Ilmater
| Religion in NetHack |
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In the Convict patch and variants of NetHack that implement it, Ilmater is the lawful god of the Convict's pantheon. In dNetHack and notdNetHack, Ilmater is also the lawful god of the drow Healer pantheon.
dNetHack
In dNetHack and notdNetHack, Ilmater is a lawful god of holiness, and his minions consist of standard Archons. His crowning gift is The Red Cords of Ilmater, which is a lawful intelligent set of hand wraps that is only available via crowning for drow Healers and Convicts that convert to him, though they can be wished for as well. The Red Cords of Ilmater grant free action, stoning resistance, and set constitution to 25 while worn, and can be used to transfer wounds: attacking with the worn Red Cords in melee transfers wounds from the attacker to their target on hit, while applying them can either transfer wounds from the character to a hostile monster, or else transfer wounds from a peaceful monster to the character. In all cases, the amount of damage transferred is capped at 1⁄2 of the recipient's HP; the Red Cords' applied effect does not require them to be worn or wielded.
Origin
Ilmater originates from the Forgotten Realms setting of Dungeons & Dragons, where he is an intermediate Faerûnian deity of endurance, martyrdom, perseverance, and suffering; he is known to the Iulutiun people of the Great Glacier as Ayuruk, and to the Angulutiun people as Itishikopak. Known as The Crying God, the One Who Endures and The Rack-Broken Lord, Ilmater is the patron of the suffering, oppressed, and persecuted, who encourages them to endure and encourages others to help them by taking their burdens or places. He is a willing sufferer that bears the pain of others to spare them from it, and would do so for all the suffering in the world if he could. Ilmater is a generous, good-spirited and even-tempered deity with a kind and gentle nature, and has a good (if simple) sense of humor.
Ilmater is the incarnation of compassion, and does not anger quickly, but once angered he becomes fearsome in his wrath, and he is particularly enraged by extreme cruelty and atrocities, including the harm or abuse of children and other young creatures. As an eternal foe of suffering, Ilmater adheres to a doctrine of endurance and non-violence, and sets it aside only for the aforementioned cases so he can unleash his full force and put an end to cruelty. Ilmater is also the most forgiving among beings, and though he knows full well the atrocious and horrific acts that wicked creatures could do, he remains forever hopeful that such evil beings could one day be turned to good or be destroyed.
Although they share a similar name, Ilmater bears no resemblance to Ilmatar, a female air spirit from Finnish mythology who incidentally appears in early editions of Dungeons & Dragons - he is generally closer in comparison to Issek of the Jug, a god that appears in the Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser stories written by Fritz Leiber.
Encyclopedia entry
dNetHack
Ilmater is the god of endurance, martyrdom, perseverence,
suffering, the oppressed, and the persecuted. His followers
seek to ease the suffering of others, and were taught to halt
and relieve the suffering of others, and to take that suffering
upon themselves if they must.
EvilHack
Known by many names -- the Crying God, the Lord on the Rack,
the One Who Endures, and more -- Ilmater is a god worshipped
everywhere there is suffering, poverty, and desperation. Known
for his willingness to suffer on behalf of others -- a trait his
followers aspire to emulate -- he is often portrayed as covered
in scars, burns, and weeping sores.
