%%%% A basalt altar of Yredelemnul %%%% A bloodstained altar of Trog %%%% A burning altar of Makhleb %%%% A closed door A wooden door. To open it, try simply walking into it, or press 'O'. %%%% A corrupted altar of Lugonu %%%% A deep blue altar of Sif Muna %%%% A dry fountain %%%% A flickering gateway to a bazaar Aside from the vendors who've set up their stores at various places in the dungeon, there are others trying to make a living by traveling from place to place. Bazaars feature a number of different shops and often have better stock than the sedentary ones, sometimes even at a bargain. Once you hear the clinking of coins, be sure to hurry up and find the impromptu marketplace before the caravan moves on! Also be warned that their nomadic lifestyle has taught these sellers to appropriate any items an adventurer might leave behind, and then leave quickly, probably to sell them elsewhere. %%%% A fountain of clear blue water 'q'uaff to drink from this fountain. But it's far more pretty than useful, unless you're trying to fetch the Orb without eating, I guess. %%%% A fountain of blood 'q'uaff to drink from this fountain, if you absolutely wish to. %%%% A fountain of sparkling water 'q'uaff to drink from this magic fountain. Expect magical effects, as long as it's still magic. %%%% A gate leading back out of this place %%%% A gate leading out of Pandemonium %%%% A gate leading to another region of Pandemonium %%%% A one-way gate leading to the halls of Pandemonium Tales about successful loots of these netherworlds are rare. Even the strongest and most experienced characters can die there. On the other hand, these halls contain several runes and lots of valuable items. It is much easier to get in than to get out. %%%% A gate to the Realm of Zot Zot is the final stage as its deepest level houses the infamous Orb of Zot. Both the Orb and this Realm have a fearsome and questionable reputation but one piece of information seems to be for certain: the monsters inhabiting this area and protecting the orb are strong and strange -- some of them nowhere encountered but here. %%%% A gateway to a bazaar Aside from the vendors who've set up their stores at various places in the dungeon, there are others trying to make a living by traveling from place to place. Bazaars feature a number of different shops and often have better stock than the sedentary ones, sometimes even at a bargain. Once you hear the clinking of coins, be sure to hurry up and find the impromptu marketplace before the caravan moves on! Also be warned that their nomadic lifestyle has taught these sellers to appropriate any items an adventurer might leave behind, and then leave quickly, probably to sell them elsewhere. %%%% A gateway leading out of the Abyss A gateway out of this accursed place, shimmering and shifting in the impermanent landscape. %%%% A gateway to Gehenna You can feel the heat. Gehenna seems to be made out of nothing but flames, lava and hellfire. %%%% A gateway to Hell "Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'intrate." -Dante Alighieri, _Divina Commedia_, "L'Inferno", Canto III. Circa 1315. %%%% A gateway to the Iron City of Dis Can you pass the test of iron? %%%% A gateway to the decaying netherworld of Tartarus This place seems to radiate negative energy. %%%% A gateway to the freezing wastes of Cocytus From the frost-bitten lands, a cold chill touches your soul. %%%% A glowing golden altar of the Shining One %%%% A glowing white marble altar of Zin %%%% A granite statue "I met a traveller from an antique land Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone Stand in the desert. Near them on the sand, Half sunk, a shatter'd visage lies, whose frown And wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command Tell that its sculptor well those passions read Which yet survive, stamp'd on these lifeless things, The hand that mock'd them and the heart that fed. And on the pedestal these words appear: 'My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!' Nothing beside remains: round the decay Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare, The lone and level sands stretch far away." -Percy Bysshe Shelley, "Ozymandias". 1818. %%%% A labyrinth entrance A gateway to an intricate maze designed by subtle and malicious minds, its exit guarded by a fearsome monster, where many a hapless adventurer has lost his way and starved to death. "Maze-treaders, whose vision ahead and behind is severely constricted and fragmented, suffer confusion, whereas maze-viewers who see the pattern whole, from above or in a diagram, are dazzled by its complex artistry. What you see depends on where you stand, and thus, at one and the same time, labyrinths are single (there is one physical structure) and double: they simultaneously incorporate order and disorder, clarity and confusion, unity and multiplicity, artistry and chaos." -Mark Z. Danielewski, "House of Leaves". 2000. %%%% A magical trap %%%% A mechanical trap %%%% A natural trap %%%% A metal wall A wall of bluish-grey metal. As every dungeon electrician knows, this stuff will ground. %%%% A one-way gate to the infinite horrors of the Abyss A one-way gate to a demon-haunted realm, riven by chaos, its very substance impermanent and whimsical, filled with creatures out of nightmare. "And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." -Friedrich Nietzsche, "Beyond Good and Evil" %%%% A rock wall "I know not whether Laws be right, Or whether Laws be wrong; All that we know who lie in gaol Is that the wall is strong; And that each day is like a year, A year whose days are long." -Oscar Wilde, "Ballad of Reading Gaol" %%%% A roughly hewn altar of Beogh %%%% A shimmering altar of Xom %%%% A shining altar of Vehumet %%%% A shop A shop in the dungeon, beyond sight of the world above, manned by a secretive and reclusive shopkeeper who cannot be bargained with, grants no refunds, and is interested in nothing you may have to sell. Some shops hawk antiques of unknown provenance, and offer little hint as to the quality or nature of their goods. %%%% A silver altar of Elyvilon %%%% A sparkling altar of Nemelex Xobeh %%%% A staircase back to the Crypt %%%% A staircase back to the Dungeon %%%% A staircase back to the Lair %%%% A staircase back to the Mines %%%% A staircase back to the Vaults %%%% A staircase to the Crypt %%%% A staircase to the Ecumenical Temple An entrance to the Temple of the Gods, a place of peace, and a refuge from the insanity of the dungeon. %%%% A staircase to the Elven Halls A wide stair down to the murky depths of the halls of the deep elves, skilled warriors with blade and bow, and fearsome sorcerers and magicians. %%%% A staircase to the Hall of Blades %%%% A staircase to the Hive You hear an angry and manifold drone. %%%% A staircase to the Lair %%%% A staircase to the Orcish Mines An entrance to the mines of the orcs, filled with their gold, but treacherous and easy to get trapped in. %%%% A staircase to the Shoals Here be the Shoals: exotic underground beaches, salty spray and creatures that bite, stab, and maul. %%%% A staircase to the Slime Pits An entrance to the amorphous realm of acids, jellies and slimes. Any trace of intelligent beings has long been dissolved. Still, there are rumours of great treasures deep down, hidden safely away in secret chambers without door or window for acid to leak in. %%%% A staircase to the Snake Pit Here is the way to the place of the serpent, the lair of the naga. %%%% A staircase to the Swamp A stair to a swampy waste land, complete with ooze, muck, flies, and large slavering carnivorous monsters. %%%% A staircase to the Tomb A way to the Tomb of the Ancients, a place of damnation, of horrors animated by the vilest necromancy. "In the depths of every heart, there is a tomb and a dungeon, though the lights, the music, and revelry above may cause us to forget their existence, and the buried ones, or prisoners whom they hide. But sometimes, and oftenest at midnight, those dark receptacles are flung wide open. In an hour like this, when the mind has a passive sensibility, but no active strength; when the imagination is a mirror, imparting vividness to all ideas, without the power of selecting or controlling them; then pray that your grieves may slumber, and the brotherhood of remorse not break their chain." -Nathaniel Hawthorne %%%% A staircase to the Vaults %%%% A stone staircase leading down %%%% A stone staircase leading up %%%% A stone wall A harder obstacle than rock walls. Only the mightiest magic can shatter stone walls. %%%% A translucent rock wall An unnaturally hard translucent rock wall. %%%% A translucent stone wall A harder obstacle than rock walls. Only the mightiest magic can shatter stone walls. It has been imbued with arcane magics which render it translucent. %%%% A trap %%%% A wall of green crystal For some reason, some dungeon walls, like this one, have been made of this polished crystal, imbued with arcane magics. They prevent its destruction, and make it reflect heat and cold. %%%% A wall of solid wax These walls are built by bees. Occasionally a dungeon architect will manipulate bees into building wax walls for aesthetic reasons. (Theirs, not the bees'.) They are susceptible to fire and will melt and burn, given sufficient heat. %%%% A wall of the weird stuff which makes up Pandemonium %%%% An ancient bone altar of Kikubaaqudgha %%%% An empty arch of ancient stone %%%% An escape hatch in the ceiling A spring-loaded one-way escape hatch set in the ceiling. %%%% An escape hatch in the floor A spring-loaded one-way escape hatch set in the dungeon floor, allowing the adventurer beset by adversaries to exchange the perils of this level for the perils of the next. %%%% An iron altar of Okawaru %%%% An open door A wooden door. You can close it by standing next to it and pressing 'C'. %%%% An orcish idol An idol of the orc god Beogh. %%%% An unnaturally hard rock wall You cannot affect this wall by any means. %%%% Floor %%%% Some deep water This water is as deep as it is dangerous. No sane traveller would try to set foot into it, apart from those who fly or swim. Let it be a warning for you: many confused adventurers found their death at the depths, and an untimely end of levitation drowned even more hopeful trespassers. %%%% Some lava An intensely hot pool of molten rock, emitting clouds of sulphurous smoke. %%%% Some shallow water This waist-deep, misty water makes movement and combat cumbersome for landlubbers - sometimes dangerous, but never directly fatal. %%%%