The Gygax is a rocketship built by Dr. Darien Mason for use by the Bloodwing Foundation in a Spark-induced state with help from Frau Annechen Lowey, Baron Klaus Wulfenbach and Qli-2. The fuselage was designed by Lumina Elvejhem. It was named after E. Gary Gygax, the creator of the Dungeons & Dragons RPG, who died the day ship was to be unveiled.
The ship is cobbled together with most of the supplies from Dr. Mason's laboratory, with teleportation systems installed by Frau Lowey. It has three levels: an engine room, a control room, and an observation deck.
The engine room houses a nuclear reactor fueled by a radioactive meteor that landed in Steelhead. The reactor is dedicated to powering the Tesla Drive engines at the base of the ship (and used by the Qli units for recharging). A conventional coal-fired steam boiler fuels the other functions of the ship. It is the floor with the lowest ceiling but the widest surface area in the ship.
The Control Room houses communication, navigaton, teleportation and engine systems. The room is crowded with machinery. Dr. Mason describes the style of this room as Steampunk meets Plan 9 from Outer Space.
The observation deck is the tallest room of the ship, as the Gygax was originally meant to be a fourth floor, which was removed from the plans. There are four concave, transparent portholes at each corner of the room. The portholes are meant to rotate to allow entry and egress from the ship but this was not finished in time for the maiden voyage. They are designed to close into self-contained pods in an emergency and jettison from the ship in case of evacuation. This room is lit by the glow of the green shield crystal in the nose cone from above.
The nose cone houses a large green rounded crystal of unknown origin that powers the protective energy shield that surrounds the ship.
As a Spark-built craft, the Gygax in its present state has some flaws. It lacks landing gear, so it cannot land. Also the rotating portholes Must be opened manually to physically enter the vessel. The easiest way to enter is by teleportation. Also, the system lacked an obvious weapons system - Qli-3 quipped to Qli-2, "we ARE the Weapons System!" However, as the Gygax's engines were pushed to full power to rip free from Earth's orbit, the Tesla drive projected a column of energy straight downwards, disintegrating the above-ground levels of the Bloodwing Foundation. Dr. Mason sheepishly admitted that perhaps he got his plans for his Tesla Drive and the Aether Cannon shuffled together. Also in the tradition of most science-fiction epics, the ship has no lavatory. Again, there was murmurring about the rotating portholes which were still non-functional.
The Gygax's maiden voyage was to rescue Dr. Mason's son Koen from an army of Qlippothic Steel units in the Void. Even if the ship survives the mission, the issues of the engine/weapons system must be resolved before returning to Earth's orbit.