Tainted Balance

Waglinton's Discovery

Wag had left the village a while ago, not to long after Tom had run off. It wasn't that he didn't want to help; of course he did. But his friends were far more important to him than the town was. So Jordan was a bit more prominent issue than a couple of crumbling buildings. He was currently in his tower, researching all that he could on the Taint; its origins, its effects, myths and legends, anything that he deemed even remotely helpful. Of course, most of it was basic knowledge that he and the others had already figured out. Things like 'It can spread to most anything' or 'it can even infect water.' Nothing helpful. Nothing that could 'cure' Jordan. Wag sighed and set his newest book down on the table, rubbing his eyes tiredly.

"This is pointless.." He muttered to himself, dragging his hand down his face. He'd been researching everything he could since he'd gotten home, around an hour and a half ago, and nothing. Not even an iota of helpful information lied within any of the books he'd looked through so far.

"Maybe I should take a break," he said as he rose from his chair. "I'm no use to anyone half asleep."

Stretching, he exited his mini library and headed downstairs, via elevator, towards his kitchen. Well, to call it a kitchen was an overstatement. It didn't have much, a small stove and a few cupboards with random food and such scattered inside them. He was also at least 63% sure that there was some sort of mouse in at least one of the cupboards.

"I really need to get a mouse trap or something." He said as he pulled out a half eaten packet of crackers, which he is pretty sure he hadn't even opened yet. Tossing it back inside, he pulled out a decently sized wooden box filled with a few of Farmer Steve's apples. Luckily, they were still somewhat fresh. Grabbing two of them, he shut the box and put it back in its place in the cupboard. Taking a bite out of one of the bright red apples, he made his way back upstairs, hoping to get back to researching as soon as possible. With a whooshing noise, he was back in his library.

"Jeez.. I really need to clean up in here.."

The room was covered in books and paper, crumpled or torn, all of them scattered haphazardly around the ground and some of them stuck to the walls (a result of him testing a spell not to long ago). In short, the room was a mess and he made a note to clean up when he had the chance to. Walking back to his desk, he felt his foot hit something and he tripped, dropping both the apples and most likely bruising at least one of them.

"Ow! Yeah, ok. Cleaning up. Gotta get to doing that and soon." He looked back to see what he'd tripped on. It was a small, worn down looking book. It seemed to be more of a journal of anything, as it far smaller than any of the books he had. There was also a small purple note stuck to the front of it with some brig written on it.

"Hello.. Where'd you come from? Pretty sure I've never seen you before."

He'd recognized most, if not all, of the books in his library, and he'd never seen this one before. Shrugging, he picked it up, tearing off the note and reading it out loud.

" 'I've heard about what happened to your friend. Hopefully, this can shed some light on the situation. Lady Ianite.' Wait, Ianite sent this? Well, Jordan is her follower. She must be concerned too."

He opened he book, flipping through the first few pages to try and find a title, as the cover had nothing but a bit of dust and fancy markings covering it.

" 'Lexica Botanica Mythologica', huh? Interesting name, if nothing else."

Absentmindedly turning through the journal, he found a small piece of paper stuck between two of the pages. Wag pulled it out and turned it in his fingers, finding writing on the back.

"Huh. What's this say? 'Newest entry (currently unfinished) is on pages 35-38.' Might be worth checking out."

Setting the note down beside him, he flipped to the page and dropped the book in shock.