:Awwwww: Yfandes says, turning her head to watch the (relatively) tiny dragon. :Van, did you see that, it's adorable!: 

And eventually they come to the magic shops! They are warded about as thoroughly as the palace of the Pharaohs of Ascension. Guards out front scowl at most passersby but greet the five of them warmly enough, when they show up. 

"I want to buy a bow of Brilliant Energy," he says, which gets them an even warmer reception. 

Mahdi is shooting Hagan a slightly incredulous look but says with only the slightest delay, "also a Raise-Dead grade diamond and we're looking at metamagic rods -"

       "Can I recommend an upgrade to your headband as well, sir, we have a superior one available at a very good price and in a unique design -"

"After we've looked at the metamagic rods, maybe."

        "Of course, sir, of course. This way." 

Metamagic rods are, apparently, typically a footlong, five-pound or so, extraordinarily intricate magic working meant to be held in one hand while a spell is cast; Mahdi asks to test them, and is reluctantly permitted to try each once. The ones available here increase a spell's range, or its area of effect, or allow the bearer to channel more power into it. 

Vanyel watches this process closely with mage-sight, trying to discern any similarities and differences both in the magical structure of the rods and the resulting change to Mahdi's spells. 

" - you know what might be helpful," Mahdi says to him, "if if I bought the one for extending a spell, which is something I know how to do on my own, and then you could watch the difference between the original spell, the spell as I cast it if I prepared the extended version, and the spell with the metamagic rod. But we'll have to buy it, if we want to do that, they won't let me run through the rod's reserves for the day just testing it out -"

"Hmm. How much is it, and will it actually be useful for other things later if you can already do that on your own?" 

"I can probably get the lesser version out of them for three thousand. It'd be moderately useful? I've been preparing your translation spell in a fourth-circle slot so it lasts all day and I could prepare it in third instead. And get my shield spells from nine hours to eighteen - yeah, I think that's worth it." And he commences a negotiation with the proprietor.

Vanyel hangs back out of the way, discreetly peeking around with mage-sight. 

There's a lot of stuff here. Lots of it is permanent versions of spells, labelled as such; what makes them permanent seems to be the metal that they're made of, which somehow has its own magical reserves that the items continuously draw on. There are also scrolls (single use) and wands (fixed number of uses). There's a crystal ball, priced at 20,000gold. 

A sign advertises that there are Wish and True Resurrection-grade diamonds available for 25,000.

Vanyel looks away from said sign. There's no point ruminating on it right now. 

When Mahdi is done, he asks what kind of metal the spells are laid on, which seems to continuously generate magic. 

There are a couple of different metals that have this property when properly primed, aszite and druchite and horacalcum and djezet which he can buy in its liquid-at-this-temperature form in a bottle and use for spell power if he'd like. This particular manufacturer uses aszite. It's available for purchase if he wants to make his own magic items.

Vanyel declines, this isn't really the main limitation for his magic right now, but he makes a mental note for future. None of the kinds of artifacts he can make are continuously self-powering in that way. 

Mahdi finishes negotiating over his metamagic rod, pockets it, and pokes around to see if they have particularly good prices on anything else. "See anything we'd be able to sell in Velgarth?"

"Most of the permanent spells? Our magic isn't self-powering in that way, even when we make artifacts for it; I think there are a lot of nobles and wealthy merchants who aren't mage-gifted and would pay well for magic they could use anyway."

He peers around for anything particularly useful-seeming – lights are good, shields or defensive spells are good, is there anything that purifies drinking water because that's a big problem in some parts of Valdemar. 

There are pitchers that produce unlimited water! They sell for a couple thousand gold.

"...Mahdi, I don't know what the exchange rate would be between money in Velgarth and here. We could definitely sell this for a lot, but - I think most countries back home are poorer than yours." 

" - yeah, that makes sense. Buying magic items you're basically competing with adventurers, who are in a very high-risk high-return line of business. It might make more sense to just send you people qualified to open schools of arcane magic, and to mostly import diamonds and sorcerers." He frowns. "We should still pick out some nice presents for your King, though - not necessarily right now -"

"...Oh, gods." How did he not think of this sooner. Because he's stupid, is why. "The King is ill, we don't know with what but your world has healing magic that we don't. That's probably the highest priority thing, here."

He wonders, distantly, if Shavri confessed his illness to him yet. If so, he's relieved to have avoided that conversation, though he's also a bit ashamed of feeling that way. 

" - oh. Uh, if a King were sick here they'd try Remove Disease, Remove Curse, Restoration, Heal, Greater Restoration, and then I guess if none of those work Wish. Fazil can do the first half of that himself."

Nod. "Thank you. I guess I should contact them again and discuss it, probably whenever we head back to the Palace ruins." 

"We can head back whenever you're ready."

Vanyel doesn't think there's anything else he wanted to hit here, assuming that some sort of living creature, such as a chicken, has been obtained to test the safety of the magicless demiplane. (Also he's getting pretty overwhelmed with the city.) 

Fazil went out and acquired two chickens while they were magic shopping. 

And he can Teleport them back and start setup for chicken experiments.