find out he'd be able to see anything special- or anything at all- through it.

[@Rune_Alchemist][@Click This][@Crusader Lord]