If all these requirements are met, the PC will still most likely fall on the way down the Rift, destroying some equipment in the process. Falling can be avoided by having the extremely thin and nimble and the very light corruptions. This needs further testing. It may be that only the very light corruption is required, as per the fortune cookie message "Being light as a feather makes you very rifty." Alternatively, it may be that only hurthlings can avoid falling with only one of these corruptions, similar to the entrance requirements for the Quickling Tree. There are reportedly 27 luck checks on the way down, whatever that actually means. Being burdened or strained is probably not a good idea. A level 50 PC, not cursed or doomed, with intrinsic Lucky and Fate Smiles, wearing the ankh and the Ring of the Master Cat, unburdened, but without the requisite corruptions, still fell. It is not possible to bring artifacts only into the Rift, since a climbing set is needed to reach the Library. Food is also necessary, of course. Therefore, it is a good idea to store the PC's extremely valuable items, such as scrolls of chaos resistance, in a safe place before entering the Rift. It is also a good idea to bring every bit of junk, such as missiles that do not stack, low quality armor and weapons, scrolls of ill fate, cure blindness and the like, low quality amulets, etc. along. These items are fodder for the RNG, which hopefully will destroy them rather than valuable equipment. Do not be too conservative and leave all good equipment behind, because the monsters in the Rift dungeon and especially the Sinister Library of Niltrias can be very nasty. Hopefully by this point, the PC has some decent artifact armor and weapons. A corollary is not to rush into the Rift too soon.
It is not necessary to visit the Rift dungeon or the Sinister Library of Niltrias to complete the game, and many who play non-spellcasters completely ignore it.
The whole point of entering the Rift is to gain access to the Sinister Library of Niltrias - see below.
2.22.1 The Rift dungeon
After the PC climbs (falls) down the Rift, he arrives in the Rift dungeon on RL3. The dungeon consists of nine levels, which are numbered in the opposite sense compared to every other dungeon in the game (the Tower of Eternal Flames is an exception) - RL1 is the bottom, while RL9 is the top. This dungeon features dangerous monsters - greater chaos servants, chaos mutants, elementals, greater elementals and higher level quicklings are not uncommon. Two up staircases will be found on RL5 or RL6. One leads to the higher Rift dungeon level, the other leads into the wilderness in a pass inside the unclimbable mountains. A short journey, which again requires a climbing set, leads to the entrance to the Sinister Library of Niltrias.
There is a guaranteed item which grants water breathing, either a helmet or amulet, on the bottom level of the Rift.
2.22.1.1 The ratling dealer
If the PC was unlucky enough to have his climbing set destroyed during the descent through the Rift, another is available from a unique ratling dealer on the bottom level of the Rift dungeon. This NPC is nonhostile in an otherwise rather hostile environment. As a consequence, it is quite possible for him to be killed by other monsters. If the PC needs a climbing set from him, find him quickly and be prepared to pay 50,000 gold pieces for it.
2.22.2 The Sinister Library of Niltrias
Click here for a color map of the Library.
The layout of the Library is as follows:
######################################### #######
#..............................##......"# ###.....###
#..............................##.##....# ##...#.#...##
####.................................##....# #####...........#####
#.................................#####".."# #"....#."...".#...."#
#.##..............................# ###### #####...........#####
#######.##.#.#.#.#.#.#.#.#.#.#.#.#.#.#..# #"....#."...".#...."#
#...G##.##..............................# #####...........#####
#.<.....###.#.#.#.#.#.#.#.#.#.#.#.#.#.#.# #"....#."...".#...."#
#....#### #.#.#.#.#.#.#.#.#.#.#.#.#.#.#.# #####...........#####
###.## #"#"#"#"#"#"#"#"#"#"#"#"#"#"#"# #"....#."...".#...."#
#.# ############################### #####...........#####
#.####################################################..."..."...#
#........................................................#...#...#
#################################################1#####.........##
#.."##"......"##"......"##"............##"."####.# ##.......##
#]...1...##".......##"......"##"."##"............# #########
##################################################
The numeral 1 represents secret doors.The ghost librarian 'G' is nonhostile (see the section below).
There is a certain amount of variation in the items found in the Library; this map was generated with a wizard PC. The items in the eastern chamber and the large main room will be scrolls rather than spellbooks for non-Wizards. This is a good thing, since scrolls are useful for all classes. Note the ] in the southwest corner. It is a climbing set, which is required to get back into the Rift dungeon. Equipment may be destroyed while in the Library, so it is prudent to leave the climbing set where it is until the PC is finished with the rest of the Library. There will be monster guardians found on top of every spellbook or scroll. These monsters can be anything and are uniformly dangerous. On a recent trip through the Library, a master lich, ancient dragons, a quickling lord, a frost giant jarl, a stone giant lord, a moloch and a mimic hivemind were found among others. It is wise to bring dragon slaying ammo in case an ancient karmic dragon is generated. Likewise, demon slaying ammo or phase daggers are very nice to have in case a (greater) moloch is generated.
Wizards who visit the Library will find every spellbook available in the game, including Wish. Spellbooks can be destroyed while in the Library (by blue dragons, for example), so be careful with rare spellbooks.
2.22.2.1 The Ghost Librarian
The Ghost Librarian will bless the PC if given a scroll or book.
The Ghost Librarian is the source of an important artifact, the Weird Tome. In order to obtain the Weird Tome the PC must have Stealth at 100 and spend at least 2000 turns in the Library without 'C'hatting to monsters. Currently, wizards, for instance, can cast spells throughout their combat in the Library and, after vanquishing the monsters, read some spellbooks to pass time before 'C'hatting to the Ghost Librarian. At that point the Ghost Librarian will reward the PC with the Weird Tome, which can be exchanged for five cursed scrolls of chaos resistance courtesy of the Mad Minstrel. If the PC 'C'hats with the Ghost Librarian too soon, he responds with "Respect the Silence!" and the 2000 turn counter is reset. If 2000 more turns pass in silence, the Weird Tome can still be obtained. It is impossible to read the weird tome. The message generated is: "This book is filled with strange texts written in weird letters. You have difficulties concentrating on the text. After a while you manage to focus your sight on the text. The text contains a strange collection of tunes, songs and instrumental pieces. It seems to be some kind of code, hinting at some ancient powerful magic, a scroll or something like that... You fail to decipher it." High level wizards, for instance, who attempt to read the Weird Tome are Confused for a considerable length of time. Do not try it in a potentially dangerous location!
Research on the Weird Tome is far from complete. If Khelavaster is saved in the early midgame and given the Weird Tome in the endgame, the following message is generated: "Khelavaster curiously looks at the uncursed weird tome. "Huh? Oh, I have read that a long time ago. Pretty interesting." Khelavaster drops the uncursed weird tome." Trying to read the Weird Tome on the ChAoS plane or giving it to Andor Drakon or many other PCs has not been tried as far as is known.
The 2000 figure for the turns spent without 'C'hatting may not be an absolute. There may be a die roll for a very small chance that a PC will be unable to get the Weird Tome no matter the length of the wait.