The Rat King (SLASH'EM)
r The Rat King 
| |
|---|---|
| Difficulty | 16 |
| Attacks |
Weapon 2d4, Bite 2d3 |
| Base level | 12 |
| Base experience | 359 |
| Speed | 15 |
| Base AC | 7 |
| Base MR | 0 |
| Alignment | 0 (neutral) |
| Frequency (by normal means) | Unique |
| Genocidable | No |
| Weight | 200 |
| Nutritional value | 120 |
| Size | Medium |
| Resistances | stoning |
| Resistances conveyed | None |
|
The Rat King:
| |
| Reference | SLASH'EM 0.0.7E7F2/monst.c#line1476 |
The Rat King, r, is a unique monster that appears in SLASH'EM, SpliceHack and SlashTHEM. In SLASH'EM and SlashTHEM, The Rat King is curiously the only monster with the M2_PNAME flag to already have "the" in his name, and lacks the G_NOGEN flag standard to other unique monsters. In SpliceHack, there is instead an identical rat ruler monster that can be a male rat king or a female rat queen.
The Rat King is a strong, carnivorous animal that can be seen via infravision and will pick up items, and is an overlord to his kind. Unlike most other rodents, he is medium-sized and can use weapons, wands and scrolls (though he is designated as lacking hands).
The Rat King has a weapon attack and a bite attack, and possesses stoning resistance.
Generation
The Rat King is always generated hostile, and is not a valid form for normal polymorph.
The Rat King only appears on the rat level. A long sword and a set of elven boots are placed near his position - in SlashTHEM, the alternate rat level map places them on his square.
Strategy
The Rat King's 15 speed, decent weapon attack and ability to use items can make him quite dangerous to an unwary character.
Origin
A "rat king" refers to a group of rats that are knotted and stuck together at their tails and sometimes legs, often bound together with a sticky substrate such sap or gum. It shares some similarities with "conjoined siblings", but as opposed to 'actual' conjoined twins, the rats are joined postnatally. While written descriptions are found as far back as 1564, and a few purported dead specimens exist, it is not clear if the phenomenon occurs naturally, or if so, how frequently.
Various forms of media feature an anthropomorphic "Rat King" character: the most common style of portrayal is a large humanoid rat depicted with a crown similar to the one depicted in the default tileset for SLASH'EM, based on the Mouse King from the 1892 two-act classical ballet The Nutcracker (who is sometimes called the Rat King in adaptations).
Encyclopedia entry
SpliceHack
A rat armorer set the war helmet upon Cluny's head. He snapped
the visor down and kicked aside the rat who had fixed the poison
barb on his tail.
Striding out into the churchyard, Cluny climbed on the wrecked
gatepost. His fierce eye gazed out across the mighty army: black
rats, brown rats, grey rats, piebald rats, skulking weasels,
furtive stoats and sinuous ferrets, all gathered round, their
weapons glistening and dripping with the rain. As Cluny exhorted
them, they roared back with their frenzied replies.
[ Redwall, by Brian Jacques ]
