Yeah I figured :P
I decided to just block out rift travel entirely until the player loads a save game.
IF
GlobalEventSet("TheEventThatLocksTheWP")
THEN
SetHomesteadKeyState(0);
IF
SavegameLoaded(_,_,_,_)
AND
DB_GlobalEvent("TheEventThatLocksTheWP")
THEN
SetHomesteadKeyState(1);
I think that's better than using a janky item for fast travel using dialog nodes.