"I have some paper but not a lot."

"Would something else work better?"

"Our usual methods of sending messages are all electronic. I can get more paper, if that's the most convenient way."

She nods. "I can get electronics, but they're usually not worth the trouble of setting up. If it's inconvenient for you to get paper I can just enspell some pebbles or something to go to the same place and look for them, but that doesn't let you send any kind of complex message."

"It's not hard to get and I can ration what I have till I'm next docked."

"All right." She retrieves a length of twine from a belt pouch, spends a moment turning it into a portal, and then retrieves a piece of sturdy plastic from that. Another moment and the plastic has a portal on it, too, an inch-wide circle with darkness on the other side. She passes it over: "is that all right?"

"This leads to your mailbox? Yes, I think it will work."

"All right."

"My friend wanted me to find someplace with better clean energy sources; they wanted, uh -" she repeats the twineportal trick and hands over a note with specifications. "Do you think anyone here would be interested?"

"Hm, maybe - what are you trading for it?"

"They think the computers and AI will be easiest, but they have other resources too. Or Milliways can do currency exchange, if you'd rather."

"How does that not have the same problem as counterfeit, if it's across otherwise disconnected economies?"

She tilts her head for a moment before continuing. "I'm not sure; I can ask."

"I'm curious but I don't want to put you out."

"It's no trouble." She makes another twineportal and signs into this one; the effect is quite strange, and her hands come back with a written-on napkin. "Bar says they use a variety of methods but mostly accessing forgotten bank accounts and using time magic with compound interest."

"Huh! I guess if the visitor selectivity takes this into account at all that might do the trick."

"It wouldn't surprise me."

"Lots of people in this universe have computers. AI is less common and it's not person-grade."

"They have good computers for the general tech level, according to Bar, it's not just that they have them at all. You'll want to talk to them about it, though, I don't actually know much; I'm just the scout."

"Would they also arrive via one of your portals? Do they have a similar pendant?"

"I'd bring them here and stick around, the translation pendant will work for anyone close to it."

"Oh, that's cool. How long an expedition do they have in mind here?"

"Up to a couple days, to start."

"I don't personally have a lot of trade goods, but the Federation my people belong to might be interested. They avoid contact with people who don't have warp but it's anyone's guess whether magical portals would bypass that requirement."

The kobold nods. "Aster's civilization has warp, or at least something like it. If they don't want me around we can figure something out."

"If they have something that's equivalent to warp that should pass muster."