Ahazu

Ahazu, the Seizer is a spirit that appears in dNetHack, notdNetHack and notnotdNetHack.

Ritual, seal and taboo

Ahazu's seal must be drawn in a square containing a pit. An Illithanachronounbinder begins the game with knowledge of Ahazu's seal.

To remain bound to Ahazu, the hero must not become weak from hunger.

Mark

A hero that has Ahazu bound will have a starry void in the back of their throat. This mark can only be seen up close, and can be hidden by wearing a mask or R'lyehian faceplate.

Benefits

While bound, Ahazu grants immunity to engulfing attacks of any kind, and also grants skill in flails (including heavy iron balls).

Ahazu's active powers are as follows:

• Abduction: This targets a single adjacent monster that the hero has hit with a melee attack or a projectile, and removes it from the game along with its inventory—the only exceptions to this are unique items and indestructible artifacts (i.e. the alignment keys, The Annulus, The Silver Key, and The Pen of the Void).
  • This does not kill the monster, so the hero will not receive any experience, it is not counted as killed for the purposes of quests or other objects (including the Temple of Chaos artifacts), and there is no way to bring it back.
  • Prayer timeout is decreased as though the hero performed a sacrifice with the victim—if their god is angry, that anger is instead reduced by the value of the "sacrifice". The hero also gains any beneficial effects as though they ate that monster's corpse: this avoids harmful effects, but does not grant any nutrition.

Ahazu's passive powers are as follows:

• Engulf: Monsters that the hero attacks in melee while they are at ¹⁄₁₀ HP or less are automatically abducted as above. This is meant to be as much a hindrance as a help.
• Shadow Well: Monsters that the hero attacks in melee have a ¹⁄₅ chance of losing their next move.
• Swallow: The hero can eat any meal in 1 turn, with the effects that meal would cause occurring as normal—the duration of any temporary intrinsic you would receive is reduced by ¹⁄₁₀.
• Hunger: The hero loses nutrition at a rate of 1 extra point per 10 turns.

As a monster

& Ahazu (No tile)
Difficulty	13
Attacks	touch 4d4 causes hunger, engulf 4d4 digests

& Ahazu (No tile)
Difficulty	13
Attacks	touch 4d4 causes hunger, engulf 4d4 digests
Base level	10
Base experience	327
Speed	12
Base AC	8
Base MR	3
Alignment	-1 (chaotic)
Frequency (by normal means)	0 (Not randomly generated)
Genocidable	No
Weight	1450
Nutritional value	400
Size	medium
Resistances	fire resistance, poison resistance
Ahazu: can flow under doors. can survive underwater. does not breathe. is poisonous to eat. does not eat. (*) is not a valid polymorphable form. is a demon. is male. is normally generated hostile. can follow you to other levels. is nasty. is strong. can pick up weapons and food. can be seen through infravision. never leaves a corpse. resists death magic. may turn against you when tame. cannot be tamed.

In notdNetHack and notnotdNethack, Ahazu, &, also appears as a monster that can be summoned by an Illithanachronounbinder. He is a medium-sized major demon that is amorphous, amphibious, strong, and unbreathing - he can be seen via infravision, will pick up and collect items, and follows a player character to other levels if he is adjacent.

Ahazu has a hunger-inducing touch similar to that of Famine and a digestion attack, and possesses fire resistance, poison resistance and death resistance. Like most summoned spirits, he cannot be tamed and will turn traitor if somehow made tame.

Ahazu is poisonous to consume, which primarily comes up if he is digested by another monster.

Generation

Ahazu is first generated when summoned from his seal by an Illithanachronounbinder. He is always created hostile, and is not a valid form for normal polymorph.

Ahazu is always generated with 4 or 5 food rations.

Ahazu does not leave a corpse upon death.

Strategy

Below this point, there are major spoilers for the Illithanachronounbinder role. They can be accessed by selecting the "Role spoiler" tab.

• Strategy
• Role spoiler

Ahazu's hunger touch attack is very dangerous to an early Illithanachronounbinder during the first encounter, though his engulfing attack is negated by having him bound. Ranged attacks are the best option against him.

Ahazu can be encountered again in the Void, which is accessed by opening the high altar of Ilsensine the Fallen as an Illithanachronounbinder using the invoke effect of The Elder Cerebral Fluid. Ahazu is generated along with many other spirits of the near void on the first floor of the branch, and is generated with the "whispers" template, which makes him nonliving.

Encyclopedia entry

All shall feed the Shattered Night.