f***@vortex4.net
2023-03-04 23:21:37 UTC
When I was ten my family moved from the San Francisco Bay Area to a small town in Southeastern Idaho. The culture shock was significant, and I became extremely isolated. TV in the eighties being what it was, one of the only things I looked forward to during that time was the airing of “Remington Steele”, a detective series starring Stephanie Zimbalist and Pierce Brosnan. Whether because it was set in California, featured characters with some degree of depth, or was based on what at the time was a counter-cultural concept, it was a refuge from life in a farm town of two hundred people.
I honestly hadn’t planned to use Laura Holt as the thematic basis for this run. My only plan when I started out was a female orcish rogue. Initially I thought about using Gwen Raiden from “Angel”, whose orcishness is predicated on her self-identification as ‘a freak’, but she shows up in only two episodes, there aren’t enough characters between them for a very robust set of nurse/incubus names.
I scoured my knowledge of film (which sadly, petered out in the mid-nineties after I left my video store job for tech). “A Fish Called Wanda” might have fit the bill, but I don’t love the movie. Allison in “The Breakfast Club” makes a great orcish rogue, but I had the weird experience of previewing it ahead of this run and realizing that in my late 40s, the film fails to hold up for me. I was sorely tempted to use Bunny from “The Big Lebowski”, as her demonstration of toxic femininity definitely screams “orc”, but by the end of the film it’s clear that she doesn’t really qualify as a rogue.
I know there are other films out there with characters who might fit, but I didn’t have much of a connection with any of them. And so it was, scanning the DVDs on my shelf that my eyes fell on Remington Steele and I realized that Laura Holt fit the bill. The woman-in-a-man’s-world trope may seem tired to contemporary eyes, but in the 80’s the idea was still disruptive enough that it manifested symbolic orcishness. Her career as a private detective certainly qualifies her as a rogue, particularly since she is frequently seen sneaking into places, occasionally picking locks, demonstrating knowledge of poisons — even using them against her foes in “Your Steele The One For Me”, and disabling traps in “Elegy in Steele”. I balked a bit at the idea that Laura might be Chaotic, but given the lust for theft she develops after a successful art heist in “A Steele At Any Price” and her chocolate addiction revealed in “Steele Sweet On You”, it’s clear that while Laura acts Lawful, she’s really just masking her true nature.
I wouldn’t go so far as to say that Remington Steele stands up over the years. Its comic relief can be heavy handed (particularly in the first two seasons), and the centering of the will-they-or-won’t-they relationship is at odds with the depiction of a strong, independent woman who can hold her own in a world not made for her. But though ten year old me appreciated the Breakfast Club for its insight into the way we simplify other people, he appreciated Remington Steele for its depiction of intelligent characters in possession of a moral compass. And of course, the Star Trek fan in me appreciates the crossover of character actors like Armin “Quark” Shimmerman in “Lofty Steele” and Ian “Mr. Atoz” Wolfe (you know, Original Series - “All our Yesterdays”…’Wait! You have not been prepared!’) in “My Fair Steele”.
Laura’s fruit was ‘cocoa bean’ in deference to her addiction, and with the revelation in “Red Holt Steele” that Laura owned a cat named Nero, those became her starting pettype and catname. Dogs and cats tamed later were named for animals who appeared in the show (Gome, Sidney, Renny, Lucan, Happy, and Doolittle, among others), or various permutations of Remington Steele (Remington, Mr. Steele, etc). Horses were named after the various vehicles which starred in the program (Rabbit, Limo, Rolls Royce, and last but definitely not least, 1936 Supercharged Auburn Speedster). Nurses were named after Laura’s permanent or temporary allies (Fred, Mildred, Murphy, Bernice, Daniel, Abigail, Frances, and Felicia). Until her last game, incubi were named for the various aliases used by Remington Steele, starting with the Humphrey Bogart characters he went by most frequently (Benjamin Pearson, Michael O’Leary, Richard Blaine, etc).
Playing a rogue was easier having already ascended a ranger, and knowing they become expert in dagger made the starting strategy simple - ready the stack, keep throwing, save one for melee. The extremely light armor was tricky, and the need to keep picking up daggers made running away a challenge. Orcishness coming with poison resistance solved a number of otherwise problematic early game challenges.
Before laura’s ascension, the best game she had was one I started in the last few days of the November Hardfought tournament. I have been less active in that tournament lately since the minimum trophy qualification is two ascensions, which requires more ambition than I currently possess. I finally got a good game going, finishing the rogue quest for the first time and on track to ascend…but I took too long. December 7 rolled around, and despite my attempts to move the game forward, Hardfought’s tournament menu was disabled at the cutoff time.
It took some time to get over that, and good rogue starts had been few and far between. But about two months later, laura’s ship finally came in. Early cold resistance from a brown mold was a drop in the bucket compared to a large armory on level 3, which netted her Gauntlets of Power. The first two levels of the Gnomish Mines featured a magic whistle and a dwarvish mithril-coat. Not long afterward, Nero stepped on a polymorph trap and became a red dragon.
By this point the early game was astonishingly survivable. Nero basically ate all of the fauna, leaving all of the flora to laura. Unfortunately due to a brain fart I failed to keep laura vegan, as she was disqualified by eating the royal jelly from a beehive. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised, it took me something like three ascensions to figure vegetarianism out, so it was a stretch that veganism would be achievable on the first try.
Minetown’s hardware store furnished a free bag of holding, as Nero had by this point developed a taste for shopkeeper. I prudently locked Izchak’s to keep Nero from committing a karmic blunder. Things got tricky pretty fast though. I want to say it was a magic trap that did it, but both laura and Nero came up invisible. Without see invisible, moving between levels and keeping Nero with her was a cautious exercise.
This became a problem at the point that it was time to solve Sokoban. Nero refused to move down the corridor at the start of the second Sokoban level, so it was not possible to advance. I had already cleaned out Mines’ End, so the only recourse was to bless laura’s scrolls of identify and see if she had the right potion in her stash. She got lucky and identified a potion of see invisible before running out of newly blessed identify scrolls, and used her last holy water to bless her single potion of see invisible in order to permanently gain the intrinsic. She could finally see her red^H^H^Hgray dragon! (Nero had apparently stepped on another polymorph trap while invisible)
Historically I lose my pet in Sokoban’s Treasure Zoo, but go figure, it didn’t happen this time. The prize was an amulet of reflection. The identify session had also revealed a ring of levitation and a cloak of protection. She was still only level 11 at this point, so there was nothing for it but to keep going down and look for Medusa and/or Ft. Ludios.
Medusa was on 24 and three levels above that was an altar to Issek, easily converted. It was next to that altar that laura established a basecamp. On the trip back up to collect the items in the upper stash, laura obtained shock resistance from a gelatinous cube corpse. On level 23 the discovery of a most astonishing bones file changed the course of the game once again.
A monk named DragonSideD had apparently reached this level before being accosted by a group of soldiers and tagged by a death ray while frozen by a potion of paralysis. DragonSideD’s bones were an ascension kit ready to go - a greased +5 helm of brilliance, a greased +3 robe, a +3 Hawaiian shirt, a blessed spellbook of identify, 3 magic markers, 2 cans of grease, and a bag of holding, complete with its own cache of less cursed items. By the end of the uncursing and identification laura had discovered a ring of slow digestion, gauntlets of dexterity, water walking boots, and a ring of conflict, among other goodies. Last but not least, the soldiers had apparently picked Stormbringer off of DragonSideD’s body.
Still trying to grind enough experience to go on the quest, laura tracked down Ft. Ludios, and here things went a little sideways. Stormbringer and pets never mix, and this game was no exception. On the upside, Nero dropped scales. This might be considered a tad disrespectful, but some people do taxonomy on their departed pets, so making gray dragon scale mail out of Nero seemed like it might be on the up and up. Laura did get enough experience from the Ludios fight to get to level 12, and an encounter with a succubus brought laura to 13.
Yeah. A succubus. Somewhere on the way down to 23 an encounter with a Genetic Engineer turned laura male. I had recorded 37 Remington Steele aliases before this ascension to use for #name’ing incubi, and suddenly they were all useless. The heteronormativity of foocubi in nethack was suddenly an ironic counterpoint to that of the television program I was immersing myself in. I am relatively unsophisticated in these matters, I’m basically a cis-het dude, and playing female characters in video games is as close as I regularly come to exploring an alternative gender identity, but for the first time I had the unexpected feeling of being upset that my character was the wrong gender. I never ended up remediating the situation, and it seems somewhat wrong that I didn’t seek out an amulet of change and restore laura’s femininity.
There appeared to be nothing for it but to get back to the business of ascending. Thanks to the boots of water walking, Medusa was a snap, and for the first time ever the Castle level was just below Medusa’s level. An enemy just off the Castle stairs dropped a potion of gain level, and it was now time for the quest. A lucky trap-door drop to the Stronghold of the Master Assassin landed laura in the correct quadrant of his level. By this time Stormy was +6 and the Master Assassin was toast.
A bugle stripped from the soldiers who had killed the hapless DragonSideD served to work out the passtune, and fortunately laura was still low enough level at this point that there weren’t any liches in the Castle. The Castle armory contained Trollsbane. The Valley of the Dead held a wand of speed monster, which was good timing as for some reason laura never found speed boots. Jubilex’ level contained a gelatinous cube which conferred sleep resistance. This was timely as well; going back and forth over the sleep trap at the end of the Valley of the Dead was becoming stressful.
Asmodeus and Baalzebul were handled via bribery. A collection of potions of paralyzation rendered Vlad easy meat. By this point, laura was #twoweapon’ing a +6 Stormy and a +3 silver saber, and Orcus failed to stand up to that. For some reason it was in Gehennom that laura finally found a saddle, but most attempts at riding resulted in dead mounts due Jabberwocks killing the horses out from under her.
A search back through the dungeon for sources of fire resistance was warranted after I realized that there were permanent hit point drops taking place from all of the fire traps. In the end that was remediated by plenty of Mildred/Murphy-dancing as well as blessing stacks of potions of extra and full healing. Multiple castings of detect monster finally located the gelatinous cube in Orcus’ Town which yielded fire resistance.
And suddenly laura was at the vibrating square. Was it time? It didn’t seem likely. I’ve never ascended without speed boots. I know people have a lot to say on the subject of jumping boots, but could I make it work? I had used up the last charges of the magic markers for enough scrolls of gold detection to make it through the planes…DragonSideD had spent most of his collection, and laura never found any others. A trip back to basecamp to see if Kos was ready to grant any fancier weaponry yielded…Grimtooth. The first and only sacrifice gift. Kos is a bastard.
Eventually I just said “screw it”, I would either ascend now or try again with a laura of the correct gender. And it worked out. By the time I started the run I had three wands of death, five potions of speed, and enough wands of teleportation to make the Astral Plane passable. It was touch and go for a time in Moloch’s Sanctum, as some demon or other gated in Yeenoghu, but one of the Priests of Moloch summoned a swarm of nasties which included a cockatrice, so most of that level was negotiated via rubber chicken. I didn’t have any scrolls of genocide in my collection to curse, so I was a little worried about the lack of purpley wormy companionship, but it turns out that the jumping boots trick works really well. A good thing too, ‘cause before laura made it to the first altar, a shocking sphere took out one of the wands of death, the ring of conflict, and the ring of slow digestion. I did end up going through three potions of full healing ‘cause it look three tries to find the right altar, but it was an important lesson to learn - speed boots are not the be-all-end-all.
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-------------------------
Laura the Robber St:25 Dx:18 Co:18 In:14 Wi:20 Ch:10 Chaotic S:15
Astral Plane $:2 HP:201(223) Pw:175(175) AC:-24 Xp:17/853230 T:107251
An invisible choir sings, and you are bathed in radiance...--More--
The voice of Kos thunders: "Mortal, thou hast done well!"--More--
"In return for thy service, I grant thee the gift of Immortality!"--More--
You ascend to the status of Demigod...--More--
Do you want your possessions identified? [ynq] (y)
Coins
$ - 2 gold pieces
Amulets
m - an uncursed amulet of reflection (being worn)
Weapons
s - a blessed +6 silver saber (wielded in left hand)
Y - the blessed rustproof +6 Stormbringer (wielded in right hand)
Armor
n - an uncursed greased +5 helm of brilliance (being worn)
S - an uncursed +0 pair of gauntlets of power (being worn)
P - a cursed thoroughly burnt +0 pair of jumping boots (being worn)
R - a blessed thoroughly burnt +0 oilskin cloak (being worn)
J - an uncursed +3 Hawaiian shirt with a sea turtle motif (being worn)
o - an uncursed +5 gray dragon scale mail (being worn)
Comestibles
T - a cursed K-ration
F - an uncursed lizard corpse
Scrolls
I - a blessed scroll of remove curse
Spellbooks
Q - the uncursed Book of the Dead
Potions
h - an uncursed potion of full healing
Rings
V - an uncursed ring of free action (on left hand)
Wands
Z - a wand of death (0:1)
E - a wand of digging (0:6)
a - a wand of digging (0:0)
e - a wand of teleportation (0:3)
d - a wand of teleportation (0:0)
W - a wand of teleportation (0:0)
Tools
X - a blessed bag of holding named utility belt containing 93 items
w - an uncursed oilskin sack containing 1 item
r - the Bell of Opening (0:2)
O - the uncursed Candelabrum of Invocation (7 of 7 candles, lit)
l - the blessed Master Key of Thievery
c - an uncursed pair of lenses (being worn)
g - an uncursed stethoscope
b - a blessed +0 unicorn horn
Gems/Stones
i - an uncursed worthless piece of black glass
p - an uncursed worthless piece of blue glass
G - a cursed worthless piece of green glass
q - an uncursed worthless piece of orange glass
t - an uncursed worthless piece of yellow glass
u - an uncursed worthless piece of yellowish brown glass
j - a blessed luckstone
(3 of 3)
Contents of the oilskin sack:
a wand of cancellation (0:6)
--More--
Contents of the bag of holding named utility belt:
an uncursed amulet of life saving
an uncursed amulet of life saving
7 poisoned +0 darts
9 blessed +2 elven daggers
the rustproof +0 Grimtooth
the +0 Trollsbane
an uncursed very rusty very corroded +1 helm of brilliance
an uncursed +0 pair of gauntlets of power
an uncursed +0 pair of water walking boots
an uncursed +0 shield of reflection
an uncursed +0 cloak of magic resistance
an uncursed burnt +0 cloak of protection
an uncursed greased fireproof +3 robe
an uncursed +0 T-shirt with text "Go team ant!"
an uncursed +0 set of gray dragon scales
4 uncursed cocoa beans
an uncursed eucalyptus leaf
4 uncursed food rations
14 uncursed K-rations
an uncursed sprig of wolfsbane
an uncursed tripe ration
an uncursed lizard corpse
2 uncursed scrolls of magic mapping
9 blessed scrolls of remove curse
3 blessed scrolls of taming
16 potions of holy water
a potion of unholy water
2 uncursed potions of acid
an uncursed potion of healing
3 uncursed potions of paralysis
4 uncursed potions of speed
a cursed potion of speed
an uncursed ring of levitation
an uncursed ring of polymorph control
an uncursed ring of teleport control
an uncursed ring of teleportation
a wand of wishing (0:3)
a wand of cold (0:4)
a wand of cold (0:0)
a wand of cold (0:5)
a wand of death (0:0)
a wand of digging (0:0)
a wand of digging (0:5)
a blessed wand of fire (0:5)
a wand of polymorph (0:4)
a wand of sleep (0:7)
a wand of speed monster (0:3)
a wand of teleportation (0:5)
a wand of teleportation (0:5)
a wand of teleportation (0:2)
a wand of teleportation (0:0)
an empty uncursed sack
an uncursed leather drum
an uncursed tooled horn
7 uncursed tallow candles
a can of grease (0:7)
an uncursed lock pick
an uncursed magic lamp
an uncursed magic whistle
a +0 pick-axe
an uncursed towel
a +0 unicorn horn
3 uncursed sapphires
7 uncursed emeralds
9 uncursed aquamarine stones
a cursed aquamarine stone
an uncursed worthless piece of red glass
5 uncursed worthless pieces of violet glass
a cursed worthless piece of violet glass
2 uncursed opals
6 uncursed worthless pieces of white glass
3 uncursed dilithium crystals
3 cursed worthless pieces of white glass
3 cursed dilithium crystals
2 uncursed amber stones
15 uncursed agate stones
10 uncursed amethyst stones
5 uncursed black opals
2 uncursed chrysoberyl stones
5 uncursed citrine stones
7 uncursed diamonds
2 uncursed fluorite stones
4 uncursed garnet stones
7 uncursed jacinth stones
7 uncursed jade stones
6 uncursed jasper stones
4 uncursed jet stones
an uncursed jet stone
8 uncursed obsidian stones
8 uncursed rubies
2 uncursed topaz stones
10 uncursed turquoise stones
2 blessed luckstones
--More--
Do you want to see your attributes? [ynq] (y)
Laura the Rogue's attributes:
Background:
You were a Robber, a level 17 male orcish Rogue.
You were chaotic, on a mission for Kos
who was opposed by Issek (lawful) and Mog (neutral).
You started out female.
You were in the endgame, on the Astral Plane.
You entered the dungeon 107251 turns ago.
It was nighttime.
You had 853230 experience points, 426770 more were needed to attain level 18.
Your score was 1524375 before end-of-game adjustments.
Basics:
You had 201 out of 223 hit points.
You had all 175 energy points (spell power).
Your armor class was -24.
Your wallet contained 2 zorkmids.
Autopickup was off.
Final Characteristics:
Your strength was 25 (base:18/10, innate limit:18/50).
Your dexterity was 18 (limit:18).
--More--
Your constitution was 18 (limit:18).
Your intelligence was 14 (base:9, peak:11, limit:16).
Your wisdom was 20 (base:15, peak:16, innate limit:16).
Your charisma was 10 (limit:16).
Final Status:
You were not hungry.
You were unencumbered.
You were wielding two weapons at once.
You were skilled in broadsword and two weapons.
Your two weapon skill was limited by being unskilled with saber.
Final Attributes:
You were piously aligned.
You were magic-protected.
You were fire resistant.
You were cold resistant.
You were sleep resistant.
You were shock resistant.
You were poison resistant.
You were level-drain resistant.
You saw invisible.
You were warned.
You had automatic searching.
You had infravision.
You were invisible to others.
You were stealthy.
You could jump.
You had teleport control.
You had a moderate defense bonus (+10).
You were guarded.
You took half physical damage.
You were very fast.
You had reflection.
You had free action.
You were lucky.
You had extra luck.
Good luck did not time out for you.
You survived.
Miscellaneous:
You encountered 1 bones level.
Total elapsed playing time was 1 day, 8 hours, 19 minutes and 26 seconds.
--More--
Do you want an account of creatures vanquished? [ynaq] (y)
Vanquished creatures:
Orcus
Yeenoghu
Juiblex
the Wizard of Yendor (4 times)
Death (twice)
Pestilence (twice)
Famine (thrice)
Vlad the Impaler
an arch-lich
a high cleric
a mastodon
Medusa
Croesus
9 krakens
6 iron golems
6 master liches
7 storm giants
3 glass golems
3 balrogs
3 purple worms
3 gray dragons
3 gold dragons
3 silver dragons
12 red dragons
7 white dragons
3 orange dragons
4 black dragons
3 blue dragons
4 green dragons
3 yellow dragons
20 minotaurs
10 jabberwocks
the Master Assassin
16 baluchitheria
16 demiliches
2 stone golems
4 master mind flayers
[SNIP]
3404 creatures vanquished.
Do you want a list of extinct species? [ynq] (y)
Extinct species:
leprechauns (extinct)
soldiers (extinct)
----- erinyes (extinct)
|%...
----- |.... 3 species extinct.
4 55 1..| |..._ --More--
Do you want to see your conduct and achievements? [ynq] (y)
Voluntary challenges:
You were vegetarian.
You read items or engraved 71 times.
You never engraved Elbereth.
You never genocided any monsters.
You never polymorphed an object.
You used no wishes.
You violated the special Sokoban rules thrice.
Achievements:
You attained the rank of Cutpurse.
You entered the Gnomish Mines.
You entered a shop.
You attained the rank of Rogue.
You entered Minetown.
You entered a temple.
You attained the rank of Pilferer.
You consulted the Oracle of Delphi.
You entered Sokoban.
You completed the Gnomish Mines.
You completed Sokoban.
You defeated Medusa.
You attained the rank of Robber.
You had the Bell of Opening.
You learned the tune to open and close the Castle's drawbridge.
You entered Gehennom.
You had the Candelabrum of Invocation.
You had the Book of the Dead.
You gained access to Moloch's Sanctum.
You reached the Elemental Planes.
You reached the Astral Plane.
You delivered the Amulet of Yendor.
You ascended!
Do you want to see the dungeon overview? [ynq] (y)
The Elemental Planes:
Astral Plane: <- You are here.
Many temples.
Plane of Water:
Plane of Fire:
Plane of Air:
Plane of Earth:
The Dungeons of Doom: levels 1 to 25
Level 1:
One way stairs up to The Elemental Planes.
Level 2:
A fountain.
Stairs down to The Gnomish Mines.
Level 3:
An armor shop.
Level 4:
A general store.
Level 5:
Some fountains.
Level 6:
Some fountains.
Level 7:
An altar to Kos.
Level 8:
Many fountains.
Oracle of Delphi.
Level 9:
A general store, an altar to Kos, some fountains.
Stairs up to Sokoban, level 8.
Level 10:
A grave.
Level 11:
Level 12:
A fountain.
Level 13:
Level 14:
A fountain, a grave.
Portal to The Quest.
Level 15:
Some altars.
Portal to Fort Ludios.
Level 16:
A primitive area.
Level 17:
A sink, some graves.
Level 18:
Level 19:
A sink.
Level 20:
A sink, a grave.
Level 21:
An altar to Kos.
Level 22:
Level 23:
A grave.
Final resting place for
DragonSidedD-Mon-Hum-Mal-Cha, killed by a death ray, while frozen by a potion.
Level 24:
Some fountains, many trees.
Level 25:
A fountain.
The castle (play notes "ADEBC" to open or close drawbridge).
Connection to Gehennom.
Gehennom: levels 26 to 45
Level 26:
A temple, many graves.
Valley of the Dead.
Level 27:
Level 28:
Level 29:
Some fountains.
Level 30:
Level 31:
Level 32:
Level 33:
Level 34:
Level 35:
Stairs up to Vlad's Tower, level 34.
Level 36:
An untended shop, an altar, some graves.
Level 37:
Level 38:
Level 39:
Level 40:
Level 41:
Level 42:
Level 43:
Level 44:
Level 45:
A temple, many graves.
Moloch's Sanctum.
The Gnomish Mines: levels 3 to 11
Level 3:
Level 4:
Level 5:
Many shops, a temple, some fountains.
Level 6:
Level 7:
Level 8:
Level 9:
Level 10:
Level 11:
Some fountains.
The Quest: levels 1 to 6
Level 1:
Completed quest for the Master of Thieves.
Level 2:
Level 3:
Level 4:
Level 5:
Level 6:
Sokoban: levels 8 up to 5
Level 5:
Solved.
Level 6:
Solved.
Level 7:
Solved.
Level 8:
Solved.
Fort Ludios:
Level 1:
A throne.
Fort Ludios.
Vlad's Tower: levels 34 up to 32
Level 32:
Level 33:
Level 34:
Goodbye laura the Demigod...
You went to your reward with 3346800 points,
The Master Key of Thievery (worth 3500 zorkmids and 8750 points)
The Bell of Opening (worth 5000 zorkmids and 12500 points)
The Candelabrum of Invocation (worth 5000 zorkmids and 12500 points)
The Book of the Dead (worth 10000 zorkmids and 25000 points)
Trollsbane (worth 200 zorkmids and 500 points)
Grimtooth (worth 300 zorkmids and 750 points)
Stormbringer (worth 8000 zorkmids and 20000 points)
22 worthless pieces of colored glass,
15 agate stones (worth 3000 zorkmids),
10 turquoise stones (worth 20000 zorkmids),
10 aquamarine stones (worth 15000 zorkmids),
10 amethyst stones (worth 6000 zorkmids),
8 rubies (worth 28000 zorkmids),
8 obsidian stones (worth 1600 zorkmids),
7 diamonds (worth 28000 zorkmids),
7 jacinth stones (worth 22750 zorkmids),
7 emeralds (worth 17500 zorkmids),
7 jade stones (worth 2100 zorkmids),
6 dilithium crystals (worth 27000 zorkmids),
6 jasper stones (worth 3000 zorkmids),
5 black opals (worth 12500 zorkmids),
5 citrine stones (worth 7500 zorkmids),
5 jet stones (worth 4250 zorkmids),
4 garnet stones (worth 2800 zorkmids),
3 sapphires (worth 9000 zorkmids),
2 amber stones (worth 2000 zorkmids),
2 topaz stones (worth 1800 zorkmids),
2 opals (worth 1600 zorkmids),
2 chrysoberyl stones (worth 1400 zorkmids),
2 fluorite stones (worth 800 zorkmids),
2 amulets of life saving (worth 300 zorkmids),
1 amulet of reflection (worth 150 zorkmids),
and 2 pieces of gold, after 107251 moves.
You were level 17 with a maximum of 223 hit points when you ascended.
This ascension is dedicated to my friend Katie, who is probably responsible for upgrading me from generic dudebro to having any kind of consciousness around gender and sexuality. She works for a great org which is dedicated to educating youth about the dangers of unhealthy relationships. Check them out at https://www.joinonelove.org
I honestly hadn’t planned to use Laura Holt as the thematic basis for this run. My only plan when I started out was a female orcish rogue. Initially I thought about using Gwen Raiden from “Angel”, whose orcishness is predicated on her self-identification as ‘a freak’, but she shows up in only two episodes, there aren’t enough characters between them for a very robust set of nurse/incubus names.
I scoured my knowledge of film (which sadly, petered out in the mid-nineties after I left my video store job for tech). “A Fish Called Wanda” might have fit the bill, but I don’t love the movie. Allison in “The Breakfast Club” makes a great orcish rogue, but I had the weird experience of previewing it ahead of this run and realizing that in my late 40s, the film fails to hold up for me. I was sorely tempted to use Bunny from “The Big Lebowski”, as her demonstration of toxic femininity definitely screams “orc”, but by the end of the film it’s clear that she doesn’t really qualify as a rogue.
I know there are other films out there with characters who might fit, but I didn’t have much of a connection with any of them. And so it was, scanning the DVDs on my shelf that my eyes fell on Remington Steele and I realized that Laura Holt fit the bill. The woman-in-a-man’s-world trope may seem tired to contemporary eyes, but in the 80’s the idea was still disruptive enough that it manifested symbolic orcishness. Her career as a private detective certainly qualifies her as a rogue, particularly since she is frequently seen sneaking into places, occasionally picking locks, demonstrating knowledge of poisons — even using them against her foes in “Your Steele The One For Me”, and disabling traps in “Elegy in Steele”. I balked a bit at the idea that Laura might be Chaotic, but given the lust for theft she develops after a successful art heist in “A Steele At Any Price” and her chocolate addiction revealed in “Steele Sweet On You”, it’s clear that while Laura acts Lawful, she’s really just masking her true nature.
I wouldn’t go so far as to say that Remington Steele stands up over the years. Its comic relief can be heavy handed (particularly in the first two seasons), and the centering of the will-they-or-won’t-they relationship is at odds with the depiction of a strong, independent woman who can hold her own in a world not made for her. But though ten year old me appreciated the Breakfast Club for its insight into the way we simplify other people, he appreciated Remington Steele for its depiction of intelligent characters in possession of a moral compass. And of course, the Star Trek fan in me appreciates the crossover of character actors like Armin “Quark” Shimmerman in “Lofty Steele” and Ian “Mr. Atoz” Wolfe (you know, Original Series - “All our Yesterdays”…’Wait! You have not been prepared!’) in “My Fair Steele”.
Laura’s fruit was ‘cocoa bean’ in deference to her addiction, and with the revelation in “Red Holt Steele” that Laura owned a cat named Nero, those became her starting pettype and catname. Dogs and cats tamed later were named for animals who appeared in the show (Gome, Sidney, Renny, Lucan, Happy, and Doolittle, among others), or various permutations of Remington Steele (Remington, Mr. Steele, etc). Horses were named after the various vehicles which starred in the program (Rabbit, Limo, Rolls Royce, and last but definitely not least, 1936 Supercharged Auburn Speedster). Nurses were named after Laura’s permanent or temporary allies (Fred, Mildred, Murphy, Bernice, Daniel, Abigail, Frances, and Felicia). Until her last game, incubi were named for the various aliases used by Remington Steele, starting with the Humphrey Bogart characters he went by most frequently (Benjamin Pearson, Michael O’Leary, Richard Blaine, etc).
Playing a rogue was easier having already ascended a ranger, and knowing they become expert in dagger made the starting strategy simple - ready the stack, keep throwing, save one for melee. The extremely light armor was tricky, and the need to keep picking up daggers made running away a challenge. Orcishness coming with poison resistance solved a number of otherwise problematic early game challenges.
Before laura’s ascension, the best game she had was one I started in the last few days of the November Hardfought tournament. I have been less active in that tournament lately since the minimum trophy qualification is two ascensions, which requires more ambition than I currently possess. I finally got a good game going, finishing the rogue quest for the first time and on track to ascend…but I took too long. December 7 rolled around, and despite my attempts to move the game forward, Hardfought’s tournament menu was disabled at the cutoff time.
It took some time to get over that, and good rogue starts had been few and far between. But about two months later, laura’s ship finally came in. Early cold resistance from a brown mold was a drop in the bucket compared to a large armory on level 3, which netted her Gauntlets of Power. The first two levels of the Gnomish Mines featured a magic whistle and a dwarvish mithril-coat. Not long afterward, Nero stepped on a polymorph trap and became a red dragon.
By this point the early game was astonishingly survivable. Nero basically ate all of the fauna, leaving all of the flora to laura. Unfortunately due to a brain fart I failed to keep laura vegan, as she was disqualified by eating the royal jelly from a beehive. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised, it took me something like three ascensions to figure vegetarianism out, so it was a stretch that veganism would be achievable on the first try.
Minetown’s hardware store furnished a free bag of holding, as Nero had by this point developed a taste for shopkeeper. I prudently locked Izchak’s to keep Nero from committing a karmic blunder. Things got tricky pretty fast though. I want to say it was a magic trap that did it, but both laura and Nero came up invisible. Without see invisible, moving between levels and keeping Nero with her was a cautious exercise.
This became a problem at the point that it was time to solve Sokoban. Nero refused to move down the corridor at the start of the second Sokoban level, so it was not possible to advance. I had already cleaned out Mines’ End, so the only recourse was to bless laura’s scrolls of identify and see if she had the right potion in her stash. She got lucky and identified a potion of see invisible before running out of newly blessed identify scrolls, and used her last holy water to bless her single potion of see invisible in order to permanently gain the intrinsic. She could finally see her red^H^H^Hgray dragon! (Nero had apparently stepped on another polymorph trap while invisible)
Historically I lose my pet in Sokoban’s Treasure Zoo, but go figure, it didn’t happen this time. The prize was an amulet of reflection. The identify session had also revealed a ring of levitation and a cloak of protection. She was still only level 11 at this point, so there was nothing for it but to keep going down and look for Medusa and/or Ft. Ludios.
Medusa was on 24 and three levels above that was an altar to Issek, easily converted. It was next to that altar that laura established a basecamp. On the trip back up to collect the items in the upper stash, laura obtained shock resistance from a gelatinous cube corpse. On level 23 the discovery of a most astonishing bones file changed the course of the game once again.
A monk named DragonSideD had apparently reached this level before being accosted by a group of soldiers and tagged by a death ray while frozen by a potion of paralysis. DragonSideD’s bones were an ascension kit ready to go - a greased +5 helm of brilliance, a greased +3 robe, a +3 Hawaiian shirt, a blessed spellbook of identify, 3 magic markers, 2 cans of grease, and a bag of holding, complete with its own cache of less cursed items. By the end of the uncursing and identification laura had discovered a ring of slow digestion, gauntlets of dexterity, water walking boots, and a ring of conflict, among other goodies. Last but not least, the soldiers had apparently picked Stormbringer off of DragonSideD’s body.
Still trying to grind enough experience to go on the quest, laura tracked down Ft. Ludios, and here things went a little sideways. Stormbringer and pets never mix, and this game was no exception. On the upside, Nero dropped scales. This might be considered a tad disrespectful, but some people do taxonomy on their departed pets, so making gray dragon scale mail out of Nero seemed like it might be on the up and up. Laura did get enough experience from the Ludios fight to get to level 12, and an encounter with a succubus brought laura to 13.
Yeah. A succubus. Somewhere on the way down to 23 an encounter with a Genetic Engineer turned laura male. I had recorded 37 Remington Steele aliases before this ascension to use for #name’ing incubi, and suddenly they were all useless. The heteronormativity of foocubi in nethack was suddenly an ironic counterpoint to that of the television program I was immersing myself in. I am relatively unsophisticated in these matters, I’m basically a cis-het dude, and playing female characters in video games is as close as I regularly come to exploring an alternative gender identity, but for the first time I had the unexpected feeling of being upset that my character was the wrong gender. I never ended up remediating the situation, and it seems somewhat wrong that I didn’t seek out an amulet of change and restore laura’s femininity.
There appeared to be nothing for it but to get back to the business of ascending. Thanks to the boots of water walking, Medusa was a snap, and for the first time ever the Castle level was just below Medusa’s level. An enemy just off the Castle stairs dropped a potion of gain level, and it was now time for the quest. A lucky trap-door drop to the Stronghold of the Master Assassin landed laura in the correct quadrant of his level. By this time Stormy was +6 and the Master Assassin was toast.
A bugle stripped from the soldiers who had killed the hapless DragonSideD served to work out the passtune, and fortunately laura was still low enough level at this point that there weren’t any liches in the Castle. The Castle armory contained Trollsbane. The Valley of the Dead held a wand of speed monster, which was good timing as for some reason laura never found speed boots. Jubilex’ level contained a gelatinous cube which conferred sleep resistance. This was timely as well; going back and forth over the sleep trap at the end of the Valley of the Dead was becoming stressful.
Asmodeus and Baalzebul were handled via bribery. A collection of potions of paralyzation rendered Vlad easy meat. By this point, laura was #twoweapon’ing a +6 Stormy and a +3 silver saber, and Orcus failed to stand up to that. For some reason it was in Gehennom that laura finally found a saddle, but most attempts at riding resulted in dead mounts due Jabberwocks killing the horses out from under her.
A search back through the dungeon for sources of fire resistance was warranted after I realized that there were permanent hit point drops taking place from all of the fire traps. In the end that was remediated by plenty of Mildred/Murphy-dancing as well as blessing stacks of potions of extra and full healing. Multiple castings of detect monster finally located the gelatinous cube in Orcus’ Town which yielded fire resistance.
And suddenly laura was at the vibrating square. Was it time? It didn’t seem likely. I’ve never ascended without speed boots. I know people have a lot to say on the subject of jumping boots, but could I make it work? I had used up the last charges of the magic markers for enough scrolls of gold detection to make it through the planes…DragonSideD had spent most of his collection, and laura never found any others. A trip back to basecamp to see if Kos was ready to grant any fancier weaponry yielded…Grimtooth. The first and only sacrifice gift. Kos is a bastard.
Eventually I just said “screw it”, I would either ascend now or try again with a laura of the correct gender. And it worked out. By the time I started the run I had three wands of death, five potions of speed, and enough wands of teleportation to make the Astral Plane passable. It was touch and go for a time in Moloch’s Sanctum, as some demon or other gated in Yeenoghu, but one of the Priests of Moloch summoned a swarm of nasties which included a cockatrice, so most of that level was negotiated via rubber chicken. I didn’t have any scrolls of genocide in my collection to curse, so I was a little worried about the lack of purpley wormy companionship, but it turns out that the jumping boots trick works really well. A good thing too, ‘cause before laura made it to the first altar, a shocking sphere took out one of the wands of death, the ring of conflict, and the ring of slow digestion. I did end up going through three potions of full healing ‘cause it look three tries to find the right altar, but it was an important lesson to learn - speed boots are not the be-all-end-all.
---------
|%......|
----- |.......| -----
4 55 1..| |..._...| |...
4---------..-- ------ |.......| ------ --..---------
4|..aa..a|...-- --...... | |.......| | ......-- --...|.......|
1|...aa..|....---........ |. ----.---- .| ........---....|.......|
5 |***@.aa@A..a.-.......... |.....%.......| ........%.-.....-..._...|
5|..@@aa.|5...---..!...... ---.........--- .........---....|.......|
1|@***@.a.a|4..-- --...)...- -----|----- -.......-- --...|.......|
---------14-- ----%---- -...%...-- ----.---- --..---------
5..1| ----...------- ....%....--------...| |...
----- . ...%.......|.....(.....|.....%...| -----
.............--.........--...-------
..............--...%...--....|
.........0....----%----...---
...............%.........|
-------------------------
Laura the Robber St:25 Dx:18 Co:18 In:14 Wi:20 Ch:10 Chaotic S:15
Astral Plane $:2 HP:201(223) Pw:175(175) AC:-24 Xp:17/853230 T:107251
An invisible choir sings, and you are bathed in radiance...--More--
The voice of Kos thunders: "Mortal, thou hast done well!"--More--
"In return for thy service, I grant thee the gift of Immortality!"--More--
You ascend to the status of Demigod...--More--
Do you want your possessions identified? [ynq] (y)
Coins
$ - 2 gold pieces
Amulets
m - an uncursed amulet of reflection (being worn)
Weapons
s - a blessed +6 silver saber (wielded in left hand)
Y - the blessed rustproof +6 Stormbringer (wielded in right hand)
Armor
n - an uncursed greased +5 helm of brilliance (being worn)
S - an uncursed +0 pair of gauntlets of power (being worn)
P - a cursed thoroughly burnt +0 pair of jumping boots (being worn)
R - a blessed thoroughly burnt +0 oilskin cloak (being worn)
J - an uncursed +3 Hawaiian shirt with a sea turtle motif (being worn)
o - an uncursed +5 gray dragon scale mail (being worn)
Comestibles
T - a cursed K-ration
F - an uncursed lizard corpse
Scrolls
I - a blessed scroll of remove curse
Spellbooks
Q - the uncursed Book of the Dead
Potions
h - an uncursed potion of full healing
Rings
V - an uncursed ring of free action (on left hand)
Wands
Z - a wand of death (0:1)
E - a wand of digging (0:6)
a - a wand of digging (0:0)
e - a wand of teleportation (0:3)
d - a wand of teleportation (0:0)
W - a wand of teleportation (0:0)
Tools
X - a blessed bag of holding named utility belt containing 93 items
w - an uncursed oilskin sack containing 1 item
r - the Bell of Opening (0:2)
O - the uncursed Candelabrum of Invocation (7 of 7 candles, lit)
l - the blessed Master Key of Thievery
c - an uncursed pair of lenses (being worn)
g - an uncursed stethoscope
b - a blessed +0 unicorn horn
Gems/Stones
i - an uncursed worthless piece of black glass
p - an uncursed worthless piece of blue glass
G - a cursed worthless piece of green glass
q - an uncursed worthless piece of orange glass
t - an uncursed worthless piece of yellow glass
u - an uncursed worthless piece of yellowish brown glass
j - a blessed luckstone
(3 of 3)
Contents of the oilskin sack:
a wand of cancellation (0:6)
--More--
Contents of the bag of holding named utility belt:
an uncursed amulet of life saving
an uncursed amulet of life saving
7 poisoned +0 darts
9 blessed +2 elven daggers
the rustproof +0 Grimtooth
the +0 Trollsbane
an uncursed very rusty very corroded +1 helm of brilliance
an uncursed +0 pair of gauntlets of power
an uncursed +0 pair of water walking boots
an uncursed +0 shield of reflection
an uncursed +0 cloak of magic resistance
an uncursed burnt +0 cloak of protection
an uncursed greased fireproof +3 robe
an uncursed +0 T-shirt with text "Go team ant!"
an uncursed +0 set of gray dragon scales
4 uncursed cocoa beans
an uncursed eucalyptus leaf
4 uncursed food rations
14 uncursed K-rations
an uncursed sprig of wolfsbane
an uncursed tripe ration
an uncursed lizard corpse
2 uncursed scrolls of magic mapping
9 blessed scrolls of remove curse
3 blessed scrolls of taming
16 potions of holy water
a potion of unholy water
2 uncursed potions of acid
an uncursed potion of healing
3 uncursed potions of paralysis
4 uncursed potions of speed
a cursed potion of speed
an uncursed ring of levitation
an uncursed ring of polymorph control
an uncursed ring of teleport control
an uncursed ring of teleportation
a wand of wishing (0:3)
a wand of cold (0:4)
a wand of cold (0:0)
a wand of cold (0:5)
a wand of death (0:0)
a wand of digging (0:0)
a wand of digging (0:5)
a blessed wand of fire (0:5)
a wand of polymorph (0:4)
a wand of sleep (0:7)
a wand of speed monster (0:3)
a wand of teleportation (0:5)
a wand of teleportation (0:5)
a wand of teleportation (0:2)
a wand of teleportation (0:0)
an empty uncursed sack
an uncursed leather drum
an uncursed tooled horn
7 uncursed tallow candles
a can of grease (0:7)
an uncursed lock pick
an uncursed magic lamp
an uncursed magic whistle
a +0 pick-axe
an uncursed towel
a +0 unicorn horn
3 uncursed sapphires
7 uncursed emeralds
9 uncursed aquamarine stones
a cursed aquamarine stone
an uncursed worthless piece of red glass
5 uncursed worthless pieces of violet glass
a cursed worthless piece of violet glass
2 uncursed opals
6 uncursed worthless pieces of white glass
3 uncursed dilithium crystals
3 cursed worthless pieces of white glass
3 cursed dilithium crystals
2 uncursed amber stones
15 uncursed agate stones
10 uncursed amethyst stones
5 uncursed black opals
2 uncursed chrysoberyl stones
5 uncursed citrine stones
7 uncursed diamonds
2 uncursed fluorite stones
4 uncursed garnet stones
7 uncursed jacinth stones
7 uncursed jade stones
6 uncursed jasper stones
4 uncursed jet stones
an uncursed jet stone
8 uncursed obsidian stones
8 uncursed rubies
2 uncursed topaz stones
10 uncursed turquoise stones
2 blessed luckstones
--More--
Do you want to see your attributes? [ynq] (y)
Laura the Rogue's attributes:
Background:
You were a Robber, a level 17 male orcish Rogue.
You were chaotic, on a mission for Kos
who was opposed by Issek (lawful) and Mog (neutral).
You started out female.
You were in the endgame, on the Astral Plane.
You entered the dungeon 107251 turns ago.
It was nighttime.
You had 853230 experience points, 426770 more were needed to attain level 18.
Your score was 1524375 before end-of-game adjustments.
Basics:
You had 201 out of 223 hit points.
You had all 175 energy points (spell power).
Your armor class was -24.
Your wallet contained 2 zorkmids.
Autopickup was off.
Final Characteristics:
Your strength was 25 (base:18/10, innate limit:18/50).
Your dexterity was 18 (limit:18).
--More--
Your constitution was 18 (limit:18).
Your intelligence was 14 (base:9, peak:11, limit:16).
Your wisdom was 20 (base:15, peak:16, innate limit:16).
Your charisma was 10 (limit:16).
Final Status:
You were not hungry.
You were unencumbered.
You were wielding two weapons at once.
You were skilled in broadsword and two weapons.
Your two weapon skill was limited by being unskilled with saber.
Final Attributes:
You were piously aligned.
You were magic-protected.
You were fire resistant.
You were cold resistant.
You were sleep resistant.
You were shock resistant.
You were poison resistant.
You were level-drain resistant.
You saw invisible.
You were warned.
You had automatic searching.
You had infravision.
You were invisible to others.
You were stealthy.
You could jump.
You had teleport control.
You had a moderate defense bonus (+10).
You were guarded.
You took half physical damage.
You were very fast.
You had reflection.
You had free action.
You were lucky.
You had extra luck.
Good luck did not time out for you.
You survived.
Miscellaneous:
You encountered 1 bones level.
Total elapsed playing time was 1 day, 8 hours, 19 minutes and 26 seconds.
--More--
Do you want an account of creatures vanquished? [ynaq] (y)
Vanquished creatures:
Orcus
Yeenoghu
Juiblex
the Wizard of Yendor (4 times)
Death (twice)
Pestilence (twice)
Famine (thrice)
Vlad the Impaler
an arch-lich
a high cleric
a mastodon
Medusa
Croesus
9 krakens
6 iron golems
6 master liches
7 storm giants
3 glass golems
3 balrogs
3 purple worms
3 gray dragons
3 gold dragons
3 silver dragons
12 red dragons
7 white dragons
3 orange dragons
4 black dragons
3 blue dragons
4 green dragons
3 yellow dragons
20 minotaurs
10 jabberwocks
the Master Assassin
16 baluchitheria
16 demiliches
2 stone golems
4 master mind flayers
[SNIP]
3404 creatures vanquished.
Do you want a list of extinct species? [ynq] (y)
Extinct species:
leprechauns (extinct)
soldiers (extinct)
----- erinyes (extinct)
|%...
----- |.... 3 species extinct.
4 55 1..| |..._ --More--
Do you want to see your conduct and achievements? [ynq] (y)
Voluntary challenges:
You were vegetarian.
You read items or engraved 71 times.
You never engraved Elbereth.
You never genocided any monsters.
You never polymorphed an object.
You used no wishes.
You violated the special Sokoban rules thrice.
Achievements:
You attained the rank of Cutpurse.
You entered the Gnomish Mines.
You entered a shop.
You attained the rank of Rogue.
You entered Minetown.
You entered a temple.
You attained the rank of Pilferer.
You consulted the Oracle of Delphi.
You entered Sokoban.
You completed the Gnomish Mines.
You completed Sokoban.
You defeated Medusa.
You attained the rank of Robber.
You had the Bell of Opening.
You learned the tune to open and close the Castle's drawbridge.
You entered Gehennom.
You had the Candelabrum of Invocation.
You had the Book of the Dead.
You gained access to Moloch's Sanctum.
You reached the Elemental Planes.
You reached the Astral Plane.
You delivered the Amulet of Yendor.
You ascended!
Do you want to see the dungeon overview? [ynq] (y)
The Elemental Planes:
Astral Plane: <- You are here.
Many temples.
Plane of Water:
Plane of Fire:
Plane of Air:
Plane of Earth:
The Dungeons of Doom: levels 1 to 25
Level 1:
One way stairs up to The Elemental Planes.
Level 2:
A fountain.
Stairs down to The Gnomish Mines.
Level 3:
An armor shop.
Level 4:
A general store.
Level 5:
Some fountains.
Level 6:
Some fountains.
Level 7:
An altar to Kos.
Level 8:
Many fountains.
Oracle of Delphi.
Level 9:
A general store, an altar to Kos, some fountains.
Stairs up to Sokoban, level 8.
Level 10:
A grave.
Level 11:
Level 12:
A fountain.
Level 13:
Level 14:
A fountain, a grave.
Portal to The Quest.
Level 15:
Some altars.
Portal to Fort Ludios.
Level 16:
A primitive area.
Level 17:
A sink, some graves.
Level 18:
Level 19:
A sink.
Level 20:
A sink, a grave.
Level 21:
An altar to Kos.
Level 22:
Level 23:
A grave.
Final resting place for
DragonSidedD-Mon-Hum-Mal-Cha, killed by a death ray, while frozen by a potion.
Level 24:
Some fountains, many trees.
Level 25:
A fountain.
The castle (play notes "ADEBC" to open or close drawbridge).
Connection to Gehennom.
Gehennom: levels 26 to 45
Level 26:
A temple, many graves.
Valley of the Dead.
Level 27:
Level 28:
Level 29:
Some fountains.
Level 30:
Level 31:
Level 32:
Level 33:
Level 34:
Level 35:
Stairs up to Vlad's Tower, level 34.
Level 36:
An untended shop, an altar, some graves.
Level 37:
Level 38:
Level 39:
Level 40:
Level 41:
Level 42:
Level 43:
Level 44:
Level 45:
A temple, many graves.
Moloch's Sanctum.
The Gnomish Mines: levels 3 to 11
Level 3:
Level 4:
Level 5:
Many shops, a temple, some fountains.
Level 6:
Level 7:
Level 8:
Level 9:
Level 10:
Level 11:
Some fountains.
The Quest: levels 1 to 6
Level 1:
Completed quest for the Master of Thieves.
Level 2:
Level 3:
Level 4:
Level 5:
Level 6:
Sokoban: levels 8 up to 5
Level 5:
Solved.
Level 6:
Solved.
Level 7:
Solved.
Level 8:
Solved.
Fort Ludios:
Level 1:
A throne.
Fort Ludios.
Vlad's Tower: levels 34 up to 32
Level 32:
Level 33:
Level 34:
Goodbye laura the Demigod...
You went to your reward with 3346800 points,
The Master Key of Thievery (worth 3500 zorkmids and 8750 points)
The Bell of Opening (worth 5000 zorkmids and 12500 points)
The Candelabrum of Invocation (worth 5000 zorkmids and 12500 points)
The Book of the Dead (worth 10000 zorkmids and 25000 points)
Trollsbane (worth 200 zorkmids and 500 points)
Grimtooth (worth 300 zorkmids and 750 points)
Stormbringer (worth 8000 zorkmids and 20000 points)
22 worthless pieces of colored glass,
15 agate stones (worth 3000 zorkmids),
10 turquoise stones (worth 20000 zorkmids),
10 aquamarine stones (worth 15000 zorkmids),
10 amethyst stones (worth 6000 zorkmids),
8 rubies (worth 28000 zorkmids),
8 obsidian stones (worth 1600 zorkmids),
7 diamonds (worth 28000 zorkmids),
7 jacinth stones (worth 22750 zorkmids),
7 emeralds (worth 17500 zorkmids),
7 jade stones (worth 2100 zorkmids),
6 dilithium crystals (worth 27000 zorkmids),
6 jasper stones (worth 3000 zorkmids),
5 black opals (worth 12500 zorkmids),
5 citrine stones (worth 7500 zorkmids),
5 jet stones (worth 4250 zorkmids),
4 garnet stones (worth 2800 zorkmids),
3 sapphires (worth 9000 zorkmids),
2 amber stones (worth 2000 zorkmids),
2 topaz stones (worth 1800 zorkmids),
2 opals (worth 1600 zorkmids),
2 chrysoberyl stones (worth 1400 zorkmids),
2 fluorite stones (worth 800 zorkmids),
2 amulets of life saving (worth 300 zorkmids),
1 amulet of reflection (worth 150 zorkmids),
and 2 pieces of gold, after 107251 moves.
You were level 17 with a maximum of 223 hit points when you ascended.
This ascension is dedicated to my friend Katie, who is probably responsible for upgrading me from generic dudebro to having any kind of consciousness around gender and sexuality. She works for a great org which is dedicated to educating youth about the dangers of unhealthy relationships. Check them out at https://www.joinonelove.org