Cartouche of the Cat Lord

In dNetHack, notdNetHack, and notnotdNetHack, the cartouche of the Cat Lord is a ward which scares monsters often associated with being preyed on by cats when engraved on the floor. Cartouches of the Cat Lord can be reinforced up to 7-fold but appears as having 9 hieroglyphs at maximum reinforcement, with the fourth and eighth being impossible to draw. Each level of reinforcement takes a different amount of strokes to draw, starting with 7 strokes at 1-fold and subsequent reinforcements taking 5, 6, 7, 5, 4 and 7 strokes to draw. With a fast engraving tool each reinforcement takes 1 turn, while with a slow engraving tool each reinforcement level takes the same number of turns to draw as strokes required. The fourth and final levels of reinforcement add twice as many hieroglyphs to the cartouche. The cartouche of the Cat Lord gains two secondary effects: one at 4-fold reinforcement and the other at 7-fold.

The following monsters are warded by the cartouche of the Cat Lord:

• avian monsters
• all bats (B bat, B giant bat, B battle-bat, B warbat, B vampire bat)
• monster classes:
  • r rodent
  • S snake
  • s arachnid or centipede
  • ; sea monster
  • : lizard
• other monsters:
  • J tove

Generation

Scrolls of cartouche of the Cat Lord make up only ¹⁄₂₄ (~4.2%) of all randomly generated scrolls of warding. Writing a scroll of cartouche of the Cat Lord with a magic marker costs 8 charges. Scrolls of cartouche of the Cat Lord can be wished for.

Rings have a base ¹⁄₁₂ (~8.33%) chance of being generated with a ward-engraving. ¹⁄₂₄ (~4.17%) of those rings will be generated with a cartouche of the Cat Lord engraving. When wishing for a ring engraved with the cartouche of the Cat Lord, if that ring would be generated with an engraving, it will have its engraving changed to a cartouche of the Cat Lord.

Cartouches of the Cat Lord only appear in spellbooks of level 3 and above.

The odds of a spellbook containing a cartouche of the Cat Lord ward are as follows:

• Level 3 spellbooks: ¹⁄₁₅ chance (~6.66%)
• Level 4 spellbooks: ²⁄₂₁ chance (~9.52%)
• Level 5 spellbooks: ¹⁄₁₆ chance (6.25%)
• Level 6 spellbooks: ⁵⁄₇₂ chance (~6.94%)
• Level 7 spellbooks: ¹⁄₂₄ chance (~4.16%)

The cartouche of the Cat Lord, along with many other wards, can be learned from the Necronomicon's option to "Study up on ancient warding signs".

Troubadours start the game with knowledge of the cartouche of the Cat Lord.

Description

At 4-fold reinforcement, standing on a square engraved with a cartouches of the Cat Lord grants the hero drain resistance, and a 7-fold ward will additionally also grant sickness resistance. If all domestic f cats are genocided or become extinct, the cartouche of the Cat Lord no longer wards against any monsters and grants no resistances at any reinforcement level.

Cartouches of the Cat Lord appear on the floor as "x-hieroglyph partial cartouche of the Cat Lord", except for fully reinforced cartouches, which instead appear as "a nine-hieroglyph completed cartouche of the Cat Lord". four-fold and eight-fold wards of the cartouche of the Cat Lord cannot be drawn and don't appear as a result of the ward becoming scuffed.

Messages

Rumors

They say all cats bow before the name of their Lord.

The cartouche of the Cat Lord pacifies cats.

They say that cats are the sworn enemies of rats and bats.

They say that cats are the sworn enemies of birds of fish.

They say that cats are the enemies of birds.

The cartouche of the Cat Lord wards against rats, bats, birds and fish.

It is said that those who stand before the altar of Bastet shall never fall ill.

The cartouche of the Cat Lord grants sickness resistance. Bast is implemented as a god, but no altars to her can be found.

It is said that the wariors of Sekhmet grow only more skilled.

Sekhmet isn't implemented as a god in dNetHack.

Encyclopedia entry

Elder Goddess of cats, earthly knowledge of the true name
and nature of this being was already becoming confused by
the time of ancient Egypt. It is believed that the Cat Lord
entered into some pact or covenant with the rulers of this
early nation. However, the terms of this agreement, down to
the correct pronunciation of the unprecidented hieroglyphs
found in the being's name, have long since been lost, though
the goddesses _Bastet_ and _Sekhmet_ are believed to be
descended from the stories surrounding the Cat Lord and its
agreement.

The hieroglyphs enclosed within its cartouche are drawn with
variable numbers of strokes, though no glyph requires more
than seven strokes to draw. The fourth and fifth and the
eight and ninth hieroglyphs are smaller than the average,
but must be drawn as pairs. The completed cartouche contains
nine hieroglyphs.