Loadbearer
| g loadbearer/telamon/caryatid (No tile) | |
|---|---|
| Difficulty | 3 |
| Attacks | |
| Base level | 2 |
| Base experience | ? |
| Speed | 10 |
| Base AC | 4 |
| Base MR | 20 |
| Alignment | 3 (lawful) |
| Frequency (by normal means) | 1 (Very rare) |
| Genocidable | Yes |
| Weight | 1200 |
| Nutritional value | 400 |
| Size | Medium |
| Resistances | poison resistance, stoning resistance |
| Resistances conveyed | none |
|
A loadbearer:
| |
| Reference | SpliceHack 1.2.0 - src/monst.c, line 664 |
The loadbearer, g, is a type of monster that appears in SpliceHack and Hack'EM. Loadbearers are a form of somewhat gremlin-like monster that resemble a gargoyle in function: they are thick-skinned humanoids that are strong and breathless. A male loadbearer is called a telamon, while a female one is called a caryatid.
Loadbearers have a single claw attack and are capable of flanking. They possess poison resistance and stoning resistance.
Generation
Loadbearers are generated as peaceful towards lawful heroes.
Loadbearers do not leave a corpse upon death.
Origin
In European architectural sculpture, the terms "telamon" and "caryatid" refer to architectural supports that are sculpted in the form of a man or woman respectively, and are used as "replacements" for columns and pillars. "Telamon" is derived from the name of one of the Argonauts, with Telamon being the father of Ajax; the telamon is also known as an atlas, atlantid or atlante, named for the Titan who was forced to hold the sky on his shoulders for eternity.
The atlante is typically life-size or larger, and the body below the waist is generally a rectangular pillar or other architectural feature around the waist level; this is a feature borrowed from the term, a similar smaller figure in the decorative arts. The caryatid is actually a precursor of the telamon or atlas, and is derived from the term karyatides (lit. "maidens of Karya") which refers to an ancient town on the Peloponnese that had temple dedicated to the goddess Artemis in her aspect of Artemis Karyatis. Some atlantes are instead referred to as "herms", which are life-size boundary markers or wayside monuments consisting of a square pillar with a carved head on top and male genitals at the appropriate midpoint.
The pose and expression of atlantes are an archeological motif that heavily contrast how a majority of terms and caryatids are depicted, with their heads bent forward to "distribute" the heavy load of the building across their shoulders; their forearms may also be lifted to provide additional support. Descriptions of atlantes and karyatides that were noted by the Roman late Republican architect Vitruvius are responsible for transmitting the idea to the Renaissance architectural vocabulary.
Encyclopedia entry
Greek architecture taught me that the column is where the light
is not, and the space between is where the light is. It is a matter
of no-light, light, no-light, light. A column and a column brings
light between them. To make a column which grows out of the wall and
which makes its own rhythm of no-light, light, no-light, light: that
is the marvel of the artist.
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