Swamped

"Do you happen to know anything about what these people with the masks are doing tonight?" you ask, pointing at the time-frozen one.

"They're doing a lot of things. I can tell you what this one was doing, though - take a look at those gloves he's wearing."

You take a look at the strange shell first.

"I'm not sure I can get a good look without making this act up again."

The stranger sighs.

"There's blue dirt on their gloves. You ever seen blue dirt?"

"Not that I can remember, no," you reply. Even from this distance, it does seem striking now that it's been pointed out.

"Exactly. It ain't natural. But there's some unusual herbs that grow best with a mix of stuff in the dirt that turns it blue. So I'm thinkin' he was doing a little gardening. And you know what those herbs do?"

"I'm afraid I haven't the slightest idea."

"Really," the stranger says. "And here you are calling yourself a wizard."

You're a bit confused at first, but then you get an idea. You start checking for ether.

And you detect quite a bit of it right where the blue dirt is.

Which does, in fact, give you a rather clear idea of what herb is being talked about, even though you've never actually seen it yourself before.