I'm sorry that I have a kind of esoteric question, but it has been bothering me for some time, and I cannot find a resolution.
There supposedly was a tripartite portal somewhere in the deepest levels of Greyhawk Castle, the original D&D megadungeon that was the playtesting ground for the game rules, that had a "Horsing Around" portal, a "Monkeying Around" portal, and a "Fooling Around" portal, according to a forum post by Gary:
Gary, speaking of shunned areas, you once described to me a 3-way intersection on the deepest levels. "Monkeying Around" (that lead to the Isle of the Ape), "Horsing Around" (Rob's centaur level if I remember correctly), and the 3rd escapes me. [...]
the horsing Around area led to a Sylvan area where centaurs were indeed one of the encounters. I might have that big map somewhere, included it as an adjunct to the CZ dungeons if it is located...or I am moved to re-create the woods and meadows.
The third area was identified beforehand as Fooling Around, and it was a double entendre name. I can't say more, for that would give away the surprise entailed in visiting the place. I don't mind saying that there was indeed a jester and A aouple [sic] of assistant "Jack Puddings" involved in the adventure. After the monkeying Around on the Isle of the Ape, all the high-level PCs put the word out to stay away from that part of the dungeon level...
Jim Ward, who was one of the players, recounts a very similar tripartite portal in an ENWorld post:
“You come upon three doors and each one is a bit strange,” Gary described. “The left one has the picture of an island in the middle of the door (it was the Isle of the Ape in playtest). The middle door has the picture of a walrus on a beach. The right one has a picture of an odd looking humanoid with a strange cap and in its hand is a strange crossbow pistol.”
This really sounds so similar that it feels like this should be the same portal: both are triple doors, both lead supposedly to Isle of the Ape, both have a kind of Jester portal.
But then, the group here was level 3 to 6, so way too low-level for adventuring in the deepest levels and Isle of the Ape was published as an adventure for character levels 18+. Also, while the Monkey and Fool match, the Walrus sounds arctic and not fitting with horses, and lastly, this session was probably in the Expanded Dungeon Gary re-designed with Rob Kuntz, not the Original 13-level one.
Does anyone know if these were two different tripartite portals, or the same that was relocated in the Expanded Dungeon?
