Stake of Withering
| ) Stake of Withering (No tile) | |
|---|---|
| Base item | stake |
| Damage vs. small | 1d6 + 1d24 life drain (1d10) fire / (+1d2 + 1) |
| Damage vs. large | 1d6 + 1d24 life drain (1d10) fire / (+1d2 + 1) |
| To-hit bonus | +1d10 |
| Bonus versus | (any) |
| Weapon skill | dagger |
| Size | one-handed |
| Affiliation | |
| When carried | |
| When wielded |
(none) |
| When invoked |
energy boost |
| Base price | 5000 zm |
| Weight | 20 |
| Material | wood |
The Stake of Withering is an artifact that appears in dNetHack, notdNetHack and notnotdNetHack, and serves as the Undead Hunter quest artifact. It is chaotic, and its base item is a stake.
Contents
Generation
The Stake of Withering cannot be wished for but can be left behind as part of a bones level.
For Undead Hunters, the Stake of Withering will always be generated upon the death of the Index Wolf on the square it was killed.
Description
The Withering Stake has various effects dependent on whether the quest has been completed and if the Moon's Chosen is still alive. Its base item grants it +1d6 damage and vorpal attacks against vampire monsters, with a 1⁄20 chance on every hit.
Faintly-burning
If less than 32,000 turns have passed since the start of the game, and if the Moon's Chosen hasn't been killed, carrying the Stake of Withering in open inventory will scare all animals, werecreatures (that don't resist fire) and demihumans. Additionally, once the quest has been formally completed, carrying the Stake of Withering will add +1d10 fire damage to all attacks (melee and projectiles). The Stake of Withering will appear as "faintly-burning" until 28,000 turns have passed, after which it will appear as "faintly-guttering" but suffers no alterations to its effects yet.
Charred/Budding
Once 32,000 have passed, the Stake of Withering goes out and will appear as "charred" (if the veil hasn't been pierced) or "budding" otherwise, losing the bonus fire damage and on-carry scare effects.
Blooming
After the Moon's Chosen has been defeated, the Stake of Withering aggravates animals, all werecreatures and demihumans, which allows them to always tell your true location, even bypassing displacement. It also increases all experience gained by 30% and replaces the 1d10 fire damage with +1 cold damage and 1d2 silver damage.
Encyclopedia entry
Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,
Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone,
Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die,
One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne,
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
