I woke up alone, again. This time I don’t even have hope to keep my heart steady. My faithful, loving pets have been brutally murdered in front of my eyes. And it’s my fault. I could have left them in safety, and tried to take on the hoard myself. I should have known that they weren’t ready for this. Why did I force them into it? I need some time to sort out my feelings before I can go on.
Ok. I’m feeling a little better now. I don’t have much choice either way. I head down the stairs, and make my way toward the next set. Out of nowhere, I feel my body change. I feel like I could be anywhere I wanted to be, on this floor at least. I imagine the stairs, and the next thing I know I’m standing on top of them. This is going to be very handy. I walk down.
I wander around aimlessly, looking for things I can kill and sacrifice to Anhur. I notice some writing in the dust. I know what this means. I start looking for the secret door. Once I find it, I throw it open and step boldly past. A trap door opens under me, and I fall to the floor below. I should have seen that one coming.
I quickly run from room to room looking for the stairs leading back up. A few monsters try to stop my progress, but they are no match for my raw power. I find the stairs, and return to the altar. I open my bag, and drop everything I own onto it. It’s about time I found out what some of this stuff actually is.
I take careful notes on which items have a flash of light, and the colour. I soon know which of my items are blessed or cursed. I decide to start testing wands. I call up Spoiler to see if he can give me some advice.
“Hello?” Spoiler answers.
“Hi.” I say.
“Oh, it’s you, Faylen.” He responds.
“Yup, it’s me again,” I say.
“What do you need help with this time?” He asks.
“Well, I have a huge pile of shit, and I don’t know what any of it is, or does.” I say.
“That is a pain in the ass,” he agrees. “What do you think I can do about it?”
“I don’t know,” I admit. “I thought you might have some tricks for figuring out what this stuff is. I want to work on wands first, if that helps.”
“Well, wands are easy,” he says. “Not quite as easy as rings and a sink, but I can definitely give you some pointers.”
“That’s great!” I exclaim.
“Find a nice patch of dirt, and start writing in the dust with a wand,” he says. “Let me know what happens, and I’ll see if I can help you out.”
“Ok,” I say. “Give me a minute here.”
I walk over to the corner, and pull out the first wand. I decide to start with a basic brass wand.
“Is there anything specific I should write?” I ask.
“Do you really need to ask?” He replies.
“Well, yes. I just asked didn’t I?” I said.
Spoiler sighed. “Use the word Elbereth,” he said.
“Do I ask why, or just blindly trust you?” I ask.
“By now, you should trust me,” he said with another sigh. “But since you’re too curious for your own good, I’ll explain it to you. Elbereth is a word of power. Many monsters are scared of it, even if it’s just scratched in the dirt. Be careful, if it is just scratched in the dust, moving around or fighting monsters will rub it out, and then you’re stuck without any protection. It only works for monsters next to you, that would usually hit or bite you. If some nasty thing has a bow, you’re going to be hit by arrows regardless. And of course, a lot of stronger creatures like demons just ignore it. But if you’re testing wands, there’s a chance you find a wand of fire or lightning. It will engrave the word into the stone where it can’t be rubbed out. That’s why you use that as your test word.”
“Okay,” I say. “That makes sense. I think. Let me try it out.”
I grip the wand, and carefully scribble in the ground. I watch as the bugs on the floor slow down.
“I know this one,” I say into the phone. “The bugs slowed down, this must be a wand of slow down.”
Spoiler laughs. “It’s usually called a wand of slowing, but yes, you are right. Very handy if you need to run away from a fight, or just gain a slight advantage over a fast foe.”
“This is easy,” I say. “Ok. I’m trying the next one.”
I take the spiked wand from my bag, and repeat the procedure. The previous writing vanishes before I even start to write. I finish the word, then talk to Spoiler.”
“Ok, this might not be as easy as I thought,” I tell him. “The old writing vanished, but when I engraved the word again, it didn’t look special or anything.”
“Ah, that’s a very dangerous thing,” he replied. “The wand is either invisibility, teleportation, or cancellation. All three are very powerful in their own way, and you should not use it until you are sure which one it is.”
“I have an idea what invisible and teleport do, but what does a wand of cancellation do?” I ask.
“That would take a lot of time to explain,” he says. “In short, it strips any magical properties from the thing you zap. Scrolls are blanked, potions are water, and a lot of monsters will lose their special attack.”
“That sounds powerful,” I say in awe. “I suppose if I were to ask, you would give me a suitable warning against using it, or something.”
“Just leave it alone for now,” he said. “You don’t know what that wand is, and all three types can be useful in the right circumstance. My only advice, do NOT put it into any bag or sack you haven’t identified yet. Especially if you got a bag at the top of Sokoban.”
“I did,” I reply. “And there was a wand in it. Not this one though.”
“You found a bag of holding,” He tells me. “I repeat, whatever you do, NEVER put that wand into that bag, until you are positive it is not cancellation.”
“Okay, okay,” I say. “I get it. I’ll play it safe. Now, if you’re done, I’m trying the next wand.”
I pick the marble wand this time. The bugs on the floor speed up. I tell Spoiler about it, and he agrees with me. This is a wand of speed.
Next I try a short wand. I don’t have the chance to engrave anything. I suddenly feel self-knowledgeable. I realize that the wand is one of enlightenment. I pass on the info to Spoiler, then chose the pretty silver wand next.
The bugs on the floor stop moving.
“Ok, I’m a bit confused with this one,” I admit. “The bugs stopped moving.”
“You either have an ordinary wand of sleep, or the rare wand of death,” he explains. “You probably should avoid using it until you know which one it is, especially since both types will bounce off walls, and can be reflected back at you.”
“That makes total sense,” I say. “Just one wand left.”
I carefully take out the wand that was in the bag of holding. I admire the jewels for a moment before I start scratching in the sand. Nothing happens.
“Nothing happened,” I tell Spoiler. “Is it broken?”
“No, no,” he says. “There are half a dozen wands that one could be. None of them are bad or dangerous, so you don’t have to worry. It won’t be much help in a fight though.”
“Ok,” I say. “I’m not even going to ask what the names are. I’ll just call it no effect or something. Does that please you?”
“Very much,” he says with a chuckle. “Now you said that was the last wand? I guess I’ll talk to you the next time you have some questions. You should probably go find that sink, if you have any doubles of your unknown rings.”
With that, he hangs up. I don’t even get the chance to ask what the sink has to do with rings. Bugger. Oh well, I’m supposed to be killing things, to sacrifice them. I should get back to business.
After running around in circles, and the occasional teleport to a different room, I come across a swarm of killer bees. I kill them without blinking, and I’m left with a single corpse, a pair of boots, and another food ration. I grab all three, and head to the altar. First I drop the boots and corpse on the altar. No special effects, the boots are safe to try on.
Before I start changing my wardrobe, I off up the corpse to Anhur. An object appears at my feet, and the voice of Anhur booms around me “Use my gift wisely!”
I reverently pick the item up. It’s an athame, and I can see the name Magicbane written across the blade. I stare at this magical weapon. It has a black handle, and looks like a simple double edged dagger. I’m suddenly glad that I’ve been training myself to use daggers while fighting. I hold it in my hand, expecting to feel some magic energy from it. I don’t feel any different. I almost feel cheated, but I tell myself to wait until battle to judge it.
Now that I have a fancy new weapon, I consider heading into the mines, but I decide to hang out here for a bit, and see what else I can get from Anhur. I suspect that this may be the only altar of his I find in the entire dungeon, and I want to make the most of it. I have more than enough food to last me. Before I start my search for monsters, I decide to change shoes. I don’t notice a difference. I also put on a pair of gloves I had forgot about. They don’t seem to do anything for me either. Just my luck, useless crap. But it does help protect me, even if it’s not much.
I come across a dwarf lord. I thrust Magicbane at him. The magic absorbing blade stuns him, and he falls dead. Sweet. I also feel more experienced. Even better. I pick up his body, along with some mythril armour. I wish I could teleport at will, and with that thought, I’m at the altar. It looks like I can. Nothing can stop me now. I let out a crazed laugh as I set fire to the corpse. My sacrifice is consumed, and I have a hopeful feeling. Good sign, maybe?
I try on the mythril coat, and my mind immediately rebels. I don’t think I can even cast a basic spell wearing this shit. I toss it in the corner and put my leather back on.
While looking for monsters, a wild house cat approaches. I immediately dig through my bag of holding for some food. I toss her a ration. I already feel better, it’s nice having a pet you care about, and that cares about you. I decide to name her Aurora, in honor of Aurora the first.
A warhorse runs down the hall towards us. I remember picking up a carrot earlier, and I hope that it’s still in my pack. I quickly rummage through my bag, and can’t find it. I remember my bag of holding, and take a quick peek inside. Jackpot. I have two carrots, and a banana. I don’t know if horses eat bananas, so I toss it a carrot.
The horse slows down, and the red glow fades from it’s eyes. Sweet, I now have a pet warhorse. It should be able to fight a lot better than a kitten. I decide to name it Sec, short for Secretariat.
I come across a water nymph, and manage to kill it by throwing daggers before it can get close enough to steal. It’s body fades away, but it leaves behind the familiar mirror, and a potion. I’m sure I’ve seen that potion before, from another nymph. I decide to take a risk, and drink it. I sense the presence of objects around me. There’s a pile of coins off in the corner. I teleport over, and pick them up. I’m getting quite rich now. I quickly teleport out, and resume my search for things I can sacrifice.
I finally give up, and decide to head to the mines. After a nice solid nap, of course.
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