"Very well. I have luxury goods of various types taken from Noten. These are furniture, mirrors, jewelry, furs, books and scrolls- If I knew what topics interested you I would say more- Dyes and incense, steel tools and a few precision instruments. I have some few magical items, which may be unique enough to be worth some study, including a number of scrolls- That is, not articles of writing but prepared spells that are easier to cast in the moment, wands- Spells codified into an object that can be cast without any magical skill at all. I have holy oil used for rites propitiating the Light Gods, to channel their miracles, produced by the Church of Ragni in Solar City. I have hairs taken from the tail of a kitsune, which are mostly a curiosity but may have some interest to you. I have an artifact from ancient Tirra whose purpose was explained to me as storing lightning and dispensing it in precise increments."

Isaac looks bored as the merchant lists his wares. The material goods, the gems and furniture and furs, seem to not interest him at all, although the books and scrolls (especially the magical ones) make him perk up slightly.

What really gets his interest, however, is the merchant's description of the artifact.

"Let me see this... artifact of yours."

May I have your word that you will pay if a mere glimpse is all you require? No, don't say that. We're playing nice with the powerful wizard.

"But of course. One moment."

It's a steel-grey brick the size of a loaf of bread in one of the boxes, slightly rounded edges and a heavy duty circular coppery looking plug at the top. And clearly quite heavy.

"It was taken from a dangerous ruin. Artifacts are those objects made of ancient materials of the fallen Tirran Empire that cannot be replicated today, which have withstood the ravages of time."

Isaac took a lens of pale purple crystal from his pocket and put it up to his eye. He peered at the artifact meticulously for several minutes, his lips a firm line across his face. He turned the artifact around to look at it from multiple angles and took a multitude of small tools from his pocket, poking and prodding at the device.

Finally, wordlessly, he snapped his fingers.

 A few seconds later, a small... creature of some kind - a strange hybrid between a squirrel and a rabbit, a pale blue-white and about the size of a housecat - came scurrying down the stairs, carrying something it its mouth. It climbed up onto the table and deposited what looked like a crystal-tipped wand into the wizard's waiting hand.

The man hmm'd and tapped the device with the wand. The crystal on the end turned a deep purple, and let out a sharp ringing tone that the men could feel in their very bones, like a tuning fork. A few moments passed, and Isaac looked around, as if searching for something only he could see. Finally, he set the wand down and looked at the merchants.

"Gentlemen, I think we may be able to do business here."

He snapped his fingers again, and more of those squirrel-rabbit creatures came scurrying down the stairs, each carrying something that glittered in their paws. The first reached the table and set down a massive ruby, easily the size of a man's fist. Then the second set down another. And another. And another...

The group sits anxiously throughout the examination. Nobody else but Maximilian has even spoken aside from a few words when fetching the artifact out.

"-Ah, not that rubies of that size are bad, per se, but if you have diamonds available. Or perhaps information on the most elementary wonders present here. That would be quite wonderful as well?"

Isaac blinks, the shrugs. He waves his hand casually, and the creatures stopped what they were doing, before moving to collect the growing pile of rubies on the table. The creatures scurried away and returned with two diamonds of roughly equivalent size, setting them on the table.

"As for magical knowledge, what would you like to know?"

There was a spark of interest in his eyes as he spoke. This was clearly more than just a routine trade for him. This was something he was passionate about.

They're all staring at the diamonds, or trying not to.

Ah, wizards. They love the knowledge. "I am not a wizard, myself- I know enough to," not get scammed, "Appreciate genius. Your animated creatures, the persistent spells... Are you even doing the thing we call 'wizardry', perhaps not. We have wizardry, witchcraft, sorcery, and divine effects. Wizardry folds willpower along diagrams to produce geometric shapes of will in the center, which then cause magical effects. And an entirely new branch of magic... How does it work?"

"Magic," Isaac began, tracing his finger across the table in lines. Beneath his fingertip, the wood beneath began to glow a vibrant pink. "Likes to flow in lines and shapes. By getting magic to flow in particular shapes, you can command it to affect the world in various ways, like an intricate machine."

He tapped on the newly-formed rune on the table, and the diamonds were flung into the air by a gust of wind. They floated in the air several feet above their heads, buoyed by currents of wind, before slowly drifting back down.

"The more complex a shape the magic flows in," he continues, as if nothing happened. "The more alive it becomes. When this happens in nature, it forms what are known as spirits, and these spirits too can be controlled through shapes and diagrams."

He turned to look Maximillian in the eyes once more.

"But that's all you'll get from me without an equivalent trade," he smiled.

"I must wonder if we are approaching the same phenomenon through entirely different means, because I would also say that magic likes to flow in certain ways. It is by creating those flows and paths for a bare instant that wizards cast spells. The other types of magic-users, I know not how they function on any useful or real level. I could try telling you about wizardry. I have a spell scroll with me that is widely regarded as the pinnacle of the art in some ways. Optimized and elegant. I understand it well enough to dissect its means of function, seeing the completed work, if not to have designed it in the first place."