Potion of starlight
| ! | |
|---|---|
| Name | starlight |
| Appearance | dimly-shining |
| Base price | 900 zm |
| Weight | 20 |
| Monster use | Will not be used by monsters. |
A potion of starlight is a type of potion that appears in dNetHack, notdNetHack and notnotdNetHack. It appears as a dimly-shining potion potion when unidentified.
Contents
Generation
Elven Nobles start each game with a blessed potion of starlight.
The potion of starlight makes up 1⁄250 (0.4%) of all potions randomly generated on the floor, in random shops or as death drops.
Gnomish Madpeople will always find 3-9 potions of starlight in their special box on the Madman quest.
The Mordor Ruins Quest has a potion of starlight in two areas: one can be found randomly in the Spider Cave where Shelob dwells, and the second potion is blessed and found in a chest within the ogre emperor's stash inside the Mordor Fortress.
Galadriel is always generated with a blessed potion of starlight. Other elven monsters that are not undead and do not have competing rules for starting inventory have a low probability of generating with a potion of starlight.
Description
A hero quaffing a potion of starlight cures sickness and lycanthropy as with holy water, which will exercise wisdom and constitution and also unbind the spirit Marionette if it is currently bound—if the hero's current form hates silver, they will instead take 3d20 silver damage, abuse constitution and have any lycanthropy cured. Quaffing a blessed potion will also dissolve one morgul shard within the hero's body.
A hero or monster that is hit by a thrown or wielded potion of starlight is subject to varying effects depending on their form: silver-hating monsters take 3d20 damage, and lycanthropes will additionally shift to their human(oid) form if possible; gremlins will divide without becoming angered; and flaming spheres and monsters made of iron such as the iron golem will rust or dim slightly for 1d6 damage. Vapors from a broken potion will cause gremlins to divide and shift lycanthropes to their human(oid) forms.
While in a hero or monster's open inventory, the potion of starlight acts as a light source with a radius of 2 squares. Due to the potion being constantly lit, this light will not go out if subjected to a darkness-spreading ability, e.g. the darkness spread by drow monsters or a drow hero.
Dipping a weapon that is not made of silver into a potion of starlight will "poison" it with the silvery liquid if it is not already "silvered" by the substance. Viperwhips have a base material of silver and are a notable exception to this rule: a dipped viperwhip will gain one coating of starlight and an automatic re-coating when the initial one wears off—the weapon is intended to gain multiple re-coatings if dipped in the potion while already coated in starlight, but this behavior is bugged. Black signet rings can be "poisoned" this way to store 30 doses of "silvery" poison, with the ring becoming star-water injecting and applying silver damage when the hero performs an unarmed attack while wearing the ring without gloves.
Strategy
Potions of starlight make stellar light sources to carry around, provided the hero can protect it from dilution or cold or fire damage: A worn oilskin cloak or r'lyehian faceplate can prevent water damage, as can reading the dividing word of creation, while a preservative engine or a worn utility belt can protect potions in the open inventory. While their radius is smaller than many other light sources, potions of starlight cannot be extinguished as easily, and elven characters in particular may find them to be a practical substitute for a magic lamp.
Undead Hunters may wish to save any potions of starlight they come across for their lycanthropy-curing effect, given the abundance of werewolves in their quest. Rangers may also wish to save one of these for dipping their arrows into to deal with the vampires in the Windowless Tower before they gain access to The Silver Flame.
The Mordor Ruins Quest usually provides multiple potions of starlight from elven monsters that are killed.
Origin
The potion of starlight is based on the Phial of Galadrial, also known as "star-glass", "Lady's glass" and "the light of Eärendil's Star". Frodo was given the Phial by Galadriel as a gift upon the Fellowship's departure from Lothlórien, and would keep it with him unused until he, Samwise Gamgee and Gollum approached the Stairs of Cirith Ungol: there, Frodo saw a great mass of cavalrymen led by the Lord of the Nazgûl, and feared they had been spotted when the Witch-king stopped nearby; against his will, Frodo moved his hand towards the ring, but instead touched the phial (which he had forgotten until then), and the Witch-king continued on his way. The next morning, he made use of the phial to light his path while leaving Minas Morgul behind.
Later, Frodo used the Phial to fend off the attacks of Shelob, but he was eventually poisoned by her; Samwise was able to use the Phial to defeat Shelob and escape the lair, then revive Frodo from his illness (which is mirrored by its effects in dNetHack and its derivatives). Sam and Frodo later used it to overcome the will of the Two Watchers at the Tower of Cirith Ungol—Sam also attempted to use the phial's light in the Crack of Doom, but the light from the glass faded because they were in the heart of Sauron's domain. Upon Frodo's departure from Middle-earth, the light from the phial faded for good as it reached the shores of Eldamar.
