Oh, right, channels are a thing. This is a sensible way to use them, packing people in.

"Blue river ghosts?" But she'll let the gossip wander along without her, mostly.

When at the entrance, she says she wanted to see what this place is about and wonders what they do with donations.

(It's not actually hidden, per se, that she has fox ears and a tail, she just didn't want it to be obvious from 200 feet away.)

"You know, the little sneaking things you sometimes glimpse dragging drunks and vagrants off the street to drown."

The person she finds at the entrance is a lay priest, a middle-aged red-haired halfling in a white tunic trimmed with yellow. He's standing on a stool to better speak with the majority-human crowd.

"This is a place of healing and peace. We heal the sick, end feuds, and support criminals and evildoers in finding redemption. Any alms you have to give, we will distribute to the needy and desperate."

The priest gives her a warm smile, but he is somewhat distracted by all the other visitors. A glimpse of her ears and tail doesn't seem to provoke much of a reaction.

Oh, "Might wanna talk to someone when you're less busy. About gods and such."

Channeling times would be the worst, yeah.

She wants to help, but like. What? More gold? Back to the bank priests to change it for the local stuff first if so...

...The soldiers had magic stuff, a few of them. That sounds like it could be really neat and useful amd different than Tirran ones. She doesn't even have a lot of magic trinkets just because they tend to be redundant with things she can already do. But maybe it'll be different here.

To the rich part of town, inasmuch as one can identify it from the street! And looking around for Lots Of Magic In One Place.

"It'll be less busy after the noon channels!" He adds as she departs.

Fortunately for Weiss, she's already in the Heights, the rich part of town. There is one likely magic shop that she may have seen from the ramp, a multi-story building capped by a shining orrery that slowly rotates under the power of a spell, and a cluster of several different shops forming a semi-circle at the end of another of the main roads leading off from the citadel.

And what kinds of magic stuff is on display, pray tell?

The more straightforward shopping experience is at the Gold Market and the shops of Eodred's Walk enclosing it.

Through the carts selling huge flatbread pastries fried on the backs of tower shields and tiny chewy sweets of honey and maple syrup held together by flour and caramel, magic can be sensed in the potions sold from a shining silk tent.

At Basha's, scrolls are held in glass cases behind the counter, mostly those bearing niche spells and of an unfamiliar make compared to the sort that Weiss is familiar with.

Hedge Wizardry sells reagents and vials of spellsilver in oil, with some items useful in arcane crafting also on offer.

The best enchanted weapons of Slicing Dicers are kept under lock and key, but according to the proprietor they include a warhammer that will always knock someone out safely instead of killing them and a spear that can strike ghosts and turn red-hot on command, with more on offer for the discerning customer. 

Several varieties of magic arrows can be found in Trapper's Hole, able to put targets to sleep, erupt into vines, or specialized for the killing of particular targets like beasts or dragons. 

Even humble little Gemshare Jewelers has a byline in magical gems, such as a ring to charm animals with or another that provides enough fire resistance to ignore Burning Hands or Scorching Rays entirely.

At the Gilded Orrery, a plump little woman with wispy gray hairs gives Weiss a mirthless smile. "We only sell to wielders of arcane magic, dear."

The shelves of the first floor are mostly filled with books, but the floors above are dense with dozens or hundreds of different auras visible past the apprentice tasked with keeping any non-mages from exploring them. For the most powerful items available to buy in Korvosa, this is the place to go. 

The nonlethal warhammer is very intriguing. She asks after other nonlethal weapons. Maybe something that can be used with paws?

She has a little fireball in her left hand and a raised eyebrow, at the last.

"Perhaps I don't count? I'm not a wizard, I admit."

The warhammer is unfortunately the only Merciful weapon in stock. The shopkeeper says that he can keep an eye out for other examples of that enchantment, but if she wants something exotic like claw sheaths or a tail blade then she'll have to commission it from someone who can craft that.

"We welcome sorcerers too!" The Gilded Orrery's shopkeeper says quickly, on seeing the fireball start to form. 

The apprentice steps aside, allowing her to explore the upper floors. There are enchanted suits of armor that divert magic or guard the vital organs, a shield that can deflect even the best-aimed arrows, and racks of wands to cure wounds or blindness or teleport short distances or implant a reasonably-worded compulsion lasting for hours. The top floor is the most secure, the display cases including a silver headband decorated with red and orange gemstones that promises the permanent effects of the Eagle's Splendor spell, a silver-sheathed staff decorated with golden sunbursts that can produce various light spells, one rod bearing the head of a serpent that only functions for Evil wielders and another that produces unpredictable effects at random when activated, and a ring that doubles the first-circle spells available to a wizard each day. 

"Ooooooh I heard of that from the Abadarans," she says of the headband. "I might buy a casting of it, to check- It sounds like it might help me with my magic. That is probably one of if not the most expensive things here though, yeah?"

There's a different member of staff watching this floor. (And she can also sense a small invisible creature following her about, now she's off the bustle of the streets.)

"Sixteen hundred platinum crowns," the assistant affirms. "If you have proof you're good for it, you can try it on."

"Yeah no I'd need to go back to the coin priests for that I bet? Because I have gold Sols and d'or, not platinum crowns. Might be cheaper than getting the spell cast too. Oh hmm, I have some scrolls but they seem to be... Entirely different to the ones here, I couldn't cast any of the ones you're selling. And a wand which anyone can activate, acutally. Of Sinnah's Fly. That something you-as-the-shop might be interested in?"

They totally have hidden magic precautions around all this expensive stuff. The invisible guy is probably a guard.

"The wand could be, I'll let Ms. Weagra know so she can appraise it." 

He turns aside and... whispers to a corner of the room? Not even the corner that her invisible watcher is skulking in. Nonetheless, the old woman's footsteps start climbing the stairs.

She inspects the wand carefully, not touching it directly, and rattles off some questions without looking at Weiss. "You said that anyone could activate it? Is there a command word for it? How many charges does it have left, and how long does each casting last?"

While she's engrossed by the unfamiliar design, the student adds "We have a wand of Abadar's Truthtelling to verify the details, it'll be a charge of fifteen gold if you're unable to confirm them under the spell."

"I mean, I might need it so let's hold off on the truth telling now, once I Investigate all options and see if I'm selling we can verify all the verifiables. Uh... Yeah, command word which I will say when I'm not holding it. Eight charges of ten. Sinnah can put them back and so can other people who use the same magic but they have to be pretty good. They're not here, obviously. It lasts abooooout half an hour? A bit more? And does a feather fall- Oh hey you have a phrase for that- At the end. I should warn you it's somewhat skill required to use and won't stop you from slamming into obstacles. I hurt myself like that first time I tried it. You can just keep accelerating in a direction until the wind is pushing you back as much as you're accelerating. I've crossed the Great Canyon on one cast of it which puts it at at least a hundred sixty miles per hour going all out, but the wind kinda hurts at that speed."

"Hmm, hmm... Extended Fly, if it can be recharged then it is less a wand and more a miniature single-spell staff..."

Ms. Weagra thinks aloud, but she is hard to read.

"Two thousand platinum crowns would be the approximate cost for a staff of that power, including the decrease in value for the missing charges."

(In fact, she's referring to the cost of crafting such a staff, not the usual sale price, and the partial-charge discounting only makes sense for nonrechargeable wands, and her phrasing leaves out the perk that anyone can activate it without any special training. On the other hand, she's made the assumption that it can be recharged by anyone with Fly and Extend Spell, ignorant of the fact that it's come from the separate magical traditions of Tirra; if nobody on Golarion can recharge it without extensive research, all her mercantile tricks will have led to her her overpaying by about double instead, unless she can find a research-minded buyer.)

She gives Weiss another smile that doesn't reach her eyes. 

"Oh, take all the time you need to decide."

"Oh, by the way I'd buy it back empty for most of what I sold it for, say 80%, take it back to her for refilling."

Uh... Hmm. That seems like... A lot? Not to cut off my own feet or anything but Abadar might be mad if she's deceiving the shopkeep. However that works. 'Hmm -4 Law for you'. On the one hand, never interrupt your enemy when they are making a mistake. On the other hand, a magic shop is not her enemy? Erius would definitely be mad if she thought it was too high a price and didn't say anything. And that clears things up for her instantly.

She makes the sign of the bird with her hands, mostly unconsciously. "That seems high. I think you may be working under a misconception, but I'm not sure where."

What kind of advanced negotiation technique is this - oh, she's doing a hand thing, she probably worships one of the gods of the weak and thinks she can make one of their afterlives.

"Is that so? We'd better add an Identify when you come to sell."

Ultimately most of the money spent on items or spells flows back to the Acadamae, back to her family, so she's not going to complain about throwing in an extra spell and getting a better price by doing so. 

Headshake. "Well, I'll be back later about it, anyway. Gonna go to the coin priests and liquidate some stuff. Good day."

And out. Her head's spinning a little bit.

Maybe down the riverside, listening to gossip and letting her brain cool off? Or something? Bleh.

The cliffside overlooking the sea is closer, and the raging waves crashing against them make for some soothing background noise. At one end there is an ominous temple in the shape of a red star, the points joined by lower blocky buildings in white and with a central glass dome. At the other end is a tavern precariously perched on a peak, which looks to have a great view of the surroundings if Weiss doesn't mind the uneven steps to get there. Or she can follow the cliffs around to the north to the road of creepy arms, with the river and all the bridges joining the island where she first arrived to mainland Korvosa.

Ooh, she'll go up to the high tavern on a whim! Bad stairs cannot stop her, she might even leap a couple dozen at a time since she's got a target instead of just wandering.

The view of the city is dramatic. From here she can see the great pyramid upon which the castle is built, and over the Acadamae walls the magic-drenched halls within. The Jeggare river winds away to the east, and the Sable Company riders and house drakes and imps turn and wheel above the rooftops.

The tavern itself looks to rely on its location for drawing customers, the service and furnishings leaving more to be desired. The floorboards, swollen by sea spray, creak with each step, and with the odds of the whole building toppling into the waves one stormy night the innkeeper sees little reason to make repairs. There is however a respectable assortment of drinks available: small beer and ciders and ulseberry ale, Korvosan wine and port, and stronger and stranger Golarion beverages like Chelish pepper whisky or imported Vjarik.

Anything non alcoholic tho? ...And good? Who all is hanging out way up here?

Non-alcoholic or good is a tall order, but the barkeep does begrudgingly brew a pleasant cup of spiderberry tea that's usually only served as part of a mixed drink. 

As for the other patrons, they're few and varied: Another merchant anxiously glued to the windows, staring out for any glimpse of sails on the horizon; a pair of students talking in low voices, hunched in a corner, hiding from trouble downhill; an old mariner swaying on his stool; and a dark-skinned man in a fine yellow coat puzzling over some papers. 

Tea is fine. She's in exploring mode, getting a feel for the city; She really should go to the poor areas invisibly like she wanted to before, next. But best to talk to at least one person here.

Hmmmmmmmm merchant. "I'll make you an illusory telescope that lasts a few hours if you'll tell me why you're looking for a ship so urgently."

"Does an illusory telescope... work?" She asks.

"There's a shipment overdue from Cheliax, but the weather's been stormy this past week and it's all been House Leroung halfling-ships coming in. There's a little money to be had just in selling word of the new ships on the horizon, but not nearly as much as when one pulls in with barrels in the hold in your name. But if they've run into a dragon turtle or a dire shark..." 

Her attention drifts back to the window.