Alignment quest

The alignment quests are set of three one-level quests unique to SLASH'EM. Portals to each are found between levels 15 and 19, and each one yields an alignment key and an alignment artifact.

Properties

The quests all share some common properties:

• They are all accessed by portals found between levels 15 and 19; two alignment quest portals will never be found on the same level, nor on the same level as the quest.
• They are all one level long.
• They have no quest leaders or specific quest friendlies.
• Anyone may embark on any of them.
• They all have one unique, covetous enemy who must be killed for their alignment key.
• This enemy will also yield a unique artifact, specifically a body part, if killed in a manner that would normally leave a corpse. Disintegration and digestion are therefore not recommended. You can't wish for these artifacts or the alignment keys("For a moment, you feel something in your hands, but it disappears!"), same behavior with your own quest artifact.

Necessity

The central six doors in the top level of Vlad's Tower have been made indestructible in SLASH'EM, and each requires a specific alignment key to open. Because of the configuration of the doors, you will always need two keys to reach Vlad; therefore, you only need to do two of the alignment quests to easily reach him. And of course, you can't wish for the keys. However, it is still possible to obtain the Candelabrum of Invocation without the alignment keys. There are two main ways to do this:

• Wake up Vlad yourself: Similar to waking up the Wizard, one can do this with a charged drum of earthquake or a polyselfed or pet mind flayer's psychic blast. Vlad is covetous, and so will teleport to meet the player.
• Let somebody else do your dirty work: Specifically the Wizard of Yendor; he wants the Candelabrum as much as you do, and so will teleport to meet Vlad if you lure him up to the top level of Vlad's Tower. However, he cannot get past Vlad's +3 enchantment resistance, but he will at least wake him up for you. Alternately, filling the area with pets via a combination of create monster and confused taming, or by simply spamming flame sphere or a similar spell, it's possible for a pet to end up next to Vlad and wake him up.

The Quests

Chaotic

The Chaotic Quest sees you fighting Vecna for his hand and key. He is surrounded by an army of L, V, W and Z, and has a very high base level himself, making the Chaotic Quest both the hardest and the most rewarding of the alignment quests, especially given that the level also contains a large number of chests, scrolls and spellbooks. Be aware that the portal might take you right next to Vecna himself, so be prepared with a good permanent source of Elbereth.

Neutral

The easiest quest but also the least rewarding, the Neutral Quest is filled mostly with gas spores and a few random monsters, with the Beholder at the end. Be sure to have magic resistance, reflection, or a source of blindness before entering the level, and be mindful of the fact that the Beholder is represented by the same glyph as all of his attendant gas spores. A ranged weapon is also advisable, although for a strong character not an absolute necessity. The reward, the Eye of the Beholder, is not terribly useful overall.

Lawful

The Lawful Quest plays vaguely like something out of a horror movie. It is filled with numerous illusions, including deceptively #named items made to look like ascension kit items or artifacts, doors which lead nowhere, a false temple, and more. Beneath its illusions, it does always contain a coaligned altar and cursed -9 gray dragon scales (which you will likely have to fight an arch-lich to obtain, stoning is very handy here). It often, but not always, contains an amulet of flying as well. The quest nemesis, Nightmare, inflicts surprising amounts of damage but is otherwise unremarkable. She drops the moderately useful Nighthorn and the Key of Law when killed.