The Temple of Moloch
The Temple of Moloch is a special level in SLASH'EM and dNetHack. In SLASH'EM, the Temple of Moloch is accessed by a stairway down located between levels 32 and 35, while in dNetHack the stairway appears between levels 5 and 25.
As the name implies, the entire level (except for the stair room and treasure room) is a temple dedicated to Moloch; the altar is marked and attended by four priests of Moloch.
Contents
The level
|.g.| |.g.| |.g.| |.g.| |.g.|
----------...---...---...---...---&&&|-| -----
|..^|.........ZZZZZZZ..................| |(((|
|.<X+.........ZZZZZZZ................_.S########S(((|
|..^|.........ZZZZZZZ..................| |(((|
----------...---...---...---...---&&&|-| -----
|.g.| |.g.| |.g.| |.g.| |.g.|
----- ----- ----- ----- -----
There are two spiked pits in the stair room. The X mark indicates a burned message reading "Those Not of Moloch, Begone!".
The niches on the sides of the temple each contain a statue gargoyle, and the main area contains a bone devil, a babau, a barbed devil, a vrock, a horned devil, a hezrou, and 21 random Z. Be cautious when attacking the priests of Moloch, as Moloch responds with divine lightning bolts, potentially blinding you even if you have reflection/lightning resistance.
The room on the far right contains nine piles of treasure, each composed of a chest, a wax candle, a random amount of gold, and three random objects. In dNetHack, the center chest also contains the scroll of consecration.
The altar
Unlike the unaligned altars in Gehennom, the altar here can be converted to your alignment. This may be useful in games where very few altars generate, since along with the altar in the Lawful Quest, this is one of two guaranteed altars that is coaligned or can be made coaligned without angering the Minetown priest. This is important in SLASH'EM because the priest in the Valley of the Dead is generated hostile, making the Minetown priest the only guaranteed source of protection.
Conversely, the altar here is the earliest guaranteed cross-aligned altar. This can be useful for players looking to make unholy water.
See also
Reference
From source mtemple.des file
