Tala, Rane, and Terry followed Lisa into Irondale.

As he stepped inside, the impenetrable illusion of a generic human male seemed to roll off of him, like Tala or Rane would shed a coat when coming in out of the weather.

-You don’t wear coats.-

Did it make sense or not?

-...fine…-

Tala hadn’t opened the door to the main gate of the town—through which they enacted trade and tourism when Tala opened the town to the outside world in various cities. Instead, she had chosen a more scenic locale. Thus, they came out of the face of a small cliff roughly a mile from the edge of town.

Lisa looked around, eyes widening immediately. “How do you have such perfect control over power that isn’t yours?”

Tala grinned, the door swinging shut behind them. She didn’t dismiss the portal out quite yet; that would be tantamount to trapping the fox, and he wouldn’t appreciate it. Though, as she considered it, she realized that if anyone could break out of Kit, a powerful arcane who was also a fourth-dimensional construction expert should be able to manage it. Regardless, she needed to answer his question. “That’s the beauty of it. It is mine. It isn’t flavored with my gate, thanks to the artifact you traded to me, but it is within my soulbound storage, and doesn’t have a will of its own. It’s as much mine as my own skin.”

He turned to regard her. “One moment. Are you telling me that the magic in here is untainted because of that?”

“Yes.” She frowned at his surprise. “I thought this is exactly what you said it could do.”

His eye twitched, causing the fur on the side of his face to ripple even as he shook his head. “I told you it could help purify your magic for a dimensional space. In my sales pitch, I was thinking maybe the size of a large estate, though even that would have strained it. It wouldn’t have lasted forever regardless. How under the stars did you hold it together sufficiently to accomplish this?” He gestured around them. “This space is at least as large as one of your gated human cities.”

She shook her head. “We didn’t have to hold it together. The device is gone, now. My dimensional storage subsumed it and replicated the magics involved.”

He narrowed his vulpine eyes at her. “That shouldn’t be possible for you. That is a conceptual working. This space is soulbound to you.”

Tala shrugged. “I’m not enacting it. Kit is. Being bound to a gate doesn’t preclude conceptual magic.”

He opened his mouth to argue, but then seemed to consider. “It is true that arcanes who marry humans don’t lose their magics… I had not considered this workaround. You did mention your voidling bond, and how it gave your expanded space unexpected benefits and features.” He gave her a long look. “You know that it will be the start of the next war if they learn of this place, right?”

“I hear your concern, and we are being careful. Essentially no one with magesight has gained access here. The rare exceptions have been explicitly trusted individuals. Without seeing the magical density first hand, this place would just seem like we are simply attempting to mimic the moving cities.”

Lisa grunted. “But investigation will show that it is without the core issue that those suffer from.”

“Oh?” She was interested. She hadn’t spent enough time in Howlton to learn much about the moving town, let alone the dimensionally expanded districts. She also hadn’t had a chance to see any other moving settlement.

“Yes. They are incredibly magic poor. There are various solutions in place—some work better than others—but none of the pocket-districts are rich in power even to the level of an arcane city, let alone the holds of the Major Houses. This? This is more than even most of the birthing chambers of Major Houses.” He sighed. “Regardless, I still can’t even touch it. The control you have.” He moved his hand in jerky, unpredictable ways. “It always stays perfectly away from me, no matter how I move.”

Tala almost shared the simple trick to that, but held off. Someone as old, powerful, and knowledgeable as Lisa could probably exploit her method if he knew the specifics.

“However you’re doing it, well done.”

She smiled. “Thank you.”

A wry smile pulled at his lips a moment later. “Now that I consider it, if word of you got back to the arcanes, you might be the cause of the next war, even without this place. So, it probably isn’t that big of an issue. Regardless.”

“Ahh, yes. They aren’t fond of people escaping their influence, and in the worst-case scenario, it would be assumed that the House of Blood was making a play for the gated human cities, and the other Houses wouldn’t allow that to stand.”

“Exactly. Let’s avoid such an outcome, shall we?”

“That’s the goal.” She grinned in return, even if she privately finished the thought, At least until I’m strong enough to hold my own.

-Dangerous, Tala.-

Yes. I plan on being extremely dangerous when I face them again. I can't hide forever. It’s best to prepare.

-...fine.-

Rane pointed up at the sun in the sky. “Tala has done a lot of fantastic work in here. That is an artificial sun. It generates both light and heat, without the harmful components of the radiance we deal with on Zeme. For humans, that means that we can still get sunburned, but there isn’t really any danger of mutation due to high-energy emissions.”

Lisa nodded slowly. “A product of the Constructionist Guild? I hadn’t thought they were this advanced quite yet.”

Tala gave Rane a grateful smile before picking up the explanation. “They studied the arcane-made sun in my sanctum, and were able to reverse engineer many of the techniques. It helped that I had the technical manual ready to hand, having memorized it and Archived it while within the House of Blood.”

The fox gave her a long look. “I may have underestimated the depth some of your memories could provide. I have pursued the list of available topics from your Librarian, but I had dismissed some of them as being…” He shook his head. “Regardless, I will have to reconsider my assessment.”

Tala gave a slight bow.

Lisa looked around, seeming to focus on the town down-slope of them for the first time. “Will I cause… issues walking through your town as I am?”

Tala shook her head. “We have been very open with the citizens that non-human residents are a possibility, and we notified them about you specifically when we initially invited you.”

“That was nearly a year ago.”

“True. We have also notified the town as soon as you requested to visit.”

“Will word have permeated that quickly? Has it been an hour, yet?”

“Maybe just. Have you had breakfast yet?” Tala seemingly changed the subject, but she was doing her best to reel the fox in. His knowledge was useful, and if she could incorporate four-dimensional construction into Kit with the help of a true expert? That would be invaluable even without anything else of value that he had to offer.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

“I have not. Are you thinking we should go grab a bite to eat to give them more time?” Even though it was a question, he was already nodding at the perceived wisdom of the choice.

“Oh, not at all. There is a lovely little place in Irondale that serves breakfast that rivals Mistress Petra’s, and she incorporates my own magics into my food.” She gave Lisa a teasing wink. “Come on. It is well worth the time.”

Rane grinned as he walked past the fox. “The food really is delicious.”

Lisa seemed hesitant, but he followed nonetheless.

Tala could have moved them in an instant—even arranging them into empty seats in the restaurant—if she had so desired, but she thought it better to arrive the old fashioned way. It also gave Lisa a greater chance to see the town in a more natural manner.

They walked down a growing trail toward the end of a main street through the growing town.

People were on the streets going about their day’s activities already. The economy of the town had become mainly one of crafting in one form or other.

It helped that most high-end crafts weren’t dependent on the craftsman wielding magic. So gateless weren’t at an inherent disadvantage. That, combined with the money that came in through trade—facilitated by Tala’s travels—and the influx with every stop from locals wanting to come in and explore the magically expanded and mobile town, made Irondale an incredibly prosperous place and its economy an incredibly odd one.

From what she understood, the very fact that it was hard to become a citizen of Irondale made that citizenship more valuable to those who had it, and they acted like better versions of themselves both out of pride for having been granted citizenship and in order to maintain their position.

That was something that several Archons she and Alat had consulted recommended to them. For any closed community like this—especially one that maintained so much exposure while limiting immigration—it was important to have expectations of those who lived there. They couldn’t be arduous, though, else people would simply leave.

Thus, the folks were required to be active in the community as a whole, pay a small, yearly tax, and provide for their own needs.

Tala had thought it wiser to have a percentage tax—if she was going to have any fees at all—but from what she could discover through research and advice, a flat tax—if low enough that all could pay it—would inspire greater productivity from more people.

She would make much less than a flat percentage tax, but overall, a simple flat amount would lead to greater productivity in her citizenry.

A gaggle of school-age children ran across the road down in the town, going from one lesson to another. School in Irondale was incredibly practical and mostly outdoors. That was only really possible because of the community buy-in and the fact that there was never inclement weather.

There were a few hundred children all told. With a population of a little over a thousand, that was a sizable chunk.

Lisa seemed to be taking in the size of the town—and what it likely meant for population numbers—because he asked, “Where did you find all these gateless?”

“The first group came from Alefast, a larger portion came from Bandfast and Marliweather—gathered during our frequent trips to those cities—but we’ve also had a trickle of gateless applying and then traveling to meet up with us from all the gated-human cities. Elsewhere, they aren’t exactly considered second class citizens, but their opportunities are naturally limited for the lack of a gate. There are even a lot of professions that utilize inscriptions and a limited connection to a person’s gate, which are closed to them. Those are becoming ever more common thanks to innovations of people like Mistress Holly. I suspect we’re on the cusp of a bit of a technical revolution centered around gates, and these folk saw the winds of change rising and are looking for a safe harbor.”

Lisa nodded. “As stands to reason. You gated have an unending source of power with you at all times. I agree. All signs indicate that your society will become more stratified as technology taking advantage of that continues to progress.” He gave a smile. “Honestly, if you had greater trade with the arcanes, you’d already be there. They have millenia of research into the exploitation of gates. You all just wouldn’t have to use someone else’s soul to get the benefit.”

Tala grimaced, but eventually nodded, conceding the point. “I do think that what I brought back in my memories has helped tip a few technologies over that cusp.”

Terry trilled in question, and Tala smiled. “Sure, I’m sure Walden would be open to seeing you again.”

After all, Terry wasn’t really doing much by being with them. Without another word, Terry flickered away.

Lisa gave Tala a long look. “Walden? Is he some pillar of the community here?”

Tala shook her head. “No. He is someone you may meet if you choose to immigrate.” She hesitated. “You might be able to meet him regardless, but I think that you’d have to be approved because of your particular set of skills and capacities.”

“Now you have me intrigued.” He regarded her for another long moment as they continued to walk. “Very well. I will bank my curiosity for the moment.” He looked back toward the town which they had almost reached. “With all this citizenry, I still haven’t seen anyone who is interacting directly with the magics in the air.”

“That’s right.”

“How? You shouldn’t be able to exert that level of minute control. Even if you could, I can’t imagine you constantly monitoring every person’s every movement and isolating them from the magic. Such shouldn’t be possible.”

She shrugged. “Consider it a trade secret, then.”

He gave a half-smile. “Very well. Do you intend to let anyone access this power?”

“As a matter of fact, we are in the process of figuring out who should be given a rebirth, and how to facilitate it. We would love to grant it to everyone, but that isn’t feasible for many reasons. Also, the bar for allowing someone to live here is a lot lower than the one that we are using to determine who should have access to Refined level power, even if it is in the arcane style.”

Lisa gave a slightly hissing chuckle, the sound obviously inhuman coming from between his teeth and out of his vulpine nose. “That is a wise approach, truly. Am I right in assuming you had hoped for some assistance from me in this regard?”

“We have considered it. You obviously are an expert in that form of magic, and having you as a teacher-in-residence and consultant for those who are rebirthed would be very valuable.”

“Quite, yes. I assume that you aren’t without any teachers, but I would say you likely understated how much help I could be”—his smile widened—“with the proper compensation.” He seemed to be genuinely considering. “How large do you expect Irondale to become?”

She shrugged. “I don’t have a limit, honestly. If I can stabilize Reality within here, I’d be open to allowing gated in as well.”

He huffed a laugh at that. “Yes, and if gated humanity could stabilize Reality out there, they wouldn’t move their cities. And if the settlements could stabilize Reality within their districts, gated humans would be allowed in, and they wouldn’t have to move.” He shrugged. “You could do a lot if such were possible.”

She responded. “Regardless, if we can do it, such would cause a lot of issues and require a lot of work to filter out applicants. We already have more than ten times the applications from gated than gateless.”

He frowned at that. “You allow gated?”

She chuckled ruefully. “As citizens? No. And we make that very clear.” Tala gave a resigned sigh. “They apply anyway.”

He grinned at that, showing his fangs. “Ahh, to have something in such high demand. That is the dream of any provider of goods.”

“Indeed.” She grimaced slightly regardless. “The most troubling, though, are the applications for children to move here on their own.”

He tilted his head to one side before slowly nodding. “Known gateless children, born to gated families?”

Rane sighed and responded. “Exactly. Tala has asked for my thoughts on a lot of them. From what I can see, some are just horrible people, trying to pawn off their supposedly disabled child, but many are genuinely seeking a better life for their son or daughter.”

Lisa chuckled, instantly understanding the issue. “Ahh, but if you allow any, which do you prioritize? Taking in those from parents who clearly see the child as lesser? Or those who are genuinely acting in love for their children? Seeking a better life for one whom they love?”

Tala sighed, nodding. “Exactly. That is precisely the issue. We don’t want to reward horrible people, but those are also likely the children who need a better place more.” She let out a long sigh.

Rane smiled consolingly, but didn’t interject again. As they’d been walking, his eyes had unfocused every once in a while as he engaged with Enar. That made Tala smile, remembering how often she’d fallen into dialoguing with Alat near the beginning, ignoring those around her.

-Well, it is reasonable to talk to the most intelligent person in the room, so…-

Hush, you. But Tala still projected mirth toward the alternate interface.

Finally, Lisa asked a question that he seemed to care quite a bit about. “Why?”

Tala stopped walking barely a dozen feet from the nearest building and the edge of the town proper. She waited for a moment, but when Lisa didn’t say anything more, she prompted him, “Why what?”

“Why take them in at all?” He gestured around. “Why take in any of these people? Why offer to take me in? What do you seek, Mistress Tala?”