Sword of Zonguldrok

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This dreadful weapon is used at the user's peril. Those slain in its presence are reanimated by its power, and forced to fight on.

the +9,+9 Sword of Zonguldrok

+9 double sword

Reaping brand
Cursed, 33% chance to recurse itself on equip
Evil
Raises angry dead (Each turn that you wield this sword, random corpses in your line of sight will be raised as hostile dead. They are worth no experience or piety)

Desirability

The sword of Zonguldrok is a decent weapon, but not a great one. Even with its high enchantment level, its lack of a damage brand makes its damage output noticeably worse than a well-enchanted branded demon blade or bastard sword, and it will cause you food problems unless you judiciously unwield it to kill edible, easy monsters. This is a task easier said than done given the sword's tendency to recurse itself. Friendly zombies can be useful, particularly if you can clear the majority of a floor before using your army to storm a particularly nasty vault, but the sword doesn't really do anything that being able to cast Animate Dead or even Animate Skeleton doesn't do. Use this weapon if you have nothing better yet and you don't see food problems being an issue.

Due to the fact that it passively uses a necromantic effect each turn, even wielding it is enough to offend the good gods.

History

In earlier versions, the sword of Zonguldrok was only a long sword.