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Aaron’s whole body tensed when the tile bucked, Varis’ screams filling the clearing and probably heard far beyond that. It was hard to tell if he was yelling in shock or pain (or both) but it wound Aaron up all the same, the mage shifting his weight in agitation and practically tearing himself in two knowing that even if he moved to help, there was nothing he could do. It was agony, and so distracting that he nearly missed his mark to call out the next tile movement. 

Much to his chagrin, Aaron could only watch on in horror as the tile tossed his master around like one of those mechanical bulls he’d seen in movies. Maybe in retrospect it would be funny—after all, it wasn’t every night one saw a vaulted Count on his knees with a shovel—but Aaron wasn’t laughing. He had no desire to see Varis come to harm; Max and Salem would mock him for it, but he only wanted to [i]help[/i] him. Instead, he was trapped on the sidelines, forced to do nothing but watch and be tormented by the display. There was nothing in the world he hated more than feeling useless, and in that moment that was precisely what he was. 

After what felt like an eternity, Aaron heard a faint [i]thunk[/i] somewhere between Varis’ curses and the world finally came back into being, his body along with it. He confirmed his newfound tangibility by tapping the tree and heaved a sigh of relief before taking Varis’ outstretched hand, placing it on his forearm as before. 

[color=f0d705]“Are you alright, Master?”[/color] he asked as he led them both to the hole, kneeling at its edge. He raised his eyebrows at the shovel’s blade (bearing the imprint of a hand) before reaching into the hole and pulling out a small chest, only a bit larger than his palm. He brushed it off and stood to open it.

Inside was a small, stone medallion, neatly situated on a cushion. The face bore an unmistakable relief carving of the Eve crest, complete with a ruby in place of the dead apple on the healthy side.

[color=f0d705]“It’s a stone medallion bearing the Eve crest, Master. The dead apple’s been replaced with a ruby,”[/color] Aaron reported, tucking the medallion securely in an inner pocket of his coat. A cursory glance at the inside of the tree told him that at some point during the chaos, his concentration must have slipped, and his Dark Eyes spell along with it. A quick [color=f0d705][i]“Tiltoure”[/i][/color] fixed that, and he gave the inside of the chest a quick once-over, lifting the cushion and checking the underside of the lid. Sure enough, a message had been carved there, though interestingly, not written in whatever bacterial concoction it was that they used for the other instructions. 

[color=f0d705]“The inside of the chest reads… [i]Turn left at the trees.[/i]”[/color] he reported. [color=f0d705]“There are no other instructions.”[/color] 
[right][sub][@Achronum][/sub][/right]