A DUNGEON & DRAGON ADVENTURE
ABOARD THE STARSHIP WARDEN
by Gary Gygax
 

Dragon

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Dragon 17

When last winter's tedium was broken by the fun
and games at WINTER FANTASY, I was scheduled
for DMing continual adventures in Greyhawk
Castle, and that is exactly what they turned out to be
? continual. Not having the heart to cut them short,
I ended up eating meals while play went on, and the
games lasted from morning into the late hours of
Saturday night, from early Sunday morning straight
through until evening, and fatigue made me a bit
silly. When the last party, which included several
regulars in the campaign (Mark Ratner and Jim
Ward each playing one of their player character
henchmen, and Ernie Gygax playing the character
another participant had abandoned when he or she
had to leave for home), beat up a body of gnolls and
slew their master, there was a scroll amidst the heap
of booty. It was, of course, a curse scroll, and it was
a curse which whisked all creatures off to another
world. Jokingly, I said that there was a I in 10
chance that the curse would teleport them all to
Jim?s starship, and when the die was tossed out what
should come up but the stark single line of a 1! imagine
the surprise which struck my weary countenance
with a look of wonder. . . imagine the groans from
the regulars! They didn?t want to be stuck aboard
Warden, not with precious henchmen aboard that
deathtrap. But all six characters, along with three
gnoll prisoners, were, in fact, exactly that. The
whole party was gone from the ken of D&D-kind
and off amongst the horrors of METAMORPHOSIS
ALPHA.

That took place in January, and the affair was not
resolved until Jim Ward?s next visit to Lake Geneva
in late March. Frantic letters and telephone calls
from Mark Ratner were to no avail; determination
of the fate of the nine intrepid creatures from Greyhawk
could be resolved no sooner. Mark, being
headquartered in New Jersey, was unavailable for
play, so we had Brian Blume fill in for him. And instead
of refereeing, yours truly was now a player, a
pawn of the remorseless ShipMaster, James M.
Ward. The cast of characters for the game that followed
was:
9th level assassin (human) SCRAG FLATCHET
(party)
9th level cleric (human) THURIBLE of ROAKY
(G Gygax)
9th level fighter (human) dorag (L. Gygax)
8th level fighter (human) NIVELL (party)
8th level magic-user (human) NEB RENTAR
(B. Blume)
6th/5th levels fighter/magic-user (half-elf)
HODKIN AP-A WRD (E. Gygax)
3 hapless gnolls (party)
The names given for the characters have been
changed in order to protect the innocent . . .

* * *

There was a moment of darkness and vertigo, shot
with flashes of purple, and then the group felt the
ground come up to jar their soles. All had the sinking
feeling which normally accompanies the realization
of real trouble. That was a curse scroll which
had been read, and a cursory examination of their
surroundings confirmed their worst fears. To the left
— where the sun burned in the sky — was an unrelieved
landscape of flat grasslands, seeming to go on
endlessly; but to the right was a wall of incredibly
hard metal, running ahead and behind and stretching
upwards as far as the eye could see. It was unbroken
by door or window, unpierced by arrow slit,
unrelieved by battlement or bartizan. Immediately
upon arrival the warlock Neb Rentar had attempted
to use a wish to escape, while the wily Ap-Awrd the
half-elf called upon his enchanted blade to teleport
him from the place. Neither was to any avail, so the
group held council, the two would-be escapees a bit
chagrined and most willing to make amends now
that they were unable to make off. It was decided
that hereafter it would be a “one-for-all, all-forone”
affair. The material possessions of the party
were pooled. In addition to a good selection of the
usual gear typical of members of a dungeon expedition,
there were the following noteworthy items:
1 gem of seeing, 1 fireball wand (97 charges),
1 strange gem with 2 wishes contained within,
1 snake staff 3 magic swords ( +3, +2 teleporting
— with some other minor abilities,
+1), a +2 hammer, a +2 dagger, 2 suits of
magic plate mail (+2, +l), 2 magic shields
( +2, +1), a scroll of 6 sixth level magic-user
spells (none too useful!), a scroll of 4 fourth
level cleric spells, 3 potions of healing.
There was also an assortment of normal armor
and arms, including 2 bows — one carried by a

fighter, one being amongst the arms taken from the
gnoll prisoners. Fortunately, there were also packages
of iron rations and skins of water, for the group
spent much time in areas where there was no game,
but I am getting ahead of the story.
The sun was growing dim — not setting, simply
growing dim, so the consensus of opinion was to call
its position west, proceed north, and keep near to
the unrelieved expanse of stark metal bounding the
“world” they had been thrown into. The evening
and night passed uneventfully, and next day the
party continued treking northwards over seemingly
unalterable terrain until finally, late in the afternoon
they came upon a colossal cube of metal, in titansized
fortress from the look of it, and none liked its
look.

Scrutiny revealed numbers of small things —
mostly insects — strewn about the perimeter of the
place, all quite dead. All members were pleased they
had looked before laying hands upon those metal
sides. Concluding that some very powerful magic
protected the place, Scrag Flatchet and Hodkin led
the group in a wide flanking movement which allowed
observation without coming too close to possible
danger. A door of proportion equal to the rest
of the place was observed when the north face of the
place came into view. The party came close, found
no way they could easily open the huge valves, and
fearing to actually lay hands upon the gate, left.
Water was already running short, so it was decided
that a westward track might prove more fruitful, for
near the wall they had seen neither game nor water
of any sort. When the sun darkened into another
night lit only by strangely bright stars, sans moon,
there were several leagues between them and the tremendous
metal fortress, occupants (if any) unknown.
A swamp turned their path to the north again
around midday. Just before they had shot a smallish
deer with pink horns and legs. An incautious touch
of the pinkish flakes which fell from those parts of
the deer quickly taught the adventurers that death in
this place came in at least as many forms as were to
be found in the dungeons of Greyhawk Castle. The
animal’s flesh was tasty nonetheless . . . That night
a huge walking plant attempted to creep up to the
camp and devour the party while it slept. Infravision
of half-elf and gnoll noted the monster’s intent, and

a fireball sent it to a fiery death without ado.

Afternoon of the following day found the party in
a better frame of mind. Rain had fallen, so swamp
water was replaced by freshly caught rain. Game was
fairly plentiful and easily brought down, as none of
the creatures seemed to have any fear of man. Then
they saw the pillars and the box of shifting colors
which they fenced. The cube of colors attracted attention
first, as its scintillating, running hues
blended and reformed into all of colors of the spectrum
-- and some that were not. It seemed to crouch
against the metal wall stretching to the sky, seeking
shelter there with its fence of pillars. And what pillars!
The assassin crept near them to observe the
cube, but beat a hasty retreat when they moved towards
him when he attempted to pass between them!
After consultation, the cleric, Thurible, strode forward,
slowing as he drew near the columns. They were
seemingly of layered wet sand, massive, and
quite motionless. When Thurible touched one some
of the sand came off on his gauntlet, and when this
was rubbed off on the nearby grass the vegetation
blackened and died. Not easily daunted, the cleric
stepped between the towering piles of sand; he rued
it immediately, as one snaked down with lightning
SPEED and smote him for 34 HP of damage at
one blow. He reeled back and away with alacrity.

    A fireball discharged at one of these 100' monsters
caused it to MOVE and squirt forth water. Another
such missile was tried upon the colored box,
and the pillars all moved inwards toward the great
box, dousing it with water, while the many-colored
cube spewed forth a bluish aura about itself. A
flame strike spell from Thurible, and several more
fireballs from the wand wielded by Ap-Awrd drove
the halo of light away and shrunk the cube smaller
and smaller. Another flaming explosion and the box
was nothing but a haze of dust -- spore dust thought
the clever half-elf, and discharged a final fireball
into its midst. The last vestige of the strange thing
disappeared, and a normal-sized portal in the wall
was revealed. Of more immed. interest was a pile
of material where the cube had been -- a mound of
reddish goo, a strange wand-like thing, a crystal egg,
and a bracelet.

    Ap-Awrd's former master had once had a wand
similar to that they found, he said it was called a
pistol. Neb Rentar agreed, for he had seen a mage in
Greyhawk with one. The egg-thing was possibly
some sort of poison, flame, or acid missile -- similar
to the oil-, holy water-, and like bombs hurled by adventurers
in the known world from whence they had come.
It was stowed away for later inspection. The
cleric was given the bracelet for use for whatever
purpose could be determined. The dark pink gel stunk,
and it was left where it was smeared. Time to go on
to the door, armed now with the hoped-for extra
powers of the pistol-want, the adventurers agreed.

    The warlock inspected the area of the metal gate
with the aid of the gem of seeing, and much of the interest
was noted thereby. The man-sized door was not
provided with any sort of handle or visible, or invisible,
means of manipulation, but neither was it trapped.
A small area of white material, a rectangle
about the same size as the colored area of the bracelet
held by Thurible, was ignored in favor of a most
intriguing discovery. The walls were milky on either
side of the portal, as hard as the metal surrounding
them, but the gem of seeing showed what was behind
these translucent panels. There was a large room
there, one whose size was indeterminable, but whose
occupants could -- in part -- be seen. Standing rigidly
beside strange bed-like things were faceless men
with pistol wands strapped about their waists! No
fewer than 10 could be seen, and there was certainly
more. An augury spell cast by the cleric boded
death and destruction if the party could manage to
cause the mysterious door to open.

Neb Rentar was under geas not to engage in magical combat for a sennight and a day. He had cast a
legend lore divination to learn what could be learned
of the place they had been cursed to, and for a full
eleven days the warlock needed to refrain from such
activity if he were to gain the benefit of the magic.
When the group determined to open the door of
metal at any cost, the magic-user was ordered well
away. After various and sundry ploys failed to affect
the portal, Dorag suggested that the red rectangle of
the bracelet be placed against the white one by the
door, for possibly it was some magical key. It
worked.

As the door slid aside, the faceless creatures inside
drew their weapons and leaped for the door. Thurible was prepared, and a spell to hold persons froze
four of the things as they stepped forth. Black rays
shot from the entrance as their fellow things attempted to slay the party outside. In desperation, the
warlock uttered a wish with the enchanted gem, stating that the faceless things must slay each other instead of his comrades. The noises from the chamber
indicated success, and no further rays darted forth.
A dull gonging sound was issuing from inside, possibly an alarm, so the group sprang into action. The
gnolls and Rentar watched the rear. The cleric
stripped weapons and bracelets from the motionless
creatures before the doorway, then dispatched the
things to whatever hell spawned them. Scrag, Dorag
Nivell, and Hodkin leaped into the chamber to
gather up weapons and any other available items of
likely use. They had managed to gain six of the pistols
when an unnoticed door at the far end of the
place slid open, and a metal monster with a long and
menacing snout of iron ground into the room. When
the gate had begun opening the looters had beaten a
hasty retreat, but two were too slow. Scrag, the assassin
and the superhero, Nivell, were hit by a
sparkling ray of coruscating blue light and flung
into the air to land motionless a score or more feet
outside. The clockwork monster trundled up to the
door to the outside, but its bult <bulk?> was too great to pass
through the frame, so only its questing metal snout
thrust forth, poking this way and that and seeking a victim,
but all were outside its arc and safe. Thurible
cast a continual darkness spell squarely upon this
great probocis, and the M-U ordered one of the gnolls
to run over and recover the two still forms
before the door. As the creature dashed out to accomplish
this task a strange pinging came from the

blackness surrounding the portal; yet another blue
ray flicked forth, and the gnoll was sent rolling —
shaken but unhurt. Luckily for him, the weapon evidently had full effect only upon humankind, but
what to do? More noise from the darkened doorway
settled the question quickly.

The area of black was retreating from sight, which
indicated that the automaton was either  dispelling
the magic or retreating from the gate to allow something smaller to issue out.
Sounds indicated the latter, and the wiley Hodkin wasted no time in launching a fireball from the wand he held. A flash, thuds
of falling bodies, and the slam of a heavy metal door
closing told the adventurers that they had won at
least a temporary victory. Recognizing that it was
probable that the full force of the opposition had
not yet been arrayed for battle, the party took the
opportunity to themselves withdraw, going a short
distance due westwards and then hurrying south and
east to the familar endless wall once more. The
bodies of the assassin and fighter were carried only
part of the way, for it was discovered that they were
abraded, bruised, and unconscious, but not dead.
Cure light wounds spells placed upon each in turn,
plus a bit of water and a helping hand, served to enable them to move under their own volition, if a bit
slowly. The delay turned out to be most fortuitous,
for when the group arrived at the wall, they found
that a wide swath of the tall grass had been crushed
flat by the passage of nobody knew — or wanted to
learn — what! The path ran from the north where
the faceless men had been fought to the south where
the titan fortress was. The six men and three gnolls
followed the flattened track through the gathering
dusk.

When they came to the huge place it was brightly
illuminated by some magical lights; faceless men and
more of the strangely fashioned clockwork machines
were active round it. The adventurers stayed well out
of the light and decided to turn west and travel
through the night and decided to turn west and
travel through the night as long as their strength permitted, for they were now in great fear for their
lives. Before long another great swath was revealed,
running westwards along the same route they had
traveled just a day or two before. Now they were certain that some device could sniff out their trail, a
horrid metal golem bloodhound. To confuse it they
stayed in its path until the night was old, then rested.
They were just settling down when one of the gnolls
gave a cry. A huge flying thing was coming at them
from behind! It too seemed to be able to follow their
tracks, and there was no alternative now but to take
quick offensive action. Hodkin Ap-Awrd aimed the
fireball wand  with care, and his missile burst just
above the on-rushing creature. It stopped still in its
progress and floated gently downward. Three things
separated from the bulk as it touched the ground,
and the tzinging sounds which accompanied this action
indicated that they were probably faceless men

armed with the pistol wands which shot black, killing rays. Thurible held one with a spell, but the other
two rushed in and slew Flatchet and Nivell (both already weakened from their previous encounter with
the ray from the metal monster). Blows were struck,
with most of the party sustained wounds before the
two faceless men — and then their frozen companion —were dispatched. From them were taken
yet three more of the pistol wands and three more of
the metal wrist bands with rectangles of an unidentifiable brown substance. When this was done the survivors went to examine the device which had flown
so swiftly and carried the creatures to battle so unerringly. A thick disc of metal, many feet across and
topped by a railing, was revealed. A metal flying
carpet!

Upon mounting upon its surface and attempting
command words, a strange voice-like sound came
forth from a grill set into the device’s deck. The
cleric then cast a tongues spell, and conversed with
the creature — if indeed it could be called that, for it
also was a clockwork monster, albeit benign and
most useful as it proved shortly. The spell revealed
that it could take all members, alive and dead, upon
its back, and carry them at many leagues an hour
away from all pursuit, although the damage caused
to the device by the well-aimed fireball prevented it
from flying in the air like a normal magic carpet.
The group boarded, the machine lifted itself a few
hands off the ground, and then it rapidly gained
speed and carried them across the black waters of
the marsh to a place of relative safety on the opposite side.
 

Hidden amidst the tall grass, the adventurers
rested and recuperated for two days. Nivell’s constitution could not stand the shock of being raised, but
Scrag Flatchet was made of hardier stock. Wounds
were also cured by the ministrations of the cleric.
The party was beginning to feel confident by the
third night when they were attacked by surprise.
Three more of the face creatures, this time armed
with triangular metal shields and swords of incredible sharpness, leaped from hiding in the tall grass
and fell upon the unsuspecting members of the
group. A frenzied melee ensued in which the assassin
was run through and slain again, and one of the now
trusted gnolls died too. All of the monstrous opponents were dispatched, and like their better-armed
fellows, they immediately turned into quaking
mounds of noisome red jelly. But the adventurers
welcomed the addition of their shields and swords,
and the next day a raise dead casting managed to revive poor Scrag once again. There was general agreement that still more leagues must be put between the
party and the relentless foes without faces if they
were to survive to escape this world and return to the
safety of the devils they knew . . .
***

At last the geas was lifted from the warlock, and
Neb related what had come to him in a dream. They
were in a vessel of unbelievable size. A vessel which

was floating in nothing. Could that be possible? All
had grave doubts, especially when the magic-user
went on to relate that the spell had also informed
him there was no magic on the vessel — other than
that they possessed. This was scoffed at, for all had
magic wand pistols and had seen the various enchanted monsters, and there was their own metal
carpet. How could they escape the place and return
to their own place? Only by leaving the vessel and
enter nothing? Still more doubtful, but this at least
gave some small hope. Lastly it was related that
somewhere in the vast ship of metal there were humans. The party was encouraged, for if they could
find men they would surely aid their fellows — even
at a price. They had a small store of gold pieces,
some choice gems, and a few pieces of rich jewelry
with which to bribe the hesitant. Should only a bit of
the information learned prove useful, let it be the bit
on how to escape, and then allow them to find other
men.

Exploring to the westwards, the party eventually
came to another metal wall, and the bounds of the
“world” were known. Time had been taken from
adventuring to rest and hunt, otherwise they could

have traveled on their flying carpet from one side of
the place to the other in less than a day. When the
small size of the place was commented on, Rentar
mentioned that his vision had shown that there were
layers of land within the vessel, many layers like the
one they were on. They would have to find a way to
get to these other plateaus in all likelihood, for on
one would be a doorway to the outside. By means of
another tongues spell Thurible of Roaky put questions to the metal circle, but it was stupid and could
answer very little. Finally it did relate something useful to the group. It was running out of energy and
needed to be fed. When the cleric asked if it ate meat
or vegetation, the automaton related that it needed
to be fed a special substance which was available at a
place nearby. Assured that survival was next to impossible without the benefits of the machine, it was
agreed that the food for the flying metal carpet must
be found before anything else was attempted.
The disc traveled quickly to another of the tremendous-sized houses built into the wall of the vessle. Before the vast doors of this metal box rested
two strange idols of metal — or were they statues?
golems? Too late! One being came to animated mo

tion before anything further could be done to prepare. The clockwork monster lashed forth its tentacles and grabbed the half-elf. At first it seemed as if
it would tear Hodkin to pieces on the spot, but
something made it hesitate and examine the struggling figure more closely. Other snakey metal arms
shot forth and began to strip off the half-elf’s armor. Thurible, unable to use another tongues spell,
cast a hasty augury to learn what this examination
boded for the prisoner, and it was ill indeed. Unless
stopped, the automaton would surely slay Ap-Awrd
when stripped of armor. In desperation, and hating
greatly to do so, Neb Rentar voiced the last wish allowed by the magic gem, asking that the mighty machine be prevented from harming his associates and
himself because of its love and loyalty to them — it
being an obedient servant.
Now this world was filled with strange and powerful things which were unknown to the adventurers,
but magic was most potent, for nothing in the place
seemed to be able to resist it. The party had been
most grateful for the cleric’s spells which were renewed divinely each day. How much happier they
were at the potency of wishes is hard to tell. That the
clockwork creature immediately ceased its fell actions respecting Hodkins and obeyed the party
heartened them beyond measure, for such a servant
would certainly mean that their chances of escape
were greater now than any had thought possible.
Better still, the creature was useful in many ways.
First a means of communication had to be established, for the device seemed to understand the
tongue spoken to it but could make no intelligible
reply. It was ordered to raise one of its metal
tentacles whenever a “yes” answer was indicated
and the whole group then set to questioning their
new servant.

It was quickly discovered that the device was a mechanical physician, churigeon, and barber in one. It
could heal the still infirm members of the party. It
could go inside the metal buidling; it could take the
members of the party with it, for there were no other
creatures or machines inside. It could converse with
the flying carpet and instruct it what to do. This was
the first order, for the party did not desire to lose the
services of this transport, and it must be fed. When
the two devices held conversation, the new servant
went into its huge house immediately and came forth
as quickly with a blue brick. This is placed into a
heretofore unseen compartment in the disc, withdrawing first a pale brick of the same color but no
longer bright. Eventually direct intercourse with the
device by tongues spell revealed that it normally was
fed a liquid (invisible?) form of food, but not being
able to fly to heights, it was unable to go to the
places where the tubes for this food were placed.
Therefore, the blue bricks must be fed to it every
time it had operated for 24 hours. The other machine was meanwhile ordered to bring forth as many
of the blue bricks as it had, for the party wished to
have a supply of food for the metal carpet.
The new automaton continued to serve its masters
as well. It healed them, and the group then proceeded into the building where all sorts of arcane apparatus was observed. Little was of value to them
however, although there was a supply of small strips
of blue which recharged their wand pistols, and
these were happily gained. Dorag inquired about
gems and money. The machine went to a flat crystal
area, manipulated several knobs, spoke it its gibberish, and a container of gems and another of
strange coins were produced. While the jewels
turned out to be nothing but imitation gemstones
(which the gnolls were most happy to receive) the
party learned that the “domar” pieces were the
medium of exchange in this cosmos. When more
questions were put to the automaton, it trundled
again to the wall which bore the strange scrying de-

vice —the flat crystal ball — and after several minutes finding various information for the party, a
series of operations by the machine brought an
image of a faceless man to the screen. Snarling, the
adventurers ordered the clockwork servant to shut
the device off immediately, and the party then left
the place in considerable haste, for they all felt that
the thing which appeared could see without eyes,
could sense their presence even through a scrying device. With the automaton riding aboard their metal
carpet of flying, the adventurers set forth once more
determined to find a place where the magic forces of
the strange world they were marooned upon were
weak, a place where teleportation and plane shift
would enable them to return home.

Traveling along the metal wall which confined the
boundary of this world on the west, the party saw
nothing more of threat or interest to them, and by
the end of the day had put many leagues between the
automaton’s building and themselves. Early the next
morning, the wall turned northeast, and following
this turn soon brought them to a place where there
were many large and small metal doors. Beside each
was a strip of colored material — while not the same
color as the brown and red of the bracelets taken,
still of the same unknown composition. As the adventurers were well acquainted with the mysterious
method of door-opening which prevailed in the
metal vessel, it was no problem to cause a set of the
great valves to part. A very large metal room was
thus revealed. In the place was another strip of the
colored material which showed rectangles of blue
and red stripes, brown, green, gray, and brilliant red
which exactly matched the color of the first wrist
band the group had discovered in the remains of the
faceless thing which lurked within the cube of
colors. Also scribed on the walls were strange glyphs
and symbols. Warily these marks were first perused,
then deciphered. They told of a people who allied
themselves with men of any kind — evidentally halfling, elf, dwarf, whatever were attacked by the weird
monsters of the place and banded together to seek
protection and revenge upon giant plants which ate
men and werewolves which slew with weapons. The
device of this league was an open eye. This information was carefully noted for future reference, as the
group thought that these people would be likely to
aid them.

Thereafter, when all of the strips of pure red color
were touched with the matching part of the bracelet,
there would be a delay, and then the huge portal
would slide open to reveal first one weird place, then
another. None suited the party, and when the last
disclosed egg-shaped automatons which spewed
forth streams of leather-like missiles, the red layers
of the world were written off as not suitable places
27

for the adventurers to seek escape — especially since
the missiles of the automatons had knocked the hapless Flatchet and the warlock Rentar unconscious.
Fortunately, the machine which served the party
could quickly revive the pair, and the search for a
place to escape continued. The group decided that
they would try brown and green areas, and after six
different layers of the ship had been revealed by application of the red wrist band to different rectangles, an inviting vista of low mountains and trees in
the far distance drew them from the metal room into
the reaches of the layered world again.
That night they made camp near the edge of a
large forest. Alert as ever they must be in this place,
a formation of werewolves brought the whole party
to wakefulness not long after they had laid themselves down to sleep. These creatures were marching
like men-at-arms and carried weapons too. The
watch had spotted them at some distance, so it was
not difficult to blast them at long range with a carefully aimed fireball from the wand. The creatures
died easily, and examination of the corpses for loot
disclosed a metal cone. The automaton was instructed to demonstrate the use of the device — at a
fair distance — to the party, so it flew (or levitated
perhaps) into the air. A bright beam of light sprang
from the cone, swept through the sky, and then
glared down upon the adventurers. Angry shouts
brought the machine back to earth, and the group
moved hurriedly to a location several miles distant,
for they were certain that unwelcome visitors would
be attracted to the spot where the beacon had shone.
It proved true, for later that night still another company of the werewolves was sighted marching towards the locale of the first camp. These too were
taken by surprise at a distance and wiped out in a
single stroke by a fireball. These beasts had nothing
of value save a contraption of thin metal rods which
the leader wore to brace its legs. Rentar put them on.
his own limbs, fastened the device’s belt about his
waist, and attempted to set them in motion. There
were numerous dials, switches, and levers to operate, however, and even with the aid of an augury
spell the attempt came to a bad end. After several
operations of various knobs and switches, the thing
gave off an odd humming and tiny lights began to
wink madly along the belt. Without much urging
from the others, the warlock hurriedly divested himself of the contraption, and it was tossed onto the
deck of the disc for possible use at a later time.
The next day the party traveled through a countryside which consisted of forests occasionally broken
by meadowland. Moving southwards still, they
eventually came to a wall which prevented any further travel in that direction, so the course was turned
to the west for a few leagues, and as dusk approached the carpet was steered back northwards in
order to insure a relatively safe campsite amongst
the shelter of a woodland there. But night time is
dangerous anywhere, particularly so on the world of
layers, and the party spent an active rather than restful night.
When full darkness fell the guards noted a strange
glowing a few furlongs distant. As the metal carpet
could see as well in darkness as in daylight, it was no
trouble for it to transport the group to the source of
the eerie light. Caution was used, but all that threatened was a primitive hut, covered over with skulls of
animals and humans, but shedding a glowing light
nonetheless. Thurible immediately identified it as
the place of some evil cleric. The party did not approach too closely, but camped nearby and watched
both the hut and for unwelcome intruders until the
sun of the world glowed softly in its strange "dawn".

The gem of seeing was employed after the cleric’s
spell for detecting traps revealed that there were
many on the hut. Nothing moved about the place,
but a watchful eye was kept on the path which
snaked northwards from the hut to some unknown

istance in the surrounding woods. Meanwhile the
magical gem showed that the supposedly crude hut
was a metal building masked by branch and thatch.
The place glowed because of deadly lightning coursing through it, and any unwary creature touching the
place would be done to death. When no means of
dispelling this magic could be located near the entrance to the place, a wider search was begun, and
this soon discovered a lever hidden in a nearby bush.
A simply movement of this switch caused the magic
to desert the hut, and the doorway to change from
the dead black. of a force wall of some. sort to normality. Luckily, Neb Rentar did look further for
some other small trap, for what looked like a red
blanket was noted to be rolled up above the door.
When this blanket was poked with a stick, the limb
was torn from Dorag’s grasp and disappeared into
the creature — for there could be no doubt that
some monster which appeared to be a blanket lurked
above. Poisoned sticks and flaming branches were
subsequently poked at and consumed without noticable harm by the creature. Black rays from the pistol
wands did not harm it. Rentar paced back carefully
and aimed a fireball so as to just lap into the hut’s
doorway. The thing had dropped down tentacles,
evidentally feeding and growing upon the material
we had thrust at it, and if they were to gain entrance
to the hut and loot it, the party would have to destroy the guardian —or at worst keep it from getting
large enough to be able to reach tentacles into any
place within the hut, if some other means of ingress
to the place should somehow be discovered.

he blast of the missile caused the creature to
drop several of its scarlet appendages and to curl up
and a bit away from the opening. Success! Seeing
this; the warlock decided to use one of his few
precious spells remaining to him, so a wall of fire
was conjured up. Just as it began to roar into full effect, a buzzing occurred, and down from the heavens shot a broad beam of deep blue. When this ray
met the wall of fire a flickering aura sprung up, and
a moment later the magical flames were completely
extinguished. Additional fireballs could be cast, but

each such attack ran the risk of being miscast and
destroying part or all of the contents of the hut.
There was another solution, risky or otherwise, teleporting into the place by means of Hodkin ApAwrd’s sword. The half-elf was urged to do this, for
it seemed unlikely that the guardian’s tentacles commanded more than the doorway. With a somewhat
desperate air, Hodkin winked out of existence where
he had stood before the metal hut and simultaneously appeared on the section of the hut’s floor
which had been carefully scanned under the bright
light of one of the magical cones.

The half-elf discovered a wealth of interesting objects in the interior of the building. He quickly
scooped up numbers of the large and small cubes
upon which automatons and wands alike fed. A
metal club topped off the pile, and he was out and in
again, leaving those outside to sort through the haul.
Back inside Hodkin examined several suits meant to
disguise the wearer as some plant monster, a fourarmed human, and so on. Being cautious, he noted
that a number of green smears discolored these
skins. Taking a small orange disc from a pile on a
nearby shelf, the half-elf scraped some of the greenish sap onto the disc. The stuff sizzled as it contacted
the disc, and Hodkin quickly dropped it, for the
potent goo completely destroyed the disc with corrosive action. There was also one of the odd flat
scrying devices on the wall, with a bench full of
strange openings standing before it. Ap-Awrd ignored both, fearing to call attention of the faceless
men upon his activity. All that remained within the
hut was an unusual back pack and a rod. Hodkin
grabbed these and left the hut for the last time.
Being rather satisfied with the results of their activity, the party decided to follow the path which led
northwards from the hut, as they felt confident they
could overcome any additional opposition from the

hut’s owner and perhaps gain yet more. If, by
chance, the owner of the place was one of the people
of the eye, they could make amends if their reception
called for it. With the new loot piled aboard their
flying disc, the adventurers went on to find where
the path led. After a short time they came to a small
village, and it was populated with the strangest conglomeration of creatures the bold adventurers had
yet seen.

A number of crude huts of various sizes surrounded an open area in which the party brought
their craft to rest. They were immediately surrounded by a throngof humans, distorted  humans
with multiple appendages orsimilar freak nature,
animals, and mobile vine-likeplants which gave out
a pleasanthummingsound. An imposing figure in
garb whichindicated his position as a shaman strode
forth. As the obvious questions he was uttering were
unintelligible to the party, Thurible cast a tongues
spell, and attempted to engage in a cleric-to-cleric
discussion; something about this shaman immediately rang false. Thurible inquired about the god of
the shaman, if they were people of the eye symbol,
and what theycalled themselves. The shaman replied
that their god was ametal being which rested inside
the largest (his own, of course) building, that they
were most certainly-not people who had anything to
do with the eye, and the trespassers were amidst the
people of the “Tribe of Thirdlev”. He then spoke of
the tribe as being hostile to all humans who did not
welcome god-changed (he used the term “mutated”)
animals and plants. After a few additional remarks,
the shaman then ordered the party to disarm themselves and submit to examination and questioning by
himself and the tribal leaders. As he spoke the
throng of creatures and freaks about the metal flying
carpet upon which the group stood ready increased
dramatically. Armed and threatening men and monsters pressed closer. Some of the humans and human-things glowed or created mirror images of
themselves. As Thurible refused, and suggested that
the sham<an?> and his charges might better acknowledge
the adventurers as their new leaders, the vine creatures began to hum and sing a most soothing and
pleasant song. “Beguiling!” shouted some of the
adventurers; “beware of charming!” said the cleric,
as he began the incantation and passes which moments
later brought down a curtain of silence
around them all.

The shaman was obviously very angry and intent
upon calling down the wrath of the entire tribe upon
the party. A fireball from Hodkin and black rays
from the weapons of Flatchet, Thurible, Dorag, and
Rentar slew the pseudo-cleric on the spot, and as his
corpse toppled it turned into reddish jelly. Horror
spread over the visages of all of those onlookers who
had recognizable faces. The shock was in part at the
death of their shaman, but primarily it was caused
from what his death proved him to have been — a
faceless thing masquerading as a human! Most of
the Third-levers turned and fled in shame and shock.
Several of the small huts were aflame, and fearing
that the fire would spread to the large central structure which was the most likely repository for treasure, Thurible urgently motioned Neb towards the
dark entrance of the place. The warlock complied
hurriedly, unfortunately for him. A flash of released
energy greeted his attempt to pass through the
portal, and Rentar fell stone dead before the trapped
doorway. While Scrag the assassin and Dorag kept
their wand pistols trained on the few remaining
tribesmen, Hodkin went to the magic-user’s body
and removed the still intact gem of seeing. Meanwhile, the cleric cast a successful raise dead upon the
body of Neb Rentar, and the mechanical churigeon
proceeded to restore him to full vigor. Gazing
through this device revealed the shaman’s dwelling
to be criss-crossed with a mesh of fine wire. Thurible
took forth a coil of strange silvery wire that had been
acquired during the course of their sojourn on the
vessel of layers. He thrust one end into the ground,
and tossed the other onto the mesh which guarded
the hut. Power flowed through the thick strand, but
the gem of seeing still showed an aura around the
building. If anyone entering the place would be
killed, it was obvious that not even the shaman
would be able to go into it in its current trapped
state. Therefore the shaman must have a way to shut
down the field. While the others searched for a lever,
the cleric examined the remains of the pseudoshaman. A small black box with a switch protruding
from it was found.

Fearing further traps, everyone in the party got
aboard the disc and drew well-off while Thurible
screwed up his courage and stood before the building’s entrance and moved the switch. A faint click
sounded. The doorway of the place grew light, and
the interior of the building could be seen. Hodkin
and the cleric went in, but they found nothing of any
possible value save a ring of blue and red upon a
square of cloth which rested before one of the clockwork automatons common to this world. They
picked it up and came forth with obvious disappointment. Three of the tribesmen were awaiting
them, and these three glowed.

“You have brought ruin upon our tribe. You have
defiled our God’s sanctuary and taken out the sacred
artifact. You must replace it and make amends!” So
speaking the three creatures threatened the adventurers. They did not seem fearful, but confident.
“We can slay you all if you do not comply now,”
one said, “for we have great powers.” This seemed
possible, as the words came to each member of the
group by telepathy.

“Surrender yourselves, or die!” shouted Thurible. Then the battle was on.
One of the glowing figures gazed at the warlock,
and Rentar gasped and clutched his head. All of his
spells — all knowledge of magic — were gone! The
other party members felt a tug as if their strength
was flowing away. The cleric cast a hold person spell
to stop these fell magics, and one of the creatures
stopped glowing and stood immobile and helpless.
The two remaining ones drew more strength from
the adventurers, but a criss-crossing pattern of black
rays struck them as all of the individuals of the party
used their deadly pistols to effect. In but a few

seconds the combat was finished and the tribesmen
dead; the rays coupled with a fireball slew them most
easily. “Let us leave this miserable place far behind,” urged Hodkin. Picking up the stunned Rentar, gathering their silvery wire, the party boarded
the traveling device and went away, not certain if
they had won or lost, for the magic-user had become
quite unable to comprehend anything connected
with dweomer and knew not a spell from a spigot.
Returning from whence they had come upon this
tier of their exile world, the adventurers were prepared to go into the gates of the room of levels again
when Dorag spotted an arrow pointing to the southeast. Closer inspection also showed the glyphs of the
eye. All agreed that they might as well follow this
pointer as go elsewhere. They needed friends and
allies badly, and perhaps the people who showed
friendship for all humans with their signs would actually practice what they scribed. Only Neb Rentar
was not a bit cheered by the prospect, having grown
morose and gloomy after the magical loss of his
powers. The carpet moved them speedily in the direction desired, but almost immediately they met
trouble.

   A cloud of miniature men came out upon the

party, tiny men mounted upon giant dragonflys.
These atomies were armed with bows, and looked
threatening despite their size although they did not attack.
Before the other members of the group
could do anything, the vituperative Rentar ordered the <>
automaton to slay the sprite-like creatures. The
automaton complied, but as the little men died, they
showered forth a cloud of arrows which struck down
the ex-warlock and one of the two remaining gnolls.
The group went on with regrets, for they suspected
that the tiny creatures had been sentinals for the people <>
of the eye, and slaying them would not favorably
impress their hoped-for allies. Again, the former
magic-user had to be raised and then revived by the
cleric and the automaton's ministrations. A short
time later, still proceeding to the southeast along the
track marked by the eye symbols, the party was attacked
by a flying automaton. This thing was upon them immediately,
and it would have done great execution
had not the alert Thurible pressed the two-colored
ring upon it, presenting the device boldly as if it
were a holy symbol. At this the device stopped
short, and the party's own automaton was instructed
to speak to the machine and ask if it obeyed the ring.
The thing related that indeed it did and would continue to do so.
It was ordered to follow and guard the adventurers, and that it did most dociley.
Yet another automaton sallied forth to attack the party within a league,
but now that the adventurers were warded by
two of their own machines, it was quickly
subdued and enlisted, and now a large train of clock-work
monsters and adventurers followed the road to
the people of the eye. They were to meet them in
but a few minutes.

When this meeting occurred the adventurers were
greeted in a friendly, if not warm, manner. Two very
muscular men, bristling with weapons, strode forth.
Both were amazed to see the machines obeying the
party — even more surprised to note the blue and
red ring which the cleric displayed upon his hand.
The leaders of the people called for a telepath, and
soon the two groups were deep in conversation. Yes.
The people of the eye were friendly towards all humans of good will. Yes. They would happily welcome the adventurers to the sanctuary of their village, and they would help them to leave this world,
for they knew how to get outside its magical fields.
Yes. There would be a price for such services, for the
Vigilists (as they named their conglomerate tribe)
were locked in a struggle of life and death against
faceless men, wolfoids (the werewolves), and even a
group of evilly disposed human merchants bent on
revenge against them for acts which the Vigilists
committed in order to improve the lot of all humans
in this world. The price required of the party was the
two-hued ring and the pistol wands, called protein
disruptors, by the Vigilist leaders.
The parlay grew into a detailed conversation.
When the adventurers related the whole of their tale,
how they had destroyed well over a score of faceless
men and nearly a score of werewolves (and had
numbers of charred pelts to prove it!) their hosts
were visibly pleased, and a great feast was ordered.
The Vigilists told more of their adventures and activities,
their plans and purposes, and the adventurers
were in turn impressed. "Here," exclaimed Hodkin
"is a place a bold adventurer could stay for a time
and do great deeds!" Flatchet, Dorag, and Thurible
agreed heartily -- although the cleric reserved agreement
pending his appointment as the chief priest of the Vigilists.
After a few days only, an amicable
agreement was reached: the Vigilists would escort
the adventurers to a place where Thurible could
employ his plane shift magic to send both Neb Rentar
and the Gnoll back to their own world.
The other four adventurers would stay in this world of weird layers,
to seek wealth and aid the Vigilists. The Vigilists
would receive the special ring and all the excess
goods which the party had taken as spoils, and they
would give the adventurers positions of importance
in the organization, as well as whatever protective
devices and weaponry they needed. Thurible would
be shaman, Flatchet would teach his skills to promising
young tribesmen, Dorag would train warriors,
and Hodkin would set to work to scribe a new (albeit
slim and very sketchy) book of spells. The half-elf
could thereafter see if any of the Vigilists could learn
magic-use as apprentices. The Vigilist lords, Xorax
and Al-Neen were most agreeable to this arrangement,
welcoming the fellowship of the adventurers
as trusted lieutenants and councilors. All could see
the benefits of a forceful cleric urging on all the
members to be more zealous in the slaying of androids
(faceless men), wolfoids, and those in opposition
to the Manifest Destiny of the Vigilists.

Within a few days Neb Rentar and the Gnoll were
sent upon their journey home, all of the gold and
jewels going with them. The adventurers now had
two more red bracelets, healing devices, weapons
which paralyzed and burned, a machine to restore
the magic to the cubes which powered their weapons, and other good items in addition to their own
magical arms, armor, and devices. They talked of
the intaking of the place where the aged werewolves
were housed, or retribution upon the metal fortress
of the faceless men, of humbling the puffed-up merchants who dared to place a price on the lives of
Vigilists, and of serving “Angels” by destroying
monsters of pure energy (could these be cousins of
will-o-wisps?) in order to gain divine aid. They were
now Vigilists, heart and soul. Their names were
scribed at the bottom of a broadside which was to be
spread far and wide on the layers of the world, a
tract which touted the Vigilist cause and offered a
rich reward for each merchant brought before the
Council of Vigil, each captive to be bound in thongs
of wolfoid skin or smeared with red gel. After all,
faceless men and clockwork monsters were nothing
more than creatures to be met and slain in the course
of adventuring, and did not the vista of wonderful
adventures lie just ahead?!

--The Beginning--