Magical Wonders of Alphatia

 Alphatia has been around for a long time. At this campaign's current time (1000AC), Alphatia has been colonized and developing for 2000 years. During that time major non-magical threats (humanoid tribes, dragons, giants and problematic non-magical humans) have been dealt with by the numerous archmages. This has left generations of thousands of wizards to experiment, construct and transform things across the continent. Alphatia has become a wizards' giant laboratory and play-pen. 

The motivations for creating these wonders varies but can include defence and security,  attacking enemies and expanding borders, academic curiosity, part of a quest for immortality (especially the Path of the Paragon and the Sphere of Energy), generating trade and wealth or  maybe pure entertainment (some wizards just like to keep themselves occupied). Similarly the size and form of these wonders can vary widely, from magic rings to floating cities. Constructed creatures, magical castles, enchanted weapons, staffs and wands, flying ships (cliched but still popular) and miscellaneous magic items are all the creations of wizards through the centuries. 

Image by Keith Parkinson, source

As time moves on these may become inherited by their creators' successors, or destroyed, or abandoned. Perhaps their function or the way they are activated has been forgotten. If they are still functional, other wizards are unlikely to just leave it lying around. Sometimes these magical wonders just wander off on their own. 

If the wizard has an interest in biology then modifying species or creating hybrids could become an interesting hobby. Rumour has it that this is how owlbears, thouls and bulettes came into being. Making monsters bigger is also a common experiment, and Alphatia is the home of the gargantuas (from the Companion Set).  For those with a more constructive approach to creating monsters there are numerous constructed creatures that wizards can put their minds to crafting. Golems and living statues (also known as animated statues) are also popular, but there are also rarer ones including drolems, iron cobras, bronze minotaurs, caryatid columns and stone guardians. What happens to these constructs after their masters die can vary wildly. Some can be commanded by whoever wields some controling item (such as a ring or amulet linked to the construct) while others simply cease to respond to anyone elses' command and just stand there, and a few may run amok without a master to control them. 

For those who are not interested in putting in the work of actually making a servitor, there is the option of summoning. Usually this is for the duration of a battle but some mages can bring creatures from elsewhere to serve for much longer periods, such as until a task is complete. Such creatures are generally either elemental (including Invisible Stalkers) or from the Planes of Chaos. Over the course of the history of Alphatia thousands of such creatures will have been summoned, and not all of these will have been destroyed or dismissed back to their planes of origin. More recently twisted summoners have added a whole new range of potential minions, though at the cost of the summoner's soul. Even if the twisted summoner dies, the summoned creatures still remain. 

Gates and portals are sometimes created. These may go anywhere, from the Elemental planes, Ethereal, the Planes of Chaos or Law, or even other worlds on the Material Plane. It could even take people to somewhere else on Mystara or even someWhen else - such as back to the golden age of Blackmoor or forwards to the far future of the Known World. And of course the portals are usually two-way, so creatures and characters can come through to Mystara. 

Excavating dungeons is often part of this - though usually the dungeon is a means to an end and where further experiments and projects are conducted. Dungeons can provide a secretive and secure place where intruders can be kept out, captive and created creatures can be contained and the wizard can have some peace and quiet for serious concentration on their work. The actual number of dungeons across Alphatia is unknown but at least in the thousands. Having said that, wizards may well hand their dungeons on to apprentices who know the traps, guards and should have any passwords and keys necessary for safe access. The apprentice may well add to the dungeon - think of Undermountain in the Forgotten Realms where Halaster Blackcloak the Mad Mage created the bulk of the main levels but his apprentices created their own sections and sublevels. Another prime example is Castle Greyhawk, created by the Mad Archmage Zagyg. And if you think the monikers are similar, think how many mad archmages have been lived in Alphatia over the last 2000 years, where there is a Grand Council of 1000 archmages, many of whom are various shades of Chaotic. Not all of these will have created dungeons (let alone megadungeons) but they all will have had some sort of stronghold as their home, either solitary or shared. The mage does not even need to be maximum level - Wall of Stone, Rock to Mud and Disintegrate are three spells that allow wizards of only 12th level to single-handedly create a basic dungeon, given enough castings of each spell.  

Finally there are spells. There are the standard spells of the magical colleges that nearly every mage has access to (once they reach sufficient level) - there are 12 spells per spell level. These are widely known from Norwold to the Savage Coast, and even non-mages have at least heard of them, and often seen mages cast them (many ordinary folk can recognise a Magic Missile or Fireball when cast). But when a nation the size of Alphatia has wizards researching spells every year over the course of its history, it is no surprise that there are hundreds of non-standard, rarer spells in the personal spellbooks of various mages of Alphatia. These include Greater Mirage (which the Alphatian mage Zembrig used to hide Tandallos Fortress for a number of centuries) and World Portal. Other wizards will go to great lengths to acquire written copies of these spells. 

In short, in Alphatia the threats to civilized folk and opportunities for adventures tend to come from the results of magic and the efforts of wizards, rather than natural or military situations. Whether it be a matter of destroying an out of control elemental, or retrieving a long lost spellbook or reclaiming a dead wizard's stronghold on behalf of his next of kin, the arcane arts and their effects and consequences are found everywhere in Alphatia.