Gates, Gate keys, and Gate locks

[Agemegos]

Originally Posted by Skarg

I think your analysis either assumes a very large population, or a higher rate of wizards in the population that 1 in 200, or a high rate of powerful living wizards per people who were born wizards, or a high rate of wizard obedience and focus on commercial goals - probably all of the above.

Probably it does. My explicit assumption was that spell-casting services are available at the price the rules say, but that is probably equivalent. Two points

• ruling that there aren't enough suitable magicians to supply this obvious demand would either introduce an inconsisency or throw out the prices of magical items and wages of wizards
• the alternatives to a gate network — roads, highways, bridges, docks, quays, wharfs, ships, lighthouses — are much more expensive to build, and have been ubiquitous for millennia.