Passage of Golubria
 Passage of Golubria
| |
|---|---|
| Level | 4 |
| School1 | Translocation |
| Source(s) | |
| Casting noise | 3 |
| Spell noise | 0 (8, when a portal expires) |
| Opens two gateways (one always near the caster), which allow instantaneous transport to random other open gateways to any creature entering them. There is no limit to the number of gateways that can be open at one time, but a gateway will close when entered, or after a moderate amount of time. |
Passage of Golubria is a level 4 Translocations spell which creates a wormhole, allowing instantaneous passage between two points. When cast, you select a target tile within your line of sight. Two portals are immediately created; one will be near you, and the other will be on or near the selected tile.
Entering one portal immediately teleports you to another portal, noisily destroying the entry portal in the process. The destination portal remains and is usable if there are any other existing portals; otherwise, it is inert.
Each casting creates two additional portals, and when there's more than one possible exit portal, one is randomly selected to serve as a destination. This makes it difficult to use the spell with any degree of precision after its first use, though existing portals do deteriorate rather quickly (30-50 turns, regardless of spell power).
This is not an authentic teleport, so even formicids can use it as one of the few methods for "blinking," although it requires more time to set up.
Also, a portal will never form over shallow or deep water, lava, stairs, altars, doors (closed or open), or any other dungeon feature. Only empty ground tiles will do.
The spell is not castable in the Minotaur's Gauntlet, on Zot levels, nor when holding the Orb of Zot.
Strategy
The spell is not entirely silent; any portal that is entered or allowed to dissipate will make a modest amount of noise. Creating portals or exiting from a portal is silent, however, so feel free to use this to help close the distance to an enemy with fewer turns spent in its line of sight. Just be sure that your entrance portal is some distance away and preferably behind a door or wall.
Monsters will enter your portals as well, if they're dumb enough or if there's no alternate route between you and them. This allows you to create traps and separate bands of enemies. In areas with lots of lava or deep water, you may be able to strand dangerous enemies on islands or on the opposite side of a river, effectively preventing their pursuit.
As an emergency escape spell, it really only works once. If, say, you are running away while a horde is in fast pursuit, an immediate second casting of the spell has a 50% chance of delivering you right back where you were, with the horde now interposed between yourself and your original destination. On the other hand, if you had run 20 tiles are the first use, being blinked to your original site might not be an unwanted outcome. Simply put, successive uses require extreme care.
History
- Prior to 0.19, the player could use this spell in the Realm of Zot, before picking up the Orb.
- Prior to 0.10, only one set of gateways could exist at one time.
