Light source

Light sources cast light over a number of squares. To light any light source, use the apply command, [a].

Lit areas can be diplayed in brighter characters using the game option lit_corridor.

Table of light sources

Light sources are generated to stay lit for the number of turns in the table below. They are generated in the quantity and BUC state shown. Cursed light sources will sometimes not light.

Light source	Turns	Generated
tallow candle	200	1 to 7; 10% blessed, 80% uncursed, 10% cursed
wax candle	400	1 to 7; 10% blessed, 80% uncursed, 10% cursed
brass lantern	1000 to 1499	10% blessed, 80% uncursed, 10% cursed
oil lamp	1000 to 1499	10% blessed, 80% uncursed, 10% cursed
potion of oil	400	12.5% blessed, 75% uncursed, 12.5% cursed
magic lamp	Infinite	25% blessed, 50% uncursed, 25% cursed
Sunsword	Infinite	10% blessed, 80% uncursed, 10% cursed
Candelabrum of Invocation	See below	Unique item

The Candelabrum

Candles can be applied to the Candelabrum of Invocation. The Candelabrum acts like an ordinary light source if at least one candle is applied to it. It will last as many turns as the first candle that was applied would have burned. The Candelabrum will not light if cursed.

Light radius 4:

...........  
...xxxxx...  
..xxxxxxx..  
.xxxxxxxxx.  
.xxxxxxxxx.  
.xxxx@xxxx.  
.xxxxxxxxx.  
.xxxxxxxxx.  
..xxxxxxx..  
...xxxxx...  
...........

Lanterns and lamps

(
Name	oil lamp
Appearance	lamp
Base price	10 zm
Weight	20
Material	[[{{{material}}}]]
Monster use	Will not be used by monsters.

(
Name	brass lantern
Appearance	brass lantern
Base price	20 zm
Weight	30
Material	[[{{{material}}}]]
Monster use	Will not be used by monsters.

Brass lanterns and oil lamps can be refilled by a scroll of charging; a blessed scroll will refill them to 1500 turns, an uncursed scroll will add 750 turns to a maximum of 1500. An oil lamp with 1000 or fewer turns left can also be refilled by #dipping it into a potion of oil, getting twice the remaining turns left in the potion. (Attempting to refill an oil lamp with a lit potion of oil, or while the lamp is lit, will cause an explosion dealing 6 to 36 points of damage). No lamp can be filled beyond 1500 turns.

Light radius 3:

...........  
...........  
....xxx....  
...xxxxx...  
..xxxxxxx..  
..xxx@xxx..  
..xxxxxxx..  
...xxxxx...  
....xxx....  
...........  
...........

Magic lamps

(
Name	magic lamp
Appearance	lamp
Base price	50 zm
Weight	20
Material	[[{{{material}}}]]
Monster use	Will not be used by monsters.

Magic lamps never run out of power, and may summon a djinni and lead to a wish when #rubbed.

Sunsword

Light radius: 2

...........  
...........  
...........  
....xxx....  
...xxxxx...  
...xx@xx...  
...xxxxx...  
....xxx....  
...........  
...........  
...........

The artifact weapon Sunsword will act as a light source whenever wielded, either by you or by a monster.

Candles

(
Name	tallow candle
Appearance	candle
Base price	10 zm
Weight	2
Material	[[{{{material}}}]]
Monster use	Will not be used by monsters.

(
Name	wax candle
Appearance	candle
Base price	20 zm
Weight	2
Material	[[{{{material}}}]]
Monster use	Will not be used by monsters.

The only differences between wax and tallow candles are their lifespans, and that eating tallow candles breaks vegetarian conduct. You can mix different candle types on the Candelabrum.

Candles can be randomly generated or wished for, but some can always be found in Izchak's lighting shop in Minetown. Wishing for candles guarantees at least seven (the number needed on the Candelabrum).

Light radius 2:

...........  
...........  
...........  
....xxx....  
...xxxxx...  
...xx@xx...  
...xxxxx...  
....xxx....  
...........  
...........  
...........

Candles hold a special place in the game, as seven of them are needed for the invocation ritual. They must be attached to the Candelabrum of Invocation prior to beginning the ritual proper, although they may be partially burnt prior to this, and you may freely mix wax and tallow, blessed, uncursed, and cursed candles.

Seven candles are the only items that are required to win the game, but not guaranteed to appear at any point in the Mazes of Menace. Izchak's Lighting Shop is guaranteed, but it may not have enough candles. So wise players will hoard any candles they find, until they have the requisite seven. If random chance does not produce this many by the time you are ready for the invocation ritual, your options include polypiling tools, using a wish (a wish will always produce up to seven candles, in an exception to the ordinary mechanics of wishing for multiple items), and less-savory techniques such as pudding farming.

A single candle has a light radius of 2, the radius increases by one for every additional power of 7. Therefore, a stack of 7 candles lights up a 3 square radius, 49 a 4 square radius, 343 a 5 square radius and so forth.

Monster light sources

Currently all monsters that emit light create a light of radius 1 around themselves. Light-emitting monsters are y yellow light, y black light, e flaming sphere, e shocking sphere, v fire vortex and E fire elemental.

In the following chart, E is the light-emitting monster and x is the area lit by it.

.....
.xxx.
.xEx.
.xxx.
.....

See also

• wand of light
• scroll of light
• spellbook of light

References

This page is based on a spoiler by Dylan O'Donnell. The original license is:

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