Erinys
& erinys 
| |
|---|---|
| Difficulty | 10 |
| Attacks |
Weapon poisonous 2d4 |
| Base level | 7 |
| Base experience | 158 |
| Speed | 12 |
| Base AC | 2 |
| Base MR | 30 |
| Alignment | 10 (lawful) |
| Frequency (by normal means) | 2 (Quite rare) |
| Genocidable | No |
| Weight | 1450 |
| Nutritional value | 400 |
| Size | Medium |
| Resistances | Fire, poison |
| Resistances conveyed | None |
|
An erinys:
| |
| Reference | monst.c#line2393 |
An erinys, &, is a type of monster that appears in NetHack. The erinyes are a trio of female demons that are humanoid and lawful: they are strong, possess infravision, can be seen via infravision, and can pick up items.
An erinys has a single poisonous weapon attack, and possesses fire resistance and poison resistance.
The following information pertains to an upcoming version (3.7.0). If this version is now released, please verify that the information below is still accurate, then update the page to incorporate it.
Erinyes are reworked to better emulate their sources of inspiration: as of commit f930a12f, they can obtain additional attacks and properties depending on how much alignment abuse a character has accrued throughout a game, with their level and difficulty increasing accordingly, and will also aggravate monsters when in proximity to a character. In order of increasing abuse, erinyes will gain the following traits: see invisible, amphibiousness, flight, increase damage dice for their primary attack, regeneration, teleport control, a second poisonous weapon attack, the ability to teleport, and the ability to attempt casting a mage monster spell after their weapon attacks. A true rumor about erinyes and alignment abuse is also added via commit ef80549c.Contents
Generation
Erinyes are always generated hostile, and are not a valid form for normal polymorph.
Several special circumstances surround the erinys in terms of monster generation: the first and foremost is that only three erinyes can be generated in a game, and will become extinct once the third is generated[1] - figurine use respects this special limit, and they are not valid targets for genocide.
Additionally, erinyes are designated to only randomly generate in Gehennom and appear in small groups, but will not appear in Gehennom under normal circumstances due to being lawful, and other circumstances will typically only generate one of them at a time. Erinyes can be generated through the following methods:
- Special rooms such as graveyards and levels such as Asmodeus' Lair can generate one or more erinyes at level creation if a & is eligible or specified - an erinys will generate in Moloch's Sanctum at level creation if they are not rendered extinct by that point.
- Erinyes can be gated in by the melee attacks of lawful demons: barbed devils, horned devils, and the lawful demon princes (Geryon, Dispater, Baalzebub, and Asmodeus).
- Erinyes can be generated via the summon nasties spell when cast by a hostile lawful spellcaster outside of Gehennom (e.g. a titan) or any spellcaster within Gehennom (e.g. the Wizard of Yendor).
- A hostile erinys can appear as the minion of Moloch or a chaotic god.
The following information pertains to an upcoming version (3.7.0). If this version is now released, please verify that the information below is still accurate, then update the page to incorporate it.
Per commit 0c9e3483 and commit cd047809:
- If a character wears a helm of opposite alignment, a roll versus their current alignment abuse is made prior to shifting alignment, and summons an erinys if the roll fails - an erinys will always be summoned if the helm is worn while on the Astral Plane, and the use of the helm will also induce alignment abuse that counts towards the roll.
Strategy
Erinyes are generally underwhelming, due to being much weaker than most major demons: though their weapon attack is decently strong, they only have a base AC of 2, and are not especially threatening to most characters that encounter them. In an overwhelming majority of circumstances, a character will typically have poison resistance and may also have a source of speed, allowing them to at least easily outpace and outfight an erinys in one-on-one combat - erinyes that appear in combat situations with several monsters (e.g. summon nasties) are typically ignored in favor of more dangerous targets. Due to this, it is fairly trivial to render erinyes extinct through normal play.
The following information pertains to an upcoming version (3.7.0). If this version is now released, please verify that the information below is still accurate, then update the page to incorporate it.
After the changes implemented to them, erinyes represent a much bigger threat to any character that does not mind their alignment record and/or abuse - they also represent a hazard to any character that actively plans to use a helm of opposite alignment in any form, as well as unlucky ones that put on a non-cursed and unidentified helm of opposite alignment. Per commit 0c9e3483, the helm also induces confusion from switching alignments, making them more difficult to fight or escape; attempting to make them extinct through repeated uses of the helm will only serve to make existing and newly-generated erinyes stronger.
Erinyes that are empowered enough to gain teleport control are even more difficult to get rid of: commit 10a1befc gives all monsters with teleport control a 12⁄13 chance of appearing on a square adjacent to you when teleported, much like the Riders. As of commit 6d29efcf, a character cannot sacrifice while confused - combined with the above, this can completely scupper attempts to ascend on a cross-aligned high altar, since a character will need at least one turn to clear confusion, which gives the erinys and other monsters time to strike and a chance for larger ones to knock your character off the altar.History
The erinys is introduced in NetHack 3.0.0.
Origin
Per the encyclopedia entry, the Erinyes (more commonly known as the Furies) were female chthonic deities of vengeance that appeared in ancient Greek religion and folklore - the Romans themselves referred to them as "Furiae" in their earthly incarnations. The Erinyes play a major part in the "Oresteia" trilogy of tragedies, especially embodying their themes of justice and revenge.
The Erinyes are commonly associated with night and darkness, and dwelled in Erebus where they heard complaints of insolence brought to them by mortals, punishing such crimes by hounding the culprits relentlessly. They were depicted as crones, with varying sources giving them various traits such as snakes for hair, dog's heads, coal black bodies, bat's wings, and blood-shot eyes. While their number is usually left indeterminate, they were often described as three maiden goddesses - Virgil in particular would recognize three named Erinyes, which would be carried on into later literature such as the Inferno of Dante Aligheri).
Variants
SLASH'EM
In SLASH'EM, an erinys can be summoned by a gypsy telling your fortune if the 9 of trumps representing Justice is drawn, which ignores extinction.[2] The 11 of Trumps representing the Devil can also generate a minion of Moloch, which can be an erinys.
dNetHack
In dNetHack, erinyes are no longer limited to a maximum of three generated per game.
Encyclopedia entry
These female-seeming devils named after the Furies of mythology
attack hand to hand and poison their unwary victims as well.
The following information pertains to an upcoming version (3.7.0). If this version is now released, please verify that the information below is still accurate, then update the page to incorporate it.
This text is added via commit 69b2523c:Holy and pure, from Zeus Khthonios born
and Persephone, whom lovely locks adorn:
Whose piercing sight, with vision unconfin'd,
surveys the deeds of all the impious kind:
On Fate attendant, punishing the race
(with wrath severe) of deeds unjust and base.
Dark-colour'd queens, whose glittering eyes are bright
with dreadful, radiant, life-destroying, light:
Eternal rulers, terrible and strong,
to whom revenge, and tortures dire belong.
[ LXIX. To the Furies, The Orphic Hymns,
translated by Thomas Taylor ]
References
- ↑ src/makemon.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 1427: special monster birth limits
- ↑ gypsy.c in SLASH'EM 0.0.7E7F2, line 163
