Building Out the Laboratory

Devices need to be enchanted within a Hermetic laboratory; there are specialist tools to be used, environments to be controlled, and magical forces to be channeled. But the average Hermetic laboratory is not designed to contain large-scale projects such as the building of ships. This project assumes that the ship's keel and/or hull is the focus for the enchantment activity, and if the magus is going to enchant the ship itself, the laboratory needs to contain the entire ship and is therefore best constructed as a boat yard.

The Hermetic shipwright will need a laboratory modeled after a mundane shipyard. This means one or more central work sheds in which vessels can be constructed or repaired; several outer workshops for carpenters, blacksmiths, and other tradesmen; and storehouses. The site also needs to be on a significant waterway, either the coast or a major river to allow ships to be hauled to and from the main work sheds. At any one time, a dozen or more tradesmen will be within the laboratory itself, given that it is in effect a large workshop, and provision needs to be made for this activity. A gallery allows the magus both to take an overview of the construction work and show clients his work. All of this makes the laboratory far larger than is normal for a Hermetic magus, susceptible to the elements, and inherently unsafe.

A host of enchanted tools and features are needed to ensure the safety of the workforce and the laboratory itself. Further enchantments make the work of the shipwright and his crew easier and quicker. A magus who builds a Hermetic shipyard is likely to either maintain a separate sanctum or simply be realistic about the status