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Thursday, 28 February, 2008 by Grey Knight
You throw a +2 sharp
twig.  }}}}}}.|....}
}}}}.%}}}}}}.----.}}
}}...}}}}}}}.|.>|.}}
}}}.(...}}}}.--.@.}}
}}}}}% }}}}}}.|.|0}}
}}}}}}}}}}}}}.|.|.}}
}}}}}}}}}}}}}..c...}
}}}}}}}}}}}}}.....}}
MedusaMedusa, one of the three Gorgons or Graeae, is the only one
of her sisters to have assumed mortal form and inhabited the
dungeon world.

When Perseus was grown up Polydectes sent him to attempt the
conquest of Medusa, a terrible monster who had laid waste the
country. She was once a beautiful maiden whose hair was her
chief glory, but as she dared to vie in beauty with Minerva,
the goddess deprived her of her charms and changed her
beautiful ringlets into hissing serpents. She became a cruel
monster of so frightful an aspect that no living thing could
behold her without being turned into stone. All around the
cavern where she dwelt might be seen the stony figures of men
and animals which had chanced to catch a glimpse of her and
had been petrified with the sight. Perseus, favoured by
Minerva and Mercury, the former of whom lent him her shield
and the latter his winged shoes, approached Medusa while she
slept and taking care not to look directly at her, but guided
by her image reflected in the bright shield which he bore, he
cut off her head and gave it to Minerva, who fixed it in the
middle of her Aegis.
        [ Bulfinch's Mythology, by Thomas Bulfinch ]

Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 by the NetHack Development Team
Copyright (c) 1994 by Boudewijn Wayers
NetHack may be freely redistributed. See license for details.
gazes at you! }}}..}}}}}}}}.|....} }}}}.%}}}}}}.----.}} }}...}}}}}}}.|.>|.}} }}}.(...}}}}.--.@.}} }}}}}% }}}}}}.|.|0}} }}}}}}}}}}}}}.|.|.}} }}}}}}}}}}}}}..c...} }}}}}}}}}}}}}.....}}
You throw a +2 sharp
twig. MedusaMedusa, one of the three Gorgons or Graeae, is the only one
of her sisters to have assumed mortal form and inhabited the
dungeon world.

When Perseus was grown up Polydectes sent him to attempt the
conquest of Medusa, a terrible monster who had laid waste the
country. She was once a beautiful maiden whose hair was her
chief glory, but as she dared to vie in beauty with Minerva,
the goddess deprived her of her charms and changed her
beautiful ringlets into hissing serpents. She became a cruel
monster of so frightful an aspect that no living thing could
behold her without being turned into stone. All around the
cavern where she dwelt might be seen the stony figures of men
and animals which had chanced to catch a glimpse of her and
had been petrified with the sight. Perseus, favoured by
Minerva and Mercury, the former of whom lent him her shield
and the latter his winged shoes, approached Medusa while she
slept and taking care not to look directly at her, but guided
by her image reflected in the bright shield which he bore, he
cut off her head and gave it to Minerva, who fixed it in the
middle of her Aegis.
        [ Bulfinch's Mythology, by Thomas Bulfinch ]

Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 by the NetHack Development Team
Copyright (c) 1994 by Boudewijn Wayers
NetHack may be freely redistributed. See license for details.
is hit by a sharp twig! }} }}...}}}}}}}.|.>|.}} }}}.(...}}}}.--...}} }}}}}% }}}}}}.|@|.}} }}}}}}}}}}}}}.|.|0}} }}}}}}}}}}}}}..c...} }}}}}}}}}}}}}.....}}
c "Sorry if do not get to write for some time, have heard rumours that mail demons charge small fortune to deliver from Gehennom."
You invoke the Seed 
of Life.  A treeI think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.
A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the earth's sweet flowing breast;
A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;
A tree that may in Summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;
Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.
Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.
        [ Trees - Joyce Kilmer ]

Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 by the NetHack Development Team
Copyright (c) 1994 by Boudewijn Wayers
NetHack may be freely redistributed. See license for details.
.} grows before you! } }}...}}}}}}}.|.>|.}} }}}.(...}}}}.--...}} }}}}}% }}}}}}.|@|.}} }}}}}}}}}}}}}.|#|0}} }}}}}}}}}}}}}..c...} }}}}}}}}}}}}}.....}}
c "Have enclosed box of royal jelly"'Royal Jelly,'" he read aloud, "'must be a substance of
tremendous nourishing power, for on this diet alone, the
honey-bee larva increases in weight fifteen hundred times in
five days!'"

"How much?"

"Fifteen hundred times, Mabel. And you know what that means
if you put it in terms of a human being? It means," he said,
lowering his voice, leaning forward, fixing her with those
small pale eyes, "it means that in five days a baby weighing
seven and a half pounds to start off with would increase in
weight to five tons!"
        [ Royal Jelly, by Roald Dahl ]

Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 by the NetHack Development Team
Copyright (c) 1994 by Boudewijn Wayers
NetHack may be freely redistributed. See license for details.
, and a black puddingThese giant amoeboid creatures look like nothing more than
puddles of slime, but they both live and move, feeding on
metal or wood as well as the occasional dungeon explorer to
supplement their diet.

But we were not on a station platform. We were on the track ahead
as the nightmare, plastic column of fetid black iridescence oozed
tightly onward through its fifteen-foot sinus, gathering unholy
speed and driving before it a spiral, re-thickening cloud of the
pallid abyss vapor. It was a terrible, indescribable thing vaster
than any subway train -- a shapeless congeries of protoplasmic
bubbles, faintly self-luminous, and with myriads of temporary eyes
forming and unforming as pustules of greenish light all over the
tunnel-filling front that bore down upon us, crushing the frantic
penguins and slithering over the glistening floor that it and its
kind had swept so evilly free of all litter.
        [ At the Mountains of Madness, by H.P. Lovecraft ]

Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 by the NetHack Development Team
Copyright (c) 1994 by Boudewijn Wayers
NetHack may be freely redistributed. See license for details.
corpse for Dad. Must go now, am about to reach the Castle."
MedusaMedusa, one of the three Gorgons or Graeae, is the only one
of her sisters to have assumed mortal form and inhabited the
dungeon world.

When Perseus was grown up Polydectes sent him to attempt the
conquest of Medusa, a terrible monster who had laid waste the
country. She was once a beautiful maiden whose hair was her
chief glory, but as she dared to vie in beauty with Minerva,
the goddess deprived her of her charms and changed her
beautiful ringlets into hissing serpents. She became a cruel
monster of so frightful an aspect that no living thing could
behold her without being turned into stone. All around the
cavern where she dwelt might be seen the stony figures of men
and animals which had chanced to catch a glimpse of her and
had been petrified with the sight. Perseus, favoured by
Minerva and Mercury, the former of whom lent him her shield
and the latter his winged shoes, approached Medusa while she
slept and taking care not to look directly at her, but guided
by her image reflected in the bright shield which he bore, he
cut off her head and gave it to Minerva, who fixed it in the
middle of her Aegis.
        [ Bulfinch's Mythology, by Thomas Bulfinch ]

Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 by the NetHack Development Team
Copyright (c) 1994 by Boudewijn Wayers
NetHack may be freely redistributed. See license for details.
gazes at you! You throw a +2 sharp twig. }}}}}.----.}} }}...}}}}}}}.|.>|.}} }}}.(...}}}}.--...}} }}}}}% }}}}}}.|@|0}} }}}}}}}}}}}}}.|#|.}} }}}}}}}}}}}}}..c...} }}}}}}}}}}}}}.....}}
c "Your loving sister, Cherry"
MedusaMedusa, one of the three Gorgons or Graeae, is the only one
of her sisters to have assumed mortal form and inhabited the
dungeon world.

When Perseus was grown up Polydectes sent him to attempt the
conquest of Medusa, a terrible monster who had laid waste the
country. She was once a beautiful maiden whose hair was her
chief glory, but as she dared to vie in beauty with Minerva,
the goddess deprived her of her charms and changed her
beautiful ringlets into hissing serpents. She became a cruel
monster of so frightful an aspect that no living thing could
behold her without being turned into stone. All around the
cavern where she dwelt might be seen the stony figures of men
and animals which had chanced to catch a glimpse of her and
had been petrified with the sight. Perseus, favoured by
Minerva and Mercury, the former of whom lent him her shield
and the latter his winged shoes, approached Medusa while she
slept and taking care not to look directly at her, but guided
by her image reflected in the bright shield which he bore, he
cut off her head and gave it to Minerva, who fixed it in the
middle of her Aegis.
        [ Bulfinch's Mythology, by Thomas Bulfinch ]

Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 by the NetHack Development Team
Copyright (c) 1994 by Boudewijn Wayers
NetHack may be freely redistributed. See license for details.
is killed by your sharp twig! .} }}}}.%}}}}}}.----.}} }}...}}}}}}}.|.>|.}} }}}.(...}}}}.--...}} }}}}}% }}}}}}.|%|0}} }}}}}}}}}}}}}.|#|.}} }}}}}}}}}}}}}..c...} }}}}}}}}}}}}}.....}}
c "PPS: Am still finding disturbingly large numbers of valkyrie corpses."


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Rating

001415
Average rating: Excellent
Number of ratings: 20

Comments

Antheridium February 28, 2008 03:17
First comment: 17 May, 2007 442 comments written
So the Seed of Life is the ChickatriceOnce in a great while, when the positions of the stars are
just right, a seven-year-old rooster will lay an egg. Then,
along will come a snake, to coil around the egg, or a toad,
to squat upon the egg, keeping it warm and helping it to
hatch. When it hatches, out comes a creature called basilisk,
or cockatrice, the most deadly of all creatures. A single
glance from its yellow, piercing toad's eyes will kill both
man and beast. Its power of destruction is said to be so
great that sometimes simply to hear its hiss can prove fatal.
Its breath is so venomous that it causes all vegetation
to wither.

There is, however, one creature which can withstand the
basilisk's deadly gaze, and this is the weasel. No one knows
why this is so, but although the fierce weasel can slay the
basilisk, it will itself be killed in the struggle. Perhaps
the weasel knows the basilisk's fatal weakness: if it ever
sees its own reflection in a mirror it will perish instantly.
But even a dead basilisk is dangerous, for it is said that
merely touching its lifeless body can cause a person to
sicken and die.
[ Mythical Beasts by Deirdre Headon (The Leprechaun Library)
and other sources ]

Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 by the NetHack Development Team
Copyright (c) 1994 by Boudewijn Wayers
NetHack may be freely redistributed. See license for details.
questMany, possibly most, Tours are organized as a Quest. This
is like a large-scale treasure hunt, with clues scattered
all over the continent, a few false leads, Mystical Masters
as game-show hosts, and the Dark Lord and the Terrain to
make the Quest interestingly difficult. [...]
In order to be assured of your future custom, the Management
has a further Rule: Tourists, far from being rewarded for
achieving their Quest Object, must then go on to conquer
the Dark Lord or set about Saving the World, or both. And
why not? By then you will have had a lot of practice in
that sort of thing and, besides, the Quest Object is usually
designed to help you do it.
[ The Tough Guide to Fantasyland, by Diana Wynne Jones ]

Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 by the NetHack Development Team
Copyright (c) 1994 by Boudewijn Wayers
NetHack may be freely redistributed. See license for details.
artifact. Makes sense. Excellent comic, and all that.

I'm having that problem with the text going out of the panel borders again. "deliver from Gehennom" actually ended up UNDER panel six, and I had to highlight it to find out what it said. Anybody else have this problem? Changing the text size only makes it worse. Using Firefox on Ubuntu (and it doesn't do this on Windows).
Wellan February 28, 2008 03:30
First comment: 27 November, 2007 247 comments written
Funny!

Uh...yeah, that's all.
Tony Hawk? Or something. February 28, 2008 11:23
First comment: 28 February, 2008 1 comments written
Good. I too am also having the same trouble with the text on panel three. Using Firefox on Ubuntu.

I'm also getting lots and lots of crap at the top of the pageThese strange creatures live mostly on the surface of the
earth, gathering together in societies of various forms, but
occasionally a stray will descend into the depths and commit
mayhem among the dungeon residents who, naturally, often
resent the intrusion of such beasts. They are capable of
using weapons and magic, and it is even rumored that the
Wizard of Yendor is a member of this species.

Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 by the NetHack Development Team
Copyright (c) 1994 by Boudewijn Wayers
NetHack may be freely redistributed. See license for details.
again. Nic, you should fix that ;)
Drizhen February 28, 2008 12:35
First comment: 21 February, 2008 20 comments written
I'm also getting lots of stuff at the top of the pageThese strange creatures live mostly on the surface of the
earth, gathering together in societies of various forms, but
occasionally a stray will descend into the depths and commit
mayhem among the dungeon residents who, naturally, often
resent the intrusion of such beasts. They are capable of
using weapons and magic, and it is even rumored that the
Wizard of Yendor is a member of this species.

Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 by the NetHack Development Team
Copyright (c) 1994 by Boudewijn Wayers
NetHack may be freely redistributed. See license for details.
...
Antheridium February 28, 2008 12:38
First comment: 17 May, 2007 442 comments written
I guess that's the price we pay for reading a comic written by a programmer. At least the comic is visible today. *grin*

So yeah, Firefox on WinXP doesn't have the border problem. There must be some system setting on Ubuntu that does it, but, idiot that I am, I don't know what.

Oh, and by the way, why is the 0 on the right moving back and forth?
Quint Sakugarne February 28, 2008 15:30
First comment: 1 January, 2008 233 comments written
(Shh...it's a mimicThe ancestors of the modern day chameleon, these creatures can
assume the form of anything in their surroundings. They may
assume the shape of objects or dungeon features. Unlike the
chameleon though, which assumes the shape of another creature
and goes in hunt of food, the mimic waits patiently for its
meals to come in search of it.

Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 by the NetHack Development Team
Copyright (c) 1994 by Boudewijn Wayers
NetHack may be freely redistributed. See license for details.
. You weren't supposed to notice that.)
@ February 28, 2008 15:37
First comment: 26 July, 2004 155 comments written
I think that's an O...

lol, interesting to see different perspectives (are chickatrices stone-resistant? I would think they would be...)
Drizhen February 28, 2008 15:41
First comment: 21 February, 2008 20 comments written
Nope, its a zero (changed the font to something where Os and 0s are easily-distinguishable).
zem February 28, 2008 18:26
First comment: 5 December, 2005 64 comments written
I think it's a linux firefox rather than an ubuntu thing - i'm having the same problem on sabayon
purjo February 28, 2008 19:33
First comment: 28 February, 2008 1 comments written
My Firefox at Gentoo does fine, no problem whatsoever, so every firefox in linux is not suffering from it.
Antheridium February 28, 2008 21:37
First comment: 17 May, 2007 442 comments written
Well, Windows FF will do it if I mess with the text size enough. It seems to involve the ratio of font size to panel size. I begin to suspect the problem involves Ubuntu FF using an oddball display font. Unfortunately, I don't know how to change that either. (Firefox is really rather lacking in the options menu... though to be fair I don't think IE had this particular option either.)
Antheridium February 28, 2008 21:47
First comment: 17 May, 2007 442 comments written
er... when I said ratio, I meant the size of the ordinary text (like in the panel dialog space, and presumably variable width) to the size of the text actually in the panel (presumably fixed width). This ratio changes when you change the text size, it would seem.
Toby Bartels February 28, 2008 22:12
First comment: 11 August, 2007 83 comments written
I'm using Firefox on Ubuntu too (a trend?), but ... I can read the captions just fine! (There is still a bunch of PHP crud at the top, however.)
Antheridium February 29, 2008 01:01
First comment: 17 May, 2007 442 comments written
Ah huh. Firefox does have a font dialog after all. Staring me in the face this whole time and I didn't see it... I really am an idiot. (It's on the Content tab.)

The problem, as far as I can tell, is that my proportional font had its size set to 16, and monospace was set to 12. Setting those equal (or thereabouts) seems to solve the border problem. Windows FF had proportional 16 and monospace 13, but it also has access to the Arial font (I notice that's specified in the comic stylesheet); you have to install MSTTCOREFONTS to get that on Linux.

Dion, Dion, Dion... you should know better than to write pages that only work in IE. Newt(kinds of) small animal, like a lizard, which spends most of
its time in the water.
        [ Oxford's Student's Dictionary of Current English ]

"Fillet of a fenny snake,
In the cauldron boil and bake;
Eye of newt and toe of frog,
Wool of bat and tongue of dog,
Adder's fork and blind-worm's sting,
Lizard's leg and howlet's wing,
For a charm of powerful trouble,
Like a hell-broth boil and bubble."
        [ Macbeth, by William Shakespeare ]

Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 by the NetHack Development Team
Copyright (c) 1994 by Boudewijn Wayers
NetHack may be freely redistributed. See license for details.
-puddingThese giant amoeboid creatures look like nothing more than
puddles of slime, but they both live and move, feeding on
metal or wood as well as the occasional dungeon explorer to
supplement their diet.

But we were not on a station platform. We were on the track ahead
as the nightmare, plastic column of fetid black iridescence oozed
tightly onward through its fifteen-foot sinus, gathering unholy
speed and driving before it a spiral, re-thickening cloud of the
pallid abyss vapor. It was a terrible, indescribable thing vaster
than any subway train -- a shapeless congeries of protoplasmic
bubbles, faintly self-luminous, and with myriads of temporary eyes
forming and unforming as pustules of greenish light all over the
tunnel-filling front that bore down upon us, crushing the frantic
penguins and slithering over the glistening floor that it and its
kind had swept so evilly free of all litter.
        [ At the Mountains of Madness, by H.P. Lovecraft ]

Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 by the NetHack Development Team
Copyright (c) 1994 by Boudewijn Wayers
NetHack may be freely redistributed. See license for details.
.
Kernigh February 29, 2008 01:44
First comment: 6 April, 2005 349 comments written
That seems to be a Firefox-specific problem. The text overflows the panels in Firefox (on my OpenBSD machine), but the comic looks fine in Konqueror.

As did Antheridium, I find that my Firefox uses size 16 for most fonts but size 12 for monospace. I can fix the comic by setting monospace fonts to size 16. The Firefox default (to use a smaller monospace font) was a bad idea.

Konqueror does not have a separate setting for default font size, and uses size 12 for all fonts; but size 12 in Konqueror is the same as size 16 in Firefox, I guess because Konqueror uses points but Firefox uses pixels.

My browsers do not use 'Arial'. (I have installed many extra fonts, including the DejaVu fonts, the Free{Mono,Sans,Serif} fonts and some Japanese M+ fonts, but I do not have MSTTCOREFONTS, so no Arial.)

I feel that the "$counts[...] = ..." crud or crap at the top of the pageThese strange creatures live mostly on the surface of the
earth, gathering together in societies of various forms, but
occasionally a stray will descend into the depths and commit
mayhem among the dungeon residents who, naturally, often
resent the intrusion of such beasts. They are capable of
using weapons and magic, and it is even rumored that the
Wizard of Yendor is a member of this species.

Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 by the NetHack Development Team
Copyright (c) 1994 by Boudewijn Wayers
NetHack may be freely redistributed. See license for details.
is the more significant problem.
Antheridium February 29, 2008 02:24
First comment: 17 May, 2007 442 comments written
Yeah, I probably made much ado about nothing; really, I just wanted to know how my system was misconfigured so as not to behave in the expected manner. That was something I could fix, after all.

The PHP spilling its guts is something we can only wait on divine intervention for, and I assume Dion knows what he's doing and is working on it; there's probably nothing to be gained by yelling "Fix your damn script already!" He can see it as well as we can, I'm sure.

And besides, when it's finally fixed, nobody will know what we're talking about here.
Slowpoke February 29, 2008 04:14
First comment: 27 February, 2007 239 comments written
The PHP spilling its guts is something we can only wait on divine intervention for

#pray and #offer to speed the process.
GreyKnight February 29, 2008 08:37
First comment: 24 March, 2006 48 comments written
I'd actually sent an updated version to take care of the caption problem, but looks like it didn't arrive (I've been having trouble with my mailserver the past little while, could be that). The boulderI worked the lever well under, and stretched my back; the end
of the stone rose up, and I kicked the fulcrum under. Then,
when I was going to bear down, I remembered there was
something to get out from below; when I let go of the lever,
the stone would fall again. I sat down to think, on the root
of the oak tree; and, seeing it stand about the ground, I saw
my way. It was lucky I had brought a longer lever. It would
just reach to wedge under the oak root.
Bearing it down so far would have been easy for a heavy man,
but was a hard fight for me. But this time I meant to do it
if it killed me, because I knew it could be done. Twice I
got it nearly there, and twice the weight bore it up again;
but when I flung myself on it the third time, I heard in my
ears the sea-sound of Poseidon. Then I knew this time I
would do it; and so I did.
        [ The King Must Die, by Mary Renault ]

Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 by the NetHack Development Team
Copyright (c) 1994 by Boudewijn Wayers
NetHack may be freely redistributed. See license for details.
, on the other hand, is just plain wrong. :-)

And, yes, previous Cherry strips established the Seed of Life as the object chickatrices are entering the Dungeons for. This is the first time we've seen her after the Amulet"The complete Amulet can keep off all the things that make
people unhappy -- jealousy, bad temper, pride, disagreeableness,
greediness, selfishness, laziness. Evil spirits, people called
them when the Amulet was made. Don't you think it would be nice
to have it?"
"Very," said the children, quite without enthusiasm.
"And it can give you strength and courage."
"That's better," said Cyril.
"And virtue."
"I suppose it's nice to have that," said Jane, but not with much
interest.
"And it can give you your heart's desire."
"Now you're talking," said Robert.
        [ The Story of the Amulet, by Edith Nesbit ]

Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 by the NetHack Development Team
Copyright (c) 1994 by Boudewijn Wayers
NetHack may be freely redistributed. See license for details.
though, I assumed she picked up that questMany, possibly most, Tours are organized as a Quest. This
is like a large-scale treasure hunt, with clues scattered
all over the continent, a few false leads, Mystical Masters
as game-show hosts, and the Dark Lord and the Terrain to
make the Quest interestingly difficult. [...]
In order to be assured of your future custom, the Management
has a further Rule: Tourists, far from being rewarded for
achieving their Quest Object, must then go on to conquer
the Dark Lord or set about Saving the World, or both. And
why not? By then you will have had a lot of practice in
that sort of thing and, besides, the Quest Object is usually
designed to help you do it.
[ The Tough Guide to Fantasyland, by Diana Wynne Jones ]

Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 by the NetHack Development Team
Copyright (c) 1994 by Boudewijn Wayers
NetHack may be freely redistributed. See license for details.
in-game, kinda like the opposite of how other roles do it.
Antheridium February 29, 2008 10:59
First comment: 17 May, 2007 442 comments written
I was wondering about that. I can just see her questMany, possibly most, Tours are organized as a Quest. This
is like a large-scale treasure hunt, with clues scattered
all over the continent, a few false leads, Mystical Masters
as game-show hosts, and the Dark Lord and the Terrain to
make the Quest interestingly difficult. [...]
In order to be assured of your future custom, the Management
has a further Rule: Tourists, far from being rewarded for
achieving their Quest Object, must then go on to conquer
the Dark Lord or set about Saving the World, or both. And
why not? By then you will have had a lot of practice in
that sort of thing and, besides, the Quest Object is usually
designed to help you do it.
[ The Tough Guide to Fantasyland, by Diana Wynne Jones ]

Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 by the NetHack Development Team
Copyright (c) 1994 by Boudewijn Wayers
NetHack may be freely redistributed. See license for details.
leader (Chicken Little?) saying "Now, if you could go and get the Amulet"The complete Amulet can keep off all the things that make
people unhappy -- jealousy, bad temper, pride, disagreeableness,
greediness, selfishness, laziness. Evil spirits, people called
them when the Amulet was made. Don't you think it would be nice
to have it?"
"Very," said the children, quite without enthusiasm.
"And it can give you strength and courage."
"That's better," said Cyril.
"And virtue."
"I suppose it's nice to have that," said Jane, but not with much
interest.
"And it can give you your heart's desire."
"Now you're talking," said Robert.
        [ The Story of the Amulet, by Edith Nesbit ]

Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 by the NetHack Development Team
Copyright (c) 1994 by Boudewijn Wayers
NetHack may be freely redistributed. See license for details.
, these adventurers would stop coming in here and killing us."

I like the idea that the Seed of Life makes trees grow, it seems like kind of a sucky power at first (and one that could cause more problems than it solves)... but I suppose it could also be very useful in certain circumstances.

...you know someone is going to actually make the Play-As-A-ChickatriceOnce in a great while, when the positions of the stars are
just right, a seven-year-old rooster will lay an egg. Then,
along will come a snake, to coil around the egg, or a toad,
to squat upon the egg, keeping it warm and helping it to
hatch. When it hatches, out comes a creature called basilisk,
or cockatrice, the most deadly of all creatures. A single
glance from its yellow, piercing toad's eyes will kill both
man and beast. Its power of destruction is said to be so
great that sometimes simply to hear its hiss can prove fatal.
Its breath is so venomous that it causes all vegetation
to wither.

There is, however, one creature which can withstand the
basilisk's deadly gaze, and this is the weasel. No one knows
why this is so, but although the fierce weasel can slay the
basilisk, it will itself be killed in the struggle. Perhaps
the weasel knows the basilisk's fatal weakness: if it ever
sees its own reflection in a mirror it will perish instantly.
But even a dead basilisk is dangerous, for it is said that
merely touching its lifeless body can cause a person to
sicken and die.
[ Mythical Beasts by Deirdre Headon (The Leprechaun Library)
and other sources ]

Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 by the NetHack Development Team
Copyright (c) 1994 by Boudewijn Wayers
NetHack may be freely redistributed. See license for details.
patch now. $DEITY have mercy on us all.
gneek March 2, 2008 02:54
First comment: 18 January, 2008 159 comments written
Cherry could have simply attacked MedusaMedusa, one of the three Gorgons or Graeae, is the only one
of her sisters to have assumed mortal form and inhabited the
dungeon world.

When Perseus was grown up Polydectes sent him to attempt the
conquest of Medusa, a terrible monster who had laid waste the
country. She was once a beautiful maiden whose hair was her
chief glory, but as she dared to vie in beauty with Minerva,
the goddess deprived her of her charms and changed her
beautiful ringlets into hissing serpents. She became a cruel
monster of so frightful an aspect that no living thing could
behold her without being turned into stone. All around the
cavern where she dwelt might be seen the stony figures of men
and animals which had chanced to catch a glimpse of her and
had been petrified with the sight. Perseus, favoured by
Minerva and Mercury, the former of whom lent him her shield
and the latter his winged shoes, approached Medusa while she
slept and taking care not to look directly at her, but guided
by her image reflected in the bright shield which he bore, he
cut off her head and gave it to Minerva, who fixed it in the
middle of her Aegis.
        [ Bulfinch's Mythology, by Thomas Bulfinch ]

Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 by the NetHack Development Team
Copyright (c) 1994 by Boudewijn Wayers
NetHack may be freely redistributed. See license for details.
in melee since MedusaMedusa, one of the three Gorgons or Graeae, is the only one
of her sisters to have assumed mortal form and inhabited the
dungeon world.

When Perseus was grown up Polydectes sent him to attempt the
conquest of Medusa, a terrible monster who had laid waste the
country. She was once a beautiful maiden whose hair was her
chief glory, but as she dared to vie in beauty with Minerva,
the goddess deprived her of her charms and changed her
beautiful ringlets into hissing serpents. She became a cruel
monster of so frightful an aspect that no living thing could
behold her without being turned into stone. All around the
cavern where she dwelt might be seen the stony figures of men
and animals which had chanced to catch a glimpse of her and
had been petrified with the sight. Perseus, favoured by
Minerva and Mercury, the former of whom lent him her shield
and the latter his winged shoes, approached Medusa while she
slept and taking care not to look directly at her, but guided
by her image reflected in the bright shield which he bore, he
cut off her head and gave it to Minerva, who fixed it in the
middle of her Aegis.
        [ Bulfinch's Mythology, by Thomas Bulfinch ]

Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 by the NetHack Development Team
Copyright (c) 1994 by Boudewijn Wayers
NetHack may be freely redistributed. See license for details.
is not stone-resistant and Cherry is.
Antheridium March 2, 2008 06:16
First comment: 17 May, 2007 442 comments written
So, I have to ask. What's up with the valkyrieThe Valkyries were the thirteen choosers of the slain, the
beautiful warrior-maids of Odin who rode through the air and
over the sea. They watched the progress of the battle and
selected the heroes who were to fall fighting. After they
were dead, the maidens rewarded the heroes by kissing them
and then led their souls to Valhalla, where the warriors
lived happily in an ideal existence, drinking and eating
without restraint and fighting over again the battles in
which they died and in which they had won their deathless
fame.
        [ The Encyclopaedia of Myths and Legends of All
                Nations, by Herbert Robinson and Knox
                Wilson ]

Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 by the NetHack Development Team
Copyright (c) 1994 by Boudewijn Wayers
NetHack may be freely redistributed. See license for details.
corpses? Is there something I'm missing about that? Or is it just supposed to be about Dudley dying all the time?
Rose March 4, 2008 20:46
First comment: 3 July, 2006 79 comments written
Would have rated this excellent even if sister was not named Rose :D Cherry - you go girl
Toby Bartels March 13, 2008 23:41
First comment: 11 August, 2007 83 comments written
In case anyone is still reading this about fonts and such ... still using Firefox on Ubuntu, and my font size is also set smaller for monospace (not 12 but still only 13, compared to 16 for normal), and yet the captions still fit. I don't think I have any unusual settings that would affect this (although I do have some unusual settings, such as no Javascript). Anyway ...
Antheridium March 16, 2008 21:29
First comment: 17 May, 2007 442 comments written
The settings I would be most interested in would be whether you're using different fonts than normal, whether you're overriding the fonts specified in the webpage, and whether you have your text size set to something other than 'normal'.
Fathead May 3, 2008 00:14
First comment: 1 April, 2006 1136 comments written
Not bad; I give it an eff.

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