Wallet of Perseus
( Wallet of Perseus 
| |
|---|---|
| Base item | bag of holding |
| Affiliation | |
| When carried |
|
| When applied |
|
| When invoked | (none) |
| Base price | 10000 zm |
| Weight | 15 |
| Material | cloth |
The Wallet of Perseus is an artifact that appears in SLASH'EM, dNetHack, SlashTHEM, and Hack'EM. It is unaligned, and its base item is a bag of holding.
Despite its name, the Wallet of Perseus has no affiliation with the statue of Perseus on Medusa's Island.
Generation
The Wallet of Perseus is only obtainable as a sacrifice gift, through wishing or through discovery in a bones file, as only randomly-generated weapons and armor have a chance of being made into artifacts.[1] As it is non-aligned, the Wallet of Perseus will never be the first gift given.
Description
The Wallet of Perseus functions as a bag of holding with roughly 50% improved weight reduction: an uncursed Wallet of Perseus reduces the weight of its contents to 1⁄3 (compared to 1⁄2 for a normal bag of holding); the blessed artifact reduces it to 1⁄6, compared to 1⁄4 for a blessed bag of holding; and the cursed artifact will quadruple the weight of its contents, double that of a cursed bag of holding. Like any bag of holding, the Wallet of Perseus will be destroyed if a charged wand of cancellation or a bag of tricks is inserted into it.
Strategy
While not essential for survival, Rogues and pack rats will find this an extremely useful artifact. Depending on play style and early game needs, it may even be worth spending a second or third wish to acquire. As with any bag of holding, keeping a wand of cancellation in a separate sack is worthwhile in the event you need to uncurse it.
The enhanced weight reduction can make stash transportation in the early to mid-game much less tedious, usually only requiring a single trip - you can even liberate all items and loot from Fort Ludios, including the landmines, in about 3 trips. A particularly daring player can abscond with One-Eyed Sam's marginally useful loot in a single excursion without even being encumbered.
Origin
The Wallet of Perseus is named for the knapsack given to Perseus by the Hesperides, which was used to contain Medusa's head upon decapitating her. The knapsack also inspired the Bag of the Hesperides, an artifact in EvilHack with the same properties as the Wallet along with extrinsic protection and waterproofing.
