Statue

`
Name	statue of a foo
Appearance	statue of a foo
Base price	0 zm
Weight	varies

Statues are represented on screen by the ` character. The weight of the statue varies, depending on which monster it is a statue of. Statues should not be confused with figurines.

Statue Contents

When a monster is turned to stone, usually by a cockatrice, its inventory becomes the statue contents. It's also possible for randomly-generated statues to contain objects; on lower levels the contents are usually spellbooks. The Oracle level always contains 8 centaur statues, which are an excellent spot to hunt for books.

The contents of the statue can be retrieved by either smashing it apart, or by using a stone to flesh spell to convert it to a living being, whereupon the contents will become the monster's inventory. Statues can be broken by the usual methods, including force bolt, wand of striking, pick axe, and so on. A stone-to-fleshed monster can, of course, be killed in a wide variety of ways.

Statues can be polymorphed into other kinds of statues or into boulders, but any contents will be destroyed if it is transformed into a boulder. You can use a wand of probing to scan for useful items beforehand.

Medusa's lair contains a number of statues, often with contents. A statue of Perseus is particularly worth a look.

Statue Traps

Statue traps are indistinguishable from regular statues unless you have some innate ability (such as searching) for detecting traps, and will turn into the appropriate type of monster when you try to move into their square.

Archeologists should beware of breaking or animating "historic" statues, as this incurs a -1 alignment penalty. Historic statues include the statues of the gnome king in Grotto Town, the centaur statues around the Oracle, the statue of Perseus, and any petrified unique monsters.