Draft:Eater of Magic

Omega 0.90.4

E Eater of Magic
Form	Unique Magic Isle encounter
Attacks	No melee or missile attack; 5 defensive actions
Special abilities	Drains mana and Power; disenchantment or dispelling; mana storm below 10 HP
Base level	10
HP	1,000
Hit	0
Defense	20
Action interval	5 ticks; lower is faster
Kill experience	10,000, when death is in sight
Generation	Magic Isle
Carried items	No fixed item or random starting treasure
Immunities	Fire, cold, electricity, poison, acid, fear, sleep, negative energy, other magic, theft, gaze, infection
Remains	Heart of the Eater of Magic; guaranteed on normal death
Remains use	College succession or staff of dispelling; eating causes sickness
Traits Initially nonhostile Becomes hostile to college members during its special action Moves randomly
Reference	minit.h in Omega 0.90.4, line 289

The Eater of Magic is the unique creature on Magic Isle. Its heart is required to become Archmage of the Collegium Magii. It threatens magical resources and Power rather than making ordinary melee attacks.

Encounter and defenses

The Eater is placed at island coordinate (23, 8). It begins without hostility, but college membership makes it hostile when its special action runs. That action can also affect a nonmember who has provoked it.

Its innate immunities cover fire, cold, electricity, poison, acid, fear, sleep, negative energy, other magic, theft, gaze and infection. Normal physical damage is not on that list. It moves randomly and carries no fixed initial object.

Draining magic

While hostile and with line of sight to the player, each special action has these effects:

Resource or effect	Result
Mana	Halved, rounded down
Magic attack	Three chances in four of hostile disenchantment; one in four of hostile dispelling
Current Power	Reduced by two; death if the result is below one

The two-point Power loss is intentional wording here: the 0.90.4 action decrements it twice. Ordinary line-of-sight obstruction prevents this draining branch. Special actions are scheduled intermittently, not automatically once per player keystroke.

When its HP falls below ten, the special action attempts a 1,000-strength mana storm, even without hostility. This can deal 0-999 unstoppable damage to occupants of the Eater's cell and its eight neighbors, including the Eater itself. The attempted storm does not guarantee that a particular victim dies.

Heart and death

Normal death creates the Heart and marks future island visits empty of fixed inhabitants. A Mage above the incumbent Archmage's recorded level can deliver the Heart at the college's daytime desk; it is consumed for the office and five current and maximum Intelligence and Power.

The Heart is also an alchemical material for a staff of dispelling, at a cost of 500 Au. That conversion consumes the same trophy needed for the college, so choose its destination deliberately.

Eating the Heart makes you vomit and reduces your food reserve to at most four; it grants none of the Eater's immunities.

Strategy

Use an attack compatible with its immunities and minimize exposure to its draining action. Physical damage is a practical distinction to investigate; simply bringing more mana does not protect current Power. Finish the fight without lingering adjacent to a nearly dead Eater when possible, and preserve the Heart if succession is the objective.