Pegasus (EvilHack)
u pegasus 
| |
|---|---|
| Difficulty | 20 |
| Attacks |
Kick 2d6, Kick 2d6, Bite 4d4 |
| Base level | 18 |
| Base experience | 528 |
| Speed | 24 |
| Base AC | -4 |
| Base MR | 50 |
| Alignment | 0 (neutral) |
| Frequency (by normal means) | 0 (Not randomly generated) |
| Genocidable | No |
| Weight | 1800 |
| Nutritional value | 350 |
| Size | Large |
| Resistances | sleep, poison |
| Resistances conveyed | None |
|
A pegasus:
| |
| Reference | EvilHack 0.8.3 - monst.c, line 1239 |
A pegasus, u, is a type of monster that appears in EvilHack and Hack'EM. It is a strong, oviparous and domestic horse-like animal that is herbivorous and capable of flight, has enhanced regeneration, has infravision, and can be seen via infravision.
A pegasus has two kick attacks and a bite attack, and possesses sleep resistance and poison resistance.
Generation
Pegasi are not randomly generated, and are not valid forms for polymorph. A pegasus can grow up into a greater pegasus, and a pegasus or greater pegasus egg can hatch into a pegasus.
A pegasus is always generated on the lowest floor of the Ice Queen's Realm at level creation, where it inhabits a small 2x2 cell next to the central room of the castle with up to 3 pegasus eggs placed on its square.
The pegasus cannot be targeted for genocide.
Strategy
For characters capable of riding, a pegasus is easily among the best steeds at 24 speed and a generally solid pet besides, growing up into a greater pegasus in almost no time at all. Its lower magic saving throw of 50 compared to the greater pegasus's 90 also makes it the preferable form for zapping with beneficial wands such as speed monster. As a herbivorous monster, however, it can be difficult to find intrinsic-granting corpses.
The pegasus in the Ice Queen's Realm is usually freed after a character defeats Kathryn the Ice Queen, but it is possible to liberate the pegasus without having to face her: reading a non-cursed scroll of taming while confused and standing as close as possible to the walls of its cell can potentially tame it; if the pegasus does not resist the effect, a magic whistle or blessed eucalyptus leaf can be applied to warp it out of the room.
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. 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.
Encyclopedia entry
The famous winged horse, whose origin is thus related. When
Perseus struck off the head of Medusa, with whom Poseidon had
had intercourse in the form of a horse or a bird, there sprang
forth from her Chrysaor and the horse Pegasus. The latter
obtained the name Pegasus because he was believed to have made
his appearance near the sources (pegai) of Oceanus.
[ Encyclopedia Mythica, ed. M.F. Lindemans ]
