Swamped

There was a story your mentor passed on to you, of an ancient order. They started as scholars who believed in achieving a "perfect" ideal in body, mind, and soul. But within a few generations, they considered only mages to be capable of achieving this ideal, and also that their order was the only one fit to rule the world.

It wasn't long before their group caught the attention of the gods, or so the story goes, and the members of the order were soon punished appropriately. It was merely passed down as a cautionary tale - a lesson that being a wizard doesn't make you better than everyone else.

But there was another part of the story. The order came up with a special herb, one that could draw in ether as it grew. It was supposedly able to enhance their magic. In fact, part of their defeat in the story involved a hero chosen by the gods taking the herb, and being able to use magic even though she never had the capability before.

If that herb were real, you can imagine a lot of people who would take an interest in it. And if it was drawing in ether, that would probably have some effect on the soil.

"Mana roots?" you ask. "I'd thought they were just a legend. How do you know about them - are you a wizard as well?"

The stranger shakes their head.

"You might call me a specialized historian. My, ah, employer suspected that one of his rivals was taking an interest in legends that could turn out not to be so legendary. Wanted someone to look into that sort of thing to give him an idea what he might be up against. And it's looking like tonight is the night they've been waiting to use all of it."

But why tonight? Flame is in the hospital, but that couldn't have been predicted...

Unless they made a move on him. You still haven't found anything about the actual incident that injured Flame and his family. On the other hand, you have more pressing concerns and his own people probably have a better idea of that than you do.

Speaking of which, this person's words suggest they work for Flame. But you should probably try to clarify that a little before advancing things too far.