# NetHack 5.0 data.base

# $NHDT-Date: 1737609388 2025/01/22 21:16:28 $ $NHDT-Branch: NetHack-3.7 $:$NHDT-Revision: 1.141 $

# Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 by the NetHack Development Team

# Copyright (c) 1994 by Boudewijn Wayers

# NetHack may be freely redistributed. See license for details.

#

# This is the source file for the "data" file generated by `makedefs -d'.

# A line starting with a # is a comment and is ignored by makedefs.

# Any other line not starting with whitespace is a lookup key, usually

# a creature or an item. Key wildcard matching only supports '?' for

# single character, '*' for zero or more characters, and leading '~' as

# described below.

#

# Each entry should be comprised of:

# the thing/person being described on a line by itself, in lowercase;

# on each succeeding line a <TAB> description.

#

# If the first character of a key field is "~", then anything which matches

# the rest of that key will be treated as if it did not match any of the

# following keys for that entry. For instance, `~orc ??m*' preceding `orc*'

# prevents "orc mummy" and "orc zombie" from matching.

#

# A citation of "[]" indicates arbitrary text written by developers or

# contributors. Falling off the end of an entry without any citation

# implies "[]".

#

# Some entries include blank lines to separate paragraphs but many don't.

#

abbot

For it had been long apparent to Count Landulf that nothing

could be done with his seventh son Thomas, except to make him

an Abbot or something of that kind. Born in 1226, he had from

childhood a mysterious objection to becoming a predatory eagle,

or even to taking an ordinary interest in falconry or tilting

or any other gentlemanly pursuits. He was a large and heavy and

quiet boy, and phenomenally silent, scarcely opening his mouth

except to say suddenly to his schoolmaster in an explosive

manner, "What is God?" The answer is not recorded but it is

probable that the asker went on worrying out answers for himself.

[ The Runaway Abbot, by G.K. Chesterton ]

# takes "suit or piece of armor" when specifying '['

# FIXME: "dragon scales, dragon scale mail" needs its own entry

# FIXME too: "ac, armor class" also merits its own distinct entry

ac

armor*

armour*

*leather armor

suit or piece of armor

~*dragon*scale*

~scroll of mail

*mail

"The last spot on the school jousting team came down to another

boy and me. He was poor, and his only armor was a blanket his

mother had made him from her hair. I, on the other hand, had

a brand new suit of chain mail. Just before our joust, I asked

him what he'd do if he made the team. (I was hoping to be more

popular with the ladies.) He said he would be able to save the

town from dragons and be able to afford some water for his 20

brothers and sisters.

Well, a sense of compassion came over me. I insisted we swap

armor. He was forced to accept, as it would have been an

insult not to do so.

On the battlefield, we charged at each other and we both connected

with our lances.

Lying there on the mud mortally wounded, I learned what true armor

class was that day."

[ When Help Collides, by J.D. Berry ]

aclys

aklys

thonged club

A short studded or spiked club attached to a cord allowing

it to be drawn back to the wielder after having been thrown.

It should not be confused with the atlatl, which is a device

used to throw spears for longer distances.

~agate ring

agate*

Translucent, cryptocrystalline variety of quartz and a subvariety

of chalcedony. Agates are identical in chemical structure to

jasper, flint, chert, petrified wood, and tiger's-eye, and are

often found in association with opal. The colorful, banded rocks

are used as a semiprecious gemstone and in the manufacture of

grinding equipment. An agate's banding forms as silica from

solution is slowly deposited into cavities and veins in older

rock.

[ The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition ]

alchemy

By and large, the only skill the alchemists of Ankh-Morpork had

discovered so far was the ability to turn gold into less gold.

[ Moving Pictures, by Terry Pratchett ]

aleax

Said to be a doppelganger sent to inflict divine punishment

for alignment violations.

*altar

offer*

sacrific*

Altars are of three types:

1. In Temples. These are for Sacrifices [...]. The stone

top will have grooves for blood, and the whole will be covered

with _dry brown stains of a troubling kind_ from former

Sacrifices.

[ The Tough Guide to Fantasyland, by Diana Wynne Jones ]

To every man upon this earth

Death cometh soon or late;

And how can man die better

Than facing fearful odds

For the ashes of his fathers

And the temples of his gods?

[ Lays of Ancient Rome, by Thomas B. Macaulay ]

amaterasu omikami

The Shinto sun goddess, Amaterasu Omikami is the central

figure of Shintoism and the ancestral deity of the imperial

house. One of the daughters of the primordial god Izanagi

and said to be his favourite offspring, she was born from

his left eye.

[ Encyclopedia of Gods, by Michael Jordan ]

amber*

"Tree sap," Wu explained, "often flows over insects and traps

them. The insects are then perfectly preserved within the

fossil. One finds all kinds of insects in amber - including

biting insects that have sucked blood from larger animals."

[ Jurassic Park, by Michael Crichton ]

*amnesia

maud

Get thee hence, nor come again,

Mix not memory with doubt,

Pass, thou deathlike type of pain,

Pass and cease to move about!

'Tis the blot upon the brain

That will show itself without.

...

For, Maud, so tender and true,

As long as my life endures

I feel I shall owe you a debt,

That I never can hope to pay;

And if ever I should forget

That I owe this debt to you

And for your sweet sake to yours;

O then, what then shall I say? -

If ever I should forget,

May God make me more wretched

Than ever I have been yet!

[ Maud, And Other Poems, by Alfred, Lord Tennyson ]

~amulet of yendor

~amulet of restful sleep

*amulet

amulet of *

amulet versus *

"The complete Amulet can keep off all the things that make

people unhappy -- jealousy, bad temper, pride, disagreeableness,

greediness, selfishness, laziness. Evil spirits, people called

them when the Amulet was made. Don't you think it would be nice

to have it?"

"Very," said the children, quite without enthusiasm.

"And it can give you strength and courage."

"That's better," said Cyril.

"And virtue."

"I suppose it's nice to have that," said Jane, but not with much

interest.

"And it can give you your heart's desire."

"Now you're talking," said Robert.

[ The Story of the Amulet, by Edith Nesbit ]

amulet of yendor

This mysterious talisman is the object of your quest. It is

said to possess powers which mere mortals can scarcely

comprehend, let alone utilize. The gods will grant the gift of

immortality to the adventurer who can deliver it from the

depths of Moloch's Sanctum and offer it on the appropriate high

altar on the Astral Plane.

angel*

He answered and said unto them, he that soweth the good seed

is the Son of man; the field is the world, and the good seed

are the children of the kingdom; but the weeds are the

children of the wicked one; the enemy that sowed them is the

devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers

are the angels. As therefore the weeds are gathered and

burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world.

[...] So shall it be at the end of the world; the angels

shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just,

and shall cast them into the furnace of fire; there shall be

wailing and gnashing of teeth.

[ The Gospel According to Matthew, 13:37-40, 49-50 ]

angry god*

Cold wind blows.

The gods look down in anger on this poor child.

Why so unforgiving?

And why so cold?

[ Bridge of Sighs, by Robin Trower ]

anhur

An Egyptian god of war and a great hunter, few gods can match

his fury. Unlike many gods of war, he is a force for good.

The wrath of Anhur is slow to come, but it is inescapable

once earned. Anhur is a mighty figure with four arms. He

is often seen with a powerful lance that requires both of

his right arms to wield and which is tipped with a fragment

of the sun. He is married to Mehut, a lion-headed goddess.

ankh-morpork

The twin city of Ankh-Morpork, foremost of all the cities

bounding the Circle Sea, was as a matter of course the home

of a large number of gangs, thieves' guilds, syndicates and

similar organisations. This was one of the reasons for its

wealth. Most of the humbler folk on the widdershin side of

the river, in Morpork's mazy alleys, supplemented their

meagre incomes by filling some small role for one or other

of the competing gangs.

[ The Colour of Magic, by Terry Pratchett ]

anshar

A primordial Babylonian-Akkadian deity, Anshar is mentioned

in the Babylonian creation epic _Enuma Elish_ as one of a

pair of offspring (with Kishar) of Lahmu and Lahamu. Anshar

is linked with heaven while Kishar is identified with earth.

[ Encyclopedia of Gods, by Michael Jordan ]

ant

* ant

This giant variety of the ordinary ant will fight just as

fiercely as its small, distant cousin. Various varieties

exist, and they are known and feared for their relentless

persecution of their victims.

anu

Anu was the Babylonian god of the heavens, the monarch of

the north star. He was the oldest of the Babylonian gods,

the father of all gods, and the ruler of heaven and destiny.

Anu features strongly in the _atiku_ festival in

Babylon, Uruk and other cities.

# takes "apelike creature" when specifying 'Y'

ape

apelike creature

* ape

The most highly evolved of all the primates, as shown by

all their anatomical characters and particularly the

development of the brain. Both arboreal and terrestrial,

the apes have the forelimbs much better developed than

the hind limbs. Tail entirely absent. Growth is slow

and sexual maturity reached at quite an advanced age.

[ A Field Guide to the Larger Mammals of Africa, by Dorst ]

Aldo the gorilla had a plan. It was a good plan. It was

right. He knew it. He smacked his lips in anticipation as

he thought of it. Yes. Apes should be strong. Apes should

be masters. Apes should be proud. Apes should make the

Earth shake when they walked. Apes should _rule_ the Earth.

[ Battle for the Planet of the Apes, by David Gerrold ]

apple

NEWTONIAN, adj. Pertaining to a philosophy of the universe

invented by Newton, who discovered that an apple will fall

to the ground, but was unable to say why. His successors

and disciples have advanced so far as to be able to say

when.

[ The Devil's Dictionary, by Ambrose Bierce ]

archeolog*

* archeologist

Archeology is the search for fact, not truth. [...]

So forget any ideas you've got about lost cities, exotic travel,

and digging up the world. We do not follow maps to buried

treasure, and X never, ever, marks the spot.

[ Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade ]

"I cannot be having with archeological excavations, myself,"

I said. "The fellows who dig them only ever find tiny walls

and a few bits of broken pottery, and then they get all

excited and swear that they have just made the most

important discovery of the century, the ruins of a mile-high

gold-covered temple to Frogmore the God of Bike-Saddle

Fixtures or some such."

"I think you will find," said Mr Rune, "that they do this

in order to secure further government funding for their

diggings and so remain in employment."

"That is a rather cynical view," I said.

[ the brightonomicon, by Robert Rankin ]

# [title & author: same situation as with "bad luck" entry]

archon

Archons are the predominant inhabitants of the heavens.

However unusual their appearance, they are not generally

evil. They are beings at peace with themselves and their

surroundings.

arioch

Arioch, the patron demon of Elric's ancestors; one of the most

powerful of all the Dukes of Hell, who was called Knight of

the Swords, Lord of the Seven Darks, Lord of the Higher Hell

and many more names besides.

[ Elric of Melnibone, by Michael Moorcock ]

*arrow

I shot an arrow into the air,

It fell to earth, I knew not where;

For, so swiftly it flew, the sight

Could not follow it in its flight.

I breathed a song into the air,

It fell to earth, I knew not where;

For who has sight so keen and strong

That it can follow the flight of song?

Long, long afterward, in an oak

I found the arrow still unbroke;

And the song, from beginning to end,

I found again in the heart of a friend.

[ The Arrow and the Song, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow ]

ashikaga takauji

Ashikaga Takauji was a daimyo of the Minamoto clan who

joined forces with the Go-Daigo to defeat the Hojo armies.

Later when Go-Daigo attempted to reduce the powers of the

samurai clans he rebelled against him. He defeated Go-

Daigo and established the emperor Komyo on the throne.

Go-Daigo eventually escaped and established another

government in the town of Yoshino. This period of dual

governments was known as the Nambokucho.

[ Samurai - The Story of a Warrior Tradition, by Cook ]

asmodeus

It is said that Asmodeus is the overlord over all of hell.

His appearance, unlike many other demons and devils, is

human apart from his horns and tail. He can freeze flesh

with a touch.

[]

The evil demon who appears in the Apocryphal book of _Tobit_

and is derived from the Persian _Aeshma_. In _Tobit_ Asmodeus

falls in love with Sara, daughter of Raguel, and causes the

death of seven husbands in succession, each on his bridal night.

He was finally driven from Egypt through a charm made by Tobias

of the heart and liver of a fish burned on perfumed ashes, as

described by Milton in _Paradise Lost_ (IV, 167-71). Hence

Asmodeus often figures as the spirit of matrimonial jealousy

or unhappiness.

[ Brewer's Concise Dictionary of Phrase and Fable ]

athame

The consecrated ritual knife of a Wiccan initiate (one of four

basic tools, together with the wand, chalice and pentacle).

Traditionally, the athame is a double-edged, black-handled,

cross-hilted dagger of between six and eighteen inches length.

[]

A belt made from a twisted braid of silken threads of gold wound

around her waist, and a dark-handled knife rested on a slant at

her hip through a loop in the belt.

[...]

She arched her brows. "You should know better, dear godchild.

You know I cannot speak what is untrue. During our last

encounter I returned to Faerie with great power and upset vital

balances. Those balances had to be redressed, and your debt was

the mechanism that the Queen chose to employ."

I frowned at her for a minute. "Returned with great power." My

eyes fell to the knife at her waist. "That thing the vampires

gave you?"

She rested her fingers lightly on the knife's hilt. "Don't

cheapen it. This athame was no creation of theirs. And it was

less a gift than a trade."

"Amoracchius and that thing are in the same league?" Gulp. My

faerie godmother was dangerous enough without a big-time

artifact of magic.

[ Summer Knight, by Jim Butcher ]

athen*

Athene was the offspring of Zeus, and without a mother. She

sprang forth from his head completely armed. Her favourite

bird was the owl, and the plant sacred to her is the olive.

[ Bulfinch's Mythology, by Thomas Bulfinch ]

axe

battle?axe

double?headed?axe

"For ev'ry silver ringing blow,

Cities and palaces shall grow!"

"Bite deep and wide, O Axe, the tree,

Tell wider prophecies to me."

"When rust hath gnaw'd me deep and red,

A nation strong shall lift his head.

"His crown the very Heav'ns shall smite,

Aeons shall build him in his might."

"Bite deep and wide, O Axe, the tree;

Bright Seer, help on thy prophecy!"

[ Malcolm's Katie, by Isabella Valancey Crawford ]

axolotl

A mundane salamander, harmless.

bag

bag of *

sack

"Now, this third handkerchief," Mein Herr proceeded, "has also

four edges, which you can trace continuously round and round:

all you need do is to join its four edges to the four edges of

the opening. The Purse is then complete, and its outer

surface--"

"I see!" Lady Muriel eagerly interrupted. "Its outer surface

will be continuous with its inner surface! But it will take

time. I'll sew it up after tea." She laid aside the bag, and

resumed her cup of tea. "But why do you call it Fortunatus's

Purse, Mein Herr?"

The dear old man beamed upon her, with a jolly smile, looking

more exactly like the Professor than ever. "Don't you see,

my child--I should say Miladi? Whatever is inside that Purse,

is outside it; and whatever is outside it, is inside it. So

you have all the wealth of the world in that leetle Purse!"

[ Sylvie and Bruno Concluded, by Lewis Carroll ]

b*lzebub

The "lord of the flies" is a translation of the Hebrew

Ba'alzevuv (Beelzebub in Greek). It has been suggested that

it was a mistranslation of a mistransliterated word which

gave us this pungent and suggestive name of the Devil, a

devil whose name suggests that he is devoted to decay,

destruction, demoralization, hysteria and panic...

[ Notes on _Lord of the Flies_, by E.L. Epstein ]

balrog

... It came to the edge of the fire and the light faded as

if a cloud had bent over it. Then with a rush it leaped

the fissure. The flames roared up to greet it, and wreathed

about it; and a black smoke swirled in the air. Its streaming

mane kindled, and blazed behind it. In its right hand

was a blade like a stabbing tongue of fire; in its left it

held a whip of many thongs.

'Ai, ai!' wailed Legolas. 'A Balrog! A Balrog is come!'

[ The Fellowship of the Ring, by J.R.R. Tolkien ]

baluchitherium

titanothere

Extinct rhinos include a variety of forms, the most

spectacular being _Baluchitherium_ from the Oligocene of

Asia, which is the largest known land mammal. Its body, 18

feet high at the shoulder and carried on massive limbs,

allowed the 4-foot-long head to browse on the higher branches

of trees. Though not as enormous, the titanotheres of the

early Tertiary were also large perissodactyls, _Brontotherium_

of the Oligocene being 8 feet high at the shoulder.

[ Prehistoric Animals, by Barry Cox ]

banana

He took another step and she cocked her right wrist in

viciously. She heard the spring click. Weight slapped into

her hand.

"Here!" she shrieked hysterically, and brought her arm up in

a hard sweep, meaning to gut him, leaving him to blunder

around the room with his intestines hanging out in steaming

loops. Instead he roared laughter, hands on his hips,

flaming face cocked back, squeezing and contorting with great

good humor.

"Oh, my dear!" he cried, and went off into another gale of

laughter.

She looked stupidly down at her hand. It held a firm yellow

banana with a blue and white Chiquita sticker on it. She

dropped it, horrified, to the carpet, where it became a

sickly yellow grin, miming Flagg's own.

"You'll tell," he whispered. "Oh yes indeed you will."

And Dayna knew he was right.

[ The Stand, by Stephen King ]

banshee

In Irish folklore and that of the Western Highlands of Scotland,

a female fairy who announces her presence by shrieking and

wailing under the windows of a house when one of its occupants

is awaiting death. The word is a phonetic spelling of the

Irish _beansidhe_, a woman of the fairies.

[ Brewer's Concise Dictionary of Phrase and Fable ]

barbarian

* barbarian

They dressed alike -- in buckskin boots, leathern breeks and

deerskin shirts, with broad girdles that held axes and short

swords; and they were all gaunt and scarred and hard-eyed;

sinewy and taciturn.

They were wild men, of a sort, yet there was still a wide

gulf between them and the Cimmerian. They were sons of

civilization, reverted to a semi-barbarism. He was a

barbarian of a thousand generations of barbarians. They had

acquired stealth and craft, but he had been born to these

things. He excelled them even in lithe economy of motion.

They were wolves, but he was a tiger.

[ Conan - The Warrior, by Robert E. Howard ]

# takes "bat or bird" when specifying 'B'

~*combat

~*wombat

*bat

bat or bird

A bat, flitting in the darkness outside, took the wrong turn

as it made its nightly rounds and came in through the window

which had been left healthfully open. It then proceeded to

circle the room in the aimless fat-headed fashion habitual

with bats, who are notoriously among the less intellectually

gifted of God's creatures. Show me a bat, says the old

proverb, and I will show you something that ought to be in

some kind of a home.

[ A Pelican at Blandings, by P.G. Wodehouse ]

bear*trap

Probably most commonly associated with trapping, the leghold

trap is a rather simple mechanical trap. It is made up of two

jaws, a spring of some sort, and a trigger in the middle. When

the animal steps on the trigger the trap closes around the leg,

holding the animal in place. Usually some kind of lure is used

to position the animal, or the trap is set on an animal trail.

Traditionally, leghold traps had tightly closing "teeth" to make

sure the animal stayed in place. The teeth also made sure the

animal could not move the leg in the trap and ruin their fur.

However, this resulted in many animals gnawing off legs in order

to escape. More modern traps have a gap called an "offset jaw"

and work more like a handcuff. They grip above the paw, making

sure the animal cannot pull out but does not destroy the leg.

This also allows the trapper to release unwanted catches.

[ Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ]

*bee

This giant variety of its useful normal cousin normally

appears in small groups, looking for raw material to produce

the royal jelly needed to feed their queen. On rare

occasions, one may stumble upon a bee-hive, in which the

queen bee is being well provided for, and guarded against

intruders.

*beetle

[ The Creator ] has an inordinate fondness for beetles.

[ attributed to biologist J.B.S. Haldane ]

The common name for the insects with wings shaped like

shields (_Coleoptera_), one of the ten sub-species into

which the insects are divided. They are characterized by

the shields (the front pair of wings) under which the back

wings are folded.

[ Van Dale's Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal ]

bell of opening

"A bell, book and candle job."

The Bursar sighed. "We tried that, Archchancellor."

The Archchancellor leaned towards him.

"Eh?" he said.

"I _said_, we tried that Archchancellor," said the Bursar loudly,

directing his voice at the old man's ear. "After dinner, you

remember? We used Humptemper's _Names of the Ants_ and rang Old

Tom."*

"Did we, indeed. Worked, did it?"

"_No_, Archchancellor."

* Old Tom was the single cracked bronze bell in the University

bell tower.

[ Eric, by Terry Pratchett ]

*bell*

Hear the sledges with the bells --

Silver bells!

What a world of merriment their melody foretells!

How they tinkle, tinkle, tinkle,

In the icy air of night!

While the stars that oversprinkle

All the heavens, seem to twinkle

With a crystalline delight;

Keeping time, time, time,

In a sort of Runic rhyme,

To the tintinabulation that so musically wells

From the bells, bells, bells, bells,

Bells, bells, bells --

From the jingling and the tinkling of the bells.

[ The Bells, by Edgar Allan Poe ]

blindfold

The blindfolding was performed by binding a piece of the

yellowish linen whereof those of the Amahagger who condescended

to wear anything in particular made their dresses tightly round

the eyes. This linen I afterwards discovered was taken from the

tombs, and was not, as I had first supposed, of native

manufacture. The bandage was then knotted at the back of the

head, and finally brought down again and the ends bound under

the chin to prevent its slipping. Ustane was, by the way, also

blindfolded, I do not know why, unless it was from fear that she

should impart the secrets of the route to us.

[ She, by H. Rider Haggard ]

blind io

On this particular day Blind Io, by dint of constant vigilance

the chief of the gods, sat with his chin on his hand

and looked at the gaming board on the red marble table in

front of him. Blind Io had got his name because, where his

eye sockets should have been, there were nothing but two

areas of blank skin. His eyes, of which he had an impressively

large number, led a semi-independent life of their

own. Several were currently hovering above the table.

[ The Colour of Magic, by Terry Pratchett ]

* blob

ooze

* ooze

*pudding

* slime

These giant amoeboid creatures look like nothing more than

puddles of slime, but they both live and move, feeding on

metal or wood as well as the occasional dungeon explorer to

supplement their diet.

But we were not on a station platform. We were on the track ahead

as the nightmare, plastic column of fetid black iridescence oozed

tightly onward through its fifteen-foot sinus, gathering unholy

speed and driving before it a spiral, re-thickening cloud of the

pallid abyss vapor. It was a terrible, indescribable thing vaster

than any subway train -- a shapeless congeries of protoplasmic

bubbles, faintly self-luminous, and with myriads of temporary eyes

forming and unforming as pustules of greenish light all over the

tunnel-filling front that bore down upon us, crushing the frantic

penguins and slithering over the glistening floor that it and its

kind had swept so evilly free of all litter.

[ At the Mountains of Madness, by H.P. Lovecraft ]

blue jelly

ochre jelly

spotted jelly

I'd planned how to prevent the lock from sealing behind me; it

required a temporary sacrifice, not cleverness. I used the door

itself to help me cut off a portion of my body, after shunting all

memory from the piece to be abandoned. The piece, looking

inexpressibly dear and forlorn for a bit of blue jelly, would

force open the outer door until I returned and rejoined it.

[ Beholder's Eye, by Julie E. Czerneda ]

bone devil

Bone devils attack with weapons and with a great hooked tail

which causes a loss of strength to those they sting.

book of the dead

candelabrum*

*candle

Faustus: Come on Mephistopheles. What shall we do?

Mephistopheles: Nay, I know not. We shall be cursed with bell,

book, and candle.

Faustus: How? Bell, book, and candle, candle, book, and bell,

Forward and backward, to curse Faustus to hell.

Anon you shall hear a hog grunt, a calf bleat, and an ass bray,

Because it is Saint Peter's holy day.

(Enter all the Friars to sing the dirge)

[ Doctor Faustus and Other Plays, by Christopher Marlowe ]

boomerang

#: this one is commented out because two from the same source feels a

#: bit excessive; if uncommented, it should be first since the punchline

#: is about coming back while the other one is disdainful about that, so

#: if this one came second, its joke would be weakened

# "It's a boomerang," said Vimes. "You find something like this

# all over the world. You have to wave it carefully and suddenly

# your opponent gets it in the back. I've heard that there's a lad

# in Fourecks who can throw a boomerang with such precision that it

# can get the morning paper and come back with it."

# [ Raising Steam, by Terry Pratchett ]

#

Rincewind pulled himself up and thought about reaching for his

stick. And then he thought again. The man had a couple of spears

stuck in the ground, and people here were good at spears, because

if you didn't get efficient at hitting the things that moved fast

you had to eat the things that moved slowly. He was also holding

a boomerang, and it wasn't one of those toy ones that came back.

This was one of the big, heavy, gently curved sort that didn't

come back because it was sticking in something's ribcage. You

could laugh at the idea of wooden weapons until you saw the kind

of wood that grew here.

[ The Last Continent, by Terry Pratchett ]

~*jack*boot*

*boot*

*shoes

In Fantasyland these are remarkable in that they seldom or

never wear out and are suitable for riding or walking in

without the need of Socks. Boots never pinch, rub, or get

stones in them; nor do nails stick upwards into the feet from

the soles. They are customarily mid-calf length or knee-high,

slip on and off easily and never smell of feet. Unfortunately,

the formula for making this splendid footwear is a closely

guarded secret, possibly derived from nonhumans (see Dwarfs,

Elves, and Gnomes).

[ The Tough Guide to Fantasyland, by Diana Wynne Jones ]

*booze

potion of sleeping

On waking, he found himself on the green knoll whence he had

first seen the old man of the glen. He rubbed his eyes -- it

was a bright sunny morning. The birds were hopping and

twittering among the bushes, and the eagle was wheeling aloft,

and breasting the pure mountain breeze. "Surely," thought Rip,

"I have not slept here all night." He recalled the occurrences

before he fell asleep. The strange man with a keg of liquor --

the mountain ravine -- the wild retreat among the rocks -- the

woe-begone party at ninepins -- the flagon -- "Oh! that flagon!

that wicked flagon!" thought Rip -- "what excuse shall I make

to Dame Van Winkle!"

[ Rip Van Winkle, a Posthumous Writing

of Diedrich Knickerbocker, by Washington Irving ]

boulder

I worked the lever well under, and stretched my back; the end

of the stone rose up, and I kicked the fulcrum under. Then,

when I was going to bear down, I remembered there was

something to get out from below; when I let go of the lever,

the stone would fall again. I sat down to think, on the root

of the oak tree; and, seeing it stand about the ground, I saw

my way. It was lucky I had brought a longer lever. It would

just reach to wedge under the oak root.

Bearing it down so far would have been easy for a heavy man,

but was a hard fight for me. But this time I meant to do it

if it killed me, because I knew it could be done. Twice I

got it nearly there, and twice the weight bore it up again;

but when I flung myself on it the third time, I heard in my

ears the sea-sound of Poseidon. Then I knew this time I

would do it; and so I did.

[ The King Must Die, by Mary Renault ]

~*longbow of diana

bow

* bow

"Stand to it, my hearts of gold," said the old bowman as he

passed from knot to knot. "By my hilt! we are in luck this

journey. Bear in mind the old saying of the Company."

"What is that, Aylward?" cried several, leaning on their bows

and laughing at him.

"'Tis the master-bowyer's rede: 'Every bow well bent. Every

shaft well sent. Every stave well nocked. Every string well

locked.' There, with that jingle in his head, a bracer on

his left hand, a shooting glove on his right, and a

farthing's-worth of wax in his girdle, what more doth a

bowman need?"

"It would not be amiss," said Hordle John, "if under his

girdle he had four farthings'-worth of wine."

[ The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle ]

brigit

Brigit (Brigid, Bride, Banfile), which means the Exalted One,

was the Celtic (continental European and Irish) fertility

goddess. She was originally celebrated on February first in

the festival of Imbolc, which coincided with the beginning

of lactation in ewes and was regarded in Scotland as the date

on which Brigit deposed the blue-faced hag of winter. The

Christian calendar adopted the same date for the Feast of St.

Brigit. There is no record that a Christian saint ever

actually existed, but in Irish mythology she became the

midwife to the Virgin Mary.

[ Encyclopedia of Gods, by Michael Jordan ]

~stormbringer

*broadsword

Bring me my broadsword

And clear understanding.

Bring me my cross of gold,

As a talisman.

[ "Broadsword" (refrain), by Ian Anderson ]

bugbear

Bugbears are relatives of goblins, although they tend to be

larger and more hairy. They are aggressive carnivores and

sometimes kill just for the treasure their victims may be

carrying.

bugle

'I read you by your bugle horn

And by your palfrey good,

I read you for a Ranger sworn

To keep the King's green-wood.'

'A Ranger, Lady, winds his horn,

And 'tis at peep of light;

His blast is heard at merry morn,

And mine at dead of night.'

[ Brignall Banks, by Sir Walter Scott ]

bullwhip

"Good," he said and, unbelievably, smiled at me, a smirk like

a round of rotted cheese. "What did your keeper use on you?

A bullwhip?"

[ Melusine, by Sarah Monette ]

*camaxtli

A classical Mesoamerican Aztec god, also known as Mixcoatl-

Camaxtli (the Cloud Serpent), Camaxtli is the god of war. He

is also a deity of hunting and fire who received human

sacrifice of captured prisoners. According to tradition, the

sun god Tezcatlipoca transformed himself into Mixcoatl-Camaxtli

to make fire by twirling the sacred fire sticks.

[ Encyclopedia of Gods, by Michael Jordan ]

camelot*

The seat of Arthur's power in medieval romance. The name is

of unknown origin and refers to the castle but also includes

the surrounding town. ... Camelot appears, most significantly,

as a personal capital as opposed to a permanent or national

one. It is Arthur's and Arthur's alone. There are no previous

lords and Arthur's successor, Constantine, does not take up

residence there. Camelot is actually said to have been

demolished after Arthur and Lancelot were gone by Mark. Fazio

degli Uberti, the Italian poet, claims to have seen the ruins

in the 14th century.

[ Encyclopedia Mythica, ed. M.F. Lindemans ]

candy bar

Only once a year, on his birthday, did Charlie Bucket ever

get to taste a bit of chocolate. The whole family saved up

their money for that special occasion, and when the great

day arrived, Charlie was always presented with one small

chocolate bar to eat all by himself. And each time he

received it, on those marvelous birthday mornings, he would

place it carefully in a small wooden box that he owned, and

treasure it as though it were a bar of solid gold; and for

the next few days, he would allow himself only to look at it,

but never to touch it. Then at last, when he could stand it

no longer, he would peel back a tiny bit of the paper

wrapping at one corner to expose a tiny bit of chocolate, and

then he would take a tiny nibble - just enough to allow the

lovely sweet taste to spread out slowly over his tongue. The

next day, he would take another tiny nibble, and so on, and

so on. And in this way, Charlie would make his ten-cent bar

of birthday chocolate last him for more than a month.

[ Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, by Roald Dahl ]

carrot

In World War II, Britain's air ministry spread the word that

a diet of these vegetables helped pilots see Nazi bombers

attacking at night. That was a lie intended to cover the real

matter of what was underpinning the Royal Air Force's successes:

Airborne Interception Radar, also known as AI. ... British

Intelligence didn't want the Germans to find out about the

superior new technology helping protect the nation, so they

created a rumor to afford a somewhat plausible-sounding

explanation for the sudden increase in bombers being shot down.

... The disinformation was so persuasive that the English public

took to eating carrots to help them find their way during the

blackouts.

[ Urban Legends Reference Pages ]

s*d*g*r* cat

Imagine a sealed container, so perfectly constructed that no

physical influence can pass either inwards or outwards across its

walls. Imagine that inside the container is a cat, and also a

device that can be triggered by some quantum event. If that event

takes place, then the device smashes a phial containing cyanide and

the cat is killed. If the event does not take place, the cat lives

on. In Schroedinger's original version, the quantum event was the

decay of a radioactive atom. ... To the outside observer, the cat

is indeed in a linear combination of being alive and dead, and only

when the container is finally opened would the cat's state vector

collapse into one or the other. On the other hand, to a (suitably

protected) observer inside the container, the cat's state-vector

would have collapsed much earlier, and the outside observer's

linear combination has no relevance.

[ The Emperor's New Mind, by Roger Penrose ]

# takes "cat or other feline" when specifying 'f'

*cat

*feline

kitten

Well-known quadruped domestic animal from the family of

predatory felines (_Felis ochreata domestica_), with a thick,

soft pelt; often kept as a pet. Various folklores have the

cat associated with magic and the gods of ancient Egypt.

[]

So Ulthar went to sleep in vain anger; and when the people

awakened at dawn - behold! Every cat was back at his

accustomed hearth! Large and small, black, grey, striped,

yellow and white, none was missing. Very sleek and fat did

the cats appear, and sonorous with purring content.

[ The Cats of Ulthar, by H.P. Lovecraft ]

# this one doesn't work very well for dwarven and gnomish cavemen

cave dweller

cave*man

human cave*man

Now it was light enough to leave. Moon-Watcher picked up

the shriveled corpse and dragged it after him as he bent

under the low overhang of the cave. Once outside, he

threw the body over his shoulder and stood upright - the

only animal in all this world able to do so.

Among his kind, Moon-Watcher was almost a giant. He was

nearly five feet high, and though badly undernourished

weighed over a hundred pounds. His hairy, muscular body

was halfway between ape and man, but his head was already

much nearer to man than ape. The forehead was low, and

there were ridges over the eye sockets, yet he unmistakably

held in his genes the promise of humanity.

[ 2001: A Space Odyssey, by Arthur C. Clarke ]

dwar* cave*man

gnom* cave*man

'Twas in a land unkempt of life's red dawn;

Where in his sanded cave he dwelt alone;

Sleeping by day, or sometimes worked upon

His flint-head arrows and his knives of stone;

By night stole forth and slew the savage boar,

So that he loomed a hunter of loud fame,

And many a skin of wolf and wild-cat wore,

And counted many a flint-head to his name;

Wherefore he walked the envy of the band,

Hated and feared, but matchless in his skill.

Till lo! one night deep in that shaggy land,

He tracked a yearling bear and made his kill;

Then over-worn he rested by a stream,

And sank into a sleep too deep for dream.

[ The Dreamer, by Robert Service ]

*centaur

Of all the monsters put together by the Greek imagination

the Centaurs (Kentauroi) constituted a class in themselves.

Despite a strong streak of sensuality, in their make-up,

their normal behaviour was moral, and they took a kindly

thought of man's welfare. The attempted outrage of Nessos on

Deianeira, and that of the whole tribe of Centaurs on the

Lapith women, are more than offset by the hospitality of

Pholos and by the wisdom of Cheiron, physician, prophet,

lyrist, and the instructor of Achilles. Further, the

Centaurs were peculiar in that their nature, which united the

body of a horse with the trunk and head of a man, involved

an unthinkable duplication of vital organs and important

members. So grotesque a combination seems almost un-Greek.

These strange creatures were said to live in the caves and

clefts of the mountains, myths associating them especially

with the hills of Thessaly and the range of Erymanthos.

[ Mythology of all races, Vol. 1, pp. 270-271 ]

# [ capitalization of the title seems to be all over the place,

# including all lower case and conventional mixed case;

# it appears that Volume 1 (of 13) was written by

# William Sherwood Fox and edited by Louis Herbert Gray ]

centipede

I observed here, what I had often seen before, that certain

districts abound in centipedes. Here they have light

reddish bodies and blue legs; great myriapedes are seen

crawling every where. Although they do no harm, they excite

in man a feeling of loathing. Perhaps our appearance

produces a similar feeling in the elephant and other large

animals. Where they have been much disturbed, they

certainly look upon us with great distrust, as the horrid

biped that ruins their peace.

[ Travels and Researches in South Africa,

by Dr. David Livingstone ]

cerberus

kerberos

Cerberus, (or Kerberos in Greek), was the three-headed dog

that guarded the Gates of Hell. He allowed any dead to enter,

and likewise prevented them all from ever leaving. He was

bested only twice: once when Orpheus put him to sleep by

playing bewitching music on his lyre, and the other time when

Hercules confronted him and took him to the world of the

living (as his twelfth and last labor).

chameleon

A small lizard perched on a brown stone. Feeling threatened by

the approach of human beings along the path, it metamorphosed

into a stingray beetle, then into a stench-puffer, then into a

fiery salamander.

Bink smiled. These conversions weren't real. It had assumed

the forms of obnoxious little monsters, but not their essence.

It could not sting, stink or burn. It was a chameleon, using

its magic to mimic creatures of genuine threat.

Yet as it shifted into the form of a basilisk it glared at him

with such ferocity that Bink's mirth abated. If its malice

could strike him, he would be horribly dead.

[ A Spell for Chameleon, by Piers Anthony ]

charo*n

When an ancient Greek died, his soul went to the nether world:

the Hades. To reach the nether world, the souls had to cross

the river Styx, the river that separated the living from the

dead. The Styx could be crossed by ferry, whose shabby ferry-

man, advanced in age, was called Charon. The deceased's next-

of-kin would place a coin under his tongue, to pay the ferry-

man.

chest

large box

Dantes rapidly cleared away the earth around the chest. Soon

the center lock appeared, then the handles at each end, all

delicately wrought in the manner of that period when art made

precious even the basest of metals. He took the chest by the

two handles and tried to lift it, but it was impossible. He

tried to open it; it was locked. He inserted the sharp end

of his pickaxe between the chest and the lid and pushed down

on the handle. The lid creaked, then flew open.

Dantes was seized with a sort of giddy fever. He cocked his

gun and placed it beside him. Then he closed his eyes like

a child, opened them and stood dumbfounded.

The chest was divided into three compartments. In the first

were shining gold coins. In the second, unpolished gold

ingots packed in orderly stacks. From the third compartment,

which was half full, Dantes picked up handfuls of diamonds,

pearls and rubies. As they fell through his fingers in a

glittering cascade, they gave forth the sound of hail beating

against the windowpanes.

[ The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas ]

chih*sung*tzu

A character in Chinese mythology noted for bringing about the

end of a terrible drought which threatened the survival of

the people. He achieved this by means of sprinkling the

earth with water from a bowl, using the branch of a tree to

do so. He became the heavenly controller of the rain, and

lived with other celestial beings in their paradise on Mount

Kunlun.

[ The Illustrated Who's Who In Mythology, by Michael Senior ]

chromatic dragon

tiamat

Tiamat is said to be the mother of evil dragonkind. She is

extremely vain.

citrine*

A pale yellow variety of crystalline quartz resembling topaz.

clay golem

It was a warm spring night when a fist knocked at the door so

hard that the hinges bent.

A man opened it and peered out into the street. There was

mist coming off the river and it was a cloudy night. He might

as well have tried to see through white velvet.

But he thought afterwards that there had been shapes out

there, just beyond the light spilling out into the road. A

lot of shapes, watching him carefully. He thought maybe

there'd been very faint points of light...

There was no mistaking the shape right in front of him,

though. It was big and dark red and looked like a child's

clay model of a man. Its eyes were two embers.

[ Feet of Clay, by Terry Pratchett ]

cleaver

Hither came Conan, the Cimmerian, black-haired, sullen-eyed,

sword in hand, a thief, a reaver, a slayer, with gigantic

melancholies and gigantic mirth, to tread the jeweled

thrones of the Earth under his sandalled feet.

[ The Phoenix on the Sword, by Robert E. Howard ]

~elven cloak

~oilskin cloak

*cloak*

Cloaks are the universal outer garb of everyone who is not a

Barbarian. It is hard to see why. They are open in front

and require you at most times to use one hand to hold them

shut. On horseback they leave the shirt-sleeved arms and

most of the torso exposed to wind and Weather. The OMTs

[ Official Management Terms ] for Cloaks well express their

difficulties. They are constantly _swirling and dripping_

and becoming _heavy with water_ in rainy Weather, _entangling

with trees_ or _swords_, or needing to be _pulled close

around her/his shivering body_. This seems to suggest they

are less than practical for anyone on an arduous Tour.

[ The Tough Guide to Fantasyland, by Diana Wynne Jones ]

cloud*

I wandered lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o'er vales and hills,

When all at once I saw a crowd,

A host, of golden daffodils;

Beside the lake, beneath the trees,

Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

[ I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud, by William Wordsworth ]