[Zce] [YACD] Deception and temptation by the Random Number God
Eric Bock
and the tempting given me by the Random Number God to try to clear it,
despite the certain death offered by closely encountering it.
This last was made clear as I entered the level. I saw horrible visions of
death, and, detecting monsters, the visions only became more real. To my
west was quite plainly a room full of the dead. After levelling some war
bears with psionic force and cutting down a gold dragon, I decided I would
cautiously avoid the graveyard by opening dimension doors around it. A
nightcrawler was lurking at its edge, and I preferred not to let it open the
room up.
And then did the God of Randomness tempt me. The gold dragon had dropped a
scroll of dispel evil, but I ignored this ploy. Surely any position where I
could read it to useful effect would be deadly. I continued around the
level, avoiding the pit. Presently I came near enough to find it contained
four nightcrawlers, an undead beholder, numerous wraiths, one druj,
two druj...
red druj, blue druj...
spring druj, fall druj,
hand druj, skull druj.
...er, five hand druj and three skull druj.
(apologies to Dr. Kaschei the Immortal)
Yes, I think I'll dimension door in and read my one scroll of dispel evil!
Er, I mean, continue to avoid the pit.
When I had come to the last remaining room, I was attacked by a Dreadmaster.
This was slightly obnoxious, as it drained my strength a bit, but the
creature of lies and falsehood, or whatever these particular ghosts are
supposedly made of, finally collapsed in a puddle. I stepped over the dozens
of trolls and barrow wights I'd inadvertently mindwaved while driving falsity
from the dungeon, and found the Random Number God was not nearly finished.
You have 2 Scrolls of Dispel Undead (h).
Verily, the RNG doth bestow upon me a second scroll of dispel undead, and
gives me assurance that if I read both I shall not die in an explosion like
unto the fires of hell!
Yeah, right.
You have a Scroll of Rune of Protection (h).
Indeed, it tempts me further with a scroll of rune of protection, yet I know
of its evil cunning and deceiving ways.
You have a Scroll of Genocide (j).
And furthermore, a scroll of genocide, that I might smite down the druj from
afar and vanquish what remains in glory.
Yes, the Random Number God has gifted me with a pit of instant death, but
claims this is not so, and gives me Items of Power it would claim will guard
me from the evil there.
I content myself with searching for lesser treasures, and plan to leave soon.
You dig in the rubble. You have removed the rubble. It breathes nexus.
Then the Random Number God became petulant, summoning a nexus vortex out of
the rubble to hasten, with its breath, my arrival to the pit of the damned.
Oh wait, I resist that.
At this time I was certain there was nothing of interest left on the level,
and began to make plans of my own about the graveyard, whereupon the RNG
sent a stray Nazgul to my hiding place, out of boredom.
You sense the presence of monsters! The Nazgul hits you.
The Nazgul says: 'Surrender, miserable flea!'
Not a chance.
You hit the Nazgul. The Nazgul flees in terror!
The Nazgul says, 'Wait! Spare me and I'll make you rich!
Money is not a problem!'
Got plenty of that stuff.
You have destroyed the Nazgul.
Something rolls beneath your feet.
On the ground: a Jewel Encrusted Crown of Lordliness [0,+4] (+2).
Funny, he didn't look like the Witch-King...
Then, to put the above plan into action, did I pass by the wall of the pit;
summoning my profound mental energies, did I blow it verily unto kingdom come.
There is a searing blast of light! You are blind!
There is a searing blast of light! There is a searing blast of light!
The God indeed controls the forces at the heart of atoms, and did not permit
that all of the graveyard be destroyed, for it is cunning, and sees that by
allowing it to remain, it may still lure me to a similar destruction.
And the Klackon saw that weaker and more scattered monsters remained, and
tarried a while to mash them into paste, and by crushing a Nightcrawler thus,
did the insect come by a Ring, called Frakir by some, and the RNG smiled and
said, 'Thou art forgiven for nuking my Graveyard; by this Ring you see that I
remain kind, and by returning to the irradiated place you may yet
die^Wemerge victorious.'
You hit the Nightcrawler. You have destroyed the Nightcrawler.
You see a Moonstone Ring. You have The Ring 'Frakir' (+1) (q).
Gradually I fought the remaining undead, moving somewhat closer to the
remainder of the graveyard, though I paid little attention to this fact.
And then the Random Number God spake again, saying, 'Indeed, thou returnest
to the place of Atomic Fire, and thou seem to fight there! Thou shall
indeed have glory, though it shall be of a lesser glory than thou had, had
the Eastern half not been blown to tiny little bits!'
And lo, the Klackon replied, 'Shut up.'
Iron liches fell then, and Nightwings, a Nightcrawler, and an Undead
Beholder, and miscellaneous wraiths, wights, and lesser undead that could
not escape fast enough.
Then all was still... yet a single skull druj remained, and the
God of Numbers rolled d10's against its Summoning skill.
The Skull druj magically summons an undead adversary!
Fine, so you have a giant skeleton troll too.
You hit the Skull druj.
The Skull druj magically summons an undead adversary!
...and a Dracolich.
You hit the Skull druj.
The Dracolich breathes nether.
*** LOW HITPOINT WARNING! ***
A lucky roll! You'll never make _that_ again.
You feel very good.
You have 24 Potions of Healing {50% off}.
The Skull druj magically summons an undead adversary!
Sure, I'll take an undead beholder over a dracolich.
The Dracolich resists! You unstack your rod.
Whoops. They resist teleportation, don't they.
The Skull druj magically summons an undead adversary!
Indeed had the RNG summoned creatures great and powerful, yet finally the
druj fell apart in shards, and the Klackon did achieve her 44th level.
You hit the Skull druj.
You have destroyed the Skull druj.
Welcome to level 44.
Then the RNG did curse, and hissed in anger, 'Wait for the next time...':
its plans were as nought; and promptly I created a Displacement that the
evil beings could not resist. After a brief respite, I returned to the
place where the druj had collapsed, and encountered the Spectral
Tyrannosaur that had remained there.
The Spectral tyrannosaur bites you.
Your life slips away!
And the Random Number God said, 'See, even now I take from you that level
which you won by lucky accident.'
You hit the Spectral tyrannosaur.
You have destroyed the Spectral tyrannosaur.
Welcome to level 44.
And the Klackon replied, 'See, even now I slay your Spectral Tyrannosaur
that has stolen the level rightfully mine, and earned the level twice over.'
You hit the Dracolich.
You have destroyed the Dracolich.
'And lo, doth your Dracolich fall in a heap of bones upon the dry rock...'
The Undead beholder casts a mana bolt. The attack bounces!
The Undead beholder is destroyed.
'...and your Undead Beholder doth kill itself by its own Eye.'
Then was the God of Random Numbers finally undone, for it had no creatures
remaining upon the level, and the treasure lay upon the ground, unguarded,
in rich quantities.
And it was all useless to the mighty Klackon, for the Random Number God was
surly now, and does it not control the value of all that enters the dungeon?
[Zceband 2.1.3 Character Dump]
Name : Nakktkklkt Age 23 STR: 18/140
Sex : Female Height 52 INT: 18/150
Race : Klackon Weight 67 WIS: 18/180
Class : Mindcrafter Social Class 44 DEX: 18/***
CON: 18/210
CHR: 18/150
+ To Hit 35 Level 44 Max Hit Points 918
+ To Damage 38 Experience 2872512 Cur Hit Points 918
+ To AC 103 Max Exp 2872512 Max SP (Mana) 353
Base AC 17 Exp to Adv. 3240000 Cur SP (Mana) 192
Gold 2682481
(Miscellaneous Abilities)
Fighting : Amber [7] Perception : Excellent Blows/Round: 7
Bows/Throw : Amber [15] Searching : Very Good Shots/Round: 1
Saving Throw: Chaos Rank Disarming : Superb Wpn.dmg/Rnd: 14d5+266
Stealth : Excellent Magic Device: Chaos Rank Infra-Vision: 60 feet
(Character Background)
You are one of a hive queen's many children. You have red
skin and black eyes.
[Miscellaneous information]
Preserve Mode: OFF
Autoscum: ON
Small Levels: ON
Arena Levels: OFF
Recall Depth: Level 48 (2400')
You have defeated 24694 enemies.
[Character Equipment]
a) The Scimitar 'Soulsword' (2d5) (+10,+11) (+2 attacks) {@w0}
b) a Light Crossbow of Velocity (x3) (+11,+17)
I should probably use this more. Soulsword does plenty of damage, though.
c) a Ring of Damage (+17)
d) a Ring of Sound Resistance
Still don't have any other source of this resist. My only holes are light,
blindness, and shards; the blindness I can get by without due to the nature
of mindcraft.
e) an Amulet of Brilliance (+4)
f) The Phial of Galadriel (+1 to searching)
g) The Soft Leather Armour 'Hithlomir' [4,+20] (+4 to stealth)
h) The Cloak of Storms [1,+16] (+4 to infravision)
This provides constitution, infravision, cold and nether resistances, and
reflection. It's mostly because of the reflection that I don't wear
something else.
i) The Small Metal Shield of Zombi [2,+11] (+3 to searching)
More constitution, searching, fire resistance, and my only source of poison
resistance. It also activates for a bolt of fire.
j) The Steel Helm of Hammerhand [6,+20] (+3)
k) a Set of Gauntlets of Agility [2,+5] (+5)
l) The Pair of Soft Leather Boots of Flora [2,+15] (+5)
[Character Inventory]
a) 2 Mushrooms of Restoring
b) 23 Potions of Healing {50% off}
c) 4 Potions of Restore Mana
d) 5 Scrolls of Teleportation {75% off}
e) 4 Scrolls of *Identify*
f) 3 Scrolls of Recharging {25% off}
g) 22 Scrolls of Satisfy Hunger {60% off}
h) a Scroll of Rune of Protection
i) a Rod of Recall {@z8!*}
j) a Rod of Detection
k) a Rod of Healing (charging) {@z7!*}
l) a Rod of Destroy Mundane (charging) {@z0!!}
m) 3 Rods of Teleport Other {@z9}
n) a Ring of Strength (+4)
o) The Ring 'Frakir' (+1)
p) a Ring of Nether Resistance
q) The Small Metal Shield of Thorin [3,+25] (+4)
r) a Jewel Encrusted Crown of Lordliness [0,+4] (+2)
s) a Dagger (Holy Avenger) (1d4) (+12,+6) [+1] (+2)
t) The Tulwar of Joshua (2d4) (+10,+15) [+14] (+5 to speed)
Activates for earthquake. Not much use for this after gaining Akira-like
powers of destruction, although those are somewhat less than capable of
obliterating entire pits, as evidenced above.
u) a Lucerne Hammer (Pattern Weapon) (2d5) (+11,+9) (+2)
v) 26 Bolts of Frost (1d5) (+7,+10) {@f1}
w) 26 Bolts (1d5) (+4,+6) {@f0}
[Home Inventory]
Most of this is stuff I don't really have a use for. A few things are just
here against the possibility of artifact creation scrolls.
a) 15 Potions of Healing {50% off}
b) 2 Potions of *Healing*
c) a Potion of Invulnerability
d) a Scroll of Genocide
e) a Ring of Intelligence (+6)
f) a Ring of Damage (+16)
g) a Ring of Nether Resistance
h) a Ring of Shard Resistance
i) an Amulet of Anti-Magic
j) an Amulet of Resistance
k) Blue Dragon Scale Mail (-2) [40,+12]
l) Double Chain Mail (-2) [24,+3]
m) The Full Plate Armour of Isildur [25,+25] (+1)
n) a Robe of Permanence [2,+17]
o) The Leather Scale Mail 'Thalkettoth' (-1) [11,+25] (+3)
p) The Large Leather Shield of Celegorm [4,+20]
q) a Large Metal Shield [7,+6]
r) The Hard Leather Cap of Thranduil [2,+11] (+2)
s) The Cutlass 'Gondricam' (1d7) (+10,+11) (+3) {@w0}
t) The Broad Sword 'Glamdring' (2d5) (+10,+15) (+1 to searching)
u) The Blade of Chaos 'Stormbringer' (6d6) (+16,+16) (+2 attacks)
Stormy emerged from a fierce battle with a giant pit. Greater titans which
summon wall monsters become extremely difficult to fight; Stormbringer made
it more difficult by managing to be where I usually wanted to teleport to.
Fortunately I had the armor to deal with brief grazes.
v) a Glaive of Slaying (4d7) (+11,+7)
w) a Halberd of Slaying (5d6) (+9,+4)
x) a Ball-and-Chain (Holy Avenger) (2d4) (+11,+11) [+4] (+3 attacks)
--
/* Eric */main(s,i,j,k,c){char*p=malloc(s=1),*a=p+(*p=i=j=k=0)/* Bock */
;while(~(*a=getchar())&&(++a-p<s||(a=(p=realloc(p,s+s))+s)&&(s+=s))||(*a
=0));for(a=malloc(s=1),*a=0;(c=p[i])&&(c=='+'&&++a[j]||c=='-'&&--a[j]||c
=='>'&&(++j<s||(a=realloc(a,s+s))&&memset(a+s,0,s)&&(s+=s))||c=='<'&&j--
||c=='.'&&~putchar(a[j])||c==','&&~(a[j]=getchar()))|!strchr("><.,",c);i
++)while((c=='['&&!a[j]||c==']'&&a[j])&&(k+=(p[i]=='[')-(p[i]==']'))&&p[
i+=c/* Brainf*** */=='[']&&(/* worse than */i-=c==']'/* this sig! */));}
dacote
"Eric Bock" <eb...@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:9Ka48.13875$Fh4.1...@newsread1.prod.itd.earthlink.net...
> You hit the Nazgul. The Nazgul flees in terror!
> The Nazgul says, 'Wait! Spare me and I'll make you rich!
> Money is not a problem!'
LOL
Great story.
- dacote
Igenlode Wordsmith
> Here's my current character, after a brief bout with a graveyard at 2400',
> and the tempting given me by the Random Number God to try to clear it,
> despite the certain death offered by closely encountering it.
>
I'd just like to say how much I enjoy these posts :-)
--
Igenlode
'The Day the Stories Went Dark' - story now on-line at
http://curry.250x.com/HoedownII/intro.html
Glen Wheeler
wrote:
> [snip!]
>And it was all useless to the mighty Klackon, for the Random Number God was
>surly now, and does it not control the value of all that enters the dungeon?
> [snip!]
Man, that was great.
Very entertaining!