Hepliaklqana

Trunk-only: This article pertains to a feature of Crawl which is being tested. It will likely change before the next release, and may even be removed entirely.

Hepliaklqana the Forgotten accepts the worship of those who would remember their forebears, and fight alongside the greatest of them all. Hepliaklqana demands only that followers explore and form new experiences; as they advance in this service, they will find themselves able to shape and control their ancestor's memory, eventually bringing them into the ranks of the mythical heroes. Hepliaklqana's worshippers are served by a guardian formed from their memories of their greatest ancestor. This ancestor is at first remembered as they were at the start of their fabled adventures, but will advance in skill as their descendant does. Hepliaklqana always allows followers to recall their ancestor to their side, and, even if the ancestor is destroyed, Hepliaklqana will call it forth again not long after. Further advancement in Hepliaklqana's service allows worshippers to restore and strengthen their ancestor, to swap them with other creatures, and to choose how to remember their life's talents.

Racial restrictions

Demigods cannot worship Hepliaklqana (or any other god).

Appreciates

Hepliaklqana likes it when you explore the world.

Deprecates

• Abandonment.

Given Abilities

Piety Level -: "Hazy"

• Recall - Recalls your ancestor from anywhere in the dungeon to your immediate surroundings. Takes 1 turn and costs 2 MP.
• Ancestor Identity - Recalls who your ancestor preferred to be known as, correcting their name and gender. This does not take any time.

Piety Level *: "Foo Child"

• No abilities given.

Piety Level **: "Storyteller"

• Ancestor Life: Knight - Choose to remember your ancestor as a knight, a strong melee combatant with superior defenses. This choice is permanent and cannot be undone.

• Ancestor Life: Battlemage - Choose to remember your ancestor as a battlemage, a warrior equipped with powerful conjurations. This choice is permanent and cannot be undone.

• Ancestor Life: Hexer - Choose to remember your ancestor as a hexer, a cunning rogue capable of skilled knifework and debilitating spellcasting. This choice is permanent and cannot be undone.

Piety Level ***: "Brooding"

• Idealise - Restores your ancestor to an idyllic vision of their best self. Their wounds are forgotten, harmful effects are wiped away, and a glow of perfection infuses them, giving them a short-lived but dramatic increase in strength and armour. The quality of the healing and duration of the idealisation granted are both improved by the Invocations skill.

• Transference - Forces a targeted creature to pass through the realms of memory and exchange places with your ancestor. With great piety, those near the target will be slowed for a duration depending on Invocations skill.

Piety Level ****: "Anamnesiscian"

• No abilities given.

Piety Level *****: "Grand Scion"

• No abilities given.

Piety Level ******: "Unforgettable"

• No abilities given.

Punishments

Hepliaklqana believes that the only reasonable punishment for turning one's back on the path of memory is to be denied its use. All new experience is denied to the unfortunate apostate, until Hepliaklqana decides they have been punished enough. This will not be quick: unlike some, Hepliaklqana has a long memory...

Your ancestor immediately leaves, and you are unable to earn any experience until Hepliaklqana decides it's taken enough; this takes about as much XP as ending Ashenzari wrath. The XP is permanently gone.

Ancestor

The player can choose from 3 types: battlemage, knight, and hexer. The ancestor's abilities scale of your XL and affect their HP, AC/EV, attack damage, magic resistance and spell list. Concrete formulas are as follows:

• HD = (Xl - 1)*2/3 +1
• HP = HD * 5 + max(0, (HD - 12) * 5)
• MR = HD*HD/2
• Base damage = HD + 3;
• Base AC = HD
  • (knight gets 5+HD/2 bonus AC)

Ancestors do not time out, can follow you down up the stairs and cannot be dispelled.

Hexer is generally considered to be stronger than the other two ancestor types since they can get Mass Confusion and antimagic quick blade. Battlemage usually tapers off in power around lair and has problems with having a clear line of sight to the target, apart from either iceblast (similar to the projectile from wand of iceblast) or bolt of magma he gets lajatang of freezing and Lehudib's crystal spear later. Knight gets a broad axe or demon trident that gets later branded with the speed ego and large shield of reflection. All ancestor types get haste.

The choices are presented as abilities upon reaching XL 15:

• Knight: Demon Trident

Remembers your ancestor as wielding an enchanted demon trident, a weapon capable of reaching past allies (such as yourself) to attack foes. This choice is permanent and cannot be undone.

• Knight: Broad Axe

Remembers your ancestor as wielding an enchanted broad axe, a weapon capable of cleaving through many surrounding foes with each blow. This choice is permanent and cannot be undone.

• Battlemage: Iceblast

Remembers your ancestor as casting Iceblast, which conjures a noisy explosion of cold and physical damage. The blast radius can often hit multiple foes, but may be ineffective if you are in melee yourself, since your ancestor will avoid affecting you with the blast. This choice is permanent and cannot be undone.

• Battlemage: Bolt of Magma

Remembers your ancestor as casting Bolt of Magma, which conjures a penetrating beam of fire and physical damage. This choice is permanent and cannot be undone.

• Hexer: Paralyse

Remembers your ancestor as casting Paralyse, which targets single enemies and, if they fail to resist, leaves them completely helpless for the next several turns. This choice is permanent and cannot be undone.

• Hexer: Englaciation

Remembers your ancestor as casting Metabolic Englaciation, which slows all non-cold-resistant nearby foes for several turns. This choice is permanent and cannot be undone.

Strategy

The ancestor can be chosen to complement your background, e.g. wizards can choose knights to provide defense while they are casting spells from afar, but at the moment there is noticeable power different that makes this way of choosing less appealing.

History

Hepliaklqana was added in 0.19.