Sink

Dungeon features
Air	_ Altar
# Corridor	# Cloud
#. Drawbridge	+-| Door
. Doorway	{ Fountain
| Headstone	.  Floor
>< Ladder	. Ice
# Iron bars	} Lava
} Moat	# Sink
Solid rock	>< Staircase
\ Throne	^" Trap
# Tree	- | Wall
~ Vibrating square

Sinks are a dungeon feature represented by a #. Sinks will cause anything in the air above them to fall to the floor, be it thrown weapons, or your levitating character. Falling into a sink while levitating will damage your hit points, and might even cause death. Sitting on a sink will produce the message "Your rump gets wet." Kicking a sink or quaffing from it has consequences, most of them negative, with a few beneficial ones. Dropping rings into a sink will cause them to be lost down the drain, with a message that enables you to identify the ring. Digging down on a sink will turn it into a (non-magical) fountain (which can then be dug down onto to produce pools for blanking and diluting.)

If there is a sink on the current dungeon level, you will occasionally hear a message:

"You hear a gurgling noise."

"You hear a slow drip."

Kicking a sink

Kicking a sink has several possible effects.

80 percent of the time, "Klunk! The pipes vibrate noisily." This exercises dexterity and wakes nearby monsters.

Once per sink, "A black ooze gushes up from the drain!" A black pudding is summoned, and dexterity is exercised.

Once per sink, "The dishwasher returns!" The dishwasher is a foocubus of opposite sex to the hero, or of random sex if the hero is a neuter creature. Dexterity is exercised.

Sometimes, "Flupp! Muddy waste pops up from the drain." Once per sink, when this happens, "You see a ring shining in its midst" and dexterity and wisdom are exercised.

If none of these things happens, "Ouch! That hurts!" You lose up to 5 hit points, abuse dexterity and strength, and possibly end up with a wounded leg.

Quaffing from a sink

You can drink from a sink by using the quaff command while standing over it. Upon doing so you get a message hinting at the resulting consequences. The specific message you receive depends on your status and the condition of dungeon monsters.

Chance	What Came Out	Effect	Condition	NetHack Message
11/20	water			You take a sip of (very) <hot, warm, cold> water.
				You hear clanking from the pipes...
				You hear snatches of song from among the sewers...
			you are hallucinating	From the murky drain, a hand reaches up... --oops--
1/20	scalding water	lose 1d6 hit points		You take a sip of scalding hot water.
			you are fire resistant	You take a sip of scalding hot water. It seems quite tasty.
1/20	a rat	A sewer rat is created	you can see	Eek! There's a sewer rat in the sink!
			you are blind	Eek! There's something squirmy in the sink!
	nothing		Sewer rats are genocided or extinct	The sink seems quite dirty.
1/20	random potion	same effect as drinking that potion	you can see	Some <potion appearance> liquid flows from the faucet.
			you are blind	Some odd liquid flows from the faucet.
1/20	random ring	A random ring is created and your wisdom exercised		You find a ring in the sink!
	dirty water		you already got a ring from this sink	Some dirty water backs up in the drain.
1/20	nothing	The sink becomes a fountain.		The pipes break! Water spurts out!
1/20	a water elemental	A water elemental is created.		The water moves as though of its own will!
	nothing		water elementals are extinct	The water moves as though of its own will! But it quiets down.
1/20	hard water	You gain one experience point.		Yuk, this water tastes awful.
1/20	sewer water	Your hunger increases		Gagg... this tastes like sewage! You vomit.
1/20	toxic waste	You polymorph		This water contains toxic wastes! You undergo a freakish metamorphosis!
			you have unchanging	This water contains toxic wastes!

Identifying rings with a sink

All rings may be identified by dropping them into sinks. The sink will show an effect depending on the type of ring. Rings of searching and slow digestion will never be lost; All other rings will be lost down the drain with 95% probability. Therefore, it is a good idea to do this test only if you have another ring of the same type as the one being tested, or if you are starving.

After receiving the message you will be given the opportunity to name the kind of ring you dropped, but only if you have not already named it. A ring of hunger will also not give you the opportunity, if it fails to destroy an item. Of course, if you have a duplicate of the ring you dropped, you can always name that instead.

Note that most messages require that you are not blind, and the ring of hunger requires that there is a (preferably worthless) object already on the sink. If these are not the case, you will just get "You hear the ring bouncing down the drain pipe."

NetHack Message	Type of Ring	Notes
You thought your [ring] got lost in the sink, but there it is!	Searching	Ring is not lost
The ring is regurgitated!	Slow digestion	Ring is not lost
The sink quivers upward for a moment.	Levitation
You smell rotten fruit.	Poison resistance
Static electricity surrounds the sink.	Shock resistance
You hear loud noises coming from the drain.	Conflict
The water flow seems fixed.	Sustain ability
The water flow seems stronger now.	Gain strength (at least +0)
The water flow seems weaker now.	Gain strength (-1 or worse)
The water flow seems greater now.	Gain constitution (at least +0)
The water flow seems lesser now.	Gain constitution (-1 or worse)
The water flow hits the drain.	Increase accuracy (at least +0)
The water flow misses the drain.	Increase accuracy (-1 or worse)
The water's force seems greater now.	Increase damage (at least +0)
The water's force seems smaller now.	Increase damage (-1 or worse)
Several flies buzz around the sink.	Meat ring
Several flies buzz angrily around the sink.	Aggravate monster

The effects in the following table only occur if the hero can see:

NetHack Message	Type of Ring	Notes
Suddenly, <item> vanish(es) from the sink!	Hunger	An item must be on the sink. Some items may resist.
The faucets flash brightly for a moment.	Adornment	Does not distinguish negative enchantment
The sink looks as good as new.	Regeneration
You don't see anything happen to the sink.	Invisibility
You see the ring slide right down the drain!	Free action
You see some air in the sink.	See invisible
The sink seems to blend into the floor for a moment.	Stealth
The hot water faucet flashes brightly for a moment.	Fire resistance
The cold water faucet flashes brightly for a moment.	Cold resistance
The sink looks nothing like a fountain.	Protection from shape changers
The sink glows silver for a moment.	Protection (at least +0)
The sink glows black for a moment.	Protection (-1 or worse)
The sink glows white for a moment.	Warning
The sink momentarily vanishes.	Teleportation
The sink looks like it is being beamed aboard somewhere.	Teleport control
The sink momentarily looks like a fountain.	Polymorph
The sink momentarily looks like a regularly erupting geyser.	Polymorph control

SLASH'EM

SLASH'EM has new messages for its new rings. Note that intelligence- and wisdom-modifying rings cannot be distinguished via sink-dropping.

SLASH'EM Message	Type of Ring	Notes
The sink looks groovy.	Mood Ring
You hear loud snores coming from the drain.	Sleeping	Works when blind.
The water flow seems faster now.	Dexterity (at least +0)
The water flow seems slower now.	Dexterity (-1 or worse)
The water flow seems quicker now.	Intelligence or Wisdom (at least +0)
The water flow seems duller now.	Intelligence or Wisdom (-1 or worse)

Strategy

Keep in mind that although sinks have the ability to give you some powerful advantages, these are all very rare and/or dangerous. For example, you could get a ring of regeneration by quaffing from a sink, but it's more likely that you'll get a less useful ring, or summon a water elemental.

Also note that ring identification is always safe, if costly, and you only need a single sink to do it. Therefore if you do decide to quaff/kick sinks, it's in your best interest to leave at least one undamaged sink for your rings.

This page is based on a spoiler by Dylan O'Donnell. The original license is:

Redistribution, copying, and editing of these spoilers, with or without modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:

1. The original contributors to any spoiler must continue to be credited.
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