Warden
The starship Warden is a vessel meant to transport entire ecosystems between stars in a universe separate from the world of Greyhawk.
Description
Warden is described as an oval spheroid made of a newly fabricated metal alloy of great strength. It is fifty miles long, twenty-five miles wide, and eight and a half miles high. It contains seventeen separate decks, each filled with plants, wildlife and colonists from Earth.
Visitors from Oerth are unable to relearn any spells they know while on board Warden.
History
Warden was completed in 2288 AD (Earth years) as part of the great migration wave between the Sol system and the inhabitable exoplanets that Earth's astronomers had discovered. It left Earth's solar system in 2290 on a journey that would span many light years and generations.
About a third of the way to its destination, however, Warden passed through a mysterious radiation cloud that killed much of the life on board the vessel, subjecting many of the survivors to dramatic mutations. The humans were reduced to a state of barbarism, forgetting their mission and even that they were on a starship at all. To them, Warden was simply their world. In this strange world, they struggled for survival against the mutant plants and animals of the feral ecosystems in which they lived.
Generations later, a cursed scroll transported Neb Rentar, Scrag Flatchet, Thurible of Roaky, Dorag, Nivell, and Hodkin Ap-Awrd from the world of Oerth with a group of gnolls they had been fighting. After several adventures aboard the generation ship, Neb Rentar and one of the gnolls ended up returning to Oerth while the rest of the group remained behind.
Homages
- In The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan, a coppery figurine, finned and somewhat fishlike, can be discovered. On the figurine, in a script similar to Grey Elven, is inscribed the word II-NEDRAW, or Warden-II spelled backward. A panel on the figurine reveals small buttons, which if pressed cause the figurine to activate and fly away.
- Expedition to the Barrier Peaks features a spaceship inspired by Warden.
- On TSR's America Online message boards, Roger E. Moore wrote: "Did anyone notice the pseudo-Warden in Greyspace? (It's the Habitat.) I wish I had asked Nigel about that one. Perhaps we could use the old Metamorphosis Alpha booklet's internal maps for the Habitat, too..."
Bibliography
- Findley, Nigel. Greyspace. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1992.
- Gygax, Gary. Expedition to the Barrier Peaks. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1980.
- ———. "Faceless Men and Clockwork Monsters." Dragon #17. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, August 1978.
- Johnson, Harold, and Jeff R. Leason. The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1980.
- Ward, James. Metamorphosis Alpha. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1976.
External links
- Roger E. Moore's Spelljammer notes
Encyclopedia Greyhawkania Index
The Encyclopedia Greyhawkania Index (EGI) is based on previous work of Jason Zavoda through '08, continued by numerous other fans. The EGI article has a list of sources, product names, abbreviations, and a link to the full, downloadable index.
| Topic | Type | Description | Product | Page/Card/Image
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Archon, Warden | Monster | MC8 - Monstrous Compendium - Outer Planes Appendix | Insert (Archon) | |
| Archon, Warden | Monster | Manual of the Planes, AD&D 1e | 88, 123 | |
| Archon, Warden | Monster | OP1 Tales of the Outer Planes, AD&D 1e | 80 | |
| Azure Warden | Item | Ship, | Living Greyhawk Journal #3 | 26 |
| Blade Warden | People Group | People/Organization/Position, | Dragon magazine #348 | 68 |
| Council of Wardens (Irongate) | People Group | Council, | Dragon magazine #351 | 43 |
| Grust Redbeard (Warden Saltmarsh Jail) | Non-player character | Male, Half-Orc, Ftr11, | Dungeon Master's Guide II, D&D 3.5e | 120, 142 |
| Lux Seoni (High Warden) | Non-player character | Female, Human, [Mu11], | Dragon magazine #348 | 72 |
| Royal Pathwardens (Duchy of Urnst) | People Group | Dungeon magazine #085 | 73, 74, 75, 77, 78, 79, 81, 82, 84, 86, 87, 89, 91, 92 | |
| Timber Wardens | People Group | Living Greyhawk, Living Onnwal Gazetteer, D&D 3.5e | 45 | |
| Tomb Warden | Rules | Prestige Class, | Libris Mortis, D&D 3.5e | 57-58 |
| Witchwarden Tower (Sasserine) | Building | Defensive Structure, Tower, | Dragon magazine #348 | 72 |
| Witchwardens (Sasserine) | People Group | Organization/Society, | Dragon magazine #348 | 68, 72 |
| Witchwardens (Sasserine) | People Group | Organization/Society, | Dragon magazine #356 | 71 |