Perseus

Perseus is the name given to an historic statue of a knight found on Medusa's Island. He is named for the Greek mythological figure that beheaded and killed Medusa, using his polished shield to view her reflection and avoid meeting her gaze directly.

Casting stone to flesh on his statue will revive him as a named player monster, much like any other statue. As with any historic statue, an Archeologist breaking it will suffer a −1 alignment penalty.

Generation

The statue of Perseus appears in all versions of Medusa's domain, with his location dependent on the version and tied to the down stairs location. Two versions of the isle have the statue occupy the same tile as both Medusa and the down stair; the other two have three (or four) eligible squares for Medusa and the down stair to appear on, and his statue will appear on one of the remaining squares.

The statue of Perseus can contain the following items, each with an independent chance of being present:

• A 75% chance of a cursed +0 shield of reflection, or a 25% chance in the second version
• A 25% chance of a +0 pair of levitation boots, or a 75% chance in the second version
• A 50% chance of a blessed +2 scimitar
• A 50% chance of a sack

Strategy

Perseus's statue is often broken for a source of reflection by players who manage to kill Medusa without one, or else plan to pilfer the statue before taking her on. He can also potentially provide a source of levitation, either for later points of the game or for crossing Medusa's island freely (e.g. after digging past). The raven-filled variant of Medusa's island is likely to have the statue on a different island from Medusa herself, making it much less ideal for those who lack most other means of crossing.

The usual strategies for facing Medusa with and without reflection apply in any event; be sure to have your means of reflection and/or blinding actually readied and equipped, or you may well end up like Perseus.

Origin

The items found in the statue each reflect some of the actual tools the mythological Perseus was gifted for the task of killing Medusa: Zeus gave him a set of winged sandals and an adamantine harpe (a sword with a sickle or scythe in the blade, hence the scimitar); the polished shield was a gift from Athena that would allow him to safely view Medusa; and the Hesperides gave him a knapsack (kibisis) with which to safely contain Medusa's head as well. Said sack would serve as the inspiration for the Wallet of Perseus in SLASH'EM and the Bag of the Hesperides in EvilHack.

FIQHack

In FIQHack, the statue of Perseus is guaranteed to contain a shield of reflection and a pair of levitation boots.

Encyclopedia entry

See the encyclopedia entry for Medusa.