Kubittes and Garganthuax
by HåvardKubittes, Creator of the Kubitts.
He was one of the first generation of Alphatians born on Mystara. He had studied the Nithian Scholars, and was in particular interested in their lore of creating new races, such as their experimentation on goblinoids resulting in the creation of the Gnoll race. Through this knowledge he was successfully able to create a race of miniature humans, through experimentation on slaves. With the destruction of Nithia, since the Kubitts were a result of Nithian Lore and because some immortals (In Particular...who??? Faunus?), had taken a liking to these creatures, the Kubitts were transplanted into the Hollow World.
This left Kubittes somewhat confused, but by this time, even though the knowledge of Nithia was wiped from his mind, his research had now lead him to knowledge beyond that and he was still the leading sage of Creature Creation in Alphatia. Now, nearly a thousand years old, Kubittes was contacted by the Immortal creature Nephele, who thousands of years before this had, with the help of Ixion, created the Centaur race. With the aid of Nephele, Kubittes was able to undertake his greatest experiment, creating the Pegataur race. Using captured Pegataurs and imprisoned Shyie Elves, he created a new breed of winged Centaurs. Pegataurs believe that Nephele in this way perfected the Centaur race, but Centaurs simply laugh at this thought. Both races honour Nephele as their creator. Kubittes disappeared not long after this, taking with him most of his research. His true fate is unknown. But this enforced common Alphatian belief that even with their youth-giving magic, it is impossible to live beyond much more than a thousand years.
Garganthuax
Garganthuax was born around the time of the Known World rebellion against Alphatia, leading up to the Crowning of the First Emperor of Thyatis. A pure-blooded Alphatian, Garganthuax rose to become a powerful wizard. He became fascinated with the lore passed down to Alphatian wizards by the legendary Kubittes, and he eventually was able to recover some old scrolls from the old master. Garganthuax sought to reverse the process Kubittes had used when he created the Kubitts. He wanted to created armies of giants which would give him world dominance. Eventually, he became obsessed with creating huge monsters, spreading them throughout the world. Some, he left in stasis, so they could wake up at a later point to remind the world of his terror. By now, Garganthuax's madness had made him a renegade, even among Alphatians and he was forced to flee the Empire. He was known now only as The Gargantua, from the monsters he created. What happened next is only known to a few. Garganthuax, forced into exile, found himself stranded on one of the islands of the Thanegioth Archipelago. There, in true villain-style, he built himself a laboratory in a dormant volcano. While wandering around the island, Garganthuax discovered a strange skeleton, of some ancient prehistoric beast. He became fascinated with this creature, from an age where gigantic lizards ruled the face of Mystara, and decided that he would try and bring it back to life. In the following months, he discovered more such skeletons of various creatures. But restoring life to the giants was not easy, even with Garganthuax's skill. Through the months he had been living on the island, he had been studying its nature and gotten to know the various creatures living there. The native humans feared him, like some pagan god, but preferred to stay away from him, although some, Garganthuax suspected, secretly worshipped him. In the waters surrounding the island and in watery caves deep below the island, there lived another race, the dark Kopru. Garganthuax learned much from these creatures, and it was they who gave him the idea of using human sacrifice to resurrect the dinosaurs. During the next century, the dinosaurs began taking back the island, which was now known only as the Isle of Dread. Garganthuax also used the other nearby islands for similar experiments. It is believed that Garganthuax was eventually discovered and confronted by the adventurer and legendary sailor Captain Rory "Barbarossa" Redbeard. Captain Redbeard's death in a Traladaran port months later may be connected with this encounter. Others believe that Redbeard faked his death and is still secretly working to rid the world of the insane wizard Garganthuax.
Whether Garganthuax still remains on Dread Island or whether he has left his old laboratories behind is unknown. If the mad alchemist is still alive, he is older than any known wizard on Mystara, and must have found some new way to keep himself alive, although this may not be beyond his capability.
Notes:
The Kubitts were first mentioned in the Hollow World boxed set, as the creation of an Alphatian wizard.
The Pegataurs were described as created by Alphatian wizards in the Dawn of the Emperors, boxed set.
Garganthuax, under the name of Gargantua was first mentioned in the D&D Companion Rules as the creator of the Gargantua Troll and similar creatures.
Captain Rory Barbarossa was first mentioned in X1 The Isle of Dread, which details the island, the Kopru, the Dinosaurs, the Natives, and Rory's journey there and his death in Specularum. Andrew Theisen described in another project how Barbarossa was the discoverer of the islands south of the Isle of Dawn.