See, this? This is what Ford is good at. Once he gets the word that the portal staging ground has been determined, he shows up with his armfuls of diagrams and bags full of reagents to get started.

... The basic portal is a little low tech compared to what he's used to working with, though. He eyes it... not exactly critically, but it's definitely an appraising-bordering-on-skeptical look. He speaks, whether that be to Clive or anyone else that happens to be nearby.

"I don't suppose we have any materials more sturdy than wood, do we?"

Like, maybe some rocks?

— — — — —

But Ford doesn't let a little thing like a lack of structural integrity stop him! They can always reinforce the frame later. Right now he needs to confirm the fidelity of the sort of magic he thinks they'll need to use.

So he sets up a little workspace not too far from the portal itself. He's drawn a pretty simple magic circle, with some local ingredients spaced evenly around its perimeter. In the middle stands a simple, never-used tapered candle. Ford sprinkles some glittery blue-black dust on the candle, then closes the circle. A moment later the candle wick ignites!

The flame flickers, dims, brightens, and finally stabilizes. Then it grows larger. And a little larger. Then even the wax starts to emit a warm yellow glow. Then the whole candle starts to warp and deform.

The candle explodes. Warm-but-not-hot wax splatters against everything in a 10 foot radius, smelling faintly of old books and blackberries. Ford, who was sitting right next to the candle, gets the absolute worst of it and only just manages to shield his face in time. But when he lowers his arm he's positively beaming.

"Perfect!"