Draft:Eater of Magic

Omega 0.90.4

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

HP	Armor	Melee / missile attack	Experience
1,000	20	None	10,000

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.

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.