Difference between revisions of "Altar"

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{{features}}
 
{{Wikipedia|Altar}}
 
{{Wikipedia|Altar}}
 
{{religion}}
 
{{religion}}
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An '''altar''', represented by an underscore ({{Lightgray|_}}), is a place where you may worship [[god]]s. An altar with an [[aligned priest]] in the same room is a [[temple]].
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An '''altar''', represented by an underscore ({{lightgray|_}}), is a place where you may worship [[god]]s. [[Temple]]s contain an altar and an [[aligned priest]].
  
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Altars and priests are '''co-aligned''' if they are of the same alignment as you, '''cross-aligned''' if they are of a different alignment. An altar is '''aligned''' if it has lawful, neutral or chaotic status. Altars of Moloch are '''unaligned'''. Unaligned altars do not appear in the main dungeon, only in Gehennom and some quests.
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Altars are '''co-aligned''' if they are of the same [[alignment]] as you and '''cross-aligned''' if they are of a different alignment. To determine if an altar is co-aligned, either use [[far look]] or stand on it and use close look. Altars of Moloch are '''unaligned'''. Unaligned altars appear only in Gehennom, one variant of [[Minetown]] and some quests (except as [[mimic]]s).
  
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Altars not located in [[temple]]s are scattered randomly throughout the dungeons. The [[Valley of the Dead]] has an unaligned altar located in the temple of [[Moloch]]. [[Minetown]] is also guaranteed to have a temple altar.
+
Altars are scattered randomly throughout the dungeons. [[Minetown]] has a randomly aligned altar and unaligned altars can be found in the [[Valley of the Dead]] (in the temple of [[Moloch]]), Orcus-town and Moloch's Sanctum unless they were destroyed in a [[bones]] file. [[Orcish Town]], the variant of Minetown that has been overrun by [[Orc (monster class)|orcs]], has an unaligned altar.
  
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Altars can be used to detect the [[BUC]] status of items. This is done by dropping the item onto the altar. A black flash marks a cursed item and an amber flash a blessed one. You can not detect the BUC status if you are [[blindness|blind]] or [[hallucination|hallucinating]].
+
Altars can be used to detect the [[beatitude]] of items. This is done by dropping the item onto the altar. A black flash marks a cursed item, and an amber flash marks a blessed one. You cannot detect an item's beatitude if you are [[blind]]. You cannot detect whether an item is blessed or cursed if you are [[hallucination|hallucinating]], as you will not be able to distinguish between amber flashes and black flashes; you can, however, identify uncursed items, as there will not be a flash at all.{{reffunc|do.c|doaltarobj|name=doaltar}}
  
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If you '''[[sit|#sit]]''' on, '''[[engrave|Engraving]]''', or kick an altar, it will lower your [[luck]]. If the altar is of your alignment, it will reduce [[Wisdom]] by one point instead.
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If you #[[sit]] on, [[engrave]] on, or [[kick]] an altar, you will experience negative effects depending on the altar alignment and your [[alignment record]].{{refsrc|src/sit.c|137|nethack=3.6.7}}{{refsrc|src/engrave.c|576|nethack=3.6.7}}{{refsrc|src/dokick.c|1061|nethack=3.6.7}} If the altar is co-aligned and your alignment record is greater than -[[rn2]](4), you lose one point of wisdom and one point of alignment record; otherwise, you lose 0-2 points of Luck, if your Luck is greater than -5.{{refsrc|src/pray.c|2232|nethack=3.6.7}} This can be used to deliberately lower your [[Luck]] or [[alignment record]] to prevent [[crowning]], and does not break [[atheist]] conduct.
  
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==Sacrificing corpses==
+
If you (or a monster) zap a [[wand of digging]] downwards, you get the message ''"The digging ray is ineffective"'' and nothing further happens. However, if you break a [[wand of digging]] or [[apply]] a [[drum of earthquake]] while standing on an altar, it will be destroyed (unless it is a high altar).
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You can '''#offer''' fresh [[corpse]]s to your god by sacrificing them on an altar. The greater the monster's [[difficulty]], the more your god will appreciate it.  You can gain powerful gifts from sacrifices and may convert opposed altars.  Additionally, sacrificing will tell you if your [[prayer]] timeout has expired.
 
  
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The details of the effects of sacrifice follow.  Obviously, whatever the outcome of the sacrifice, you lose the atheist [[conduct]].<ref>[[Pray.c#line1154]]</ref>  If the corpse is a [[cockatrice]], you suffer the effects of touching it, even if it wasn't in your inventory.<ref>[[Pray.c#line1157]]</ref>
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Standing on any altar [[scare]]s [[vampire]]s as if you were standing on [[Elbereth]] or a [[scroll of scare monster]].{{refsrc|monmove.c|129}}
  
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Further effects depend on the details of the sacrifice.
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Randomly generated altars appear in ordinary room and corridor levels in the [[Dungeons of Doom]]. There is an independent 1 in 60 chance of each [[special room|non-special]] room containing an altar,{{refsrc|mklev.c|785}} which gives a 93% chance of at least one. The altar has an equal probability of each of the three alignments. Altars will not be generated adjacent to doors (diagonal is okay), but otherwise can occupy any spot in the room not already occupied by something else.{{refsrc|mklev.c|1353}} The chance of an empty room containing an altar does not change with dungeon level.
  
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===Ordinary sacrifice===
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==Sacrificing corpses==
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This applies to sacrifices made on your own god's altar that are not of your own race, not a pet, not a unicorn, and not made in the endgame.
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{{main|Sacrifice}}
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Sacrificing fresh corpses is a useful way to reduce your prayer timeout, increase your luck, gain powerful [[artifact weapon]]s, and improve your [[alignment]] (particularly if your god is unhappy with you). In [[SLASH'EM]], you can also have wielded and worn items [[blessed]] and gain powerful [[minion]]s through sacrifice. [[Sacrifice|Sacrificing]] at the altar of another god has a chance of converting that altar to your alignment, potentially angering that god. Note that it also has a chance of converting ''you'' to that altar's alignment, angering your god and making it difficult or impossible to complete the [[quest]] if you haven't already done so.
  
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If the creature is not an [[acid blob]] and is greater than 50 turns old (after adjustments for [[ice]]), it is rejected: "Nothing happens."<ref>[[Pray.c#line1160]], [[Pray.c#line1319]]</ref>  (Yes, acid blobs are special: they never expire for sacrifices, although of course they may rot like most food.)  Other creatures have a particular value depending generally on their toughness. <!-- Precise dependence?  Source-diving needed. --> In some special cases, the value may be negative if the offering displeases your god: see below.  Partially-eaten corpses normally get their value decreased by roughly the percentage that's been eaten.  [[zombie]]s can never be sacrificed.
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==Making holy/unholy water==
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If you drop one or more [[potions of water]] onto an altar and #[[pray]], the potions become [[potion of holy water|blessed]] if the altar was aligned with you and become [[potion of unholy water|cursed]] if the altar was not aligned with you. This occurs regardless of whether the water was blessed or cursed before. Be aware that water praying on a cross-aligned altar will anger your god, decrease your luck, and possibly cause you to be punished in some other way.
  
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If your god is angry at you, his anger is decreased by 1/8 the value of the sacrifice, if you're non-chaotic; otherwise, by 1/12 the value of the sacrifice (chaotic gods are harder to appease).<ref>[[Pray.c#line1419]]</ref>  The decrease in anger is always rounded down.  If your god's anger has been reduced to zero, you'll receive the message that he "seems mollified" (if [[hallucinating]], "seems astral (not a new fact)"), and your luck will be increased to zero if negative.  If anger is reduced but not to zero, you'll receive the message that your god "seems slightly mollified" ("seems groovy" if hallucinating), and your luck will be increased by one point if negative.  If anger has not been reduced at all, "You have a feeling of inadequacy" (if hallucinating, "The gods seem tall").
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Normal prayer timeouts apply when praying on altars.
  
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If your god is not angry at you, but your [[alignment]] is negative, your alignment is increased by the value of the sacrifice, up to a maximum of 0 alignment, and "you feel partially absolved".<ref>[[Pray.c#line1439]]</ref>
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==Altar camping==
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It is generally possible to survive indefinitely on a level with an altar. Under normal circumstances, the need for food drives you to deeper unexplored levels. However, you can instead pray when weak, and sacrifice to reduce your prayer timeout back to zero. Doing this for extended periods of time can net you many [[death drop]]s, as well as a collection of gifts from your god if your luck is substantially high. This is considered by some to be [[cheating|degenerate]].
  
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Otherwise, if your [[prayer timeout]] is greater than zero, it's decreased by 12.5 times the sacrifice's value if you're lawful or neutral, or 125/6 (about 20.8) times its value if you're chaotic, obviously to a minimum of zero.  If this decreases your prayer timeout to 0, then "you have a feeling of reconciliation" (if hallucinating, "Overall, there is a smell of fried onions"), your luck is increased to zero if negative, and it's safe to pray.  If your prayer timeout is not yet zero, "You have a hopeful feeling" (if hallucinating, "You realize the gods are not like you and I"), your luck is increased by one if negative, and it is not yet safe to pray.<ref>[[Pray.c#line1444]]</ref>
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In older versions, this was most effectively done with [[black pudding]]s or [[brown pudding]]s, which was known as "[[pudding farming]]"; [[brown pudding]]s were less suitable for farming due to a lower sacrifice value, the inability to be summoned by kicking a sink, and their tendency to not leave a corpse (meaning more work and fewer death drops), but this was offset by their lack of a damaging attack, allowing them to be farmed more safely by physically weak or low level characters. As of Nethack 3.6.0, however, puddings no longer leave corpses at all, rendering this strategy totally ineffective.
  
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If none of the above apply, you generally have a chance of getting an [[artifact]].  Your level must be greater than 2, and your luck must be nonnegative. If those conditions are met, the chances of your getting an artifact are 1/(10 + 2&times;number of artifacts that exist&times;number of gifts granted by your god).  If you do receive an artifact, you'll get the message "An object appears at your feet!", and your god will tell you to "use my gift wisely!"  You exercise your wisdom, your prayer timeout is set to 300 + 50&times;the number of artifacts that exist, and your [[skill]] in using the artifact's type of weapon becomes unrestricted.
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==High altars==
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The three altars on the [[Astral Plane]] and the altar in [[Moloch's Sanctum]] are considered to be '''high altars'''. They act largely as normal altars, but cannot be converted under any circumstances; doing so will cause the god in question to attempt to zap you and, failing this, will summon three minions to protect the altar. In addition, it is not possible to sacrifice monsters unless you are holding them (to prevent sacrificing the [[Riders]]).
  
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Whether or not you get the artifact, your luck increases by 5/24 (about 20.8%) the value of the sacrifice, and is set to 0 if still negative. You receive the message "You glimpse a four-leaf clover at your feet" (if hallucinating, "You see crabgrass at your feet.  A funny thing in a dungeon"). This luck bonus occurs even if you're below level 3 or have negative luck, but not if you had an angry god, negative alignment, or nonzero prayer timeout.
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To correctly ascend, one must #offer the real [[Amulet of Yendor]] (held in main inventory, not dropped on the altar) at the altar of your [[alignment]]. Determining the alignment of the altar requires standing on its location and using the {{kbd|:}} (look) command. The {{kbd|;}} (farlook) command does not give information about a high altar's alignment (it merely calls it "aligned," which does not mean "coaligned with you," [[Lessons learned the hard way|as a number of new players learn the hard way]]). Other methods to detect the correct altar are to zap a [[wand of probing|probing]] at the [[high priest]], or to note if you are given [[sanctuary]] (that is, all monsters other than the [[Riders]], [[aligned priest]], and [[angelic being]]s, will not be allowed to enter and cannot attack you with melee attacks). If the version of NetHack you are playing on has not fixed the [[Astral call bug]], that is also a possibility.
  
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===Sacrificing creatures of own race===
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You can destroy the [[chaotic]] altar with non-chaotic same-[[race]] [[sacrifice]], but you cannot convert the others.
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If the creature you sacrifice is of your own race, basically, you get good effects if you're chaotic, bad effects otherwise:
 
  
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* If you're chaotic, you gain five alignment.<ref>[[Pray.c#line1219]]</ref>  If you're a [[demon]], you [[exercise]] your [[wisdom]].  If the altar is chaotic, you gain two luck, <ref>[[Pray.c#line1197]]</ref> and if the altar is unaligned, you lose two luck.  Your luck is unaffected if the altar is lawful or neutral.
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==Hallucinating colors==
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* Whatever the altar is, if you're non-chaotic, you abuse your wisdom,<ref>[[Pray.c#line1167]]</ref> you lose 5 alignment, your god's anger increases by three, your wisdom decreases by one point, your luck decreases by 5, and outside of [[Hell]], your god will punish you as for [[pray]]ing too much (depending on the level of anger).<ref>[[Pray.c#line1213]]</ref>  Finally, if the altar ''is'' chaotic, you'll destroy it and anger any attendant priest.<ref>[[Pray.c#line1188]]</ref>
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If you drop a blessed or cursed item on an altar while [[hallucination|hallucinating]] you will see a <color> flash, where <color> is randomly selected from: "ultraviolet", "infrared", "bluish-orange", "reddish-green", "dark white", "light black", "sky blue-pink", "salty", "sweet", "sour", "bitter", "striped", "spiral", "swirly", "plaid", "checkered", "argyle", "paisley", "blotchy", "guernsey-spotted", "polka-dotted", "square", "round", "triangular", "cabernet", "sangria", "fuchsia", "wisteria", "lemon-lime", "strawberry-banana", "peppermint", "romantic", "incandescent".<ref name=doaltar />{{reffunc|do_name.c|hcolor}}
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* If the altar is lawful or neutral, it will be immediately converted to chaotic (even if you aren't!).  This will anger any priests but apparently not suffer the other effects of conversion.<ref>[[Pray.c#line1167]]</ref>
 
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* If the altar is chaotic or unaligned, a demon will be summoned under some circumstances (need to document these!).  The demon will be friendly if you're chaotic and hostile otherwise.<ref>[[Pray.c#line1203]]</ref>
 
  
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No further effects occur in this case.  Oddly, this means that chaotic characters may wish to sacrifice creatures of their own race even at Moloch's altar, if they prefer +5 alignment and -2 luck for some reason.  Sacrificing [[pet]]s of your own race is no different from sacrificing other creatures of your own race in [[3.4.3]].
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==Encyclopedia entry==
 +
{{encyclopedia|
 +
Altars are of three types:
 +
1.  In Temples.  These are for Sacrifices [...].  The stone top will have grooves for blood, and the whole will be covered with _dry brown stains of a troubling kind_ from former Sacrifices.
 +
{{right-align|[ The Tough Guide to Fantasyland, by Diana Wynne Jones ]}}
  
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===Sacrificing pets===
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To every man upon this earth
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Sacrificing pets will generally cause you to lose three alignment and gain the [[aggravate monster]] [[intrinsic]].<ref>[[Pray.c#line1223]].  Needs more source-diving to understand that conditional properly and update to fit.</ref>  The pet will have a sacrificial value of -1, causing it to worsen certain things that generally benefit from sacrifice. It proceeds as [[#Ordinary sacrifice|an ordinary sacrifice]].
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Death cometh soon or late;
 +
And how can man die better
 +
Than facing fearful odds
 +
For the ashes of his fathers
 +
And the temples of his gods?
 +
|[ Lays of Ancient Rome, by Thomas B. Macaulay ]
 +
}}
  
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===Cross-aligned altars===
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==Variants==
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You can convert cross-aligned altars by sacrificing at them if they're not in [[Gehennom]]. If you fail, you will lose 1 luck and possibly have monsters sent in to defend the altar. If you succeed then you gain 2 luck and the altar becomes coaligned. The chances to convert an altar go up with character level.
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Players of [[NetHack brass]] and [[SLASH'EM]] need to be wary when converting altars, because of the increased chance that the altar's original god will dispatch a [[minion]] against you. At [[experience level]] 7 or above with high [[alignment]], the chance of a minion appearing after converting the altar is the same as vanilla.{{refsrc|pray.c|1606|version=SLASH'EM 0.0.7E7F2}}{{refsrc|pray.c|1396}} As in vanilla, the god will yell, "Thou shalt pay for thy indiscretion!"{{refsrc|minion.c|128}} Players with a high [[luck]] will have fewer minions dispatched against them.
  
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===Danger in sacrificing===
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Even worse, there's an additional chance of one or more minions appearing post-conversion. In SLASH'EM, if you are at experience level 4 or above, there is a chance that "You feel (god) is very angry at you!" and the god dispatches two minions.{{refsrc|pray.c|1583|version=SLASH'EM 0.0.7E7F2}} Afterwards, you still have the original chance of another minion, as above. Again, [[luck]] is a factor.
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Sacrificing can be dangerous in the following circumstances:
 
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* Sacrificing at an altar of Moloch.
 
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** You gain 3 anger, lose 5 [[alignment]], lose 2 [[wisdom]], lose 5 [[luck]], and get a negative effect.
 
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* Sacrificing at an altar not of your alignment type (ie. Lawful, Neutral, Chaotic) when your alignment is negative.
 
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** This may convert you to the altar's alignment, you lose 3 luck, and your prayer timeout increases by 300.  Note that if this happens before you have been admitted to the quest, the game will be [[unwinnable]].
 
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* Sacrificing at an altar not of your alignment type (ie. Lawful, Neutral, Chaotic) when your alignment is high and you are at least level 7.
 
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** This will convert the altar but may summon a [[minion]] of the altar's original god. The probability varies, but is never greater than 1/4. The probability is higher in [[NetHack brass]] and [[SLASH'EM]], see [[#Variants]].
 
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** Additionally, if you do this to convert an altar in a [[Special_room#Temples|temple]] with attending priest, the priest will become angry at you.
 
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* Sacrificing former pets.
 
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** You lose 3 [[alignment]] and gain the aggravate monster [[intrinsic]].
 
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* Sacrificing your own race if you are not chaotic.
 
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** You lose 5 alignment and 5 luck, and your god's anger increases by 3. On a chaotic altar, this will summon a hostile [[demon lord]] or other major [[demon]]. Other altars are converted to chaotic.
 
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* Sacrificing a unicorn on an altar of its own alignment.
 
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* Sacrificing a unicorn of your alignment.
 
  
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===Sacrificing unicorns===
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In [[NetHack brass]], you will always receive "You feel (god) is very angry at you!" For all experience levels, at least one minion will appear. Two rolls are made: the first from 0 to 9, the second from 0 to 19. For each roll, if your level is less than the generated random number, a post-conversion minion is summoned.  [[Luck]] is not a factor. Thus in brass it is very dangerous to convert altars. You might convert an altar at experience level one and have to flee to another level from one minion, or three minions if the game rolled 0 twice, thus giving you no use of the converted altar. If converting an altar at experience level 7 or above, you might still get the pre-conversion minion, forcing you to fight as many as four summoned minions.<ref>src/pray.c in brass 040923</ref>
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Sacrificing [[Unicorn]]s is tricky because the altar's alignment, your alignment, and the unicorn's alignment all factor into the outcome. A unicorn's alignment is represented by its color. The white is lawful, grey neutral, and black chaotic. The points to remember are:
 
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* Never sacrifice a unicorn on an altar of its own alignment.
 
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* Never sacrifice a unicorn of your alignment.
 
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Each time you sacrifice a unicorn of a different alignment on your own altar, you get a +5 boost to your [[alignment]] and the message "You feel you are thoroughly on the right path."
 
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The rest of the effects are summarized in the following table:
 
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{| Class="wikitable"
 
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!width="20%"| You
 
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!width="20%"| Unicorn
 
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!width="20%"| Altar
 
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!width="40%"| Effect
 
−
|-
 
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| [[Image:Lawful.png|20px]]Lawful|| [[Image:Lawful.png|20px]]White || [[Image:Lawful.png|20px]]Lawful|| Bad
 
−
|-
 
−
| [[Image:Lawful.png|20px]]Lawful|| [[Image:Lawful.png|20px]]White || [[Image:Neutral.png|20px]]Neutral || You become neutral
 
−
|-
 
−
| [[Image:Lawful.png|20px]]Lawful|| [[Image:Lawful.png|20px]]White || [[Image:Chaotic.png|20px]]Chaotic || You become chaotic
 
−
|-
 
−
| [[Image:Lawful.png|20px]]Lawful|| [[Image:Neutral.png|20px]]Grey || [[Image:Lawful.png|20px]]Lawful|| Good
 
−
|-
 
−
| [[Image:Lawful.png|20px]]Lawful|| [[Image:Neutral.png|20px]]Grey || [[Image:Neutral.png|20px]]Neutral || Bad
 
−
|-
 
−
| [[Image:Lawful.png|20px]]Lawful|| [[Image:Neutral.png|20px]]Grey || [[Image:Chaotic.png|20px]]Chaotic || Altar becomes lawful
 
−
|-
 
−
| [[Image:Lawful.png|20px]]Lawful|| [[Image:Chaotic.png|20px]]Black|| [[Image:Lawful.png|20px]]Lawful|| Good
 
−
|-
 
−
| [[Image:Lawful.png|20px]]Lawful|| [[Image:Chaotic.png|20px]]Black|| [[Image:Neutral.png|20px]]Neutral || Altar becomes lawful
 
−
|-
 
−
| [[Image:Lawful.png|20px]]Lawful|| [[Image:Chaotic.png|20px]]Black|| [[Image:Chaotic.png|20px]]Chaotic || Bad
 
−
|-
 
−
| [[Image:Neutral.png|20px]]Neutral || [[Image:Lawful.png|20px]]White || [[Image:Lawful.png|20px]]Lawful|| Bad
 
−
|-
 
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| [[Image:Neutral.png|20px]]Neutral || [[Image:Lawful.png|20px]]White || [[Image:Neutral.png|20px]]Neutral || Good
 
−
|-
 
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| [[Image:Neutral.png|20px]]Neutral || [[Image:Lawful.png|20px]]White || [[Image:Chaotic.png|20px]]Chaotic || Altar becomes neutral
 
−
|-
 
−
| [[Image:Neutral.png|20px]]Neutral || [[Image:Neutral.png|20px]]Grey || [[Image:Lawful.png|20px]]Lawful|| You become lawful
 
−
|-
 
−
| [[Image:Neutral.png|20px]]Neutral || [[Image:Neutral.png|20px]]Grey || [[Image:Neutral.png|20px]]Neutral || Bad
 
−
|-
 
−
| [[Image:Neutral.png|20px]]Neutral || [[Image:Neutral.png|20px]]Grey || [[Image:Chaotic.png|20px]]Chaotic || You become chaotic
 
−
|-
 
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| [[Image:Neutral.png|20px]]Neutral || [[Image:Chaotic.png|20px]]Black|| [[Image:Lawful.png|20px]]Lawful|| Altar becomes neutral
 
−
|-
 
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| [[Image:Neutral.png|20px]]Neutral || [[Image:Chaotic.png|20px]]Black|| [[Image:Neutral.png|20px]]Neutral || Good
 
−
|-
 
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| [[Image:Neutral.png|20px]]Neutral || [[Image:Chaotic.png|20px]]Black|| [[Image:Chaotic.png|20px]]Chaotic || Bad
 
−
|-
 
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| [[Image:Chaotic.png|20px]]Chaotic || [[Image:Lawful.png|20px]]White || [[Image:Lawful.png|20px]]Lawful|| Bad
 
−
|-
 
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| [[Image:Chaotic.png|20px]]Chaotic || [[Image:Lawful.png|20px]]White || [[Image:Neutral.png|20px]]Neutral || Altar becomes chaotic
 
−
|-
 
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| [[Image:Chaotic.png|20px]]Chaotic || [[Image:Lawful.png|20px]]White || [[Image:Chaotic.png|20px]]Chaotic || Good
 
−
|-
 
−
| [[Image:Chaotic.png|20px]]Chaotic || [[Image:Neutral.png|20px]]Grey || [[Image:Lawful.png|20px]]Lawful|| Altar becomes chaotic
 
−
|-
 
−
| [[Image:Chaotic.png|20px]]Chaotic || [[Image:Neutral.png|20px]]Grey || [[Image:Neutral.png|20px]]Neutral || Bad
 
−
|-
 
−
| [[Image:Chaotic.png|20px]]Chaotic || [[Image:Neutral.png|20px]]Grey || [[Image:Chaotic.png|20px]]Chaotic || Good
 
−
|-
 
−
| [[Image:Chaotic.png|20px]]Chaotic || [[Image:Chaotic.png|20px]]Black|| [[Image:Lawful.png|20px]]Lawful|| You become lawful
 
−
|-
 
−
| [[Image:Chaotic.png|20px]]Chaotic || [[Image:Chaotic.png|20px]]Black|| [[Image:Neutral.png|20px]]Neutral || You become neutral
 
−
|-
 
−
| [[Image:Chaotic.png|20px]]Chaotic || [[Image:Chaotic.png|20px]]Black|| [[Image:Chaotic.png|20px]]Chaotic || Bad
 
−
|}
 
−
 
 
−
Note:You will lose any god-granted protection whenever your alignment changes.
 
−
 
 
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===Prayer timeouts and sacrifice===
 
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Sacrificing on an altar reduces your prayer timeout and you get a message indicating the status of your prayer timeout.
 
−
 
 
−
;"You have a hopeful feeling."
 
−
:You may not pray yet because your prayer timeout hasn't expired.
 
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;"You have a feeling of reconciliation."
 
−
:You may pray because your sacrifice reduced your prayer timeout to zero.
 
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;"An object appears at your feet!"
 
−
:You may not pray because you received a gift and your prayer timeout has been increased.
 
−
;"You have a feeling of inadequacy."
 
−
:You may not pray. Your god is still angry at you; your sacrifice did nothing to reduce his anger.
 
−
;"<Deity> seems slightly mollified."
 
−
:You may not pray. Your god's anger has been reduced but it is not yet zero.
 
−
;"<Deity> seems mollified."
 
−
:You may pray because your god's anger has been reduced to zero.
 
−
;"You feel partially absolved."
 
−
:You may not pray because your alignment was negative, and has been increased by the level of the corpse, to a maximum of zero. Sacrifice again to find if it's safe to pray.
 
−
;"You glimpse a four-leaf clover at your feet."
 
−
:Your luck was increased; you may pray.
 
−
;"You think something brushed your foot."
 
−
:Your luck was increased while blind; you may pray.
 
−
;"You see crabgrass at your feet.  A funny thing in a dungeon."
 
−
:Your luck was increased while hallucinating; you may pray.
 
−
;"Your sacrifice is consumed..." and no further message
 
−
:You may pray
 
−
 
 
−
==Making water holy/unholy==
 
−
If you drop a [[potion of water]] or several potions of water onto an altar and #[[pray]], the potions become [[holy water|blessed]] if the altar was aligned with you and become [[unholy water|cursed]] if the altar was not aligned with you. This occurs regardless of whether the water was blessed or cursed before. Be aware that praying on a cross-aligned altar will anger your god, decrease your luck, and you might be punished in some other way.
 
−
 
 
−
Normal prayer timeouts apply when praying on altars.
 
  
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==Camping/scumming==
+
Also, there seems to be a possibility in SLASH'EM to have equipment being worn blessed if you sacrifice enough.
−
It is possible to survive indefinitely on a level with an altar. Under normal circumstances, the need for food drives you to deeper unexplored levels. However, you can instead pray when weak, and sacrifice to reduce your prayer timeout back to zero. Doing this for extended periods of time can net you many [[death drop]]s, and a collection of gifts from your god if your luck is substantially high. This is considered by some as [[cheating|degenerate]]. It is most effectively done with [[black pudding]]s, which is known as "[[pudding farming]]".
 
  
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==High altars==
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==See also==
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The three altars on the [[Astral Plane]] and the altar in [[Moloch's Sanctum]] are considered to be '''high altars'''. They act largely as normal altars, but cannot be converted under any circumstances; doing so will cause the god in question to attempt to zap you and, failing this, will summon three minions to protect the altar. In addition, it is not possible to sacrifice monsters unless you are holding them, to stop you sacrificing the riders.
+
[[Prayer]] is closely related to sacrifice. See that page for altar-related [[intrinsic]]s, [[crowning]], etc.
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To correctly ascend, one must #offer the real [[Amulet of Yendor]] (held in main inventory, NOT dropped on the altar) at the altar of your [[alignment]].  Determining the alignment of the altar requires standing on its location and using the : look command.  The ; farlook command does not give information about a high altar's alignment.  Another method for detecting the correct altar is noticing if you are given [[sanctuary]]; that is, all monsters, other than the [[Riders]], [[aligned priest]], and [[angelic being]]s, will not be allowed to enter and cannot attack you with melee attacks.
 
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==Variants==
 
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Players of [[NetHack brass]] and [[SLASH'EM]] need to be wary when converting altars, because of the increased chance that the altar's original god will dispatch a [[minion]] against you. At [[experience level]] 7 or above with high [[alignment]], the chance of a minion appearing after converting the altar is the same as vanilla.<ref>[[pray.c#line1396]] in 3.4.3, {{semsrc|src/pray.c|1.13.2.1|line=1606}} in S 0.0.7E7F2</ref> As in vanilla, the god will yell, "Thou shalt pay for thy indiscretion!"<ref>[[minion.c#line128]]</ref> Players with a high [[luck]] will have fewer minions dispatched against them.
 
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Even worse, there's an additional chance of one or more minions appearing post-conversion. In SLASH'EM, if you are at experience level 4 or above, there is a chance that "You feel (god) is very angry at you!" and the god dispatches two minions.<ref>{{semsrc|src/pray.c|1.13.2.1|line1583}} in S 0.0.7E7F2</ref> Afterwards, you still have the original chance of another minion, as above. Again, [[luck]] is a factor.
 
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In [[NetHack brass]], you will always receive "You feel (god) is very angry at you!" For all experience levels, at least one minion will appear. Two rolls are made: the first from 0 to 9, the second from 0 to 19.  For each roll, if your level is less than the generated random number, a post-conversion minion is summoned.  [[Luck]] is not a factor. Thus in brass it is very dangerous to convert altars. You might convert an altar at experience level one and have to flee to another level from one minion, or three minions if the game rolled 0 twice, thus giving you no use of the converted altar. If converting an altar at experience level 7 or above, you might still get the pre-conversion minion, forcing you to fight as many as four summoned minions.<ref>src/pray.c in brass 040923</ref>
 
  
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==Source code references==
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==References==
 
<references />
 
<references />
  
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{{nethack-343|offset=1}}
 
{{featured}}
 
{{featured}}
  
 
[[Category:Dungeon features]]
 
[[Category:Dungeon features]]
 
[[Category:Religion]]
 
[[Category:Religion]]
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[[Category:Extended commands]]
 

Latest revision as of 16:11, 3 August 2023

Dungeon features
  Air _ Altar
# Corridor # Cloud
#. Drawbridge +-| Door
. Doorway { Fountain
| Headstone .  Floor
>< Ladder . Ice
# Iron bars } Lava
} Moat # Sink
  Solid rock >< Staircase
\ Throne ^" Trap
# Tree - | Wall
~ Vibrating square
Wikipedia
Wikipedia has an article about:
Religion in NetHack

An altar, represented by an underscore (_), is a place where you may worship gods. Temples contain an altar and an aligned priest.

Altars are co-aligned if they are of the same alignment as you and cross-aligned if they are of a different alignment. To determine if an altar is co-aligned, either use far look or stand on it and use close look. Altars of Moloch are unaligned. Unaligned altars appear only in Gehennom, one variant of Minetown and some quests (except as mimics).

Altars are scattered randomly throughout the dungeons. Minetown has a randomly aligned altar and unaligned altars can be found in the Valley of the Dead (in the temple of Moloch), Orcus-town and Moloch's Sanctum unless they were destroyed in a bones file. Orcish Town, the variant of Minetown that has been overrun by orcs, has an unaligned altar.

Altars can be used to detect the beatitude of items. This is done by dropping the item onto the altar. A black flash marks a cursed item, and an amber flash marks a blessed one. You cannot detect an item's beatitude if you are blind. You cannot detect whether an item is blessed or cursed if you are hallucinating, as you will not be able to distinguish between amber flashes and black flashes; you can, however, identify uncursed items, as there will not be a flash at all.[1]

If you #sit on, engrave on, or kick an altar, you will experience negative effects depending on the altar alignment and your alignment record.[2][3][4] If the altar is co-aligned and your alignment record is greater than -rn2(4), you lose one point of wisdom and one point of alignment record; otherwise, you lose 0-2 points of Luck, if your Luck is greater than -5.[5] This can be used to deliberately lower your Luck or alignment record to prevent crowning, and does not break atheist conduct.

If you (or a monster) zap a wand of digging downwards, you get the message "The digging ray is ineffective" and nothing further happens. However, if you break a wand of digging or apply a drum of earthquake while standing on an altar, it will be destroyed (unless it is a high altar).

Standing on any altar scares vampires as if you were standing on Elbereth or a scroll of scare monster.[6]

Randomly generated altars appear in ordinary room and corridor levels in the Dungeons of Doom. There is an independent 1 in 60 chance of each non-special room containing an altar,[7] which gives a 93% chance of at least one. The altar has an equal probability of each of the three alignments. Altars will not be generated adjacent to doors (diagonal is okay), but otherwise can occupy any spot in the room not already occupied by something else.[8] The chance of an empty room containing an altar does not change with dungeon level.

Sacrificing corpses

Main article: Sacrifice

Sacrificing fresh corpses is a useful way to reduce your prayer timeout, increase your luck, gain powerful artifact weapons, and improve your alignment (particularly if your god is unhappy with you). In SLASH'EM, you can also have wielded and worn items blessed and gain powerful minions through sacrifice. Sacrificing at the altar of another god has a chance of converting that altar to your alignment, potentially angering that god. Note that it also has a chance of converting you to that altar's alignment, angering your god and making it difficult or impossible to complete the quest if you haven't already done so.

Making holy/unholy water

If you drop one or more potions of water onto an altar and #pray, the potions become blessed if the altar was aligned with you and become cursed if the altar was not aligned with you. This occurs regardless of whether the water was blessed or cursed before. Be aware that water praying on a cross-aligned altar will anger your god, decrease your luck, and possibly cause you to be punished in some other way.

Normal prayer timeouts apply when praying on altars.

Altar camping

It is generally possible to survive indefinitely on a level with an altar. Under normal circumstances, the need for food drives you to deeper unexplored levels. However, you can instead pray when weak, and sacrifice to reduce your prayer timeout back to zero. Doing this for extended periods of time can net you many death drops, as well as a collection of gifts from your god if your luck is substantially high. This is considered by some to be degenerate.

In older versions, this was most effectively done with black puddings or brown puddings, which was known as "pudding farming"; brown puddings were less suitable for farming due to a lower sacrifice value, the inability to be summoned by kicking a sink, and their tendency to not leave a corpse (meaning more work and fewer death drops), but this was offset by their lack of a damaging attack, allowing them to be farmed more safely by physically weak or low level characters. As of Nethack 3.6.0, however, puddings no longer leave corpses at all, rendering this strategy totally ineffective.

High altars

The three altars on the Astral Plane and the altar in Moloch's Sanctum are considered to be high altars. They act largely as normal altars, but cannot be converted under any circumstances; doing so will cause the god in question to attempt to zap you and, failing this, will summon three minions to protect the altar. In addition, it is not possible to sacrifice monsters unless you are holding them (to prevent sacrificing the Riders).

To correctly ascend, one must #offer the real Amulet of Yendor (held in main inventory, not dropped on the altar) at the altar of your alignment. Determining the alignment of the altar requires standing on its location and using the : (look) command. The ; (farlook) command does not give information about a high altar's alignment (it merely calls it "aligned," which does not mean "coaligned with you," as a number of new players learn the hard way). Other methods to detect the correct altar are to zap a probing at the high priest, or to note if you are given sanctuary (that is, all monsters other than the Riders, aligned priest, and angelic beings, will not be allowed to enter and cannot attack you with melee attacks). If the version of NetHack you are playing on has not fixed the Astral call bug, that is also a possibility.

You can destroy the chaotic altar with non-chaotic same-race sacrifice, but you cannot convert the others.

Hallucinating colors

If you drop a blessed or cursed item on an altar while hallucinating you will see a <color> flash, where <color> is randomly selected from: "ultraviolet", "infrared", "bluish-orange", "reddish-green", "dark white", "light black", "sky blue-pink", "salty", "sweet", "sour", "bitter", "striped", "spiral", "swirly", "plaid", "checkered", "argyle", "paisley", "blotchy", "guernsey-spotted", "polka-dotted", "square", "round", "triangular", "cabernet", "sangria", "fuchsia", "wisteria", "lemon-lime", "strawberry-banana", "peppermint", "romantic", "incandescent".[1][9]

Encyclopedia entry

Altars are of three types:
1. In Temples. These are for Sacrifices [...]. The stone top will have grooves for blood, and the whole will be covered with _dry brown stains of a troubling kind_ from former Sacrifices.

[ The Tough Guide to Fantasyland, by Diana Wynne Jones ]


To every man upon this earth
Death cometh soon or late;
And how can man die better
Than facing fearful odds
For the ashes of his fathers
And the temples of his gods?

[ Lays of Ancient Rome, by Thomas B. Macaulay ]

Variants

Players of NetHack brass and SLASH'EM need to be wary when converting altars, because of the increased chance that the altar's original god will dispatch a minion against you. At experience level 7 or above with high alignment, the chance of a minion appearing after converting the altar is the same as vanilla.[10][11] As in vanilla, the god will yell, "Thou shalt pay for thy indiscretion!"[12] Players with a high luck will have fewer minions dispatched against them.

Even worse, there's an additional chance of one or more minions appearing post-conversion. In SLASH'EM, if you are at experience level 4 or above, there is a chance that "You feel (god) is very angry at you!" and the god dispatches two minions.[13] Afterwards, you still have the original chance of another minion, as above. Again, luck is a factor.

In NetHack brass, you will always receive "You feel (god) is very angry at you!" For all experience levels, at least one minion will appear. Two rolls are made: the first from 0 to 9, the second from 0 to 19. For each roll, if your level is less than the generated random number, a post-conversion minion is summoned. Luck is not a factor. Thus in brass it is very dangerous to convert altars. You might convert an altar at experience level one and have to flee to another level from one minion, or three minions if the game rolled 0 twice, thus giving you no use of the converted altar. If converting an altar at experience level 7 or above, you might still get the pre-conversion minion, forcing you to fight as many as four summoned minions.[14]

Also, there seems to be a possibility in SLASH'EM to have equipment being worn blessed if you sacrifice enough.

See also

Prayer is closely related to sacrifice. See that page for altar-related intrinsics, crowning, etc.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 doaltarobj in do.c
  2. ↑ src/sit.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 137
  3. ↑ src/engrave.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 576
  4. ↑ src/dokick.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 1061
  5. ↑ src/pray.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 2232
  6. ↑ monmove.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 129
  7. ↑ mklev.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 785
  8. ↑ mklev.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 1353
  9. ↑ hcolor in do_name.c
  10. ↑ pray.c in SLASH'EM 0.0.7E7F2, line 1606
  11. ↑ pray.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 1396
  12. ↑ minion.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 128
  13. ↑ pray.c in SLASH'EM 0.0.7E7F2, line 1583
  14. ↑ src/pray.c in brass 040923


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