I start by casting the Magic Shop spell just inside the curtain wall at our property line… it makes a small building (twenty feet square) that's… well, a shop. I mostly just want it to isote the space a little and give people time to adapt to the weather, but it's a quick stone building with shelves and other furnishings, locking windows and doors, and an invisible mindless servant that will follow my orders. I take a bit to arrange things so that the counter restricts access to where I pn to set the Teleportation Circle (a corner of the room) with a space for an attendant to wait if needed. I then Greater Teleport to the fort where my egg incubated, and walk to Eastgate on foot. As I go, I lean into my technically-not-magical skills to answer a few questions:

  How do I buy nd inside the wall? You don't. You lease it from one of the local lords, or more commonly sub-lease from someone.

  Ugh. Renting is a sucker's game. What about outside the wall? Not unless you're a lord yourself or are at least a few miles away. The town guard doesn't like nearby structures because they want to keep their sight lines open for defense - which means to do that, you'll need to set it up sufficiently well that they won't be concerned, AND they need to trust you enough to not view it as an act of aggression… which means you need permission from the local lords.

  Hmm. Everyone I'd want using it can burrow because of my spells… what about underground?Don't get caught, it's quite illegal to tunnel into a city like that due to smuggling concerns.

  Not great. Well… hmm… I don't need much space… eh, I'll just set up another small fortress on the far side of the dungeon… or better: Just a little outside the dungeon's range. Yes… I can cast spells on minions, which then almost nobody can oppose with magic… that should do.

  I head away from both city and dungeon, casting Summon Monster VI to get a Lillend (it's a winged elven woman with a giant snake body and tail for legs, capable of bardic spellcasting and music). I have it cast Dancing Lights as we go; it's at-will for the beast (like all cantrip, really), and because the ensuing flying fmes are not MY magic, they wink out when we exceed the dungeon’s range. We go another mile (to give the dungeon room to grow), and I get started.

  I cast Small Stronghold to have a decent enough building, Summon Monster VI a baker's dozen more times to make a squad of fourteen, and then I go to town buffing them up… including setting them up with Elf forms via Shapechanger's Gift, plus armor and weapons, all quickly enchanted via spells. Outsiders natively have no need of food, drink, or sleep, so these elf-looking creatures can stand guard basically forever.

  Now that I have some buffering against unexpected things, I can use the pce for what I want. I cast my Teleportation Circle in the bailey, next to the stairs under one of the two guard towers. The destination? Nah, not the Magic Shop I just set up: A spot I know to be clear just outside my town. I then go there… and do the exact same setup, lining things up so a person is going to arrive at the corresponding spot in the keep near my pce… and I set another Teleportation Circle back under the other guard tower going back to the Eastgate side. I kind of want it to be easy to lose track of which location a person is in; the most likely giveaways that someone is in a different castle than they entered will be the weather changing, my guards being in different positions, their companions being missing, and possibly their magic turning on or off.

  I might be just slightly trollish… but I'm going to expin to the people I want using it.

  I then head back to my real castle, set the magic shop to point at the storage room of both magic keeps and mentally alert my party, “The gateway to Eastgate and back is all set up; please meet me at the town gates so I can walk you through it.” Literally, even.

  I get the normal overpping voices back, and just wait at the gate. Soon enough, the three of them meet up with me, walking down the street like they own it (which… they kind of do, I suppose).

  Roger speaks up first, “So how does this work?” Nice lead in.

  I start walking, “This way… I set up a small keep outside of town…” Wesley takes a breath, pauses, and lets it out as a sigh, so I continue, “...and another, identical keep a mile outside dungeon coverage by Eastgate. Each has a Teleportation Circle that leads to the other, as well as a set of fourteen guardians. I will introduce you to them so they'll let you pass freely.” I find the others are hustling to keep up, and slow down. Ah, I get it: Mythic Haste does much better than the regur version. I suppose I should update their buffs… eventually: Maybe the next time we pn a delve.

  I walk them to the keep, wave at the guards, and mentally call them all to look, letting them know that these people are to have safe passage. I then get to it, “All right… so yes, this is my instant keep. It's not great to live in, but it's a solid enough defensive fortification, which is what I want out of it. Anyway, if you walk to this corner,” I head for the Teleportation Circle, “It'll take you to the ‘sister fort’ near Eastgate, like so…” I walk into the spell, and know I'm through when my mental map changes. I step out and wait for the other three, and yes, they follow, each appearing in a fold of purple space as I alert the summons guarding the structure to grant them safe passage.

  Once the st of them arrive (which doesn't take long), I continue, “And the spot under the other guard tower will take you back. Now, Eastgate is this way…” I lead them out through the front door, and we start flying the several miles to town.

  “Why so far?” Roger asks on the way.

  “I don't like renting, and didn't want to need to bother with Guild dues for the pce,” I shrug, “nor did I want to bother with the hubbub needed to be a lord or to step on the local lord's toes too badly. So… it's almost an hour's flight,” For you at a flying walk? Sure, you'll get nine miles an hour… eighteen hustling, and thirty six running. Me? Twelve miles an hour from Mythic Fly, another seven from Mythic Haste… and that's at a ‘walk’. When I run, use the extra movement from Mythic Haste, and the double speed from Dual Actions? I hit some two hundred nine miles an hour running full tilt thanks partly to the Run feat… when I'm not just teleporting. If I update your buffs, you'll be at nineteen miles an hour at a flying walk, hustle at fifty seven, and run at ninety five… but I can run basically forever.

  Hmm… do I have a superiority complex?

  “Do you have any limits as to how many of these things you can have?” The half orc has a thinking face.

  “None that I’ve encountered,” I pause, “why do you ask?”

  “Because merchants would pay a LOT to have that kind of rapid transport for their goods,” the barbarian expins, “Setup one of those keeps outside every major city, have each link to the next in a big circle, charge ten crowns a wagon and one per person on foot, you'd make a fortune.”

  “Wouldn't work,” I shake my head as we get close to Eastgate, “the circle affects creatures, not objects. It will bring the stuff a creature is carrying, but you can't drive a wagon through it: The horses would go, the driver might as well, but the wagon would stay behind.”

  My surprisingly mercantile friend keeps pressing, “But one could, say, walk donkeys, mules, horses, and so on through?”

  Well… “Yes, but a donkey or horse doesn't carry all that much compared to a good wagon.”

  “Individually no; it takes four big horses to carry as much as a single heavy wagon drawn by a single such horse, and it's four times the feed and management. But…” Bearcw raises a finger, “If you put one of these next to every major town and city, then merchants can get their goods from anywhere to anywhere much faster… which means they don't need to pay as much for guards, feed for their animals, have fewer pces they can be ambushed by bandits, and can do more trading to boot because they spend less time between cities. One crown per person, three per beast of burden…. we’ll be rolling in coins in no time.”

  I kind of already am… but eh, “Sure, I can set that up…. should only be a couple of days.” Most of which is buffing the staff.

  “Great! And I totally want a cut,” the half orc grins.

  “It's not like you'll be doing the work…” I shrug, “I'll be making the keeps, the Teleportation Circles, and the staff….”

  “Just give us one of the stations, we'll run that, and keep the income from it.” Roger jumps in, “That way we get something for having the idea, and we're still actually working for it.”

  Eh, I will need to make hundreds for this to work properly, “Sure. Let's get started….”