Blog - /Personal

While playing NetHack, I managed to acquire a giant ant as a pet.

How did this happen, you ask?

I encountered a tough-looking housecat in the Gnomish Mines. I was a bit low on HP, and there was some doubt to whether I could fend off such a tenacious creature. Thus, I threw him a tripe ration from my emergency stash and made him my friend.

Cats like to wander off, so I applied a leash to him.

Later on, the cat stepped into a polymorph trap. After a few turns of plaintive whimpering, he polymorphed into a giant ant.

Having died at the manticles of giant ants many a time, I was pleased at having such a fierce (and speedy) creature as a pet. A fierce pet deserves an understatedly cute name, hence Bitey.

With Bitey at my side, I was unstoppable. I provided him with many a tasty gnome and dwarf corpse and in return he helped me bring down the unlucky creatures that would become his dinner. Unfortunately, we came a room with several nasty characters, including a floating eye. After silencing some of the undead horde, Bitey struck the floating eye.

The thing about floating eyes is that if you aren't wearing a blindfold or something to obstruct your vision while attacking one, they freeze you with their gaze for many turns. Bitey was dreaming of his kitten days by the time my daggers took out the floating eye from afar. I left him in the room to give him time to wake up, and went scavenging in the mean time. An ettin mummy took exception to my wanderings and did me in. I love this game.