"Interesting. I don't think I've seen anything like that before, although I'm not exactly well traveled. I've only been to Laekastel, my hometown, and Ostenso, where I go to school. A year from now, I'll be at a Worldwound garrison. As an aside, when are we going to sleep? It will be my bedtime in a few hours, and sleep is very important for wizards. We can't prepare spells without sleep. What sort of spells do you think will be most useful? I can prepare them tomorrow. I'm a Transmutation specialist, and my opposed schools are Enchantment and Evocation, so don't ask me to prepare spells from those schools, not that I know many."

"Yeah, eight hours' rest, which I've always thought was bloody stupid because the only reason sleep exists is because evolution can't manage a rolling live update, so giving it mystical significance is just absurd...Lemme check, but at least one Comprehend Languages, if you would.  I'm going to need to take a close look at that if I'm to get anything useful out of your spellbook, by the way, unless I've got enough data on how the actual fuck your lot's casting works and the right metaphysics to prepare spells from your spellbook, which...Honestly, in terms you'd understand, I'm much more a sorcerer than a wizard.  So I'd love to find out if I can actually read your spellbook, but I'm sort of doubting that I have any particular inherent capacity, at present.  Maybe I'd count as whatever that sorc-wiz hybrid is - Arcanist? - but somehow I doubt it.  Anyway, how many spell slots?  And if this place doesn't let you rent rooms, I suppose I could put you up somewhere on my end, so long as you don't get all...proselytize-y about it.  It's a nice place, and if I have to spend the next three months scouring out demon cults doing nonconsensual blood sacrifices or something, I will be very annoyed.  I could probably stand to take a night and let things percolate, too; see if I've got anything better-suited, ask the masses for spell designs that'll deal with whatever the fuck sort of absolute bullshit a molecular annihilation pulse targeted specifically at sapient life is.  Maybe see if the decision theorists have something useful for avoiding getting retconned by an angry god, or if someone's come up with a foolproof scheme to either starve or glut Rovagug to death.  And take shameless advantage of having semi-reliable foreknowledge to poke some shit that needs poking."

"I - it is not our kind's way, as wizards, to just...show people our spellbooks. To a wizard, a spellbook is almost an extension of our bodies. Half my net worth is contained in mine, and I bet that most other wizards are the same. Also, most wizards charge a fee for another person to copy spells out of their spellbooks. However, I understand that you are already giving me armor and equipment. In the spirit of cooperation, therefore, I'll let you observe me prepare my spells, and I'll let you look at my spellbook portion for Comprehend Languages while I do so. And I'll show you me casting it. None of my spells are particularly rare or valuable, and the highest circle of spell I have in it is second-circle. I suppose Masterwork Transformation is a rare spell.

I can cast three first-circle spells per day, not including my specialist school slot. I can prepare Comprehend Languages in one of them. Is that all? Hm. I wonder whether Rings of Sustenance would interest you. It cuts down your need for sleep and for food." 

She's a sorcerer? A different sort of sorcerer, then, it must be. She doesn't seem particularly Splendid, honestly.

He is genuinely offended at the demon-worshipping comment. "We do not worship demons! Demon cults are banned in Cheliax. Demons are Chaotic and we want nothing to do with them. That's why Cheliax sends so many people to the Worldwound – to fight demons. The reason I go to school is to fight demons.

Also, I doubt anyone in the whole of Golarion has thought of such a scheme. It took the combined efforts of many, many gods to imprison Rovagug, not just kill him. If one of them knew of a way to eliminate him, they'd have done so already."

"Yes, excuse me, I'm not used to making a fine distinction between demons and devils - I meant the latter, rather than the former, but practically, I have so rarely encountered either in a universe that cared about the distinction that they just both just mean 'Infernal living thing'.  My apologies; I may have vehement opinions about the pointless destructive nature of most evil gods and the value of sapient flourishing in general, but it behooves me to at least mind my terms.  I don't like it when there's devil cults doing nonconsensual blood sacrifices on my home plane either.  And, yes, I am in fact interested in rings of sustenance.  I shall quite probably make an entire list, if I'm going shopping properly.  It will, at least, help me keep track, even if my brain tends to be rather akin to a magpie in a dragon's hoard at the prospect of getting substantial material and materiel from Golarion.  The metallurgy alone...do you happen to know if," she checks something, "siccatite, is still possessed of a fixed temperature even when in environments as devoid of magic as Golarion knows how to make?  Because I have so many ideas for what I could do with that, let alone the replicable process for making metal that's a one-way valve for heat."

She stops doing the mad scientist impression, backs up a couple steps, and takes a few deep breaths.

"If you do not wish to show me your spellbook you are by no means obligated, but I truly do appreciate that you are willing to allow this."

"I see. If it's 'infernal', then it's a devil. For demons, it's 'abyssal'. I'll accompany you in magic shopping to ensure that the shopkeepers aren't gouging you on prices. And so that we can...haggle. Haggling is an important skill as a wizard with a keen interest in magic items. Sadly, I don't know much about siccatite. It's a rare metal that falls out of the sky – I haven't seen any before. It certainly hasn't come up in my studies either. I would permit you to examine my spellbook as much as you like provided that I receive magic items. Are you Lawful?"

He doesn't think she is, but maybe. "If so, I'll happily compact with you with regard to the issue." He smiles.

"I think that the general concept of a two-axis system of morality is at best bullshit spun out of a historical artifact of wargame faction design, but I do consider myself capable of holding to contracts, especially contracts of specific performance, when to do so would not immediately endanger life, and would be willing, in principle, to negotiate a deal with you along those general lines."  ...She's stored her armor back away, produced a pad of paper from somewhere, and is propping it up on - oh, interesting, she wasn't wearing a belt, that pale lavender wrapped through her beltloop is what's coiled up as a stand for the pad.

"I will procure for you, or allow you to keep, if it is an item we find with no other ownership claims upon it, a magical or wondrous item to be determined, subject to veto for cause; its value, as measured by comparison to book value for an arbitrary magic item, shall be equivalent to no more than the present replacement cost of your spellbook, and you will allow me to observe your spellbook for no less time than one Golarion day, in discrete hour-long chunks at my option, subject to your veto; as well as observe, with full sensory panoply, the processes by which you prepare your spells and scribe new spells at least once."

Lila, who's been testing out her old and new undetectability rings, briefly flickers back into visibility to comment, "I've never heard of siccatite before, or anything like it.  And go ahead and negotiate yourselves, but I'm glad you both accept Law, because it's really important to be able to work with others!  Even when you're not a queen."

"I see. That's Lawful enough for me. I assume that the equipment you give to me with regard to helping Her Majesty will have to be returned to you later, then? By replacement cost of my spellbook, I wish to clarify that this is the total of the cost of the empty spellbook, plus magical ink necessary to rewrite all of the spells inside it, plus 50% to the ink fee to represent copying charges. Half the magical ink price is standard fee charged for a non-rare spell for a wizard to let another copy from their spellbook.

I also wish to add that observation of my preparation of new spells must be fully passive and will not interfere with it in any material way.

Further, I wish to have the option of taking multiple items so long as the total cost of the items does not go over the preagreed limit, and the option to offer you my own money, denominated in gold coins, in the case that the total cost of the items exceeds the limit but not by over 10%. Also, I would like the phrase 'magical or wondrous' to be struck – the possibility exists that I might desire a non-magical or non-wondrous item. I'll take a few minutes to calculate the value of my spellbook now."

He could just...lie...about it, but that seems like a bad idea. He'll be fully Abadaran and honest in this case. He gives the calculations.

Blank standard spellbook: 15gp

Zeroth-circle spells: 18 * 5gp = 90gp
First-circle spells: 21 * 10gp = 210gp
Second-circle spells: 23 * 40gp = 920gp
Total: 1220gp
Plus copy fee: 1220gp * 1.5 = 1830gp

Grand total: 1845gp

Lila tries to hide her shock at the cost.  She knows the Royal Treasury handles sums of money much more than that - she's talked with a merchant in the Resistance who'd handled similar amounts himself - but she hasn't seen more than double-digit sums of gold in years... and that went promptly to Fraddir's magic-crafting.

Instead, she goes invisible again, and twists the ring into a new configuration so she's still invisible but still audible.  With an "Excuse me," she grabs the pen out of Conrad's hand once he's finished writing.  It disappears as soon as it leaves his grip.

A few moments later, she reappears and offers him back the pen.

"Ostenso doesn't skimp on their spellbook provisioning, I see.  And we've used the same math; wonderful.

"Yes, the equipment I give to you is on loan.  And yes, observation being passive, save by your agreement otherwise, is something I'm willing to agree to.  Hmm.  There's somewhat of a problem with the idea of you offering me gp for its monetary value, and it's that I mostly only have use for gold insofar as it's something others value and useful in industrial processes.  I wouldn't necessarily say there's anything like a post-scarcity society on the other side of this door, but I would say that gold's value to me is less than it would be to yourself.  I certainly keep some in my emergency traveling supplies, but that's because of preparedness, not out of believing it has intrinsic monetary value.  It doesn't, and Golarion's economy is lies anyway; money just does not work like that, especially money backed by commodities.  So how about we round the replacement cost up to the nearest hundred gp, instead, or - Bar, would you be willing to serve as currency exchange for this purpose?  I believe you'd make a fair neutral arbitrator, at least.  If you have specific items in mind now, Conrad, I'm willing to consider adjusting what I round to.

"As far as striking 'magical or wondrous'...I suppose that's feasible, yes, with the proviso that technological items must be items native to Golarion or items serving only as identical replacements for such.

"I am not going to buy you an arbitrary amount of items; three permanent items, where 'permanent item' is defined to include items that are consumable but have permanent effects, or items that regenerate charge without further investment of resources, totaling no more than whatever cost we agree to, or the option of converting an option of a permanent item into no more than three scrolls, wands, or technological items of similar inherently limited usability, or no more than five alchemical potions or chemical products as would be sold by a Golarion chemist on an individual basis."

"Indeed. Chelish magic students do not want for anything. Well, I do want for many things, but that's just my greed. Compared to other countries' magic academies, we are well-equipped. 

I...see. I'm being trained in wondrous item creation, not ring forging or magic arms and armor smithing. If you would be willing to round up in exchange for naming a specific item, then I would like to keep a ring of protection +1. I realize that the difference is over one hundred gp, though, so I am willing to make up for it by scribing a scroll of Comprehend Languages for you to study and use for free. I'll use my own magical ink for it. I will also let you observe the act of me scribing the scroll, under the same observation conditions previously stated. However, the act of scribing requires that I prepare and use a casting of the spell itself, so I will have to prepare Comprehend Languages twice if you want to see me both scribe and cast it. The specific action is a little different from casting – scribing a scroll is more like putting an enchantment on an item than real casting."

The amount of magical ink he would need to use for that will use up all of his personal reserve, but it's totally worth it if he gets a ring out of it. Also, he's very confident in his ability to...haggle with the shopkeepers to get the price lower than 2000gp, but it's not good to do that too often.

"Oh - you're working on magical item creation?  Then you really should look at Fraddir's notes, or talk with him if we do resurrect him - he was probably the single best person at it in our world!"

"I would be honored to meet with him, Your Majesty. I do hope we are able to resurrect him. There are several different disciplines of magic item creation in our world. Ostenso teaches the common ones: crafting magical arms and armor, crafting wondrous items (which is what I am training in), forging rings, and crafting wands. The academy in Egorian is bigger and teaches more."

"What do your wands and rings do?  Our witches have wands too; I think they act as beacons for the spirits.  And what're wondrous items if all those aren't?"  

"Wands hold charges of a specific spell, which lets a wizard cast a spell many times without having to prepare them. They're expensive, though, and you need to be a strong wizard in order to have the channeling capacity necessary to make them. They are distinct from rods and staves. Rods usually permit a wizard to cast a spell with metamagic – specific boosts to a spell's performance. I'm trained in Extend Spell, which doubles the duration of a spell. Staves are similar to wands, but can be recharged. I don't think that Your Majesty's witch wands are the same as the wands of our world.

'Wondrous item' encompasses a wide variety of items. I would say that basically any magic item that isn't a staff, wand, ring, armor, weapon, potion, or artifact is a wondrous item. They usually offer some boost to the wearer. Cloaks of Resistance help someone avoid the negative effects of spells, headbands make someone more Intelligent or Wise or Splendid, belts make someone Stronger or more Dexterous or Enduring, and so on. Rings are similar, but they hold different spells. Certain spells are simply much much easier to make as a ring rather than a wondrous item, and vice versa. Common rings include rings of protection, which is what I am negotiating for. Those shield you from both magical and mundane attacks. Another popular one among wizards are rings of sustenance, which negate your need for food and water and drastically reduce your need for sleep, without interfering with spell preparation."

"Wizards usually save to buy Headbands of Vast Intelligence, which, as the name suggests, makes you more intelligent. Being intelligent is necessary for being a wizard. I personally am looking to buy a Belt of Giant Strength, however. It makes me very strange among wizards, given that wizards usually have no need for strength and stay in the back line. But I'm planning to work as a frontline buffing caster that aids other fighters with spells, while also being able to fight, and for that, you need to be Strong. I have martial training in the use of greatswords. Er, I should clarify that that is not something taught at Ostenso Wizard Academy – I learned that from my family. They passed down an heirloom greatsword to me."

"I don't think so, unless you're trapping spirits in the wands... or setting up deals with them in advance for them to look out for the beacons...  Hmm, I could almost see someone doing that in my world?  That would actually explain a few instances with secret agents.  But it sounds like your wands are different.

"I don't think rings are different from other magic items in my world, though - Fraddir said the only reason he made this as a ring" (she holds it up) "was to make it easier for me to hold it.

"And yeah, you do need to be strong to fight.  I know the shortsword, but I don't like it."

The woman currently calling herself Jane hmms for a second and nods, in response to Conrad's request, pen scratching across paper as Lila and Conrad talk for a moment. 

"To be clear, Conrad, the deal we're making, is: I shall fund your purchase of a ring of protection +1 for personal use, and in exchange, I will gain the option to intensively but non-invasively study:

Your spellbook, for the duration of one Golarion day, in non-consecutive hours;

Your process of spell preparation, once;

and

The process of your scribing a scroll of Comprehend Languages, once.

In addition, I shall receive the resulting scroll, to do with as I wish.

Bar, please confirm to Conrad that this is the text of the document that I am handing him now.  Conrad, please write a copy of the contract in your preferred language, at which point I would appreciate if Bar could confirm that it has no meaningful discrepancy in terms.  Then we shall sign it, date it in both Golarion and my local time, and if they are willing and able, either Lila or Bar signing as a witness would be appreciated.

As for your questions about Golarion's magic, Lila, wands store a spell which anyone can theoretically use but have limited charges of said spell, rings are one of the things you can make magical equipment out of, no more and no less, and wondrous items are a specific subclass of 'items that are magic' that Conrad has explained better than I.  There's also artifacts, which are magic items with extra ontology behind them, but I doubt we'll see any of those.  They tend to be related to quests, and we're not questing on Golarion.  Just shopping.

Though I might take a detour, since we've a potential infinity of time; I've a scheme percolating to potentially pacify Rovagug and maybe take some competition for the Grand Asshole Prize off the table, and I'm certainly going to see if anyone spots something else that just needs a good kicking to fix that no Golarionite knows needs delivering."

Bar confirms that what Jane said indeed corresponds to the text of the document. Conrad writes down the terms in Taldane from what he hears Jane speak. He puts his version of the compact on the table, and Bar confirms after a few minutes that the two papers are functionally identical. He signs it and dates it in Absalom Reckoning. He notices that the contract terms do not actually say that he needs to prepare another Comprehend Languages to cast on himself, only that he needs to scribe a scroll of it. So he actually has two standard spell slots free.

"I am pleased to compact with you. Where will we be sleeping? Here, or some other place? I will need to sleep to prepare my spells; you can observe me and my preparation in the morning. Hm. I also realize that once we leave this place, we will no longer be able to converse with each other. Comprehend Languages can only let you comprehend, not speak. I also cannot cast it for the two of you, since the spell has a range of 'personal'. I am unable to cast the other language spells like Share Language, Tongues, or Voluminous Vocabulary."

She signs the contract and dates it in a time she checks on her screen.

"I have some potential solutions for language barriers; mechanical translation is not impossible, just very, very hard, and I do have a spell of my own that allows communication in concepts, rather than languages; I'm interested in Tongues because mine doesn't do writing even if it does do plants.  And, note to self, check if it works on computers and [VI: A thing you can make a computer operate that is not intelligent but could pass for intelligent when performing specific tasks] sometime.  I believe we've already been over this, actually?  As for sleeping...I vote we sleep here."

"Before we do, though, I should run some tests for your armor; I'm going to set that to making, overnight.  And Lila, do you have preferences as to what I should prioritize for you, equipment-wise?"

Conrad is very pleased with this development. Well, he won't be able to keep the armor, sadly, but it will still be a great experience. He Detects Magic while Jane does the tests. 

That is certainly some magic he sees, a tangled mess of disciplines showing as a thread - a physical thread, for all that it's somehow transparent - unspools and wraps around him in an outline, before filling in with the slightly glowing ghost of some sort of cloth, what's probably armor panels of an entirely different form than those seen on the one example of this armor that they so far have, and...huh, there's a thin layer of water in there too, for some reason, thicker around the vitals, thinner around his hands.  The bits that are clearly force constructs seem to be reacting like actual cloth and whatever-the-panels-are-made-of would, rather than mage armor, even.  "We're going to test this for range and ease of motion, and you're going to tell me when it stops giving you arcane spell failure chance.  Go ahead and do...Whatever it is you need to, I suppose?"

That is just...wow. He has never seen anything like it. It feels strange, what with how it fits the body exactly. He tries casting Prestidigitation a few dozen times, and finds that the first iteration already doesn't cause it to fail.

"It's perfect. It's wonderful. It's great. No arcane failure." He's in love with this armor. His voice is full of awe, well, by Chelish standards. He tries slamming his fist into his other forearm to test the armor, and the armor hardens in the split second that he makes contact and spreads out the force. No pain or discomfort, even though the force he used would be normally enough to bruise.

Lila countersigns the contract as witness.

"We were planning to have my Crown fixed, but I'll want another weapon as well... Do you have a magic sword that's designed for people who aren't so strong?  Or - even better - a wand with some fighting spell, if we can get one that isn't so limited?

"And then something that will disguise me.  I can be invisible now, but - sometimes I might want to be visible but not recognizable.

"I'd ask for a shield too, but I think the Crown would shield me about as well as any of yours... even though that wasn't so well."