Serpent-necked lioness
| f serpent-necked lioness (No tile) | |
|---|---|
| Difficulty | 14 |
| Attacks |
Claw 2d4 physical, claw 2d4 physical, long-necked bite 1d12 poison (strength) |
| Base level | 10 |
| Base experience | 288 |
| Speed | 12 |
| Base AC | -5 |
| Base MR | 0 |
| Alignment | 3 (lawful) |
| Frequency (by normal means) | 1 (Very rare) |
| Genocidable | Yes |
| Weight | 2250 |
| Nutritional value | 800 |
| Size | large
|
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A serpent-necked lioness:
| |
A serpent-necked lioness, f, is a type of monster that appears in dNetHack, notdNetHack and notnotdNetHack. The serpent-necked lioness is a large and reptilian female feline: they are quadrupedal, long-necked animals that are strong, carnivorous and can track the hero and see other monsters via catsight and scent.
A serpent-necked lioness has two claw attacks, along with a long-necked bite that inflicts strength-draining poison.
Serpent-necked lionesses can be warded and potentially pacified by the Cartouche of the Cat Lord. They can also be scared off by a Toustefna stave carved into a wood weapon placed on the hero's square.
Generation
Randomly generated serpent-necked lionesses are always created hostile.
Serpent-necked lionesses may be generated as minions of Bast and Ptah.
Hostile serpent-necked lionesses can be generated by the summon nasties monster spell when it is cast in Gehennom or by a hostile lawful spellcaster.
The Hmnyw-Pharaoh has a 2⁄21 chance of creating a serpent-necked lioness whenever he summons monsters to his position while he is not visible to the hero (who must have 40 insight to see him)—if the Hmnyw-Pharaoh is visible, he instead has a 1⁄8 chance of creating a serpent-necked lioness whenever he summons monsters to his position. Serpent-necked lionesses generated this way are not treated as summoned or temporary and ignore extinction.
While the sarcophagus of Nitocris is unopened and the hero is on the level where it currently resides, there is a 1⁄70 chance of a monster being generated on each global turn, which has a 1⁄10 chance of being a serpent-necked lioness.
Origin
The serpopard (also known as "monstrous lion") is a mythical animal known from ancient Egyptian and Mesopotamian art. Typically, the animal resembles a long-necked feline as described in the encyclopedia, and they are depicted in pairs with their necks intertwined. The creature has been interpreted as representing an animal with the body of a leopard and the long neck and head of a serpent, though they have also been interpreted as "serpent-necked lions".
The word "serpopard" is a modern coinage and a portmanteau of "serpent" and "leopard"—as indicated by the encyclopedia entry, none of the texts accompanying the images are known to give the creature a specific name. The image is featured specifically on decorated cosmetic palettes from the Predynastic period of Egypt, and more extensively, as design motifs on cylinder seals in the Protoliterate period of Mesopotamia (circa 3500–3000 BC). Examples include the Narmer Palette and the Oxford Palette, as well as the cylinder seal of Uruk. They are also occasionally depicted on birth tusks (also known as amuletic wands), and are thought to play a role in the protection of mother and child during birth.
Depictions of similar fantastic animals are known from Elam and Mesopotamia: Mesopotamian use of these "serpent-necked lions" and other animals and animal hybrids is seen by some scholars as "manifestations of the chthonic aspect of the god of natural vitality, who is manifest in all life breaking forth from the earth". Additionally, it has been suggested that serpopards form a barrier of protection between the netherworld and the human world. Lionesses also played an important role in the religious concepts of both Upper and Lower Egypt, and are likely to have been designated as animals associated with protection and royalty. The long necks could be a simple exaggeration used as a framing feature in an artistic motif, either forming the cosmetic-mixing area (as in the Narmer Palette) or surrounding it (as in the Small Palette).
Encyclopedia entry
The image generally is classified as a feline, and with
close inspection resembles an unusually long-necked
lioness. It bears the characteristic tuft of the species
at the end of the tail, there are no spots, the
round-eared head most closely resembles the lioness rather
than a serpent, because serpents do not have ears, and
there are no typical serpent features such as scales,
tongue, or head shape.
It has been suggested that in Ancient Egyptian art the
serpent-necked lioness represents "a symbol of the chaos
that reigned beyond Egypt's borders", which the king must
tame. They are normally shown conquered or restrained, as
in the Narmer Palette, or attacking other animals. But in
Mesopotamian art they are shown in pairs, with intertwined
necks.
There is no known name for the creature in any ancient
texts.
