Walking into a high-end magic shop is a different sort of experience. Every piece is carefully made to look beautiful. The labels of items visibly on-sale have two or three three-digit numbers written upon them, counting by the thousand like five hundred extra gold was not worth spending thought over. It reminded her of the first time she walked into an actual library like the one in Lastwall, rather than the small collections she saw in shops or begged friends to help her visit.

This wasn't even a magic shop in the center of Cassomir, where high-level adventurers would surely congregate. This was one, albeit important, city within Ustalav. Why had she waited so long before visiting, even if just for a look?

Right. Because money.

When her next purchases (of several scrolls) produces a bank note, she begs off from the seller and immediately walks over to the Bank of Abadar.

There was a worry that if this was creating fake bank notes she would pretty quickly end up getting blacklisted. Sure she had 'metanarrative protection' from the obvious downsides of various of these powers, but was it actually being applied strongly? She didn't trust it.

"Hello, I was wanting to look into whether this bank note for my account was valid?" She dropped a small handful of coins on the counter.

His thoughts focus on the silent routine of counting up coins rapidly, then turn to look at the bank note. "... Are you wishing for more verification than the seal upon it?" At her nod, he exhales a sigh and retreats into the back rooms. There they held the ledgers, which took time to update, but would at least let him confirm whether it had been taken out locally or recently. The bank note was most assuredly valid given the magic upon it, but it was not uncommon for those new to the use to want that extra confirmation.

A minute or two later he returned. "The bank note was taken out five hours ago, and is valid for the amount listed." A strange request, but not actually the strangest he's had all day.

That was before she even woke up.

Prophecy. Right. She should lock herself up in a room with a dozen books written about it, and when it was relevant, rather than trying to infer from vague background knowledge how this best worked. It had been of limited focus in the past, due to prophecy seemingly not being applicable to anything.

She smiles at him politely, which given her new powers makes her radiate a warm friendliness.

Purchasing a decent headband was one of the most clear first steps, which would satisfy the dual goal of verifying that she is able to spend money frivolously, while also making her better so that she chooses future options better. Commissioning a better headband would take more time, perhaps when she didn't feel like the rug was going to be pulled out from under at the worst possible time.

The way the +2 to Splendor and Wisdom rested upon her mind made the external/internal forces of personality or consideration stronger in terms force while everything else fell to the wayside. Flaws came up more easily, while also being more understandable as to the underlying reasons why, at the same time as they became simpler to fix with a +2 to Cunning.

She wasn't moving fast enough or slow enough.

With a higher Splendor, the ways she flinched away were further uncovered as if dusting off an old tome. The Wisdom and Cunning assisted in resolving the bad-outcomes and how she should have done been better. The lack of questions towards the book was the most damning one, where it would have been worth a week just to question the artifact on details. A ruddy sort of desire to be involved in something interesting, even though it was almost certainly fake, which then formed itself into a determined desperation to see whether any of what it said held true to reality.

Valerian was annoyed. This was not an uncommon occurrence when having to brush shoulders with people from every walk of life, questioning farmers who saw an unholy visage in the woods to counts who are supposedly not in the pocket (or Dominated) by Ustalav's undead foes. This sort of annoyance did have a different taste to it, one that he had not felt in some time.

He was being delayed from dealing with a threat. This was typically not advisable, for the Pharasmin Inquisition had enough leeway within the law and enough willingness to work without that he could in-fact imprison anyone (barring those with connections) who stood in his way. Unfortunately, this was not some delaying tactic being used by a mind controlled or Evil or stupidly sympathetic citizen, this was a delay wrought by relying on allies.

He could not exactly arrest them, nor would that be helpful for the task of getting down to Ulhav faster with enough backup that he would not die. Reckless that he could be, it hadn't taken him long after working with a party consistently that he realized that he could do far more. Dealing with the necromancer by himself was assuredly death. Dealing with the wizard while taking along random adventurers he did not know or trust (to whatever degree he is capable of such) would be risky.

Kato randomly disappearing for days on end was to be expected. The wizard had some form of secret, paired with the usual adventuring wizard's learning from others, though Valerian had yet to strongly learn what it was. He half-suspected necromancy, the man showed an interest, but this was mostly base-rates for 'wizard with secret in Ustalav'. That Kato willingly traveled with an Inquisitor of Pharasma was evidence against, and he couldn't exactly blame the man's alignment oscillating between Neutral and Neutral Evil.

Valerian's alignment behaved the same, though usually for more obvious reasons — like recently torturing prisoners for information.

Delphine's disappearance on the other hand was quite unexpected. The few times she had not been available with an overly detailed note left was the time she got kidnapped by a cultist of Urgathoa, or just a few moments of typical miscellaneous forgetfulness. Using a Sending rather than simply leaving a note with the inn she stayed at was also interesting. He had tried piecing together some form of hidden message, but was unable to come up with one more obvious than 'wow is it not weird that I am using a Sending instead of cheap paper, please send assistance'.

Questioning the inn-keeper was the first action he took. They were known associates, adventurers asking after other adventurers was common, and also he was an Inquisitor of Pharasma; those tend to loosen lips. She had left early in the morning in a hurry, which fit the expected time she usually took to sleep and prepare spells.