Anachrononaut quest

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The Anachrononaut quest is especially different from many of the standard quest branches in vanilla NetHack and even the many other quests in dNetHack, notdNetHack, and notnotdNetHack: an Anachrononaut hero must gain access from their quest leader before she is killed, and there is no formal quest nemesis guarding the quest artifact—after gaining access as described, they must then make their way to the goal level and fight a group of elder brains in order to retrieve The Annulus. Androids, who are 'clockwork' Anachrononauts, have a different quest altogether.

Home level The Last Bastion
Locate level City Ruins
Goal level Ground Zero
Leader Sara, the Last Oracle
Guardians troopers
Nemesis None (elder brains serve as the bosses)
Quest Artifact The Annulus

Monsters

Anachrononauts have a greater variety of quest monsters than normal, and they make up the entirety of monsters that will be randomly generated on the quest.

Maps

Home level: The Last Bastion

--------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
|}}}#|@@.|C|@|h|1234|------------------------------------------------------ 
|}#{.|S-S-S-S-S|+--5|------------------------------------------------------ 
|}{..|.........|.@|6|. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- 
|#...+.........+..|7|.----------------------------------------------------- 
--+-+-+---------+----. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- 
|D#..|.........|@@@.|.----------------------------------------------------- 
|e#..|.---#-#-.|@@..|. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- 
|l#..|.#@|@|@|.|@...|.-----------------------.....------------------------- 
|i#..|@|---|-|.|@...|. . - - - - - - - - - - . @ . - - - - - - - - - - . -- 
|--..|@#@| |@#.|@...+...---------------------.@@@.--------------------.>.-- 
|B#..|.|-|---|.|h...|. . - - - - - - - - - - . @ . - - - - - - - - - - . -- 
|o#..|.|@|@|@#.|@...|.-----------------------.....------------------------- 
|o#..|.-#-#---.|@@..|. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- 
|k#..|.........|@@@.|.----------------------------------------------------- 
--+-+-+---------+----. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- 
|#...+.........+..|8|.----------------------------------------------------- 
|}{..|.........|.h|9|. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- 
|}#{.|S-S-S-S-S|+--0|------------------------------------------------------ 
|}}}#|@|@|@|@|@|dcba|------------------------------------------------------ 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Welcome to the end of the world!

Hostile monsters on the Anachrononaut home level will be generated around the down stair, and will march across the length of the level to attack Sara, the Last Oracle—should she die before granting quest access to the hero, they will be unable to retrieve The Annulus and consequently unable to achieve a full-scoring ascension.

The right-hand portion of the home level is composed of a random maze around the provided 'landmarks' of floor, and the magic portal opens somewhere in this maze. Sara, the Last Oracle awaits within the west barred-off enclosure in the central room of the home base—the hero can chat to Sara from across the iron bars, so there is no need to destroy them. Sara is accompanied by seven peaceful mad seers in the other enclosures and two peaceful nurses that start off stationed outside Sara's "room". Troopers, the Anachrononaut quest guardians, and other peaceful monsters are placed in various areas throughout the base and outside of it at the marked locations above:

  • Four troopers and a myrkalfar warrior are stationed far outside the base.
  • Within the entrance room are a dozen troopers, two myrkalfar warriors and a dwarf warrior.
  • The supply room to the north has a myrkalfar warrior near its door, while the supply room to the south has a dwarf warrior nearby.
  • The secret doors beyond the supply rooms each lead to rooms containing resting peaceful monsters—there is a myrkalfar matron, an Elvenking, an alider, a trooper, a dwarf warrior, two humans, a regular myrkalfr, an elf, and an incantifier. All monsters except the myrkalfar matron are placed on a bed.

For the marked shops, the delicatessen always contains a tinning kit alongside six boxes that each contain either a C-ration or K-ration and 2-9 protein pills—three of the protein pills have a 9⁄10 chance of generating, while four have a 9⁄20 chance of generating. The marked rare books shop always contains a spellbook of lightning bolt and six boxes that each contain 2-3 random spellbooks and 4-6 random scrolls—the third spellbook and two extra scrolls each have a 4⁄5 chance of generating.

The storage rooms contain a lot of useful future tech and other items, with each chest marked according to its contents (all uncursed) in clockwise order:

Upper filler level(s)

.........
.}}}}}}}.
.}}-+-}}.
.}--.--}.
.}+VL.+}.
.}--.--}.
.}}-+-;}.
.}}}}}}}.

The upper filler levels are randomly generated mazes, with the ruined tower and moat above in the center of the level. A random L and a vampire lord occupy the tower at the marked positions, while a kraken is at the marked square within the moat.

Locate level


------------.....-----------------------------------------------------------
|....|.....|.....|...|.....|...|.....|.....|...|...|...|.....|.............|
|....|.....|.....|...|.....|...|.....|.....|...|...|...|.....|.............|
|. . | . . | . . | . | . . | . | . . | . . | . | . | . | . . | . . - - - - |
|....|.....|.....|...|.....|...|.....|.....|...|...|...|.....|......-------|
-- - - - - - . . | . |-- --| . | - ----- - | . | . | . | - - | . . - - - - |
.................-----.....-----...........-------------.....|......-------|
.. - - - - - - - - . . - - . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | . . . - - - |
........-.-.-.-.-.---------------------....--------------....---------------
.. . . - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - . . - - - - - - - . . . . . . . . . .
........-.-.-.-.-.---------------------....--------------...---------------.
.. . . - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - . . . . . . . . . . . . - - - - - - - .
..-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-------------------....-----------........---------------.
.. . . . . - - - - - . . . . . . . . . . | . . . . | . . . . . - - - - - - .
----------...........-----.....-----.....|.........|--------................
|. . | . | --- --- --| . | - - | . |-- --| . . . . | . | . | . . . - --- ---
|....|...|.....|.....|...|.....|...|.....|.........|...|...|-------|.......|
|. . | . | . . | . . | . | . . | . | . . | . . . . | . | . | . . . | . . . |
|....|...|.....|.....|...|.....|...|.....|.........|...|...|.......|.......|
|. . | . | . . | . . | . | . . | . | . . | . . . . | . | . | . . . | . . . |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

A random maze is overlaid onto the above map, resulting in a fairly open level with short segments of wall.

Several monsters are placed randomly across the level: six umber hulks; a hooloovoo; three uvuudaums; four mind flayers; a master mind flayer; four brain golems; a semblance; five long worms; seven razorvines; eight cranium rodents of unusual size; five purple worms; eight 'standard' changed; two warrior changed; five deep ones; a deeper one; a deepest one; five edderkops; and an embraced drowess. Uvuudaums that are generated on the Anachrononaut quest are always hostile, and should be approached with extreme caution or else avoided altogether.

Several items are placed randomly around the level as well, with the totals of each item type listed below and non-guaranteed items listing their probability in parentheses:

Lower filler level(s)

      ---------------       -----------------       ---------------      
      |HH|HHH|HHHHHH|--------...............--------|HHHHHH|HHH|HH|      
      |HH|HHH|---#---...............................---#---|HHH|HH|      
      |HH--#---.........---------S-----S---------.........---#--HH|      
      -#--........-------|######|.|###|.|######|-------........--#-      
    ---......------######S######|.--S--.|######S######------......---    
  ---.....----####S######|-------.......-------|######S####----.....---  
---.....---##S####---------........}}}........---------####S##---.....---
|.......|####------...............}}}}}...............------####|.......|
|.......|####S...................}}}U}}}...................S####|.......|
|.......|####------...............}}}}}...............------####|.......|
---.....---##S####---------........}}}........---------####S##---.....---
  ---.....----####S######|-------.......-------|######S####----.....---  
    ---......------######S######|.--S--.|######S######------......---    
      -#--........-------|######|.|###|.|######|-------........--#-      
      |HH--#---.........---------S-----S---------.........---#--HH|      
      |HH|HHH|---#---...............................---#---|HHH|HH|      
      |HH|HHH|HHHHHH---------...............---------HHHHHH|HHH|HH|      
      ---------------       -----------------       ---------------      

Each of the lower filler levels use the map above, with the up stair placed randomly in the outer ring while the down stair sits at the center of the level. Eight mind flayers and a master mind flayer are placed in the hidden corridors surrounding the central area. An elder brain sits at the center of the pool atop the down stair, and seven hostile trooper husks, six brain golems, three semblances, three umber hulks and a hooloovoo are randomly placed in the area immediately surrounding the pool. Three uvuudaums are also spread throughout the entirety of the level.

13 random items are placed randomly around the entire level, and several more are scattered randomly around the inner and outer ring areas of the level map:

The "collapsed" rooms of secret corridors that are blocked off by iron bars contain a different set of randomly placed items altogether:

Goal level

...........................................................................
...........................................................................
....................................------.................................
.........................................|.................................
----.......----..................|.#####....................---.........---
|.............|...............|..|.##U##....|...............|.............|
|..---------.............--|..|..|.#####....|..|.......|...|-..--------...|
|..|.......|...-|.|-.......-|.|..|...#...|..|.|-.......-|.|-...|.......|..|
|..|.#####.|....-|-....#....-||..----+----..||-.... ....-|-....|.#####.|..|
|....##U###+.....+....###....||.............||....   ....+.....+###U##.|..|
|....#####.|....-|-....#....-|--|.........|--|-.... ....-|-....|.#####.|..|
|..........|...-|-|-.......-|...-|---+---|-...|-.......-|-|-...........|..|
|....-------..-|---|---+---|....|-.......-|....|.--+---|---|-..----...--..|
|- - - - - - -|- - - | . | - - |-. . # . .-| - - | . | - - -|- - - - - - -|
-------------------------------|....###....|---------|----------------------
-- - - - - - - - - - - - - - . |-. . # . .-| . - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
---------------------------|----|---------|----|----------------------------
-- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - . | - + - | . - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
-----------------------------|---------------|------------------------------
-- - - - - - - - - - - - - - --< < < < < < <-- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

The up stairs leading back to the lower filler level is placed on one of the several marked squares at the bottom of the map. The dash-filled southern portion is overlaid with a randomized maze area during level creation, and the remainder of the level is deliberately patterned after the Astral Plane, representing the complex of temples after Ilsensine caused them to crash into the earth below (as described in the quest text). The doors leading from the up stair section into the western and eastern wings are locked, as are the doors to the north temple and the area outside the east temple. The level is non-diggable, though phasing is allowed.

In lieu of a formal quest nemesis, an elder brain is generated at each of the locations marked above. Other monsters are randomly placed around the whole of the level: 14 trooper husks, 16 mind flayers, two master mind flayers, ten brain golems, five semblances, six umber hulks, a hooloovoo, seven uvuudaums, three psurlon long worms, three regular long worms, and a psurlon purple worm.

Several items are scattered randomly around the level:

26 random items and the blessed +0 Annulus are placed randomly on the level as well, and will not be placed in the corridor areas occupied by the elder brains—The Annulus is generated last so that it will always appear on the top of a pile if it ends up sharing a square with one (making it easier to find with object detection).

Messages

Entry

First time: 

Suddenly, you find yourself back in the warrens surrounding the Last Bastion.

Next time: 

Once again, you return to the Last Bastion.

If already rejected twice due to bad alignment: 

You are back at the Last Bastion.

You have an odd feeling this may be the last time you ever come here.

Quest guardians

If #chatting before the quest is complete: 

"The sepulchers have opened!  The Seraphs are rising to the surface!"
"They know our location.  This position will be overrun shortly."
"We're out of time."
"Ever since the Rapture of Slime, the puppets of the Black Web have been appearing on the surface in great numbers."
"You must speak with Sara before the Last Bastion falls!"

If #chatting after the quest is complete: 

"Have you seen the flowers at the end of time?"
"We're being overrun!"
"We're out of time."
"All the world has begun to move with the semblance of life."
"You retrieved the Annulus?  Why?  It won't save us now."

Quest leader

When you first meet your quest leader: 

"I'm glad you were able to return.  For you, many days have
gone by since you were sent back, but for us, it's only been
a few minutes.

"The mission to the past was meant to be a one-way trip.
However, our Enemy's attack has forced us to send you 
back prematurely, and to recall you from farther down
the time-stream, in the hopes that you can complete the
final preparations for your mission.

"But, before I can tell you in more detail what you
must do, I must check to see if you have grown strong
enough to withstand the perils ahead."


When you return, having been rejected due to lack of experience: 

"You have returned from farther down the time-stream, I see.
Let me check if you are strong enough now."

This message is not currently used: 

"You have traveled quite far down the time-stream now.
Let me check if you are strong enough now."

When you are expelled from the quest for having failed the alignment test seven times: 

"<playername>, my <brother|sister>!  How could you betray us!
"Begone!  Live out what remains of your cursed life in
the doomed, distant past!"


When being rejected due to lack of experience: 

"<Brother|Sister>, you are not yet strong enough to undertake the mission
I must give you now.  The army of the bastions has tried, 
and failed, to complete this mission for our entire lives.
Go now, return to the past, and come back to us from farther down
the time-stream."

When being rejected due to having worse than pious alignment: 

"%<Brother|Sister>, I fear that you have strayed from your chosen path.

"The Enemy will exploit any weaknesses in your psyche.  Return
to the past and rededicate yourself to the <neutral|chaotic> path."


When finally assigned the quest: 

"<Brother|Sister>, you may now be ready to undertake the final preparations
for your mission.

"The great Enemy, the Grey Thought Entity called Ilsensine, comes to
Yggdrasil from the Far Realms that lie beyond it.  She entered our
world in the distant past, possibly even through the beginning.  For
eons, she lay dormant as the seed of inspiration, burried in the 
minds of the gods of Law.

"In this age before ages, the mind flayers ruled the universe, having
themselves traveled through far realms to that era from the distant
future.  They learned of that nascent thought, or brought knowledge
of it back from the future, and worshiped it as Ilsensine.

"Before the mind flayers could complete preparations for the rise of
the Enemy, they were overthrown by a revolt of the slave races, and
the great ring of Penumbra was broken.

"But the gods of Law, contemplating the strange natural order of
the mind flayers, stumbled on the Thought, and were consumed by
it.  The other gods of the heavens became aware of the Enemy and
fought against it, but they too were consumed one by one, until only
the gods of the earth remained.

"The mortal races of the earth were trapped between the new God
of the heavens and the old gods of earth.  But they were not
unprepared.

"Our ancestors discovered a silver bell that could open anything.
They turned the power of this bell against itself, opening a ring-
shaped hole in the world through which the foreign Thought Entity
could be ejected from the universe.

"The greatest hero of the age wielded this Annulus in battle
with the servants of Ilsensine, on the day of our birth when the
heavens fell to earth.  The Annulus was lost at Ground Zero in 
the defeat at the Battle of Heavenfall and the Night of Falling
Stars.

"It is too late to employ the Annulus against Ilsensine, for all
the base matter of the world now stirs with her thoughts.  The only
hope is to take the Annulus back into the past, to before Ilsensine
overran the heavens, and employ it against her then.  This is the
great mission for which you have spent your whole life training.

"However, the Annulus remains lost at Ground Zero.  All the 
armies of the Resistance have been unable to penetrate deep 
enough into enemy teritory to reach that place, and now there
are no armies left.  We have no choice but to send you, the Last
Hero of this or any age to come, alone in the hopes that you can
succeed where they failed.  Should you do so, you must return to
me so that I can tell you of the final stage of the plan."

Encouragement

If you subsequently chat to your quest leader, you are encouraged: 

"We are the final generation, born the day the heavens fell.  No more
will be born after us, unless you can change the course of history."
"The night of falling stars ended coordinated resistance on the
surface.  Only a few underground bastions survived the night."
"Should you meet a Dread Seraph, I can only suggest you run."
"You should make liberal use of magic maps and object detection."
"The Black Flowers are dangerous for their song, not their combat
prowess."
"Intoners are fast, seductive warriors, who sing many songs and
cast many spells.  I can only advise you to kill them quickly
from a distance."
"Beware the Army of Neverweres, or they will steal your
equipment and your blood."
"The remaining Troopers of the Last Bastion will hold the
line as long as they are able."
"Those Changed by exposure to the Far Realms of Insanity
require isolation suits to exist in our atmosphere.  If
the suit is breached, the Changed inside will eventually
boil away into poison mist."
"I hope you found luck in the past, for there is surely
none left in this fading world."


Locate and goal levels

When first entering the locate level: 

You have reached the ruins of a great city, destroyed in
the rain of falling stars that came after the great defeat
at the Battle of Heavenfall.  Beyond the city you see the
ever-expanding Penumbral zone rising into the night sky.

You will have to pass through the city and the nascent 
Penumbra if you are to reach Ground Zero, where the Annulus
was lost on the Eve of Falling Stars, on the day of your
birth.

When returning: 

Once again, you arrive at the ruins of the city.

When first entering the goal level: 

An overwhelming feeling of being watched fills your mind.

You have reached Ground Zero, where Heaven fell to earth.


When returning: 

You have returned to Ground Zero.

Victory

When picking up your quest artifact: 

You have recovered the Annulus, lost at the Battle of
Heavenfall on the Eve of Falling Stars.

You must return to Sara, if she yet lives, to learn
the details of the next and final stage of the plan.

When returning to your quest leader: 

Sara, the Last Oracle, looks wonderingly at the
Annulus.

"Well done, <brother|sister>.  You have succeed where
all others have failed, and returned hope to
our world.

"You must now travel deep into the earth, and
retrieve the Amulet of Yendor, that was stolen by
Moloch at the beginning of time.

"With the Amulet in your possession, the gods will
allow you to climb up to the Astral Plane.  Once
there, you must use the Annulus to Annul the High
Altar of Ilsensine and eject her from this
universe."

When subsequently throwing the Annulus to Sara: 

"The Annulus is the pinnacle of mortal technology, created
by turning the power of the Bell of Opening upon itself,
creating a door through the universe through which even
the great Grey Thought Entity Ilsensine may be ejected.

"You must not lose it or fail to take it with you to
the Astral Plane, or all our struggles will have been
for naught."


Post-quest

When talking to Sara after the quest: 

"There is nothing more you can do for this version of me,
<brother|sister>.  Go back to the past, seek the Amulet of Yendor, and
gain entrance to the Astral Plane, where the final confrontation
with the servants of Ilsensine awaits you."


When talking to Sara after getting the Amulet: 

"You've done it!  But there is still nothing you can do for us
now.  Go back to the past, and bear the Amulet of Yendor up
to the Astral Plane.  Once there, you must use the Annulus
to Annul the High Altar of Ilsensine and eject her from
this universe before she can consume the heavens and the
earth."

Strategy

To be written.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 ranging from a short sword to a katana
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 ranging from a spear to a katar
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