Occlus, of course, has no idea what a kobold is. She also has no idea why there is apparently a cantina instead of a turbolift, but her reaction to uncertainty is always to proceed in a direct fashion to eliminate it. She approaches the creature that looks like a cross between a Chadra-fan and a monkey-lizard.

"What are you, why are you selling teleportation, and is said teleportation the reason for the unexpected appearance of the cantina?"

The kobold takes a moment to decide how to reply - fear and curiosity dance together behind a thick layer of confidence - but answers quickly enough, with a hint of a friendly smile: "I'm a kobold, I'm saving up for a helicopter, and no, this place just does that. The bar can explain; they didn't do it either, but they're here all the time and know more about it than I do."

"The bar can- why is the bar a droid? Never mind, I'll just go ask it. I'll be back."

She walks over to the bar. There doesn't seem to be any obvious interface, so she'll just try talking- ah. Napkins with writing. How... efficient. She collects her free drink, which is effervescent and purple, makes a note to further investigate the bar's library-like properties later, and returns to the kobold.

"So, teleportation magic. How, exactly, does that work?"

"The main limitation is that my magic can only teleport things to set places, and I have to go to the destination before I cast the spell in order to aim it, unless you want something that does random destinations, in which case I need to know what kinds of places you want the spell to connect to - air quality and temperature and gravity and stuff. Aside from that, it's pretty versatile - I can do portals in walls or teleportation traps on floors, or make jewelry or other items that teleport whoever's wearing or touching them when they're activated, or just cast on you directly if you prefer, and I have enough options for trigger conditions that it's unusual for me not to be able to figure out how to get the result someone wants. You will want me to cast on something durable, if you go with an object, since if it's badly enough damaged the spell will break, but Bar can help with that if need be."

"Where did you acquire this capability? I've never heard of similar technology, and I don't recognize your species. Are you from somewhere in the Unknown Regions?"

"Oh, I'm from a different universe. That's also just something this place does, though my magic lets me cheat; I can teleport in whenever I like instead of having to wait for a door."

"I see. Is this ability common, where you're from? And I would like to see a demonstration, if you don't mind."

"Not very common, no. Would you like a demonstration of something in particular?"

"Say, a portal from the top of this table to that one over there." She points.

"Sure, that should be in range from here..."

She closes her eyes, focusing... something very interesting is happening in her mind; it's not an emotion, not even slightly, but Occlus' emotion sense can pick it up anyway, as if it wants to be seen. There's not enough detail to tell anything beyond that it's there, though, and after a few seconds it fades away.

All of the tabletop except a two-inch rim and the bit under the sign have been replaced with a hole, with the other table's top two or three inches under it. The kobold reaches in and knocks on the other table, and the sound can be heard emanating from both the table and the portal.

Huh. That sensation is interesting. And worrisome. Occlus has enough experience to be wary of anything that wants to put itself into her head, so she'll not look too closely for now. She puts her hand through the portal, and touches the other table. It feels real enough.

"Interesting. Is this a learnable skill or is one born with it?"

A pause, a look - she's not liking where this is going.

"Learned, why?"

"In my universe, we have a sort of magic called the Force." Occlus gestures and a nearby chair rises up and spins around. "I know of no way to achieve such effects as this portal with it. Therefore, it seems likely that your magic is an entirely different sort of thing. One is born with Force potential, if you have none it cannot be taught, shared, or transferred. But since your magic is not like the Force, that rule may not apply. Hence my question. How much would you ask to teach me? I am prepared to pay extremely well."

The kobold nods, and considers this answer.

"Do you want it for some specific purpose? Is there someone you have in mind to teach once you know it, maybe?"

"In my experience, it is useful to have as many advantages as possible. If they are advantages unknown to my enemies, so much the better. I can think of many ways I might employ this power, but at this time I have no intention of sharing it with others."

She nods an acknowledgement, and collects herself - fear is ascendant over curiosity, now, and confidence has shifted to readiness; it's easy to guess that she's prepared to teleport away if this exchange goes badly.

"Sorry, but no, then. My home situation is complicated; there isn't an amount of money that would make up for me being away long enough to teach someone, even with the time paused there."

"Pity. I will make do with a few static portals then, if you are still willing to sell those."

And if this strange creature is still willing to do magic for Occlus, she's going to pay closer attention to what is happening in its head when it does.

The kobold's fear fades back to its usual background level, and she nods. "Sure."

She taps the top of her sign, making it rock slightly on the table, which has the effect of breaking the portal spell and returning the table to its usual configuration. A second tap, on the base, opens a portal to the bar in the back of the sign. "Bar handles the pricing for me, and it varies by world, but if you already have pretty good tech and some magic it shouldn't be too bad, even with this being unique for your world. What kinds of portals did you have in mind?"

"I maintain a sort of archive. It would be useful to have an item that would permit me to access its physical contents when I am off-planet for one reason or another. I also suspect Bar may be able to provide me with the location of a certain historical site I have been trying to track down for some time. If she is able to, I would also like a portal from my archive to the site, for ease of cataloging the relics contained therein."

"That sounds easy enough. How big is the archive, and do you have a way of getting your things to a set spot in it? If not, I can make something that will open portals to each thing's place, but that's obviously a bit more effort."

Curiosity ascendant, now. It's a bit unusual how easily she slips between that and fear.

"The archive is quite extensive, but I already have a system in place that will retrieve arbitrary artifacts upon request. All I need is a way to get them into my hands without having to go down to the entrance."

Nod. "I can definitely do that. How big is the largest thing you might want to teleport?"

"Slightly larger than your sign here."

She nods, again, and then she pulls a loop of string from a bag on her belt and casts on it - the sense of something interesting happening is there again, but it's not any clearer, and this spell only takes a second or so to cast.

"This is what I use to get things from my world while I'm here," she explains, pulling a fresh raspberry out of the portal. "It's hard to beat it for portability, even having to use something sturdier than plain string. Or if you want something that's a little less obviously magical, I can set a similar portal into a container of some sort."

Raspberry: nom.

"What is the significance of the sturdiness requirement?"