Wallet of Perseus
( Wallet of Perseus 
| |
|---|---|
| Base item | bag of holding |
| Affiliation | unaligned |
| When carried | Changes weight of items inside: |
| When applied | Put in or remove items |
| When invoked | none |
| Base price | 10000 zm |
| Weight | 15 |
The Wallet of Perseus is an unaligned artifact that appears in SLASH'EM, dNetHack, SlashTHEM, and Hack'EM. Its base item is a bag of holding.
Despite its name, the Wallet of Perseus has no affiliation with the statue of Perseus on Medusa's Island.
Generation
The Wallet of Perseus cannot be randomly generated and is only obtainable through wishing, bones, or sacrifice.[1] Since it is an unaligned artifact, any player can receive it as a sacrifice gift at an altar, but since the first sacrifice gift is always co-aligned, it will never be the first gift given.
Description
The Wallet of Perseus functions the same as any other bag of holding, but has improved weight reduction; it effectively reduces the weight of all items inside it to 1⁄3 if uncursed, compared to 1⁄2 with its base item. When blessed, the weight of its contents is reduced to 1⁄6 compared to 1⁄4 from a blessed bag of holding. Essentially, the Wallet of Perseus can hold roughly 50% more than a regular bag of holding when non-cursed; however, a cursed Wallet will quadruple the weight of its contents, double that of a cursed bag of holding. Like any bag of holding, the Wallet of Perseus will be destroyed if a charged wand of cancellation or bag of tricks is inserted.
Strategy
While not essential for survival, Rogues and pack rats will find this an extremely useful artifact. Depending on play style and early game needs, it may even be worth spending a second or third wish to acquire. As with any bag of holding, keeping a wand of cancellation in a separate sack is worthwhile in the event you need to uncurse it.
The enhanced weight reduction can make stash transportation in the early to mid-game much less tedious, usually only requiring a single trip - you can even liberate all items and loot from Fort Ludios, including the landmines, in about 3 trips. A particularly daring player can abscond with One-Eyed Sam's marginally useful loot in a single excursion without even being encumbered.
Origin
The Wallet of Perseus is named for the knapsack given to Perseus by the Hesperides, which was used to contain Medusa's head upon decapitating her. The knapsack also inspired the Bag of the Hesperides, an artifact in EvilHack with the same properties as the Wallet along with extrinsic protection and waterproofing.
References
- ↑ See Source:SLASH'EM 0.0.7E7F2/mkobj.c; only weapons and armor have a chance of being made into artifacts
