Pegasus

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For the monster in EvilHack and Hack'EM, see Pegasus (EvilHack).

Pegasus, u, is a unique monster that appears in SLASH'EM and SlashTHEM. It is a strong, inediate horse-like animal that is capable of flight.

Pegasus has a kick attack and a bite attack.

Generation

Pegasus is always generated as peaceful.

Pegasus will only generate when Medusa is killed in a manner that leaves a corpse, which causes Pegasus to appear from her remains - though Pegasus is flagged as a unique monster, Medusa can be revived with turn undead and killed again, creating another Pegasus.

Strategy

Pegasus is an excellent steed candidate for an aspiring tamer, with the same base speed as a warhorse and the ability to fly - the only obstacle is its MR score of 70, which means it may take a while to tame with the spell of charm monster. Additionally, Pegasus is inediate and will eventually turn feral if mounted enough times by most non-Knight characters; a Yeoman can use the calm steed technique to increase Pegasus' tameness after each mount, provided the technique is functional.

Pegasus will always leave a corpse unless disintegrated or killed over lava, providing ample opportunity to revive him with a wand of undead turning.

Origin

Pegasus (Greek Πήγασος "Pḗgasos", Latin Pegasus or Pegasos) is a winged horse in classical mythology, usually depicted as a winged white stallion. Depending on the telling, he and his brother Chrysaor were both born when Medusa was decapitated by Perseus, or else sprang from her blood as it was spilled upon the earth, with the latter reflected by its generation method. Long honored as a constellation, Pegasus is a subject of very rich iconography, especially through ancient Greek pottery as well as paintings and sculptures of the Renaissance.

According to early myths, Pegasus created fountains wherever his hooves touched the ground, with one of these springs being the Hippocrene ("horse spring") of Mount Helicon. Despite the association with Perseus, Pegasus figures much more in the most famous tale of the Greek hero Bellerophon: he captures Pegasus near another fountain with the help of Athena and Poseidon, and the winged horse allows Bellerophon to ride him in order to defeat the monster Chimera. Later, Bellerophon rode Pegasus towards Mount Olympus, prompting Zeus to send a gadfly to sting Pegasus and throw Bellerophon off to his demise - in almost all tellings, Pegasus himself would make it to Olympus, where he was used to carry Zeus's thunderbolts.