Ancient of blessings

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Ancients of blessings are a possible inhabitant of an ancient-nupperibo-hellish seal. They are notable for the high potential melee damage from their many weapon attacks, the high potential damage to your armor and weapon enchantments, and their difficult-to-resist breath attack.

Consuming breath

An ancient of blessings inhales blessings and exhales misfortune.

Inhalation: blessings

"Tiny light-blue sparks rise around you."

The inhalation affects any random non-demonic monster within 4 squares of the ancient that has some form of "blessing". For the player, the following qualifies as blessings:

  1. They have at least one blessed item in their inventory
  2. Luck is greater than -7.
  3. Protection is greater than -7.
  4. Intrinsic to-hit bonus is greater than 0.
  5. Intrinsic damage bonus is greater than 0.
  6. Intrinsic carry-cap bonus is greater than 0.
  7. Monsters are considered to be blessed if their encouragement bonus is greater than -7.

The ancient attempts to consume one blessing per 3 levels (5 blessings for a typical ancient). Consuming a blessing from the player, in order of preference:

  1. Curses one blessed item in open inventory.
  2. Reduces luck by 1 point per blessing to be consumed.
  3. Reduces protection by 1 point per blessing to be consumed.
  4. Reduces intrinsic to-hit bonus by 1 point per blessing to be consumed.
  5. Reduces intrinsic damage bonus by 1 point per blessing to be consumed.
  6. Reduces intrinsic carry-cap bonus by 10 aum per blessing to be consumed.

Consuming a blessing from a monster curses one blessed item in open inventory or reduces encouragement bonus by 1.

Exhalation: misfortune

"The ancient of blessings's halo flares and casts blades of light in all directions!"

The ancient casts open wounds on all hostile targets in line-of-sight. How unfortunate.

Origin

dNetHack ancients are very loosely based on D&D Ancient Baatorians. Only two examples of ancient baatorians were actually encountered during the period in which they were introduced: a nupperibo with constitution-draining tentacles (stated to be a metamorphosing, larval baatorian) and a shapeless thing that inhales light/reflectivity and life and exhales darkness. There were also said to be spined creatures frozen deep under the ice in Cania. A later source claimed that Zargon was another ancient baatorian, but Zargon originated over a decade before the later idea of ancient baatorians (and over two decades before the source tying them together) and is obviously unrelated.