Difference between revisions of "Ixoth"

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==Encyclopedia entry==
 
==Encyclopedia entry==
 
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Ixoth shares his encyclopedia entry with all other dragons.
 
{{encyclopedia|<poem>
 
{{encyclopedia|<poem>
 
In the West the dragon was the natural enemy of man.  Although
 
In the West the dragon was the natural enemy of man.  Although

Revision as of 16:13, 1 April 2020

Ixoth, D, is the Knight quest nemesis. He is a red dragon that guards the Bell of Opening and the Knight's quest artifact, the Magic Mirror of Merlin. Strangely, the default tileset gives him an extremely similar appearance to Nalzok and the Minion of Huhetotl.

Like any other red dragon, eating Ixoth's corpse or tin is guaranteed to confer fire resistance.

Strategy

Approaching Ixoth can be difficult due to the layout and darkness of his cave; unless you have stealth, he will likely become aware of your presence and teleport next to you while you are navigating the southern bend. As with all covetous monsters, it may be more ideal to engrave Elbereth or drop a scroll of scare monster on the stairs and awaken him from there; Ixoth respects Elbereth, and while he also respects the scroll of scare monster, it will not stop a blast of fire from burning the scroll to a crisp underneath you.

The presence of ochre jellies throughout the quest mean that you will want corrode-proofed armor and weapons, both to clear them out before facing Ixoth and to maintain your AC and damage. An AC of at least -15, fireproofed armor, and fire resistance or reflection are recommended as well; fire resistance reduces the threat of his powerful flame breath, and reflection removes its threat entirely while protecting your inventory. This leaves both his nasty bite attacks, which can be mitigated with good AC, and his spellcasting, which can still destroy your armor and curse your inventory; magic resistance is also a great boon, particularly if you cannot keep Ixoth out of melee range. Ixoth can also cast aggravate monster, making it all the more important to clear out the ochre jellies before hand so you can avoid possibly being engulfed mid-fight.

If you are mounted and are at least skilled in using the lance, you can possibly use your speed to joust Ixoth to death, especially if you can lure him out while remaining on the upstair. Ixoth has the same low monster magic resistance as any other dragon, leaving him open to any spells in the knight's arsenal. Any knight willing to take the alignment penalties can also use a potion of paralysis, ideally wielded while wearing a ring of free action.

Encyclopedia entry

Ixoth shares his encyclopedia entry with all other dragons.

In the West the dragon was the natural enemy of man. Although
preferring to live in bleak and desolate regions, whenever it
was seen among men it left in its wake a trail of destruction
and disease. Yet any attempt to slay this beast was a perilous
undertaking. For the dragon's assailant had to contend
not only with clouds of sulphurous fumes pouring from its fire
breathing nostrils, but also with the thrashings of its tail,
the most deadly part of its serpent-like body.

[ Mythical Beasts by Deirdre Headon (The Leprechaun Library) ]


"One whom the dragons will speak with," he said, "that is a
dragonlord, or at least that is the center of the matter. It's
not a trick of mastering the dragons, as most people think.
Dragons have no masters. The question is always the same, with
a dragon: will he talk to you or will he eat you? If you can
count upon his doing the former, and not doing the latter, why
then you're a dragonlord."

[ The Tombs of Atuan, by Ursula K. Le Guin ]


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