Old Alphatia: Other Races
by HåvardI am taking a look at developing Old Alphatia.
Here are the races I have been able to find so far:
- True Alphatians
- Followers of Fire (Flaems) I think these should be considered True Alphatians, but being referred to as the Followers of Fire at this time. Flaems is a name they would have adopted on their journey to Alphatia.
- Followers of Air
- Followers of Earth: a minor group (Speculation)
- Followers of Water: a minor group (Speculation)
- Cypri: These are the copper skinned, lower status humans. On Mystara, most Alphatians have at least some Cypri blood.
- Ochaleans: These appear to be an entirely separate group with an Asian-inspired culture. Did they remain completely neutral in all of these conflicts?
- Belthans
- Gammarians
- Delthans
- Merchant Guild: Another reference to M1. Probably not a race, but it is interesting seeing groups not tied specifically to magic.
- Sky Pirates: As with the Merchant Guild above.
- Metamorph: This is speculation, but PC4 suggested that Alphatians used to be natural shapechangers, something that gradually devolved into a form of Lycanthropy. I could never get this to quite work, but I think a race of shapeshifters could fit well at home on Old Alphatia and Metamorphs do seem to fit the bill. I think there could still be Metamorphs that would be native to Mystara as well though.
Belthans, Gammarians and Delthans: Are these separate races, or just factions that were formed after the destruction of Alphatia? I am also wondering about the names. Could Belthas, Gammaria, and Deltharia have been separate planets in that solar system or were they regions of Old Alphatia?
NEW RACES:
- Pegataur, Belthans
- Kubbit, Blue
These two are non-cannonical additions of mine. We know that Pegataurs and Kubbits were created by Alphatians after they arrived on Mystara. However, they could easily have attempted similar experiments earlier in their history with somewhat different results. These Pegataurs would not be fused with Shye Elves, so could human candidates have been used? Similarly, a much older attempt at creating Kubbits could have resulted in this blue variety.
Genasi is another unofficial candidate that seems ideal for bringing into Old Alphatia. At the same time I would like to keep this mostly BECMI oriented as usual.
MONSTERS:
- Giants (Exceptionally large Cloud Giants mentioned in M1)
- Dragon, Blue
- Dragon Turtle
- Giant Rocs
- Hippogriffs
The above are some monsters are taken from M1. I am guessing all kinds of Elemental creatures would have been around. Probably also most animals, fish, birds etc. We probably don't want to make Alphatia that weird. I think the weirdness can come from the wizards so dramatically changing the world through elemental magic which is probably something that could be seen even before the destruction of the world.
Some further thoughts: I used to think of Old Alphatia as a mostly peaceful world untill the conflict between the followers of Air and Fire suddenly came out of nowhere and exploded upon the world when the Followers of Air released their Epic spell. But what if we are talking about centuries of warfare between the two sides? Was the Spell of Air the first time that elemental magic had altered the landscape? Or are we talking about a world that has already been torn apart with elemental magic? Rivers of lava, Avatar-style floating continents everywhere, wonderful unnatural fountains and gigantic statues and stone formations resembling any form?