Founded:
126 years ago
Population: 138,000 (greater Alexander)
Mayor: Euradd Foxfire
Alexander boasts more trade than any other town in Asterland, most of which is
comprised of agricultural products and meats, both fresh and dried. These products
are known throughout the continent as superior to all others. This is due to
the enchantment research of Sendell
the Curious. The vegetables grow larger and without plague or pest. The cows grow to be huge, and their meat
tastes sweeter and more tender than any other. It's no wonder that business is so
good. Many farmers have grown to be very wealthy and comfortable.
Alexander is a relatively new metropolis. Before Sendell's advances, the
town was nothing special at all, a farming town on a long road leading to the
mountains. It now blooms with the splendor of an elven garden. Where once only
desert ruled, an elaborate irrigation system waters the fruit trees and gardens
in and around the city. With the advent of air travel, the Alexandrians were
quick to pick up on the opportunity for trade with other nations of their unique
goods. Alexander has one of the finest air
navies in all of Jera, most of which serves to defend the city itself, some
of which escourt trade caravans heading to the slipstream
and beyond. The close proximity of Alexander to the slipstream also gives it
a major trade advantage. By airship, it is less than 50 miles to the slipstream
from Alexander.
Alexander boasts high society of newfound wealth like no other. Little of
the aristocracy is made up of old money. Most of the nobles came originally
from farm or ranch beginnings. This makes for a much looser high society than
in old Grunburg, where your birth almost exclusively determines your station
in life and your earning potential. The prosperity of the town has created
almost a carnival-like atmosphere. Parties are frequent and can last for days
or even weeks. Withing the upper crust, morality has faded to the point where
few even pretend chastity anymore within high society. God is much forgotten
by the rich and powerful. Within their numbers roam the vampires,
the charismatic creatures of the night.
The majority of the people of Alexander took to magitech like a fish to water.
The citizens have money to spend on luxuries in an almost goldrush-like wealth
that most farmers and ranchers enjoy, which trickles into the local economy
of tradesmen and merchants in a very real way. A builder can always find work
as the upper class strive to outdo one another in extravagence. This trend
is furthur fed by the loophole in Alexander's city code which states that while
a home is still under construction, no taxes are due on the property. The city
council did not have in mind that everyone should continue to build onto their
houses indefinately, but this allows carpenters, plumbers, and other builders
to stay gainfully employed and off the street. Vagrants found in the city are
given jobs to do. If they refuse, or do not work hard, they are expelled from
the city. Entrance to Alexander proper requires a writ of citizenry or a tourist
pass, which is given for trade reasons as well. A pass is free for the asking,
but once revoked through improper actions, is gone for good. To become a citizen,
one must simply prove gainful employment or posession of goods sufficient to
live on for a long period of time.
People come from as far as Grunburg to see the wild festivals held the first
weekend of each month, called Monadspel. The event centers around the carnival
in the north section of town. The amusement rides and jousting field catch
the attention of the most conservative tourist. The people dress up in costumes
and engage in dance and singing till the wee hours of the morning each night
of the festival. Many shops simply close their doors during the event. Among
the rich, the parties may last well into the week.
You can read about current events in the Alexander
Times, the city's premier news source.
In addition to the research done into plant life, the mages of Alexander
work to customize animal life forms to better fit the needs of man. One of
the more famous is a creature that sleeps most of the year, but wakes from
hibernation at planting and harvest time to help a farmer. It is an animal
whose very structure is an insectoid with digging arms every two feet, three
per side, which are ideal for planting fields or harvesting same. A farmer
rides the beast, keeping it on course, but newer strains have built into their
very instincts the ability to plant or harvest a field unaided by a human rider.
These have allowed farmers to take care of huge tracts of land thought impossible
for a single man to cultivate only a few years ago.
Another of the mages' successes is the "go-all", a beast the size of a stagecoach
that actually has a hollow place within it where up to four men can ride. It
can run for an entire day without tiring, though it eats quit a bit of plant
life. The very newest actually can derive nourishment through roots that burrow
into the ground and feed it as it sleeps. They are easy to train to go from
point to point, such that a person can command one to "go to town," for example,
and it will head unaided to its destination, upon which it can return home
while its master sleeps. If there are any signs of danger, it will emit a loud
whining noise, waking its master. There are some whose design is with a large
flat place on its back for loading cargo. For many still clinging to the old
superstitions of technology being evil, the go-all is the next best thing to
motocarts or motomagical vehicles of other sorts. As there are those that object
to magitech, still others complain that the altered beasts are an affront to
nature, and that we have no right to tinker with what nature has created on
its own, citing the growing suspicion that the "monsters" are mutations of
natural creatures, altered by the tinkering of mankind. How correct they are
they have no idea of.
With the advent of magimotive factories, the traditional role of a watchdog
is more important than ever to guard warehouses from thieves. The attack dogs
of the past are no match for the creatures that now are used to guard both
personal residences as well as commercial installations. The weakness that
most of the beings uses as guardians was all too often susceptibility to magic
and fairly low intelligence, making them easy to outsmart or outgun. The specially
designed Tantra has neither weakness. The mages that designed the creature
will not say what creatures went into its making, though many have speculated
that it is some sort of cross between a dwarf bulette and an imp of some sort.
The result is a very well armored creature that moves like lightning is very
intelligent (to the extent that it will follow fairly elaborate commands),
and has a resistance to magic of 50%. In addition, it is a loyal pet and affectionate.
For home protection, a model was created without the scaly hide, instead bearing
silky long fur. The creatures have large razor sharp teeth and claws. They
only measure three feet in height, where its larger cousin stands four to five
feet high. They make good pets as long as care it taken to clearly define who
is a friend and who is the creature's next meal. They eat a fair amount, but
in the region of Alexander, meat is cheap, meat byproducts next to free.
These are just a few examples of the custom creatures created by the mages
in Alexander. They belong to the Lifecrafter's Guild, which correctly sees
magitech as its primary competitor. Things magitech often have an almost equivalent
in animal form. Both approaches appeal to different people, but none can argue
the usefulness of things produced from either school of thought. Even things
as unusual as dishwashers and heaters can have an organic equivalent.
The downsides to organic creations are feeding, waste disposal, they often
think independently, can have nasty temperments, high upkeep costs, and they
sometimes try to run away. Advantages would be less dehumanization that is
often felt with magitech, they can be made to be friendly and multi-purposed,
do not need technical support (greasing gears, etc.) and there is not the negative
religious/social aspects that are connected with things technological.
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