You hear

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Revision as of 16:56, 29 March 2017 by Primer81 (talk | contribs) ("You hear a crumbling sound" also refers to when a statue crumbles. Not just when a boulder crumbles.)
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There are several messages starting with You hear:

The following messages are associated with monsters and/or traps:

  • You hear some noises or You hear some noises in the distance
An unseen monster (typically, your pet, or possibly one affected by conflict) is attacking another one.
  • You hear a jackal/wolf howling at the moon
There's a werejackal/werewolf somewhere on the level.
An unseen monster has zapped a wand.
  • You hear a chugging sound.
An unseen monster is drinking a potion.
There's a gelatinous cube somewhere on the level, eating junk...or your stash!
There's a metallivore somewhere on the level, eating a metallic object.
There's a dwarf or a tunneling monster somewhere on the level that is digging through walls.
  • You hear something crash through the ground.
An unseen monster has just gone through a hole in the ground.
Some monster set off a boulder trap out of your sight.
  • You hear someone bowling.
Some monster set off a boulder trap out of your sight, and you are hallucinating.
  • You hear a rumbling stop abruptly
An unseen boulder rolled on to a teleport trap.
  • You hear a loud crash!
An unseen rolling boulder hit another boulder.
  • You hear a monster behind the boulder.. perhaps that is why you cannot move it
You attempted to push a boulder onto a space already occupied by a monster.
  • You hear a door open/crash open/unlock and open
A monster has opened/bashed a door out of your sight. Shopkeepers and the Riders might unlock doors, as might a monster carrying a skeleton key (usually a nymph who has stolen one).
  • You hear a blast.
An unseen gas spore has exploded.
  • You hear a crumbling sound
An unseen boulder or statue has crumbled into rock.
  • You hear a distant explosion.
A monster somewhere on the level has opened a trapped door.
  • Kaablamm! You hear an explosion in the distance.
A monster somewhere on the level has stepped on a landmine.
  • You hear a distant squeaking sound
A monster somewhere on the level has set off a squeaky board trap.
  • You hear the roar of a confused bear!
An unseen bugbear or owlbear got stuck in a web.
  • You hear the roar of an angry bear!
An unseen bugbear or owlbear got stuck in a bear trap.
  • You hear a deafening roar!
A magic trap you activated summoned monsters in your vicinity, while you're blind.
  • You hear distant howling.
You stepped on a magic trap. No effect.
  • You hear the moon howling at you.
You stepped on a magic trap while hallucinating. No effect.
  • You hear a loud click!
An arrow trap you stepped on has been destroyed instead of activating.
  • You hear a soft click!
A dart trap you stepped on has been destroyed instead of activating.
  • You hear a twang followed by a thud.
A trapdoor has been locked out of your vision.
  • You hear a crashing sound.
A door, secret door, or trapdoor has been destroyed out of your vision.
  • You hear a rushing noise nearby.
A vortex or air elemental you couldn't see attempted to engulf you but attacked the wrong space.
  • You hear a splat nearby.
As above, but the attacking monster is an ochre jelly or Juiblex.
  • You hear a thud.
A monster has stepped on a polymorph trap (or a lycanthrope has changed into its animal form) out of your sight and become too small for its body armor, thus dropping it.
  • You hear a clank.
A monster has stepped on a polymorph trap (or a lycanthrope has changed into its animal form) out of your sight and become headless, handless or horned, thus dropping a shield or helmet.
  • You hear a cracking sound.
A monster has stepped on a polymorph trap out of your sight and become too large or the wrong shape for its body armor, thus cracking out of it and destroying it.
  • You hear a ripping sound.
A monster has stepped on a polymorph trap out of your sight and become too large for its shirt or cloak, thus ripping out of it and destroying it.
  • You hear chewing.
You are blind and hit a monster with a wielded cockatrice corpse, however the monster was standing on (or carrying) a lizard/acidic corpse and ate it to survive stoning.
  • You hear a cough.
A cancelled dragon out of your sight attempted to use its breath weapon, and there was no effect.
  • You hear an awful gobbling noise.
A ghoul out of your sight, or in SLASH'EM a ghast, has eaten an old corpse.

The following messages are associated with sinks

The following messages are associated with fountains:

A naiad is a type of nymph from Greek mythology associated with fountains and other sources of fresh water.

A soda fountain is a device which dispenses soft drinks, and by extension a small eatery that sells them.

The following messages are associated with special rooms:

Zoo

  • You hear a sound reminiscent of a seal barking
  • You hear a sound reminiscent of an elephant stepping on a peanut
  • You hear Doctor Doolittle! (hallucinating)

Doctor Dolittle (note the spelling) is a fictional doctor who works with animals.

Vault

  • You hear the footsteps of a guard on patrol.
  • You hear someone counting money.
  • You hear Ebenezer Scrooge! (hallucinating)
  • You hear the quarterback calling the play. (hallucinating)
  • You hear someone searching. (Vault raided and empty)

Ebenezer Scrooge is the miserly protagonist of Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol.

A quarterback is a position in American football. When calling a play, a quarterback characteristically lists a series of numbers.

Oracle

  • You hear snoring snakes.
  • You hear a strange wind.
  • You hear convulsive ravings.
  • You hear someone say "No more woodchucks!" (hallucinating)
  • You hear a loud ZOT! (hallucinating)

The last two sounds heard while hallucinating are references to the Internet Oracle.

Throne room

  • You hear the tones of courtly conversation.
  • You hear a sceptre pounded in judgment.
  • Someone shouts "Off with his/her head!" (his or her based on player gender)
  • You hear Queen Beruthiel's cats! (hallucinating)

"Off with his head!" is famously shouted by the Queen of Hearts in Lewis Carrolls's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

Queen Berúthiel of Tolkien's works was notorious for her cats.

Temple

Since NetHack 3.6.0, the following sounds can be heard if there is a temple on the current floor with a priest whose alignment matches that of the altar: [1]

  • You hear someone praising <deity>. (only if the priest can speak)
  • You hear someone beseeching <deity>. (only if the priest can speak)
  • You hear an an animal carcass being offered in sacrifice. (only if you can't see the priest or altar)
  • You hear a strident plea for donations. (only if the priest can speak)

Beehive

  • You hear a low buzzing.
  • You hear an angry drone.
  • You hear bees in your bonnet! (hallucinating, wearing helmet)
  • You hear bees in your (nonexistent) bonnet! (hallucinating, not wearing helmet)

To have "a bee in your bonnet" is an idiom meaning to be obsessed or excited over an idea.

Graveyard

  • You suddenly realize it is unnaturally quiet.
  • The hair on the back of your neck stands up.
  • The hair on your head seems to stand up. (hallucinating)

The hair, neck, and head vary depending on the player's race.

Barracks

  • You hear blades being honed.
  • You hear loud snoring.
  • You hear dice being thrown.
  • You hear General MacArthur! (hallucinating)

General of the Army Douglas MacArthur was a famous United States Army general and field marshal of the Philippine Army.

Swamp

  • You hear mosquitoes!
  • You smell marsh gas!
  • You hear Donald Duck! (hallucinating)

Donald Duck is a Walt Disney cartoon and comic-book character.

The following messages are associated with scrolls:

Scroll of scare monster

The following messages are associated with shopkeepers:

Neiman Marcus is an upscale department store in the United States.

The following messages are associated with pets:

  • You hear the rumble of distant thunder...
You killed your pet. Penalty -15 alignment and -1 Luck. See also anger.
  • You hear the studio audience applaud!
As above while hallucinating.

The studio audience refers to the audience present for the filming of a television program, providing background applause and laughter.

The following messages are associated with items:

  • You hear something shatter!
A fragile item has been destroyed out of your vision.

Stethoscope

  • You barely hear faint splashing
You applied the stethoscope up or down while underwater.
  • You hear the crackling of hellfire
You applied the stethoscope to the floor of the castle, beneath which lies the Valley of the Dead.
  • You hear your heart beat
The stethoscope is cursed.
  • You hear a faint typing noise
You applied the stethoscope to the edge of the map.
  • You hear a hollow sound. This must be a secret door/passage!
You applied the stethoscope to a wall concealing a secret door/passage.
  • You hear a voice say, "It's dead, Jim."
You applied the stethoscope down, to a corpse, while hallucinating.

"He's dead, Jim" or some variant thereof is often uttered by Dr. McCoy upon examining or discovering the body of a recently deceased.

Bugle

  • You hear a bugle playing reveille!
A sergeant/lieutenant/captain on the level used a bugle.
  • You hear the rattle of battle gear being readied
A soldier on the level is awakened.

The following messages are associated with the dungeon environment:

  • You hear hissing gas.
Fire has boiled away water out of your vision.
  • You hear a soft crackling
A bolt of cold has frozen a square of water out of your sight.
  • You hear a crackling sound
A bolt of cold has frozen a square of water on the Plane of Water out of your sight.

The following messages are associated with you:

Hit point loss

  • You hear the howling of the CwnAnnwn...
You have less than 1/10 of your total hit points left.
  • You hear the wailing of the Banshee...
You have only 1 hit point left.

The Cŵn Annwn are the hounds of Annwn, the underworld from Welsh mythology, whose howls are seen as a death omen.

The Banshee is a spirit from Irish mythology whose wails can be heard when someone is on the verge of death.

The following messages need categorization:


This is a disambiguation page: a list of articles associated with the same title.
If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended page.

This page may need to be updated for the current version of NetHack.

It may contain text specific to NetHack 3.4.3. Information on this page may be out of date.

Editors: After reviewing this page and making necessary edits, please change the {{nethack-343}} tag to the current version's tag or {{noversion}} as appropriate.

Configuration option

There is also a configuration option sound. It may be the culprit if you cannot open the castle drawbridge. In NetHack 3.6.0, this option has been renamed to 'acoustics'.