Acererak
L Acererak 
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|---|---|
| Difficulty | 33 |
| Attacks |
Weapon 4d4 physical, Touch 5d6 life drain, Cast 0d0 mage spell, Gaze attack 2d6 life drain |
| Base level | 25 |
| Base experience | 957 |
| Speed | 15 |
| Base AC | -9 |
| Base MR | 99 |
| Alignment | 20 (lawful) |
| Frequency (by normal means) | 0 (Not randomly generated) |
| Genocidable | No |
| Weight | 1200 |
| Nutritional value | 100 |
| Size | medium |
| Resistances | fire, cold, sleep, shock, poison, petrification |
| Resistances conveyed | |
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Acererak:
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Acererak, L, is a monster that appears in dNetHack and SlashTHEM. He is a powerful lich that serves as the Binder quest nemesis in all of his appearances, and guards the Bell of Opening alongside the Binder quest artifact.
Generation
In dNetHack, it is possible to have the quest artifact, The Pen of the Void, well before you encounter Acererak; this is because the Pen is also the Binder's first sacrifice gift. Regardless of how it is first obtained and when, defeating Acererak restores the Pen to its double-bladed form, making it a double damage weapon and increasing the effects of spirits bound into it. Defeating Acererak also teaches you his seal, so you can bind him as a spirit.
Strategy
Acererak is an undead spellcaster, so all the usual suggestions for dealing with high-level liches also apply here. Additionally, Acererak has a tendency to teleport constantly around the level while fighting, so standing on the upstairs to ensure that you can actually do enough damage to destroy him is suggested.
In general, binding spirits that provide extra attacks will help make short work of Acererack, particularly for high-level binders with a well-enchanted Pen of the Void. Recommended for this purpose is learning the seal of Miska, which can be learned from the Rod of Seven Parts on top of the Arcadian Tower in the Law Quest and can be bound using the lava on Acererak's level (providing up to four extra attacks for Binders at levels 26 and above, not including additional two-weaponing). Visiting the Law Quest also may provide an opportunity to tame Lady Oona, who can also make relatively quick work of Acererak, as can other strong pets.
Origin
Acererak the Devourer is a character that originates from the Greyhawk setting of Dungeons & Dragons. He was a cambion, a demonic offspring of a powerful summoned balor named Tarnhem and a human woman. Ten years after his conception, she is killed by a torch-wielding mob, and the young half-demon is rescued by Vecna; the Whispered One kills his advisors when they urge him to kill the child, and instead takes on Acererak as an apprentice. The ten-year-old Acererak loathed life and looked forward to becoming undead like his master; during Vecna's siege of Fleeth, the lich is severely wounded and rescued by Acererak, earning him a promotion.
At some point, Acererak moves to the Vast Swamp where he constructs a lair for himself, best known as the infamous Tomb of Horrors; Acererak also builts a subterranean temple complex in the name of Orcus, burying its architect and all of its workers within. He then fully succumbs to the lure of lichcraft and has himself buried in the labyrinthine tomb, where he achieves demilichdom and leaves his body behind for the planes beyond. The sequel module Return to the Tomb of Horrors retcons this, instead portraying the Tomb as an anetchamber to Acererak's true dwelling - a lost city on the Negative Energy Plane's border, where he plotted to fuse his essence with the plane and gain multiversal control over all undead.
Acererak is thwarted by the player adventurers and destroyed; in the 3rd edition of D&D, he lingers on after his passing as a vestige that can be summoned and bound by Binders, the basis for his role as the Binder quest nemesis.
