Swamped

Hmm. If you had time, you could take this creep back to camp and have them check for ether traces or whatever. But you're already delaying this trip more than you'd like, and you're not sure the Protectors would be willing to cooperate, given their apparent distrust for the camp.

Hang on a minute. Did Ember ever give back their equipment? Maybe you just weren't paying attention, but maybe he still has something that could be useful here. And even if he doesn't, well, he's still a wizard.

You turn to him while Rider continues questioning.

"I'm not detecting any ether, but that only tells me they're not a wizard," Ember says. "They could have some sort of magic item that only gives off ether when it's in use."

"I wouldn't mind if you waited for me to ask the question first, you know," you grumble.

"I thought you were in a hurry," Ember replies. You can't deny he has a point.

"Okay, so... what about the stuff from..."

"I do still have that. Since I still need the object to trace, and I might need the equipment if that runs into unexpected complications. So there is one thing that might help."

Ember hands you a small, thin tube with a strange container on the end.

"This is an ether activator. Squeeze the end for just a moment and it releases a trace amount of ether through the tube. If you touch the opening to an enchanted item, the item will glow for a moment. On its own, though, it's not enough to tell you what the item does. You can, in theory, squeeze it for an extended period of time and release more ether to force the item to use a spell, but it's safer to use it strictly for identification."

Well. Seems Ember is leaving it to you. So what specifically are you going to test?