Balam
Balam, the Last Sacrifice is a spirit that appears in dNetHack, notdNetHack and notnotdNetHack.
Ritual, seal and taboo
Balam's seal must be drawn on an ice square, and the hero must chat to the seal while wielding a weapon.
To remain bound to Balam, the hero must not sacrifice intelligent monsters.
Mark
A hero that has Balam bound leaks freezing water from deep wounds in their wrists, ankles, and neck. This mark can be seen at a distance, and a cloak or body armor is sufficient to disguise it, but gloves and boots are also required to disguise the mark from up close.
Benefits
While bound, Balam grants the hero half spell damage and skill in bullwhips.
Balam's active powers are as follows:
- Icy Glare: After prompting the player for a direction, 5 dice of ice damage is dealt to the first monster in the indicated direction, half of that damage is dealt to all monsters in a ~90 degree wedge centered on the chosen direction, and any moats and pools in this 'wedge' are frozen—the range is 1 square for every two experience levels. The hero is then blinded for 5 turns.
- Balam's Anointing: Performs a touch attack with a to-hit roll against a single adjacent monster that deals 5 dice of cold damage. A target that has a head and is not thick-skinned may be killed outright (10% chance). A target with a head, eyes, and thick skin instead takes double damage and is blinded. Otherwise, this power has no extra effect.
Her passive powers are as follows:
- Balam's Martyrdom: A hero that has 10 or more DR rolls twice for DR when calculating damage dealt to them by attacks.
As a monster
| & Balam File:BalamTheSacrifice.png | |
|---|---|
| Difficulty | 18 |
| Attacks |
Weapon 1d4 physical, offhand weapon 1d4 physical, touch 2d4 frost, targeted gaze 3d4 frost |
| Base level | 14 |
| Base experience | 527 |
| Speed | 12 |
| Base AC | 4 |
| Base MR | 50 |
| Alignment | 12 (lawful) |
| Frequency (by normal means) | 0 (Not randomly generated) |
| Genocidable | No |
| Weight | 3000 |
| Nutritional value | 400 |
| Size | large |
| Resistances | fire resistance, cold resistance, poison resistance
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Balam:
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In notdNetHack and notnotdNetHack, Balam, &, also appears as a monster that can be summoned by an Illithanachronounbinder. She is a humanoid demon that can be seen via infravision, will seek out and collect items, and can follow the hero to other levels if she is adjacent. Like many summoned spirits, Balam cannot be tamed.
Balam has a weapon attack, an offhand weapon attack, a cold touch attack, and a targeted cold gaze attack. She possesses fire resistance, cold resistance, poison resistance, and death resistance.
Balam is poisonous to consume, which primarily comes up if she is digested by another monster.
Generation
Balam is first generated when summoned from her seal by an Illithanachronounbinder. She is always created hostile, and is not a valid polymorph form or genocide target.
Balam is always generated with two separate large daggers and a robe.
Balam does not leave a corpse upon death.
Strategy
Below this point, there are major spoilers for the Illithanachronounbinder role. They can be accessed by selecting the "Role spoiler" tab.
If Balam is killed after being summoned, she can be encountered again in the Void, a branch accessed by opening the high altar of Ilsensine the Fallen as an Illithanachronounbinder using the invoke effect of The Elder Cerebral Fluid. Balam is generated along with many other spirits of the near void on the first floor of the branch, and is generated with the "whispers" template, which makes her nonliving.
Messages
- A woman's scream echos through your mind as the cracks form a vaguely humanoid outline on the ice.
- A voice sobs in your ear:
- "I am Balam, offered up as the last sacrifice; condemned to bleed until the end of all suffering."
- You attempted to bind Balam.
- A woman's scream echos through your mind, then a voice sobs in your ear:
- This occurs instead of the first two lines if you were also blind.
- You successfully bound Balam to yourself.
- A voice sobs from under the ice:
- "By your hand was this done, therefore you shall be stained by my blood."
- You successfully bound Balam to The Pen of the Void.
- A woman's scream echos through your mind, then a voice sobs from under the ice:
- This line occurs instead if you were also blind.
- A woman's scream drifts through your mind, and the cracks describe a vaguely humanoid outline on the ice.
- But nothing else occurs....
- You failed to bind Balam due to a lack of open slots for spirits of the Near Void.
- A woman's scream drifts through your mind, but nothing else occurs....
- As above, while you are blind.
- Your weapon-hand itches.
- You failed to perform the binding ritual because you weren't wielding a weapon.
- You shiver violently.
- You performed the binding ritual incorrectly in some other manner.
Encyclopedia entry
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish?
