Black signet ring

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Name	black signet ring
Appearance	random
Base price	100^  zm
Weight	3

A black signet ring is a special type of randomized appearance for rings that appears in dNetHack, notdNetHack, notnotdNetHack. Black signet rings are of major significance to the drow, including drow heroes.

Black signet rings are always made of mithril, and the default ring that the appearance is associated with is the ring of protection from shape changers. The artifact Lomya will always appear as a black signet ring, with its base item matching the ring that has this appearance.

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Generation

Drow heroes that are not Madpeople always start the game with a black signet ring and knowledge of its appearance: drow Pirates and Wizards are each given black signet rings as part of the starting inventory for their specific race and role combination, while drow of other roles are given the black signet ring after the rest of their inventory is generated. Drow Madpeople will find their signet ring among their confiscated belongings in the Madman quest.

A black signet ring given to a drow hero at the start of the game will always bear the symbol of their house engraved on it, and if the drow hero is not a Binder the ring will also contain 30 charges of sleep-inducing poison.

The following rings will never have the appearance of a black signet ring: levitation, aggravate monster, hunger, polymorph, or polymorph control.

Drow that turn traitor on the standard Drow Racial quest and Hedrow Racial quest are given a black signet ring by the former quest nemesis, who becomes their new quest leader—this ring will be engraved with a symbol indicating their allegiance to the new leader and their faction, i.e. either a symbol of the Eddergud for traitor hedrow or a holy symbol of Eilistraee for traitor drow.

Several monsters can be generated with black signet rings, usually corresponding to the house of a drow family:

• A'salom, the Hedrow Noble quest nemesis, is always generated with a black signet ring bearing the symbol of her house.
• Eclavdra, the quest leader for the standard Drow Racial quest and Hedrow Racial quest, is always generated with a black signet ring bearing the symbol of her house.
• Seyll Auzkovyn, the quest nemesis for the standard Drow Racial quest, is always generated with a black signet ring bearing the symbol of Eilistraee.
• Daruth Xaxox, the quest nemesis for the Hedrow Racial quest, is always generated with a black signet ring bearing the symbol of Tower Xaxox.
• Drow alienists are always generated with a black signet ring bearing the symbol of Tower Xaxox.
• Mother (the female Drow Noble quest leader) and the sisters in her employ (female Drow Noble quest guardians) will each be generated with a black signet ring bearing the symbol of the drow Noble hero's house.
• Stjarna-alfr are each generated with a black signet ring bearing the symbol of Eilistraee.
• Hedrow blademasters are always generated with a black signet ring bearing the symbol of the house they are assigned.
• Drow matrons, drow matron-mothers and yochlol are each generated with a black signet ring bearing the symbol of their house.
• Myrkalfar warriors and myrkalfar matrons are each generated with a non-cursed black signet ring bearing the symbol of the Last Bastion.
• Deminymphs that generate with drow priestess kits will be given a black signet ring bearing the symbol of their house, and they are the only non-drow monsters to generate with them.
• The alider is always generated with a blessed black signet ring bearing the symbol of the Last Bastion.
• Dokkalfar eternal matriarchs generated outside of the future (i.e. outside the Anachrononaut quest and Android quest) are always created with a black signet ring bearing the symbol of their house.
• Drow mummies and hedrow zombies have a ¹⁄₁₀ chance of being generated with a black signet ring bearing the symbol of the house they are assigned.

Description

Black signet rings have several functions independent of those tied to whichever ring is given its randomized appearance.

A black signet ring is capable of holding doses of poison, which can be added to a ring by dipping it into an eligible potion. This causes the ring to absorb 30 doses of poison and use up the potion—a ring that is already poisoned cannot be loaded with a second different poison, though it will draw in more of the same type of poison if dipped into the potion that matches. The ring will appear with a different adjective in the inventory depending on the poison it contains:

• A black signet ring with poison from a potion of sickness (or the blood of a monster that is poisonous) is described as "poison injecting".
• A black signet ring with poison from a potion of sleeping is described as "drug injecting".
• A black signet ring with poison from a potion of blindness is described as "eyebite injecting".
• A black signet ring with poison from a potion of paralysis is described as "venom injecting".
• A black signet ring with poison from a potion of amnesia is described as "lethe injecting".
• A black signet ring with poison from a potion of acid (or the blood of an acidic monster) is described as "acid injecting".
• A black signet ring with poison from a potion of starlight is described as "star-water injecting".
• A black signet ring with poison from a potion of hallucination is described as "ergot injecting".
• A black signet ring with poison that causes disease is described as "filth injecting"—there is no corresponding potion.

A hero that has put on a black signet ring with doses of poison can inflict that poison upon other monsters by atttacking them in unarmed melee combat while wearing the rings with no gloves covering them—if two signet rings are worn, both of them will apply their poison.

Signet rings also bear specific crests that have similar effects on unarmed combat performed without gloves:

• Rings that have a spiderweb design on them (known as the Edderkirke) are described as "black-webbed", and grant a +5 damage bonus to unarmed attacks.
• Rings with the holy symbol of a drow deity deal silver damage when attacking monsters in unarmed combat.

Messages

<The potion/One of the potions> is drawn up into <the ring>.

A black signet ring absorbed a potion that it was dipped into.

References

^{[1] This is the value assigned to the ring of protection from shape changers.}