Kos blinked as he entered the gardens – the midday sun hanging low over head was particularly bright and fierce this day it seemed, its golden rays caressing his face and skin, making the dark blue and silver silk shirt and black trousers he wore seem stifling almost immediately. Raising his right hand, he clicked his thumb and forefinger together – the skies above the manor and its surrounding gardens instantly beginning to darken, turning a smoky grey colour that considerably lessened the heat projected by the merciless sun above. He couldn’t keep it raised for long however – the various plants within the garden needed its rays after all, and cutting them off from the burning orb would do little for his prized collection of rare plants and herbs, nor would it appease the dryad who frequently visited his collection and his bed chamber.<br/><br/>His dwelling didn’t exactly follow the usual wizardly conventions, and that was just the way he liked it – back in the City he would have been forced by the Wizards Council to operate within one of the 12 towers that ringed the City as one of their most potent lines of defence, as well as being required to take an apprentice to train. Here in the wild lands outside the City, he was free to live how he wanted – having raised a mansion from the depths of the earth, crafted by his skills to resemble a hunting lodge much like those of nobility in the City built as summer house. Of course, only nobility was allowed such houses, but after the last band of soldiers that turned up on his doorstep never returned, the nobility of the City seemed to decide that turning a blind eye to him and his activities was best for all involved.<br/><br/>And he had to say he agreed. The climbing white brick walls that encircled the lodge and its flora filled grounds made it quite apparent that visitors were not welcome – the only way in being a set of jet black iron wrought gates that were flanked by two impressive gargoyles, and several more of their number dotted the tops of the surrounding walls at regular points. And those were only the defences to keep out visitors that were immediately visible…<br/><br/>It wasn’t that Kos was entirely adverse to company – simply that he enjoyed being able to pick and choose exactly whom he might invite into his company at any particular moment. And as such, the approachability of the wizard varied greatly – there were times when, deep in research into a new spell or potion, or head shoved deep into a crumbling tome he had bought off of a passing merchant who knew that such curios were often purchased by wizards, that people were well advised to make a very large deviation in their travelling path if it took them too near to his home. Other times would see the wizard actively encouraging passers by to stop and rest a while by his fire, to sample his wine cellar, to share news with him of the surrounding world – not that many took him up on his offers, the rumours of the reason for his expulsion from the City still fresh in the minds of many in the area. Not that it seemed to bother him all that much – at least, not when he was in one of his nicer moods, something that could never be predicted with the somewhat eccentric mage.