Clyde broke off his thought process as the man before him began to speak. For a moment he'd gotten caught up in his thinking of magic, something he perhaps did a bit too often.
He was quick though to break from his self imposed revery, and to return to the situation at hand.
After a moment his tone registered. Not one of anger, or suspicion, but more of a curious one. A clear and good sign, and not one he after heard of a knight when discussing magic or a related topic.
Clyde waited patiently as the man rifled through some papers, apparently searching for something. He seemed to find it quickly enough, and soon explained what he'd found.
At his mention of the restrictions on magic, and not giving away a lab to every "self proclaimed mage," Clyde leaned forward and spoke to him quietly as if in confidence.
“And nor should you. Not every mage has the skill or discipline as I do. They'd be more likely to leaving a smoking crater where a lab was once, than to create something fantastic or magical. Half the mages I've met I wouldn't trust to work alone, and I've met quite a few in my training in Zeltiva and on Sahova.”
This was meant to show understanding, along with showing his skill. He did mention it outright, but he had been an instructor of Glyphing in Zeltiva, along with being a ranked wizard on Sahova for his Magecrafting. Neither feat was possible for the unskilled. If nothing else though mentioning the cities would perhaps show he was well traveled, as both cities were known for their magic to varying levels.
He wasn't thrown off by the fact that he was to be asked questions. If nothing else it had been expected. He didn't fully understand what the man was wanting, or what he thought to find out by them, but Clyde simply shrugged and accepted the request.
For the first question, Clyde smiled and began a short explanation, one that did not encompass nearly a fraction of what he could offer.
“Well for the first question, thats rather hard to pin down. I can think of some things, things you might like, things the order or city might find of use, but I cannot fully answer that question without knowing what resources will be at my disposal. And I do not simply mean monetary or item needs, but other things of use in creative enchantment. People with unique skills, crafting, gnosis, all could affect my answer and open up new possibilities if made available to me.”
“Plus, I cannot fully list what I could make, without fully understanding your needs and desires. I would need assistance from your side, to understand your problems, so that I could then find solutions, or to tell if a simpler solution might exist than Magecrafting. But off the top of my head, I do have a few prospects in mind, mostly theory based but based in fact, some more hard than others.”
“For the harvest for instance, I would imagine pest control would be an issue. The same for food storage. Rats, mice, other pests, do tend to get into both crops and food storage. I could perhaps make an item to repel a certain type of pest, and thus keep a set area clean of intrusion by their type. Or perhaps it could be used in other ways.”
“I also know how to do some more standard enchantment. Making armor or weapons sturdier, sharper, more hard hitting, and such. Or making a item bane to a certain foe. I once made a dagger that could slice through the flesh of a yukmen like warm butter. Similar items bane of a creature could be made, for other weapons or other creatures.”
“I know how to make Magic Staff's, proper ones, a useful tool for any war mage. Or... Or I could make more theoretical items, ones I've thought of in passing but not tested. Theory, but if proven and done correctly possibly of great benefit. A tracker item for instance, to detect a specific creature, to warn of its presence. Or to point to it... Or other things. Magecrafted is unlimited in potential, and in crafting only limited by the resources presented to a skilled enchanter.”
By this point Clyde had grown quite excited, talking more like he was giving a lesson than answering a question. He had, after all, been an instructor, and was quite skilled in the art of teaching.
He'd almost let the question get away from him and out of hand in his answering.
“Ah, right, and you mentioned a second question...”
Clyde paused here, a grin on his face for having answered in such a lengthy manner, though without any embarrassment or shame on his face.
After listening to the question in his mind, he broke it down into the various parts, the questions, the answers, the story, and spun his answer into a story in response.
“I am alone in the woods, and run into an animal... The animal is my canine friend and protector, Rye, who was faithfully guarding my home while I was away. As I approach he comes up to greet me, I give him a small treat, a bit of meat I'd saved from my trip. I give it a pet as I walk by, and Rye follows along as I enter. My home is not large, but it is not small either. It is large enough to fit my needs. A small entry way for greeting guests, a kitchen off to the side, my lab to work in, a space for reading and writing, and a few rooms for resting myself and any guests or those who might assist in my work and need to rest also.”
“There are no protections on the outside, only those on the inside, lest anything foul or dangerous that is within that shouldn't get out won't. Those however are limited to the lab, where the work is done, and are of a mostly passive nature. They are meant to keep things safe before the problem arises. The table is in the kitchen, and upon it rests dinner. A simple meal, but a hearty one to fill the hungriest belly. My friend has cooked it in expectation of my arrival, and we eat together happily, till we can eat no more.”
Clyde paused for a moment, having completed his story and answer, and let out a small sigh as he met the eyes once more of the knight who had asked the question.
