[Ygorl]

I kind of like the idea of being able to plug magic items into a lab. I think it's much harder to make a case for hoarded items being a problem when they only work "plugged in" to a lab (which can then be conquered and despoiled). Also, you could have other nifty thematic setups (like a massive lightning rod that makes corpse men much easier to animate, or an enhancement to the castle's artillery, or ... dang it, it's time to go drink some beer)
Being able to choose the number of globals wouldn't be so bad either.