1 Hack & Quest data file - version 1.0.3 2@ human (or you) 3- a wall 4| a wall 5+ a door 6. the floor of a room 7 a dark part of a room 8# a corridor 9} water filled area 10< the staircase to the previous level 11> the staircase to the next level 12^ a trap 13$ a pile, pot or chest of gold 14%% a piece of food 15! a potion 16* a gem 17? a scroll 18= a ring 19/ a wand 20[ a suit of armor 21) a weapon 22( a useful item (camera, key, rope etc.) 230 an iron ball 24_ an iron chain 25` an enormous rock 26" an amulet 27, a trapper 28: a chameleon 29; a giant eel 30' a lurker above 31& a demon 32A a giant ant 33B a giant bat 34C a centaur; 35 Of all the monsters put together by the Greek imagination 36 the Centaurs (Kentauroi) constituted a class in themselves. 37 Despite a strong streak of sensuality in their make-up, 38 their normal behaviour was moral, and they took a kindly 39 thought of man's welfare. The attempted outrage of Nessos on 40 Deianeira, and that of the whole tribe of Centaurs on the 41 Lapith women, are more than offset by the hospitality of 42 Pholos and by the wisdom of Cheiron, physician, prophet, 43 lyrist, and the instructor of Achilles. Further, the Cen- 44 taurs were peculiar in that their nature, which united the 45 body of a horse with the trunk and head of a man, involved 46 an unthinkable duplication of vital organs and important 47 members. So grotesque a combination seems almost un-Greek. 48 These strange creatures were said to live in the caves and 49 clefts of the mountains, myths associating them especially 50 with the hills of Thessaly and the range of Erymanthos. 51 [Mythology of all races, Vol. 1, pp. 270-271] 52D a dragon; 53 In the West the dragon was the natural enemy of man. Although 54 preferring to live in bleak and desolate regions, whenever it was 55 seen among men it left in its wake a trail of destruction and 56 disease. Yet any attempt to slay this beast was a perilous under- 57 taking. For the dragon's assailant had to contend not only with 58 clouds of sulphurous fumes pouring from its fire-breathing nos- 59 trils, but also with the thrashings of its tail, the most deadly 60 part of its serpent-like body. 61 [From: Mythical Beasts by Deirdre Headon (The Leprechaun Library)] 62E a floating eye 63F a freezing sphere 64G a gnome; 65 ... And then a gnome came by, carrying a bundle, an old fellow 66 three times as large as an imp and wearing clothes of a sort, 67 especially a hat. And he was clearly just as frightened as the 68 imps though he could not go so fast. Ramon Alonzo saw that there 69 must be some great trouble that was vexing magical things; and, 70 since gnomes speak the language of men, and will answer if spoken 71 to gently, he raised his hat, and asked of the gnome his name. 72 The gnome did not stop his hasty shuffle a moment as he answered 73 'Alaraba' and grabbed the rim of his hat but forgot to doff it. 74 'What is the trouble, Alaraba?' said Ramon Alonzo. 75 'White magic. Run!' said the gnome ... 76 [From: The Charwoman's Shadow, by Lord Dunsany.] 77H a hobgoblin; 78 Hobgoblin. Used by the Puritans and in later times for 79 wicked goblin spirits, as in Bunyan's 'Hobgoblin nor foul 80 friend', but its more correct use is for the friendly spir- 81 its of the brownie type. In 'A midsummer night's dream' a 82 fairy says to Shakespeare's Puck: 83 Those that Hobgoblin call you, and sweet Puck, 84 You do their work, and they shall have good luck: 85 Are you not he? 86 and obviously Puck would not wish to be called a hobgoblin 87 if that was an ill-omened word. 88 Hobgoblins are on the whole, good-humoured and ready to be 89 helpful, but fond of practical joking, and like most of the 90 fairies rather nasty people to annoy. Boggarts hover on the 91 verge of hobgoblindom. Bogles are just over the edge. 92 One Hob mentioned by Henderson, was Hob Headless who haunted 93 the road between Hurworth and Neasham, but could not cross 94 the little river Kent, which flowed into the Tess. He was 95 exorcised and laid under a large stone by the roadside for 96 ninety-nine years and a day. If anyone was so unwary as to 97 sit on that stone, he would be unable to quit it for ever. 98 The ninety-nine years is nearly up, so trouble may soon be 99 heard of on the road between Hurworth and Neasham. 100 [Katharine Briggs, A dictionary of Fairies] 101I an invisible stalker 102J a jackal 103K a kobold 104L a leprechaun; 105 The Irish Leprechaun is the Faeries' shoemaker and is known 106 under various names in different parts of Ireland: Cluri- 107 caune in Cork, Lurican in Kerry, Lurikeen in Kildare and Lu- 108 rigadaun in Tipperary. Although he works for the Faeries, 109 the Leprechaun is not of the same species. He is small, has 110 dark skin and wears strange clothes. His nature has some- 111 thing of the manic-depressive about it: first he is quite 112 happy, whistling merrily as he nails a sole on to a shoe; a 113 few minutes later, he is sullen and morose, drunk on his 114 home-made heather ale. The Leprechaun's two great loves are 115 tobacco and whiskey, and he is a first-rate con-man, impos- 116 sible to out-fox. No one, no matter how clever, has ever 117 managed to cheat him out of his hidden pot of gold or his 118 magic shilling. At the last minute he always thinks of some 119 way to divert his captor's attention and vanishes in the 120 twinkling of an eye. 121 [From: A Field Guide to the Little People 122 by Nancy Arrowsmith & George Moorse. ] 123M a mimic 124N a nymph 125O an orc 126P a purple worm 127Q a quasit 128R a rust monster 129S a snake 130T a troll 131U an umber hulk 132V a vampire 133W a wraith 134X a xorn 135Y a yeti 136Z a zombie 137a an acid blob 138b a giant beetle 139c a cockatrice; 140 Once in a great while, when the positions of the stars are 141 just right, a seven-year-old rooster will lay an egg. Then, 142 along will come a snake, to coil around the egg, or a toad, 143 to squat upon the egg, keeping it warm and helping it to 144 hatch. When it hatches, out comes a creature called basil- 145 isk, or cockatrice, the most deadly of all creatures. A sin- 146 gle glance from its yellow, piercing toad's eyes will kill 147 both man and beast. Its power of destruction is said to be 148 so great that sometimes simply to hear its hiss can prove 149 fatal. Its breath is so venomenous that it causes all vege- 150 tation to wither. 151 There is, however, one creature which can withstand the 152 basilisk's deadly gaze, and this is the weasel. No one knows 153 why this is so, but although the fierce weasel can slay the 154 basilisk, it will itself be killed in the struggle. Perhaps 155 the weasel knows the basilisk's fatal weakness: if it ever 156 sees its own reflection in a mirror it will perish instant- 157 ly. But even a dead basilisk is dangerous, for it is said 158 that merely touching its lifeless body can cause a person to 159 sicken and die. 160 [From: Mythical Beasts by Deirdre Headon (The Leprechaun 161 Library) and other sources. ] 162d a dog 163e an ettin 164f a fog cloud 165g a gelatinous cube 166h a homunculus 167i an imp; 168 ... imps ... little creatures of two feet high that could 169 gambol and jump prodigiously; ... 170 [From: The Charwoman's Shadow, by Lord Dunsany.] 171 172 An 'imp' is an off-shoot or cutting. Thus an 'ymp tree' was 173 a grafted tree, or one grown from a cutting, not from seed. 174 'Imp' properly means a small devil, an off-shoot of Satan, 175 but the distinction between goblins or bogles and imps from 176 hell is hard to make, and many in the Celtic countries as 177 well as the English Puritans regarded all fairies as devils. 178 The fairies of tradition often hover uneasily between the 179 ghostly and the diabolic state. 180 [Katharine Briggs, A dictionary of Fairies] 181j a jaguar 182k a killer bee 183l a leocrotta 184m a minotaur 185n a nurse 186o an owlbear 187p a piercer 188q a quivering blob 189r a giant rat 190s a scorpion 191t a tengu; 192 The tengu was the most troublesome creature of Japanese 193 legend. Part bird and part man, with red beak for a nose 194 and flashing eyes, the tengu was notorious for stirring up 195 feuds and prolonging enmity between families. Indeed, the 196 belligerent tengus were supposed to have been man's first 197 instructors in the use of arms. 198 [From: Mythical Beasts by Deirdre Headon 199 (The Leprechaun Library). ] 200u a unicorn; 201 Men have always sought the elusive unicorn, for the single 202 twisted horn which projected from its forehead was thought 203 to be a powerful talisman. It was said that the unicorn had 204 simply to dip the tip of its horn in a muddy pool for the 205 water to become pure. Men also believed that to drink from 206 this horn was a protection against all sickness, and that if 207 the horn was ground to a powder it would act as an antidote 208 to all poisons. Less than 200 years ago in France, the horn 209 of a unicorn was used in a ceremony to test the royal food 210 for poison. 211 Although only the size of a small horse, the unicorn is a 212 very fierce beast, capable of killing an elephant with a 213 single thrust from its horn. Its fleetness of foot also 214 makes this solitary creature difficult to capture. However, 215 it can be tamed and captured by a maiden. Made gentle by the 216 sight of a virgin, the unicorn can be lured to lay its head 217 in her lap, and in this docile mood, the maiden may secure 218 it with a golden rope. 219 [From: Mythical Beasts by Deirdre Headon 220 (The Leprechaun Library). ] 221v a violet fungi 222w a long worm; 223 From its teeth the crysknife can be manufactured. 224~ the tail of a long worm 225x a xan; 226 The xan were animals sent to prick the legs of the Lords of Xibalba. 227y a yellow light 228z a zruty; 229 The zruty are wild and gigantic beings, living in the wildernesses 230 of the Tatra mountains. 2311 The wizard of Yendor 2322 The mail daemon 233