In which our heroine does get the Amulet–but doesn’t even make it out of Gehennom once she has it. AUGH. Farewell, Natil the Elf Ranger, and may your passage into the West be smooth sailing!
The run into Gehennom started off with a bang, I’ve got to admit. There I was poised at the stairs down from the Valley of the Dead, and I’m thinking, “well gosh, I have a whole other genocide scroll here, what should I take out?” Given that I’d already taken down the other major recurring threats that usually threaten my Ascension candidates, and given that I’ve lost a couple of promising high-level characters to sliming, the answer seemed pretty simple: P’s. Because green slimes are AUGH.
I did pretty damn well up until I got to Vlad’s Tower. Highlights of the initial phase of Gehennom were:
- Jubie at level 30, nothing a few good swipes from Stormy and judicious application of the unicorn horn couldn’t handle
- Sunsword found just lying around on level 31, not that I could use it as a Ranger, but hey
- Another amulet of life saving on that level as well
- Baalzebub at level 33, and he got a bit frisky and escaped via wand of digging down to level 34. I chased him back up to 33 to take him out
- 2 touchstones at level 35 finally let me get rid of my crap gems
- Orcus was at level 39, where I had it demonstrated to me that yes, I needed to wield Stormy AT ALL TIMES to be level-drain resistant. Notably, I found a magic lamp–yay, permanent light source! Didn’t use its wish since I didn’t know its curse status. I also found a cockatrice corpse and discovered that why yes, Orcus IS vulnerable to stoning. Muahaha. However, undeads and yellow dragons are NOT
- Another luckstone on level 40
I figured out that the top of the Wizard’s Tower was at level 42, and then backtracked up to find Vlad. His entrance turned out to be at 35. And in Vlad’s Tower was where I made my first critical mistake: not paying attention to what the hell I was doing with the cockatrice corpse I’d picked up on Orcus’ level. I burned through not one but TWO amulets of life saving, thanks first to triggering a land mine and THEN to falling down the goddamn stairs. The lesson here, my children, is of course to ALWAYS unwield your cockatrice corpse before you go down stairs. And make damn sure you’re not burdened if you’re going to play with cockatrice corpses.
I found another amulet of life saving in Vlad’s Tower, as well as getting some gauntlets of power identified (although I didn’t elect to use those). But still, that FAIL with the cockatrice corpse would come back and kick my ass later. Saved when I killed Vlad and got the Candelabrum, though.
When I got back to it the next night, an air elemental on level 45 gave me a SERIOUS beating. I pounded it with the Longbow of Diana, though, and then finished it off with my dagger. Even with a couple of enchantments on it, sadly, Stormbringer is not just that awesome an offensive weapon for a Ranger.
Polypiled some scrolls on level 46, and got another point of AC on the gaunlets of dexterity as a result. Back down to AC -39, WOO! (Though it’s important to note that even with my AC that low, both the air elemental AND various minotaurs encountered were able to do me serious damage.)
The portal into the Wizard’s Tower was in the fake tower on level 46, and that took me up to level 44. There, I engaged in wacky fun hijinx with a ring of conflict and another cockatrice corpse (handled more carefully this time around, to be sure), and cheerfully stoned anything left standing after the ring turned most of a big room of monsters against each other.
I got a bit of a start though when a big horde of vrocks and a pit fiend jumped me, and one of the bastards summoned Yeenoghu. I’ve killed Yeenoghu before in previous games so I wasn’t too worried, but still, this was Cause for Concern. Took me a bit to take him out.
Here is one of the sweetest pair of statements you can ever seen in Nethack: “You kill the Wizard of Yendor! The death ray bounces!”
So yeah, that was tasty. And I scampered downward to look for the vibrating square, which turned out to be on level 47. The wizard came back at me once before I did the Invocation, and again once I actually got into the Sanctum to go at it with the High Priest.
There was where my other fatal blows got dealt me. One, the Wizard cursed one of my bags of holding and I had to rescue what I could from it and flee, since I couldn’t afford to take the time to try to uncurse it and I was out of remove curse scrolls, and I think down to one holy water. And two, the High Priest burned through my last amulet of life saving.
So between those, I was pretty much screwed when the Wizard caught up with me again on level 37, and I couldn’t teleport away. AUGH!
Why yes, I did want my possessions identified:
Amulets
R - the Amulet of Yendor
Weapons
a - a +4 elven dagger (alternate weapon; not wielded)
b - the blessed +4 Longbow of Diana
m - 24 cursed +0 arrows (in quiver)
J - the rustproof +2 Stormbringer (weapon in hand)
Armor
e - a blessed fireproof +5 elven cloak (being worn)
i - an uncursed +4 orcish helm (being worn)
w - an uncursed +3 gray dragon scale mail (being worn)
A - an uncursed fireproof +4 pair of speed boots (being worn)
B - an uncursed +0 pair of gauntlets of power
G - a blessed fireproof +4 pair of gauntlets of dexterity (being worn)
O - an uncursed +5 shield of reflection (being worn)
Comestibles
Y - a cursed partly eaten food ration
Z - 3 uncursed food rations
Spellbooks
K - the uncursed Book of the Dead
Rings
c - a cursed ring of teleportation
F - an uncursed ring of levitation
X - a cursed ring of conflict (on left hand)
Wands
j - a wand of fire (0:5)
l - a cursed wand of cancellation (0:1)
q - a cursed wand of teleportation (0:0)
y - a cursed wand of cancellation (0:4)
C - a wand of digging (0:1)
W - a wand of cold (0:4)
Tools
f - the cursed Bell of Opening (0:2)
n - the cursed Candelabrum of Invocation (no candles attached)
x - a blessed +2 unicorn horn
H - an uncursed bag of holding
Gems
o - an uncursed luckstone
Contents of the bag of holding:
a cheap plastic imitation of the Amulet of Yendor
3 uncursed luckstones
a greased +0 pick-axe
a cursed skeleton key
a cursed potion of extra healing
a cursed potion of full healing
5 uncursed scrolls of teleportation
2 uncursed scrolls of gold detection
a blessed scroll of teleportation
10 uncursed scrolls of blank paper
14 uncursed K-rations
25 uncursed C-rations
a +4 elven bow
8 +0 arrows
a cursed magic lamp
a cursed blindfold
a potion of holy water
an uncursed potion of water
the fireproof +0 Orcrist
the rustproof +0 Trollsbane
a wand of fire (0:1)
a wand of fire (0:6)
a wand of death (0:1)
a wand of lightning (0:0)
a wand of teleportation (0:4)
an uncursed amulet of reflection
the +0 Sunsword
a wand of secret door detection (0:12)
a wand of cold (0:3)
a wand of teleportation (0:4)
a cursed wand of teleportation (0:0)
a wand of undead turning (0:4)
a wand of teleportation (0:5)
a wand of opening (0:4)
a wand of wishing (0:0)
an uncursed ring of teleport control
an uncursed ring of fire resistance
an uncursed ring of regeneration
a cursed ring of slow digestion
Final Attributes:
You were piously aligned.
You were fire resistant.
You were cold resistant.
You were sleep resistant.
You were shock resistant.
You were poison resistant.
You were level-drain resistant.
You were magic-protected.
You saw invisible.
You were telepathic.
You had automatic searching.
You had infravision.
You were stealthy.
You caused conflict.
You were protected.
You were very fast.
You had reflection.
You were extremely lucky.
You had extra luck.
Bad luck did not time out for you.
Good luck did not time out for you.
You are dead (5th time!).
Vanquished creatures:
Baalzebub
Orcus
Yeenoghu
Juiblex
The Wizard of Yendor (4 times)
a high priest
a mastodon
Medusa
Croesus
6 iron golems
a storm giant
a titan
3 glass golems
a balrog
5 purple worms
7 gray dragons
4 red dragons
a white dragon
an orange dragon
5 black dragons
2 blue dragons
4 green dragons
4 yellow dragons
13 minotaurs
5 jabberwocks
Scorpius
8 baluchitheria
Vlad the Impaler
7 stone golems
a master mind flayer
18 Olog-hai
a Nazgul
10 pit fiends
a hell hound
10 titanotheres
9 trappers
2 baby red dragons
a baby white dragon
a baby green dragon
a baby yellow dragon
a guardian naga
27 vampire lords
4 skeletons
9 aligned priests
8 captains
6 shades
7 nurses
7 ice devils
7 nalfeshnees
6 lurkers above
2 Aleaxes
2 frost giants
an ettin
4 golden nagas
6 black puddings
25 vampires
11 lieutenants
34 ghosts
3 queen bees
3 winged gargoyles
a mind flayer
6 giant mimics
8 zruties
4 fire giants
4 ogre kings
4 ice trolls
14 rock trolls
12 umber hulks
3 flesh golems
4 Elvenkings
2 doppelgangers
14 hezrous
9 bone devils
6 large mimics
6 wumpuses
3 fire vortices
a baby long worm
a baby purple worm
7 long worms
3 couatls
15 stalkers
3 air elementals
12 fire elementals
7 earth elementals
5 water elementals
4 hill giants
3 giant mummies
4 black nagas
9 xorns
23 giant zombies
3 elf-lords
25 sergeants
11 barbed devils
22 vrocks
2 salamanders
16 wargs
7 winter wolves
5 hell hound pups
29 small mimics
4 glass piercers
5 warhorses
5 steam vortices
12 xans
3 ettin mummies
2 ogre lords
16 quantum mechanics
16 trolls
a sasquatch
2 wood golems
3 erinyes
2 mariliths
2 sharks
4 electric eels
10 gelatinous cubes
4 pyrolisks
4 large dogs
6 freezing spheres
6 flaming spheres
6 shocking spheres
2 large cats
8 tigers
11 gargoyles
3 dwarf kings
11 tengu
5 ochre jellies
12 leocrottas
8 energy vortices
30 mountain centaurs
4 stone giants
4 elf mummies
8 human mummies
2 red nagas
2 pit vipers
a python
8 cobras
57 wraiths
8 carnivorous apes
17 ettin zombies
4 leather golems
5 Grey-elves
116 soldiers
3 watchmen
6 horned devils
6 succubi
9 incubi
15 chameleons
2 crocodiles
32 giant beetles
9 quivering blobs
26 cockatrices
24 wolves
5 winter wolf cubs
5 lynxes
6 panthers
7 gremlins
3 spotted jellies
69 leprechauns
3 orc-captains
6 iron piercers
4 mumakil
17 giant spiders
28 scorpions
7 horses
12 black lights
12 vampire bats
41 forest centaurs
6 gnome kings
7 orc mummies
4 dwarf mummies
6 ogres
4 brown puddings
2 rust monsters
8 owlbears
8 yetis
a gold golem
6 werewolves
4 Green-elves
2 piranhas
12 giant eels
22 lizards
11 chickatrices
7 dogs
3 dingos
7 housecats
6 jaguars
10 dwarf lords
6 blue jellies
a white unicorn
3 gray unicorns
a black unicorn
6 dust vortices
10 ravens
12 plains centaurs
10 gnome mummies
4 snakes
5 water moccasins
15 apes
25 human zombies
2 rope golems
a Woodland-elf
25 soldier ants
2 fire ants
18 bugbears
an imp
6 quasits
3 wood nymphs
7 water nymphs
a mountain nymph
11 Mordor orcs
24 Uruk-hai
6 orc shamans
11 rock piercers
8 rock moles
8 ponies
10 fog clouds
14 yellow lights
5 shriekers
9 violet fungi
25 gnome lords
8 gnomish wizards
4 kobold mummies
2 red naga hatchlings
a golden naga hatchling
2 guardian naga hatchlings
9 gray oozes
3 barrow wights
15 elf zombies
16 ghouls
5 straw golems
6 paper golems
a jellyfish
26 giant ants
2 little dogs
13 floating eyes
2 kittens
43 dwarves
3 homunculi
2 kobold lords
6 kobold shamans
42 hill orcs
35 rothes
3 rabid rats
4 centipedes
9 giant bats
7 monkeys
16 orc zombies
12 dwarf zombies
2 wererats
5 werejackals
17 iguanas
107 killer bees
16 acid blobs
16 coyotes
5 gas spores
8 hobbits
8 manes
3 large kobolds
22 hobgoblins
10 giant rats
13 cave spiders
a brown mold
2 yellow molds
3 green molds
2 red molds
83 gnomes
13 gnome zombies
14 geckos
24 jackals
3 foxes
3 kobolds
12 goblins
3 sewer rats
15 grid bugs
3 bats
17 lichens
18 kobold zombies
10 newts
2619 creatures vanquished.
Genocided species:
mind flayers
master mind flayers
liches
demiliches
master liches
arch-liches
gray oozes
brown puddings
black puddings
green slimes
rust monsters
disenchanters
krakens
13 species genocided.
Voluntary challenges:
You genocided 13 types of monsters.
You used 12 wishes.
You did not wish for any artifacts.
----------
/ \
/ REST \
/ IN \
/ PEACE \
/ \
| Natil |
| 0 Au |
| killed by the |
| invisible Wizard |
| of Yendor |
| |
| 2011 |
*| * * * | *
_________)/\\_//(\/(/\)/\//\/|_)_______
Goodbye Natil the Ranger...
You died in Gehennom on dungeon level 37 with 1400566 points,
and 0 pieces of gold, after 76842 moves.
You were level 20 with a maximum of 150 hit points when you died.
You made the top ten list!
No Points Name Hp [max]
1 1400566 Natil-Ran-Elf-Fem-Cha died in Gehennom on level 37
[max 48]. Killed by the invisible Wizard of Yendor. - [150]
2 20094 Faanshi-Hea-Hum-Fem-Neu died in The Gnomish Mines on
level 10. Killed by a stone giant. - [80]
3 15591 Natil-Ran-Elf-Fem-Cha died in The Dungeons of Doom on
level 4 [max 7]. Killed by a soldier ant. - [59]