Strange corpse
| M strange corpse (No tile) | |
|---|---|
| Difficulty | 2 |
| Attacks |
none |
| Base level | 0 |
| Base experience | 125 |
| Speed | 0 |
| Base AC | -55 |
| Base MR | 125 |
| Alignment | 0 (neutral) |
| Frequency (by normal means) | 0 (Not randomly generated) |
| Genocidable | No |
| Weight | 1450 |
| Nutritional value | 400 |
| Size | medium |
| Resistances | poison, petrification |
| Resistances conveyed | none |
|
The strange corpse:
| |
The strange corpse, M, is the Binder quest leader in dNetHack, notdNetHack, and notnotdNetHack. It is a mummified human corpse.
The strange corpse is unique among quest leaders: it is completely sessile, has no attacks and can always revive from its corpse, similar to a Rider. The strange corpse will not speak to a hero directly if they chat with it: it instead acts as a mouthpiece through which something unnamed and unknown informs the hero of Acererak, the Binder quest nemesis, once they fully qualify for the quest - they are given access to the down staircase afterward.
Once a hero gains entry to the quest, speaking to the strange corpse does not produce any further messages, including in situations where other quest leaders would have a specific response.
Generation
The strange corpse is always generated on the home level of the Binder quest, where it is placed in the center of the lost library on the square directly southeast of the down staircase.
The strange corpse is not a valid target for normal polymorph or genocide.
Strategy
As it is immobile and has no attacks, the strange corpse is unable to defend itself, but its very low natural AC and high MR score make it difficult to fight. This is mostly relevant for the case of hostile monsters generated on the home level, which have a mutual grudge against most quest leaders and guardians (with some exceptions), and makes it highly unlikely that any such monster will be able to destroy the strange corpse to begin with - in such an unlikely case, it will always leave behind a corpse that it eventually revives from.
As a spirit
A Binder that speaks to the strange corpse when they fully qualify for the Quest will learn that it belongs to Dahlver-Nar, the First Binder, who became a binding spirit himself. Doing so automatically binds his spirit and teaches you his seal, at the same time you are given access to the down staircase - there is no message given when this occurs.
Dahlver-Nar can naturally only be bound by a Binder. Binding Acererak expels Dahlver-Nar if you have him bound; this does does not drain a level as with other broken spirit taboos, though the timeout still applies should you wish to re-bind Dahlver-Nar. Binding Dahlver-Nar will in turn expel Acererak, with the same conditions.
While Dahlver-Nar is bound, your character has teeth under their skin - taking damage renders these teeth visible, and they can be seen from a distance. Healing your wounds and wearing concealing clothing will hide the teeth from view. Binding Dahlver-Nar confers the sustain ability property.
Dahlver-Nar's active powers are as follows:
- Moan: Frighten, confuse and/or drive nearby monsters insane.
Dahlver-Nar's passive powers are as follows:
- Teeth of the Devoured: You gain increased AC and unarmed attack damage as you lose HP.
Encyclopedia entry
[...] Binder scholars know a different story—that Dahlver-Nar was a powerful cleric who forsook his deity to pursue the power of pact magic. The fabled teeth of Dahlver-Nar, to which all the legends attribute miraculous powers, were neither his own nor those of the dragon he battled. They were the teeth of beings that became vestiges after death, and they could grant abilities similar to those that the vestiges themselves imparted. Pact magic treatises relate that Dahlver-Nar pulled out his own teeth and replaced them with those of the vestiges, but that using them all drove him mad. What happened thereafter is a matter of debate, but the texts maintain that Dahlver-Nar eventually died, and the teeth were lost, divided up among the squabbling followers he had managed to gain and then spread across the world. Today, Dahlver-Nar exists as a vestige in his own right—perhaps brought to that state through his close association with so many others.
[ Tome of Magic, by Matthew Sernett et al. ]
Thirty-two horses on a red hill,
First they champ,
Then they stamp,
Then they stand still.
[ Adapted from the Hobbit, by J. R. R. Tolkien ]
