Norn
@ Norn 
| |
|---|---|
| Difficulty | 24 |
| Attacks | |
| Base level | 20 |
| Base experience | 588 |
| Speed | 15 |
| Base AC | 0 |
| Base MR | 90 |
| Alignment | 0 (neutral) |
| Frequency (by normal means) | Unique |
| Genocidable | No |
| Weight | 1800 |
| Nutritional value | 550 |
| Size | Huge |
| Resistances | cold resistance |
| Resistances conveyed | None |
|
The Norn:
| |
| Reference | NetHack 5.0.0 - include/monsters.h, line 3595 |
The Norn, @, is the Valkyrie quest leader. She is a huge, strong, omnivorous human that can be seen via infravision and will tear through webs while moving. The Norn is neutral in contrast to the lawful warriors that act as quest guardians, though she will become lawful if a Valkyrie hero starts the game as lawful.
The Norn has two strong weapon attacks. Like a Valkyrie hero and player monster valkyries, she possesses cold resistance.
Generation
The Norn is always generated as peaceful, and is not a valid polymorph form or genocide target.
The Norn resides within the Shrine of Destiny, the Valkyrie quest home level, where she is placed in the center of the structure with a chest on the adjacent square east of her during level creation.[1]
The Norn is always generated with +5 banded mail and a +4 long sword.[2]
Strategy
If the hero reaches a square adjacent to the Norn with very fast speed and chats to her, but they have not yet gained entrance to the Quest, then she will begin moving around the quest level and run the low (but non-zero) risk of stepping on a fire trap hidden in the ice, causing her to drown.
History
| @ Norn
| |
|---|---|
| Difficulty | 23 |
| Attacks | |
| Base level | 20 |
| Base experience | 588 |
| Speed | 12 |
| Base AC | 0 |
| Base MR | 80 |
| Alignment | 0 (neutral) |
| Frequency (by normal means) | Unique |
| Genocidable | No |
| Weight | 1450 (3.4.3) / 1800 (3.6) |
| Nutritional value | 400 (3.4.3) / 550 (3.6) |
| Size | Medium (3.4.3) / Huge (3.6) |
| Resistances | cold resistance |
| Resistances conveyed | None |
|
The Norn:
| |
| Reference | NetHack 3.6.7 - src/monst.c, line 2950 |
The Norn is introduced with most other quest leaders in NetHack 3.1.0. From this version to NetHack 3.6.7, including some variants based on those versions, the Norn is always neutral, and she lacks a starting inventory and has somewhat lower stats: 12 speed, an MR score of 80 (which is the highest among quest leaders in those versions), a monster difficulty of 23, and damage dice of 1d8 and 1d6 for her weapon attacks. Angering or killing the quest leader also causes the game to become unwinnable in these versions, since the hero will either lose access to the magic portal that leads into their quest branch or else lose access to the lower floors of the quest—similarly, the rare instances of a mobile Norn drowning while moving around the home level will also render the game unwinnable. There are multiple methods of avoiding this circumstance, with the simplest being to wait until your character is at experience level 14 before chatting to her.
In versions up to NetHack 3.4.3, including some variants based on those versions, the Norn is human-sized like other quest leaders and has the default human weight and nutrition values. NetHack 3.6.0 adjusts her size and weight via commit f11d009b so that it is more in line with her origins in Norse mythology.
NetHack 5.0.0 makes a major change to Quest mechanics via commit 20cbadcf: angering and/or killing quest leaders no longer makes the game unwinnable, and the Norn and other quest leaders are given increased stats and additional equipment to compensate.
Origin
The Norns (Old Norse norn, plural nornir) are deities in Norse folklore that are responsible for shaping the course of human destinies. The origin of the name is uncertain and may derive from a word meaning "to twine", which would refer to their twining the thread of fate; the name is also suggested to be related to the Swedish dialect word norna (nyrna), a verb that means "secretly communicate": this relates to the perception of Norns as shadowy, background figures that only reveal their secrets to people whose fates come to pass.
In the Völuspá, the best known poem of the Poetic Edda, three particular Norns–Urðr (Wyrd) of the past, Verðandi of the present, and Skuld of the future–are described as powerful maiden jötnar whose arrival from Jötunheimr ended the golden age of the gods. The trio draws water from their sacred well to nourish Yggdrasil, the tree at the center of the cosmos, and prevent it from rotting. Pre-Christian Scandinavians also attested to additional Norns who visit a newborn child in order to determine the person's future; these Norns could be malevolent and cause tragic events in the world, or be benevolent and protective.
Messages
Variants
NetHack variants based on versions prior to NetHack 5.0.0 often make the Norn and other quest leaders stronger than they are in those versions to accommodate the variant's changes to the Quest and its entry mechanics, and some of these changes are later incorporated into NetHack 5.0.0 itself. Some of these variants may also given the Norn flight or other means of avoiding drowning.
SporkHack
In SporkHack, the Norn is buffed significantly from NetHack 3.4.3: her difficulty is increased to 24, her speed becomes 15, her MR score becomes 90, and she has two 4d10 weapon attacks. She also gains flight, sleep resistance, poison resistance, and stoning resistance.
UnNetHack
In UnNetHack, the Norn retains her statistics from NetHack 3.4.3, and always generates with +5 banded mail and a +4 long sword.
dNetHack
In dNetHack, notdNetHack and notnotdNetHack, the Norn retains her statistics from NetHack 3.4.3, and all 10 points of her AC are in the protection category. She is not generated with any starting inventory.
SpliceHack
In SpliceHack, the Norn's stats are identical to NetHack 5.0.0, though her monster difficulty remains at 23.
EvilHack
In EvilHack, the Norn's stats and resistances are improved from the NetHack 3.6 series, and are identical to those of SporkHack minus the difficulty increase and flight.
The Norn always generates with +4 banded mail and a +4 long sword.
If Gjallar is successfully wished for by a non-Valkyrie, there is a xx+1 chance (where x is the amount of previous artifact wishes) of the hostile Norn generating adjacent to the character with the artifact in her possession.
All of the above information also applies to Hack'EM.
Encyclopedia entry
The Norns were the three Norse Fates, or the goddesses of fate.
Female giants, they brought the wonderful Golden Age to an end.
They cast lots over the cradle of every child that was born,
and placed gifts in the cradle. Their names were Urda,
Verdandi, and Skuld, representing the past, the present, and
the future. Urda and Verdandi were kindly disposed, but Skuld
was cruel and savage. Their tasks were to sew the web of
fate, to water the sacred ash, Yggdrasil, and to keep it in
good condition by placing fresh earth around it daily. In her
fury, Skuld often spoiled the work of her sisters by tearing
the web to shreds.
Nations by Herbert Spencer Robinson and Knox
