The Master Key of Thievery
( The Master Key of Thievery 
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|---|---|
| Base item | skeleton key |
| Affiliation | |
| When carried | |
| When applied |
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| When invoked |
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| Base price | 3500 zm |
| Weight | 3 |
The Master Key of Thievery is the rogue quest artifact. It is chaotic for wishing purposes. Its base item type is a skeleton key.
When carried, the Key confers warning, teleport control and half physical damage. Using the Master Key of Thievery for unlocking always succeeds. It also speaks to you: it gives a random rumor, true if the Key is blessed, false if cursed and either if uncursed. Invoking it removes all traps[1] in the door or container.
Encyclopedia entry
This skeleton key was fashioned in ages past and imbued with a powerful magic which allows it to open any lock. When carried, it grants its owner warning, teleport control, and reduces all physical damage by half. Finally, when invoked, it has the ability to disarm any trap.
Strategy
Half physical damage is a unique intrinsic and very useful, which makes the master key an excellent wish for a chaotic character. It should be wished for early, because artifact wishing depends on the number of artifacts in existence already (specifically you can only be certain of getting it if there are less than 2 in existence) -- in fact, a chaotic character may want to hold back on sacrificing before their first wish. Also be sure to be able to withstand the blasting damage: 40 maximum HP or 20 with magic resistence. Once it's in your inventory don't drop it and you should be able to reap its benefits without being blasted again. Open doors with normal keys, it's not like the opening feature of the Master Key is that important anyway.
