WiP Amazing Places: The unassailable abode of Khalib the Mad...

[mearrin69]

Hi all,
A little sideline, as if I need one: I'm going to be contributing a regular column to Roleplayers Chronicle (link). It'll be called (tentatively) Amazing Places and will provide a map of a location that could be used in a game along with some backstory, details of the location, adventure hooks, etc. I plan to cover a wide range of genres, not just fantasy, and want to make locations that aren't just the regular "ho hum, another wizard's tower". So, the first topic I decided to cover? You guessed it, a wizard's tower.

BUT when I say wizard's tower I don't mean one like Elminster's. I mean something like the tower of Hakim Ahmir Khalib the Mad, situated high in the mountains (somewhere) and inaccessible by means other than flight (or some dimension-breaking magic). Khalib is a famous (infamous?) summoner and collector of artifacts (mostly minor). Does he have a magic carpet? You betcha!

Yeah, so here's my very, very rough draft of the map. The layout is loose for now until I see how much room I need...then I'll tighten it up. [edit]You can probably tell that my architectural inspiration comes from the B'omarr (think Jabba's palace on Tattoine) and Arabic style, with a little Shangri la thrown in for good measure.

Other stuff on my list for possible future treatment:

• Small spaceship (suitable for PCs to use maybe, detailing NPCs from a rival group or that could fill out the crew)
• Old West town
• Fantasy town
• Space settlement (either a hard(ish)-fiction Lunar or Martian colony, or something space opera-ish)
• Post-apocalyptic town
• Alien ruins (sci-fi, probably, but could be fantasy too)
• Space station (maybe a huge mobile one that travels between systems)
• Tavern (fantasy...or maybe modern or sci-fi)
• Wizard's tower (fantasy) - [Khalib will take care of this one]
• Train interior (Western)
• Subway (and lair of...something Cthulhuish, modern)
• Planar location (something wild, fantasy)
• Small military or technical base (modern or sci-fi)
• Wilderness or urban shrine (fantasy)
• Lair (fantasy)

Any other ideas? I'm completely open here.
M