"Only to me and, perhaps, others of my kind. We are not at peace unless we are protecting our charge, whatever that charge may be."

"Oh. And how do you keep this position?"

"By deserving it."

"Is it something you know, or is there some external sign?"

He sighs and shakes his head, a momentous action given the antlers. "It is an informal feat of reputation. If I were to, Fates forbid, repeatedly let one under my protection come to harm and fail to satisfy honor and reparations, others of my kind would arrive to take my place. If I did not retire in shame before they even hear of it."

"Ah. That's an interesting system. Where I'm from, magic is much rarer, so I'm—really curious about all forms of it, here."

"Then, speaking plainly, you have come to the right place. Do you wish to pass through my grove and perhaps meet those who reside in it? I will be happy to accompany you and issue warnings of actions some might object to, at least until I am needed elsewhere."

"If it wouldn't be too much trouble, that sounds splendid."

"It will be no trouble at all, o new one, though I may be called elsewhere abruptly."

"Should I wait for you to return if that happens or make my way back out?"

"You may do either as manners and preferences permit, so long as you do not disturb the balance doing it." He brings his antlers right up to the dividing line. The tips are adorned with stones, crystals, and amulets of all kinds. One jumps around. "Come, and allow me to permit you to pass through the wards."

She does.

And the invisible wall abruptly is visible, a faint sheen in the air. "If you see it, you can now pass through it. It will screen you for any magics, to ensure you are not carrying danger unawares."

"Hmm, I might have personal natural magic that could be considered dangerous. My species is naturally predatory—of humans, normally, but perhaps some other species—although actually predating on others is very frowned upon and actually illegal where I'm from. There's also my personal form of biokinesis. What will this barrier do?"

"It will make any artifact magic glow brightly, whereupon I will identify it and take appropriate actions. It will not interact with your kind's magic, though as you say predation of intelligent beings would be a gravely unbalancing act."

"I have pretty good control over it," she says, and steps through.

Her coin locker key glows. It leaves her pocket of its own volition so the deer thing can inspect it. "Harmless." And it returns there. "Welcome to the grove."

"Thank you," she bows.

So does he. He starts trotting back into the forest, antlers clearing branches by inches in some cases. "Is there any particular kind you wish to learn about?"

She keeps up easily. "Well—yours. How do you start, and where are you from? What kinds of magic do you have?"

"I am a reltik. We start in the traditional mammalian way, I was born in my mother's grove on the continent of Tambora. Besides that which I make or learn, my blessing is vast ability to move objects and apply force."

"At what distance? How many at once, and how much force?"

He chuckles in a remarkably human-sounding way. "At least a tile, as many as I have the skill for, and I have moved small houses."

"Ooh, cool! And, how do you talk, with your mouth shaped like that?"

"How do stonekin talk with mouths of granite? How do dryads speak with no mouths at all?"